Merry Christmas

It is Christmas!  Can you believe how fast Christmas came!? I feel like we went from carving pumpkins and scaring people; to buying gifts and singing Christmas carols around the fire within a week. Even though this whole year has dragged on and on and on- Christmas season just ran all of the red lights and arrived super punctual! 

Do you and your family have any specials traditions that you do around the holidays? Do you decorate cookies, build gingerbread houses, decorate your Christmas tree in your pj’s or wear matching pajamas on Christmas Morning together? 

Growing up- my Dad was huge on Christmas. He LOVED it! Having the whole family together, laughing, spending intentional time was his favorite thing in the whole world. I can remember every Christmas Eve he would make sure we had a big dinner, and then eat some cookies for desert and make sure to set out the yummiest looking ones for Santa with a big glass of cold milk. He even left out a plate of carrots for the reindeer- boy did they LOVE THOSE! Santa always seemed to make a mess though- crumbs everywhere. Silly Santa! Once we were in bed, Santa always shimmied down the chimney and left stockings full of treats, the tree completely surrounded by gifts, a sweet hand written note thanking us for the cookies and carrots. Waking up on Christmas morning was magical to my brother and I. It was always so exciting and something we looked forward to every year. For us though, it wasn’t the gifts it was the pure joy we saw on my dads face every year that made it the most precious holiday memory now. 

The smell of fresh hot cinnamon rolls, coffee, bacon filled the house on Christmas morning. We would usually wake up before our parents and the rule was that we couldn’t wake them up unless it was after 8 am. 8:01 am was when the magic began- the aromas of the holidays, the smiles, the carols, and the race to get the cinnamon roll with most frosting! 

Oh do I miss those days. The days when my whole family was sitting around the Christmas tree together. Christmas was never the same for my family after my dad died. It was his holiday. Christmas became a day of mourning for us. We mourned the joy, because he was our holiday joy. My dad made it what it was. 

Flash forward to now. I am married to the love of my life and we have two beautiful babies. The holidays as a mom are very different. I feel as if I have a reason again to celebrate and spread joy. This year Jackie and I decided that our traditions for Christmas will be cutting down our own tree, decorating gingerbread houses, doing Christmas crafts and spending so much intentional family time together. The gifts don’t matter. The time is what we can never get back and we want as much as possible. 

This year we have all been through more than we can imagine. It was a hard year for so many people. The one thing this year did provide us with was time. We all had time to truly enjoy our lives, the people we have and everything we are lucky to have. Even though we did have a lot of separation from others it made us all realize how precious life was. How precious our time truly is. We learned what was important in our lives. Joy, time, grace, love, patience, health, family. Those are the things the matter most. Not eating out, shopping, or seeing movies. It’s the time that runs out far to quickly. 

My wish to you all this Christmas is that you get your time. You enjoy your time. You cherish your time. Be joyful. Be happy. Spread cheer. 

Merry Christmas! 

From mine to yours.

Love, The Olson’s. 🎄

Top 10 Makeup Products

Hi again! I know you’re wondering how I could possibly limit myself to 10 favorite makeup products... right? Trust me it was NOT easy to pick only 10. I really struggled with this haha. I love so many products- so so so many. I just love makeup, always have! 

To make this easier I will list things in order of the type of product it is. For example I’ll group the eye things together, and the face products together. Still only 10 products. 

Without further ado - let’s do this. 

Let’s start with eyes:

#1. Elf Wow Brow Fibre Gel- This is a pigmented eyebrow setting gel. It is amazing and really makes your brows fluffier, more natural and sets them all day long! 

#2. Maybelline New York The Matte Bar Eye Shadow Palette- the colors on this palette are so beautiful, very pigmented, natural shades and they blend so nicely. There isn’t any shedding with this formula either. 

#3. Elf Brow Gel and Powder Palette- this is such a cool product! Using an angled brush you dip into the gel and then into the powder and line/fill your brows. The gel helps to set them all day and the powder gives a more natural finish. 

Now for Face makeup:

#4: Maybelline Fit Me Translucent Loose Setting Powder- I love this powder because it has no fragrance, it doesn’t create a huge cloud and it doesn’t feel heavy on your skin. 

#5: Elf Poreless Putty Primer- THIS PRIMER IS LIFE CHANGING! Seriously. So silky, literally makes the most even base for your makeup and truly helps your makeup stay on longer. This is a less expensive dupe to the Benefit Primer.

#6: Benefit Cosmetics PoreFessionals Primer- By far the silkiest, moisturizing, long lasting primer I have ever used. The price is little more expensive but definitely worth it. 

#7: Seint Makeup- Seint is a personalized palette created just for you- 3D foundation of highlighting and contouring to create the flawless face! I am obsessed. 

#8: Tula Blurring Primer- This primer is more of a tinted moisturizer in my opinion. I prefer to wear this in place of makeup because of the beautiful glow and color it give your skin. A natural finish that blurs out your pores and evens your skin tone. 

**I might have a weird obsession with primers**

Now time for the kissers! 

#9: NYX Powder Puff Lippie- This lip gloss is almost like a crayon sponge of color for your lips. The formula is so moisturizing even though it is a matte finish! Beautiful pigment and long wear. 

#10: Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink Lip Sticks- These lipsticks are so great. For a long wear, no smudge product these are not drying at all. They don’t flake, they hold color and placement for hours! Like 8+ hours. Amazing. 

There they are! Ten of my favorite make-up products. I have so many more but of course 300 would take far to long to list. I will link them all below for you! 

Wow Brow Gel Eye Shadow Pallet  Brow Pallet Elf Primer Benefit Primer Seint Tula Primer NYX Lip Super Stay Lip Stick

Green Day

Green Day? Did you recycle? Did you do some gardening? Isn’t it winter in Minnesota? 

Green Day!! We learned about the color green! Camden is three years old and his brain is constantly expanding. I try to do fun themed days every so often to help us focus on one subject to learn about! This week we chose the color green. We ate green food, made up games using the color green, pointed out everything that is green, named our animals green names, colored green monsters and did a fun craft dot painting Christmas trees. 

Camden absolutely loved Green Day! 

N

B

Camden asked for waffles for breakfast. We used Krusteas

Buttermilk pancakes and waffle mix. I let Camden add in the green food coloring and mix it up! He added some sprinkles to his waffle too! Lunch he asked for Mac and Cheese, so we had Mac and cheese and GREEN beans! 

For dinner Camden asked for yet again Mac and cheese. Lol. Toddler life, right!? But you bet I added some more green! Green gold fish! 

For snacks we had green crackers, celery and peanut butter, green beans and broccoli.

Both Camden and I learned so much on Green Day, did you know that there are 8 green dinosaurs in Cam’s room? Christmas trees aren’t green - they are dark dark green. Green sand is the coolest toy there ever was, and green beans have “baby green beans” inside of them. For the craft I cut out trees from green paper and we glued them on blue paper (which was the sky). We then glued cotton balls down to be the snow that the trees live in, toddlers are so creative! Using cotton swabs we mixed glue and food coloring to create paint and dotted the trees to make ornaments! This was such a fun and easy craft. We talked about the trees being shaped like triangles, ornaments are circles and snow is white and fluffy just like the cotton balls! 

What theme should we do next? If you have a theme day, tell me in the comment below what you do! 

— The Olson Family! 

Tips For Traveling With Kids

 I remember before having kids I could easily toss some clothes, deodorant and a few pairs of underwear into a bag and be set to go for a weekend away. Oh those were the days!

Now a days, 2 kids later packing for a weekend trip is not so easy. It requires a whole lot of stuff. 

-diapers -wipes -formula -bottles -pacis -filtered water -blankets -medicine -baby food -snacks 

That is definitely not even close to half of the list. Oy is right.

I am sure your wondering if we are crazy for traveling with young kids, and that answer is ABSOLUTELY. 

However it is most definitely doable with these 10 tips. Trust me- these are game changing tips.

1. Snacks. Snacks Snacks and MORE SNACKS! I highly recommend bringing along a large suitcase (okay- that's a little dramatic) full of your kids favorite snacks. Anything from breakfast snacks to pre-made PB & J's in case you need a quick lunch or dinner. For young babies, bring their bottles and make sure they are eating right at take off and landing. Puffs, and teething biscuits are a must too! 

    -One my little tricks is to have a little Bentgo lunch box filled with things like cheese cubes, crackers, m&m's, strawberries, peanut butter and grahams in our carry on bag or diaper bag that I can easily pull out and hand to my little! He loves having his little snack box and loves the variety! Remember: Kids Love Novelty!

2. Entertainment. Bring little travel games, coloring pages (I recommend the mess free from crayola), download their favorite shows from Netflix, and blocks. You can get a small pack of blocks from the dollar store that will easily fit in a carry on bag or diaper bag.

3. Comfort Items. This one is a big tip. Kids thrive when they are comfortable. Lets face it big flying metal tubes are scary and definitely not comfortable. Bring along your child's favorite stuffed animal, a soft blanket and maybe a small pillow. Dress your child in PJs. Be as comfortable as possible!

4. Make it a game. Leaving home can be a strange concept for kids to grasp, driving for s long time can be tiresome, and flying in that big metal tube is definitely a big deal for a little toddler. Its our job as parents to make it super fun! I always use toy airplanes to show Camden what we are going on, we play airplane a few days before the trip and practiced getting one and off the plane. We talk about playing I-spy out of the big windows on the plane too. The biggest thing is to make sure that traveling is shown to your child like a fun game and not a big deal!

5. Involve them. Let your kids help pack the carry on, let them choose their snacks, what toy they want to bring, etc. Toddler love tasks. They like feeling important and useful. 

6. Take Breaks. For driving trips make sure you account for taking lots of pit stops. Try and do some research before your trip to find where would be fun stops. See where some parks are that are close to the off exits, stop at their favorite fast food stops, and go to the state rest stops! Rest stops have lots of roaming room and picnic tables- have one of those many snacks you packed outside! Play a game there too- see what kind of animals you can see. For airplane travel, run the entire airport before getting on that plane. Get that wild animal like energy out!

7. Be Friendly. If your child is like mine, he loves to make new friends and talk to anybody and everybody. Have your toddler meet the airplane attendants so he can be comfortable seeing them throughout the flight. When you check your bags and go through security let your toddler give the boarding passes, ID's, etc to the staff. Its a fun way to make this trip a little easier.

8. Be Patient. Traveling is not easy for anyone. Its stressful, trying to make sure you have everything you need, making sure the house/pet arrangements are good, and just the thought of a major civil war happening between your toddler and you on that tiny metal tube flying through the air at top speed. Just try and remember to BREATHE. Relax, don't be stressed around toddlers. Toddler can sense it and somehow turn into howler monkeys when stressed. It will be over before you know it and all will be forgotten. Just have patience and grace with yourself and your littles!

9. Pull the Mom Card. I am so serious. You have an advantage. Use it girl. Use it!!! Get on the airplane first, get that free luggage cart from the employee feeling sorry for you. Get all the free snacks from the flight attendants and when Stacy offers you a free vodka... DON'T SAY NO. 

10. You made it. Tip #10 is easy. DON'T DO IT. DO NOT DO IT. 

LOL. I'M TOTALLY KIDDING! #10 for reals: Bring extra clothing for every member of your family. I am so serious. Spills and blowouts will happen. Be prepared. Or hope that Mary in row 17 has an extra diaper/wipe and washing machine in her carry on. 

Friends, Traveling can be totally fun if you make it fun. Remember you set the tone for the whole trip. Relax and make it fun and I promise you it will be a Breeze. 

Good Luck Mommas! If you have any other traveling with kids tips please share them in the comments below!

Here are a few links to our favorite traveling essentials:

Bentgo Box Mess Free Coloring Travel Tray Travel Blanket Set Sippy Cup Diaper Backpack Kids Headphones Luggage Cubes

Happy Traveling, Love the Olson Family!

Meet The Family!

 We are the Olsons.

Where did it all start? Arizona was the spot that Jackie and I (Meghan) met. We met when we were 14, at a church retreat. I was definitely smitten with that long haired goofy teenager who never gave me the time of day. In fact he started dating one of my friends that very weekend. Boy was I heart broken. BUT- Fast forward to November 2016 and I slid into Jackie's DM's. Yes I did indeed. He was in the Marine Corps stationed in SC and I was living in Madison, WI. After we talked for a couple of months we decided it was time for a visit. So off I went down to SC. Walking through the Airport anxious as can be... I spotted him. I remember thinking to myself "that is my husband". 2 days later we were engaged. We got engaged on the beach in South Carolina. It wasn't some big proposal, he didn't have a ring, we just decided that we were meant to be and wanted to get married. I went back to WI and told my mom, he called his parents and before we knew it we were going to AZ to meet his family and get married. We got married on my parents anniversary (something I always wanted since my dad passed away) in his moms backyard. March 11th, 2017. It was the most magical day! 

One month after the wedding I packed up everything I owned into a U-haul trailer and my jeep and drove down to start our new life as a married couple in SC! I must add that I drove straight through with 3 cats and no music- nothing would work! Man did I make up some sweet tunes! 

Alright now you have the back story! Lets meet the family!

Jackie, Daddy:

Marine Vet, fitness enthusiast,  dedicated father, loving husband. Goof. 

Meghan, Mom: 

SAHM, social media influencer, beauty vlogger, nagging wife. Queen. 

Camden, Dude: 

The coolest, smartest, fruit snack obsessed 3 yr old

McKinley, Sissy:

The most opinionated, talkative, food obsessed, giggly 6 month old there ever was!

                        

Willie, Wilson Dog:

Dog, fantastic cuddler, pro barker

Here we are! The Olson 5. We are a simple family that loves to play, and make everyday the most exciting possible. Heh- now don't we wish that was true! Lets be real, we do laundry, change diapers, make meal after meal, play play doh for hours a day, pick up toys 17 times in the same day, and end everyday exhausted and full of love! 

Here on the blog we will be posting family updates, photos, favorite recipes, life hacks, fitness and health tips, amazon deals, and favorite products that we use!

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa0lEqtQyzd3G6SEWAwK4Lg?view_as=subscriber

Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/

We hope you find everything you need here, and are excited to share our lives with you!

Love, The Olson Family