Mornings with Oliver

Ollie wakes up before anyone else.
Ollie wakes up {I am guesstimating around} 6:30.
He quietly comes inside my bedroom and takes either:

my phone (angry birds),
my ipad (ant smasher),
or my computer (friv.com)

Then he will sneak down the hall, open a blind or two, turn on the lamp in the
corner of the room, sit and play until we all awake and breakfast is served.
Sometimes he takes Mr. Nielson's pocket knife, flashlight, rope,
or his colorful collection of cowboy bandanas.
But this morning it was Mr. Nielson's mini ship that he got for Christmas from Jane.

This morning, I knew he was awake because I could hear his famous sound effects.
I am pretty sure the ship was in peril, and by the sound of it, it sounded like the ship
sunk at the hand of some pirates, or perhaps some mad monkeys or something.

My life is full of these ordinary, yet unique moments, that make me
happy because I know my children are happy.

Scenes from Skiing

We went skiing- this time it was not as fun as usual.
For one thing, I don't fit in my ski pants anymore.
And then the fact that the boys whined the whole time and it was slightly icy.
Lots of breaks, {sometimes off trail- and in the trees}, and lots of tears,
oh, and I AM 7 months pregnant.

I think I am hanging up my boots this year.

{ollies "break"}

My girls still have ski school for a few more months, and
I am so proud of them-they are doing so well.

**********

On another note:

{Check out those guns!!
photo: University of Georgia}

I read an article today and was very impressed:
I am in awe of women like this. Good girl Anna!
Some of my favorite parts below:

A deeply religious junior exercise and sports science major, Watson was on the brink of a $75,000 fitness-modeling contract that could have set her up for a lifetime career in modeling -- but she turned it down.

Why?

A modeling agent wanted her to use Anavar, a legal anabolic steroid to help her gain up to 50 pounds of muscle. Worried about the effects on her body when she decides to have kids, Watson passed.

"I don't serve a modeling agent. I serve the Lord," Watson said. "I'm not going to compromise my morals and my beliefs just to take pictures. I believe that my body is a temple and a beautiful creation, so I don't want to put anything into it that can harm it."

Get the full story here.

Jeg elsker dig

Since the Nielson side are proud Danes, my family has been trying to learn Danish.
I am not so good at it, it reminds me of High School math- confusing and frustrating.
I never seem to grasp it. My children however are amazing. They totally understand
and can even pronounce the words.
Boss Nielson is taking his whole family to the motherland next year to celebrate
he and Mary's (aka: Grandmary} 50th wedding anniversary.
I have a year to get it down, but probably wont.

{The girls learning Danish on the computer}

Last night before bed, the girls went around telling the
boys "Jeg elsker dig" which in Danish means 'I love you'.

Somehow that turned into the children sliding down the stairs in pillowcases
yelling "Jeg elsker dooooooo" all the way down the stairs.

I had a really good laugh-still laughing in fact.

*****
My friend told me about this story.
My heart aches.
To help, go here.

Weekend review-in photos... A through J

So, here is my weekend wrap-up:
Entitled: What I did last weekend {in photos}
A:


B:


C:


D:


E:


F:


G:


H:


I:


J:


*******************

Are you checking out my 'Nie asks on Blogher' posts?
Join us!!!
Yesterday's post here.

Nie asks on Blogher

I love Winter evenings.
What does it look like down your street?
Share here

Love for Nie

Mr. Nielson and I worked in our office today.
Cleaning, clearing, budgeting, rearranging, and organizing.
Nicholas played with odds and ends {staplers, hole punchers, paperclips, cardboard boxes,
you know stuff like that} around the office while eating cherry juju lip gummies.
As I was clearing off my desk I found a box.
All of a sudden, I recognized the box.
This box sat in the corner of my hospital room all those months.
Inside the box I found hundreds of sweet cards from people all over the world.
I remembered back to the time in my hospital room during dressing changes
or horrible days when I needed a little pick me up, my mom or Mr. Nielson {or my nurse-or anyone for that matter} would pull out a note from the
box and read it out loud to keep me going.

Today after finding the cards, I read a few out loud, and some struck deep in my heart.
Then I broke down and cried.
They meant so much to me, and most of them from strangers.
Strangers! I am so blessed and grateful, they pulled me through such hard times.
Hopefully I can do the same for someone else in their time of need.

Have a fabulous weekend.
I am going skiing {we got snow!!}
Finishing up organizing.
Lunch with Andrew and Reachel!
Date night with Mr. Nielson

Spiritual Enlightenment here.

Hello, my name is Nicholas

Today Mr. Nielson and my only child {or so he wishes} Nicholas, went to the bank.
Upon arriving at the bank my only child {or so he wishes}
was bombarded with wonderful older ladies offering treats and smiles of all kinds.
He kindly-{kind of} accepted the treats and then sat down at an
empty desk near the window where a 1980's typewriter sat.
Excited, he timidly pushed a few buttons then looked around to see who was watching.

Nicholas, {who wishes he was an only child, remember?}
hates undue attention-especially from strangers.
He was concerned one of the little old bank ladies would tell him to please stop.

Just then a little old bank lady came over to tell him not to stop,
but to encourage him to continue on. {It was pretty cute}
They even brought over a few more smarties and a ream of paper.
Sometimes its nice to be an only-child.
{or so he wishes}

Just a fyi:

You can check my facebook page {Authors page} and see my updates
and I just loaded a bunch of family photos.