Considering the fact that it has taken me almost 4 years to get pictures of our extended family on the wall, and since I was on a roll, I decided I would work on the kids valentines this week.

First of all, I hate rip-me-apart Dora the Explorer crap valentines. Second of all, I'm way too cheap to make over-the-top crafty Valentine's for 45 kids this year.

So inspired by last year's cards,



I perused my photo files and decided to tinker around in Google's free photo software, Picasa. It was fun, clean, and my end cost was around 12 cents per valentine. Cheap mothers unite...


I can't recommend Picasa enough. There are 2 available options to download (both FREE). One is a photo software for your computer that allows you to crop, add text, tint, skewer, whatever...and it's perfect for those that aren't savvy enough on photoshop and/or don't want to spend the money.

The second Picasa download allows you to upload your photos online. Anyone who has lost their photos from a computer crash can appreciate that (that would be me....twice).

Lastly, Picasa is awesome if you love to blog! It makes adding pictures a bagillion times easier than the stupid standard blogger photo system.

Nuff said. Here's me waxing creative for once.



Here's one of my favorite pictures of The Buddha Baby. He used to give me kisses on demand, but I think I'm in overdraft (SEE EXHIBIT: Talk to the hand). I saved 2 copies of this print then merged them as a collage in Picasa. I added the text after making it a collage. After printing them up as a 4X6 print, I cut them in half and inserted a Valentine treat. Here's the end product.



This next one is for my middle child. Once again, I created a collage but added a thicker red border around it. We made 2 different Valentine rhymes for variety, and had fun making it a little on the grody side.



Cut them apart, insert a wrapped treat (and make sure to tape it on the back) and you have this:



For Rainbow Girl, I took a picture and tinted the whole thing green. This one turned out okay, but was probably a bit of a stretch. I added characters and symbols to make her more alien-like, but in the end, I think the picture was too dark. I will admit Photoshoppers would have dominated this project better than I...but the kid likes it so we're all happy!

Here's the image sent to the printer:



We punched a hole and added black pipe-cleaners to make her an alien...and here is our end product.



For more Valentine inspirations, visit these blogs:

"Cute Valentines"
Loved this healthy (and simple) valentine inspiration here.
Here's a short YouTube video about Picasa.

Happy Loveliness!
Mrs. Olsen

A couple weeks ago my one and only female child walked up to me while I was doing dishes and commented that she had a little bump in her shirt. Just one side, right on her chest. She thought it was funny. My eyes turned to googly-pies and I remembered the horror of coming onto puberty unawares. Jumping on the trampoline one minute, finding a surprise in my pants and quietly telling my mom...only to be lovingly thrown in the tub while a giant maxi pad gets taped inside a fresh pair of panties and the talk of how this will happen to me every month for the rest of my life.

Trampolines and popsicles one minute. Walking around with a crinkly diaper butt the next. So scratch that. Trampoline one minute, crying in the corner the next so no one will have to hear you walk across the room.



Please dad, I hope you aren't reading this. Mom? Don't take this personal. You told me what was up even if it was a day late. I get it that we come from different generations and that there's a good chance no amount of pep-talking would have kept me from crying in the corner...but this is real stuff ya know? It was exciting, weird, and traumatic (for me). So when Rainbow Girl came up to me unawares, all I could think of was my own naive dive into puberty and how it sucked. How would you respond?

Mrs. Olsen: Rainbow Girl! You are getting little boobies! You know what this means? This means you are starting to go through puberty!

Rainbow Girl: [places hands on her face and looks at me with a shocked and slightly happy look on her face]

Mrs. Olsen: First little bumps, then it will swell and pop! (hands flowering over chest). Then you get hair here, and here (more air flowers). You will start to stink under your arms and roll your eyes at me. Please don't roll your eyes at me okay? Your legs will get hairy too and you'll probably want to shave them. Unless you got the hairless Olsen gene. That would be lucky...

Rainbow Girl: (tentatively) Is puberty when....you know....bleed?

Mrs. Olsen: Oh yes. That too! Yes you will bleed. These are all of the changes that you will have to go through to become a woman! (pause) I can't believe you're getting little boobies. You probably won't need a bra for a year or so, but we might need to wear a tanktop under your shirt to smooth things out.

You get the idea. We have talked about all of this before, but I felt compelled to expound a crash course right there in the kitchen. Then Rainbow Girl went to her room to finish her homework and I immediately texted The Mister of the House:

ME: Rainbow Girl's getting boobies.
HIM: What?! How old were you? Isn't this a little early?
ME: She won't need a bra for a while. Maybe not so early.

So I went about doing dishes and making dinner, and thinking of how quick my little girl is growing up and how she was just a baby. She never knew I told her dad, but when he came home from work he popped his head in her room and said hi.

Then the cutest thing happened. She turned to him and said: "Dad, did you hear? I'm starting to go through puberty."

He said that yes he heard. She commented how scary it would be to go through puberty and...."you know...bleed."

And The Mister of the House sat down and said, "Yes, lots of changes happen when you go through puberty, but you have to go through them to become an adult. And you know what? Being an adult is my favorite thing so far. If I wasn't an adult I wouldn't have my own little family, with you as my daughter. I love ya. It's a good thing that will happen."

Rainbow Girl didn't say a thing and just went and sat on his lap and he held her like the little girl she still was, and in some ways, always will be (at least to me and her dad).



And when I heard about it after the fact my heart melted, and I thought that's how every puberty talk should be. Okay okay so I was a flibbertigibbet and had diarrhea of the mouth but it turned out just fine because I have back-up. I was glad that Rainbow Girl wasn't afraid to talk about boobies and bleeding with her own dad, and that he could give her a vision of why it all mattered in the end.



And what a beautiful woman she will become! Just look at her!


NOTE TO PARENTS: Apparently crash courses in the kitchen can be soaked in by little brothers as well. Which is why the next day, while carpooling friends in the mini-van, Vanilla Wafer turned to Rainbow Girl's friend and stated: "Guess what? Rainbow Girl's getting boobies!" and then proceeded to giggle.

So we're into crash course number #2 about how we don't really say the word boobies and how we have private parts and don't talk or laugh about them. That's what you get for being a flibbertigibbet.

So much for my December soup series, huh? The snow is still falling however, and it's still a good season to cozy up with a bowl of warm soup. So we're back at it! This recipe comes from my sister Monica. Among many things, she is an amazing cook. The reason I love this soup is that it is the perfect blend of creamy and brothy, plus wholesome veggies and wild rice do a dance in your mouth. I despise beef stew because you are essentially eating spoonfuls of gravy. Blech! Forget the stew, and cook up some Chicken & Wild Rice Soup instead!

Dear Nerds,

Having a Julliard-trained brother-in-law exercising his training in the production of the upcoming HBO series "Game of Thrones" means that Mrs. Olsen and The Mister of the House received a tour of the set that you have tried to sneak onto via fake job interviews, ninja methods, or pure open nerdiness that makes you feel like a legitimate consultant for the series.


Mandy & Bryan practicing as UK Tour Guides in Edinburgh

Since we were able to take no pictures of the set, we'll just say In your face nerds, we saw the Iron Throne!

And also, the fact that I'm gloating on the blog about seeing the Iron Throne (as well as Winterfell sets, Cersei's chambers, and The Red Keep) just might mean I could be on the other side of cool as well.

Our gracious glimpse into:
*an amazing storyline
*the sheer magnitude of talent required to actually produce sets and TV series
*beholding from afar the beauty of whatever actor plays Jaime Lannister

was interesting and exciting.

Thanks Bryan and Mandy for this 2010 highlight!

Signed,
Mrs. Olsen

Dear Cool People,
(Mrs. Olsen 2010 Halloween Awards go to...)

Where were you this past year when I went to the company Halloween Party? Just wondering why nobody "got" this heee-larious themed costume from my sister-and-brother-in-law. Am I really that old and out of touch with younguns these days? And do you think you could sit down and enjoy one of the old "classics"?



Please tell me there are some cool people that read this blog....

Signed,
Here's a close runner-up that's sure to be "got".

Gwendolyn's Dead!

Her injuries were too severe this time. There were pieces of her all over the porch. My camera was on the fritz.

I put her in recycling because she was resin and I wanted her to live forever.

But she was looking rather ghetto. So until I get a proper country porch 8 feet deep and hugging 3 sides of my house...C'est La Vie!

In Remembrance (too bad you didn't see her cute turkey outfit!):








With Love From,

The 35 95-year-old

Back in August, I got some birthday moo-la to get my hair done. For a slob like me, going to a salon and actually spending money on my hair is an annual pilgrimage. Not surprisingly, I didn't actually make the appointment and get it done until December. I decided to visit a specific hairdresser, get a "wash-n-go" hairstyle that will fit with my needs, and decided to fork over the big bucks for a cut, layer, texturize, AND a perm. This is a big deal folks. I went with the hairdresser that successfully gave me a wash-n-go hairstyle 18 month prior, and told her to "do the same thing".

Why in the world is this even blog-worthy? It's just that it seems that hairstylists speak a totally different language, or fix your hair like they like it, or assume you have no fashion sense so they just go to town. I don't know that my annual hair appointment was any of those things, but I specifically brought in a picture of my hair "last time" taken 2 days after my last hair appointment.



With my lovely sissies in 2009. Photo credit Heather Nan Photography

"Just do the same thing"

"I want a perm that will grow out a little and not look weird."

"My hair feels like it's thinning on the top a little, is that normal?"

"But basically repeat this hair"...

So after hearing my concerns of going bald (according to me) she suggested she layer it a little bit different so it stays fuller on the top.

"Okay"

And do you care if it's a little bit shorter than this picture?

"Okay, whatever" and my brain says a little bit shorter means 1 or 2 inches, okay no big deal.

And then *snip* *snip*.

I donated 14 inches to Locks of Love. Very cool. So I can't be freaking out when I look at the new length (pre-perm) and think She probably wasn't very good at math. I really don't think that when this hair has curl, it will be a little bit shorter than before....I think it will be a lot bit shorter than before.

And so I got a perm and it smelled like 1985 and we came out with this:


Mandy came all the way from Ireland back home for the holidays. Aaaahhhh...

Totally different right?

A LOT shorter right?

I think I like it though. It helps me stay away from my auto-pilot Sacajawea braids and it's great for a new baby. But I think I have been trying not to like it because my hairdresser didn't do what I paid her good money for.

So that's the end of my hair vanity post but I have to know, hairdressers do this right? They do their own thing and are horrible scientists if they have to recreate the same experiment ya?

Signed,
Loving my new hair and not sure if it really matters but curious about your own hair-gone-awry stories

4 deliciously blended ingredients:

Butter
Sweet onion
Sliced pear
(skillet loved until browned)

Bed of spinach

Yum!