rewrite the stars

This morning in the shower Mr. Osten was belting out a favorite song from The Greatest Showman...my heart melted especially with his very sweet "r" wewight the staws....

You know I want you
It's not a secret I try to hide
I know you want me
So don't keep saying our hands are tied
You claim it's not in the cards
But fate is pulling you miles away
And out of reach from me
But you're here in my heart
So who can stop me if I decide
That you're my destiny?

What if we rewrite the stars?
Say you were made to be mine
Nothing could keep us apart
You'd be the one I was meant to find
It's up to you, and it's up to me
No one can say what we get to be
So why don't we rewrite the stars?
Maybe the world could be ours
Tonight

You think it's easy
You think I don't want to run to you
But there are mountains
And there are doors that we can't walk through
I know you're wondering why
Because we're able to be
Just you and me
But within these walls
Know when we go outside
You're going to wake up and see that it was hopeless after all

No one can rewrite the stars
How can we say you'll be mine?
Everything keeps us apart
And I'm not the one you were meant to find
It's not up to you
It's not up to me
When everyone tells us what we can be
How can we rewrite the stars?
Say that the world can't be ours
Tonight

All I want is to fly with you
All I want is to fall with you
So just give me all of you

If it's impossible?

It's not impossible

Is it impossible?

Say that it's possible

How do we rewrite the stars?
And say you were meant to be mine?
And nothing can keep us apart
Cause you are the one I was meant to find
It's up to you
And it's up to me
No one can say what we get to be
Why don't we rewrite the stars?
Taking the world to be ours

You know I want you
It's not a secret I try to hide
But I can't have you
We're bound to break and
My hands are tied

Songwriters: Benj Pasek / Justin Paul

Rewrite the Stars lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

fleeting days of January

Why oh why is January almost over! I believe the world is turning too quickly...

longitude and latitude

I am getting prepared to teach longitude and latitude tomorrow. I really hope I don't mess these sweet third graders up for the rest of their lives...

valentine's day letter

Wow, the school year is flying so quickly. Just got the Valentine's letter from Osten's classroom...I can't believe the time is at hand to select and write these notes. I remember it seemed as a child that the school year was getting closer to the end when we had our Valentine's party. We are almost to the 100th day of school, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised!

basketball Saturday

Little Katie Grace had a basketball tournament today. They placed 2nd today and here is a team photo:

So proud for 6th grade gold. 2nd place today against a 7C, 7B and 6A team. Only lost by 3 to the 7B 

happy birthday Adam and Kyle Jr!

On the 26th, our charming nephews and cousins Adam Joseph and Kyle Dean turn 23. I remember the letter your Mom wrote and mailed on her way to the hospital. You were loved then and you will be loved forever.

Adam on left with graduating brother Kyle Jr. and younger brother Ryan

a little girl in Japan...

Has a doting grandpa who met her this week. Kurt flew to Okinawa to meet his newly born granddaughter KRB. She was born on the 3rd anniversary of her uncle Ross' death. Here are some photos of grandpa/granddaughter time this week:

regular mornng

So far, the day is looking pretty normal. The tooth fairy did visit and left two bright shiny dollar coins that are now being kept in a penguin piggy bank. Katie woke in the night with a sore throat so I think she is going to try and sleep in this morning and maybe go to school a little late.

Anders headed to school with his shaggy mane at 7am in the Prius. Osten is snuggling next to me right now. Brad is working on his computer--has a nice fire burning in the woodstove and has lighted two kerosene lamps to light the gentle winter morning. I woke to get Katie some honey and hot water for her throat and then went to Anytime for my morning workout. I ate my yogurt and granola, drank a cup of cold press coffee with a hint of half and half, started a load of laundry and will soon jump in the shower.

Looking forward to a fun day and presenting some engaging math lessons and seeing our Zizu students Gabby and Judy return for winter semester.

sleeping in and fresh new day

On Tuesday at 4:30am, we got calls and text from the School District of River Falls. School was delayed 2 hours. I was about to get up to go work out, but I opted to sleep until 6:30 and start my day.

It was a very short day in the classroom and the children were just amazing with the change. They are such a flexible and wonderful group! We arrived, started our morning meeting, then had a parent come in to be a mystery reader, finished up our morning meeting and headed to lunch. After recess, we practiced for our winter program and then enjoyed gym. Very short day in the classroom.

On the homefront, Osten had his lower two teeth extracted by the dentist and the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight. Brad and Katie were with him and said he was very brave during the procedure! Way to go Osten John!

Last night, Katie had a basketball scrimmage at Page arena on UW River Falls campus...what wonderful opportunities our team has been afforded!

The snowfall amounts were estimated at 11inches. Our landscape in River Falls looks nice, fresh and new and we are feeling very well rested after our snow day/late start. Here we go...

snow day!

Last night as we were losing the game (Vikings lost 7-38 to the Philadelphia Eagles), we got a great phone call from the School District of River Falls stating that we weren't going to have school today. After a small dance party with Osten, we decided it would be a great idea to watch Ace Ventura Pet Detective. I ended up falling asleep pretty early.

This morning, I woke up shortly after 8am and then got ready to walk to school. I arrived at school just as the snow was starting to fall. I spent a full day in the classroom doing some filing and preparing for the remainder of the school year.

I walked home shortly after 5pm and it took about 4 minutes longer than it normally takes and it was quite challenging to trudge through the estimated 6-12 inches of snow. Huge thanks to Charlie and Nancy for helping clear the snow from our sidewalk and driveway.

Here is a picture of the winter wonderland near the River Falls City Hall:

swim meet and Sunday Sunday Sunday

Yesterday it was just Brad and I that headed to the meet in Eau Claire. Katie and Osten preferred to stay home and relax. We arrived to see him in his 100 breaststroke where he placed 7th overall. His time was 2 seconds slower than his personal best time. His 200 freestyle relay looked good. Evidently the events we missed he swam well and their team ended up finishing 3rd overall. Eau Claire blew everyone out of the water, Hudson was 2nd and River Falls 3rd. Onalaska/Holmen placed 4th, I believe Chippewa Falls was 5th, Menomonie was 6th and 7th was Rice Lake. Superior and Wisconsin Rapids were in there somewhere too...not really sure where they ended up.

Anders is on far right--lane 6

on your mark, get set

go!

splash

on his 2nd 25

lost some speed in his second lap

overall 1:09.43--the swimmer who won was the one Anders was neck and neck with in Superior a few weeks ago.

Last night we ended up finally celebrating Katie's 12th with dungcoins (tiny cupcakes named by a 2 year old Anders) and the traditional tooting sounds.

This morning, we went to church, I taught 5th grade and we discussed being a disciple. I was noticing how difficult it was for children to concentrate during music and during class. I'm wondering if some wacky weather is on it's way in...

This afternoon Osten, Katie and I enjoyed The Greatest Showman downtown River Falls...wow, what a great movie. Osten and I agreed the dancing was the very best part of the show. Just made us want to move.

photo from September Vogue magazine

de cluttering and heading to a swim meet

This morning we are spending some time decluttering our home and then will be packing up to head to Anders' swim meet in Eau Claire. I'm sure a fun day will be had by all. Go Anders go!

warming trend

Wow! What a beautiful day in River Falls! I took a refreshing walk with my friends, Abby, Maggie, Anna and Sara for lunch today. We have started a Wellness group that walks for 15 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I love it already!

12 years ago today

My beautiful, talented, intelligent, articulate, driven, spirited, musical, dramatic, kind-hearted, inclusive, athletic, strong daughter, Katie Grace was born. She has lit up of our lives with her wit and charm. Thank you KGO. I am in love with you.

Here are some cherished photos from her first 12 years...

her band concert this evening (photo from courtesy friend Dawn)

in St. Croix at Caren's house in Bugby Hole

age 0 with big brother Anders

first birthday party with chicken cake

partying with Siri, Kyle and Kim

Jenna came to the party and slept over!

Age 4 at Chuck E Cheese with Ian, Siri and Hope

5th birthday breakfast in bed

3rd birthday with birthday buddy Libby

Silly Six month old

running into the surf at Sandy Point newly 6

celebrating her 7th with her amazing 1st grade teacher Ms. Altenberg

She's 8

Now 9

thrilled with brother's noise at 10

extinguishing 11 candles

lastly building a sandcastle at Sandy Point...wish I was there right now!

Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast

This morning our community gathered for the Martin Luther King Jr. day breakfast. The theme of the breakfast was Building Bridges for a Bold Dream.The children from our school made dream catchers for artwork on the tables. A third grader from our school read her original poem--

Building Bridges for a Bold Dream by Iris Selb

Bridges can lead to peace
Because if we didn't have bridges
We couldn't move forward.

Martin Luther King Jr. was moving forward for civil rights.
He was building his bridge on his just words and peace
and the support of his family.

If I built a bridge, I would want the workers
to have unity
And the iron poured with courage.

This bridge will hold up my bold dream.
And my dream is that things that are apart to be together.
Like Martin Luther King Jr. my bridge will hold up my Dream.

but my favorite part was hearing the River Falls High School Choir madrigals sing Bridge Over Troubled Water and Lean on Me (with We Shall Overcome) because one bass was singing in the group...Anders Cole Olson

director Carrie Loney
singers: Faith Pemble, Sophia Schmidt, Tigan Gentry, Annika Nord, Nathan Burke, Logan Armitage, Wesley Papp, Emily Meyer, Mitch Kallenbach, Anders Olson, Haley Lodge, Rachel Mann, Abbey Markey, Dana Craig and Paul Schatz.

once in a lifetime play

from the St. Paul Pioneer Press:Vikings Stun Saints

The Vikings needed a miracle, so they called a play called “Seven Heaven.”

With the Vikings seconds away from yet another devastating postseason defeat, they came up with perhaps the most dramatic victory in team history. Stefon Diggs caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum on the final play for a 29-24 victory over New Orleans in a divisional playoff game Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“Wow,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “That was a heck of a game, wasn’t it? And the good guys won.”

The Vikings advanced to play at Philadelphia next Sunday in the NFC championship game.

The Vikings, who had blown a 17-0 third-quarter lead, looked doomed when Will Lutz kicked a 43-yard field goal with 25 seconds left to put the Saints up 24-23. They faced third and 10 at their own 39 with 10 seconds remaining and no timeouts left.

That’s when Keenum lofted a pass to Diggs, who caught it along the right sideline at the New Orleans 34 while safety Marcus Williams fell lunging to make a tackle. Diggs stormed down the sideline untouched and into the end zone as the clock expired and the fans went wild.

“I hate giving out plays, but the play is called ‘Seven Heaven,’ ” said Diggs, who caught six passes for 137 yards. “As I was about to leave (the huddle, Keenum) said, ‘I’m going to give somebody a chance,’ and that somebody was me.”

Diggs was clutching the game ball afterward, which he said fellow receiver Jarius Wright “saved” for him after he let it go in the end zone and started celebrating. Diggs called it a “play that you dream about your whole life,” and said he initially was in disbelief.

So was Keenum.

happy 39 truly lovely Molly Kathleen!

Happy happy 39th birthday Molly K Olson. Wishing you tons of love and joy to you today and always.

Molly and her family this September for the Olson family photo session

in love

I would say Stuart is smitten with his sweet little angel daughter, Kesleigh Rae.

and this happened on Saturday

This weekend was full for Brad as I was out. He took Katie to a basketball tournament where they won first place. He also managed Anders who had a swim meet in St. Paul. So happy to normally have two parents able to run and attend.

Here is a photo of Katie's team...

lacrosse conference

Every year in the first weeks of January, LaCrosse hosts a Montessori conference. This was my 4th annual conference. We left right after school on Friday, drove to LaCrosse and spent the night in a lovely Hampton Inn.

We went dancing a little bit at a place called Popcorn. Several of our staff were there in attendance. Nate, Maggie, Sara, Mitch and myself were there on night one.

On Saturday morning, co-workers Abby and Michelle joined us and we arrived at UW LaCrosse and heard a wonderful keynote speaker who started an all inclusive private Montessori in Utah. They serve students with all developmental abilities. She told the story of a young girl who doctors said would never walk. Told the story of how the girl wasn't able to walk--YET. She eventually did walk after a lot of scaffolding.

Then I attended breakout sessions about being historians, introduction to the Montessori classroom and lastly one on developing visual sense to help focus and concentrate.

We then went to an escape room and tried to break out of a bank vault. It was fun, but we didn't quite make it out in an hour. Next, dinner at a place called the Root Note, darts at a couple of different bars and lastly to our hotel to swim and then sleep peacefully.

This morning we had a meeting to discuss our findings at breakout sessions, develop an action plan to implement at our school and lastly to drive home. The weather was warmer, but the snow just started falling beautifully.

Glad to be home safe and sound with my family!

yummy cafe miel from Root Note

delicious sweet potato crepe from the Root Note

working hard in our conference room

chilly walk home

I had a dental appointment right after school today. As I was relieved of bus duty, my handsome husband and dashing 7 year old came and picked me up to drive me to my dental appointment.

No cavities! My gums looked pink and healthy. I decided it was a good idea to walk home after the appointment because I wanted to get more steps in...bad choice. I was wearing flats and the snow was laying in small drifts all the way home and the wind was blowing quite briskly.

The current temperature is 8 and the wind is blowing at 15mph. So happy to have a warm and cozy home!

building energy

Today I had a sub so I could test the reading levels of my students. I got most of my children tested today, but did miss just a few.

I talked to my sub and she said the morning was very active--lots of kids just with an abundance of energy. The afternoon reading time was very peaceful though...great news! As I was observing the children leave for the day, I could just feel the energy pulsing through the room...I think it's because there is a major change in the barometer in store with a winter storm warning in effect for River Falls.

The current temperature 35 degrees.

chance meeting

Today was a fun morning of learning and as I was walking the children down to lunch, my tummy started feeling a little off so I decided to head to Subway to pick up a sandwich in the event I was just hungry.

As I entered Subway, a man stepped out of the way--I glanced over and saw my very dear former boss, Nate. I got to visit with him for a brief interlude and he asked questions about Dad and extended his sincerest sympathy. He ended up paying for my sandwich and cookie and I had to run back to school, but I had such a nice chance meeting with a person who had a very positive impact on my life.

Thanks for the nice visit Nate!

this is a photo I picked up from google images...this photo is several years old, but he still looks the same.

normal Monday

Monday was right back to normal. I left for school at 7:45am and got home at 8:30pm. I had site council and PTO so it ended up being quite a late evening. It is nice to be back to normal.

what did you say?

I realized we have a weekend to ourselves. I felt a little misplaced not running around and having every moment of a weekend designated for going somewhere. I got to watch the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service" last night and just enjoy a Sam's Club run with my husband.

Today I plan on getting a shower, going to church, doing some school work, folding laundry and doing some cleaning. I love it!

mr wil

This morning was glorious, after a late arrival home, I got to sleep until 11:11am. Then I got up and lounged. Wrote my class newsletter, ate lunch, did a light cleaning of the upstairs, started a load of laundry.

Our neighbor Mr. Wil dropped by to play with Osten. They are currently playing Star Wars and I will soon be taking some videos of them to produce a movie. They are a couple of sweeties that's for certain.

superior in a night

Never thought I would travel all the way to a Great Lake after school, go to a swim meet and drive home in the same night, but last night that's exactly what I did.

I got home from school and with Emma picked up another River Falls parent who wanted to watch his two boys compete in the swim meet at Superior High School. I texted Liana to see if she would be able to come to the meet, but she was still home in Butterfield. We left River Falls at about 4:20pm and arrived at Superior High School at 7:05pm. We arrived just in time to watch the divers and missed the first half of the swim meet.

Anders placed 4th in the 200 IM and his 200 Medley relay placed 1st in the first half.

During the 2nd half, he swam the first leg of the 200 Freestyle relay and his team finished 3rd. Lastly he swam the 100 Breaststroke. He looked really great and was neck and neck with a Hudson swimmer the whole time. He ended up swimming a 1:07.41 a whole 2 seconds faster than his personal best and placed 2nd...a bitter sweet swim.

Anders is in lane 5--the blue swim cap

time in lane 5

After the meet, Anders, Emma and I caught a late dinner at Taco John's (Anders choice) and started our journey home at 10:15. We got home to River Falls at about 12:35am. The thermometer was holding at a steady 18 below...so thankful to have a warm car to drive home!

the chill continues

Tonight I walked home from school and I felt rather warm. I realized the temperature was 3 degrees above zero. I think my body is getting used to these frigid temperatures...CRAZY.

I did notice that the skies were a little lighter as I was walking at 5:15pm. This morning the sun rose at 7:48 and set at 4:43. We gain a minute of sunlight tomorrow with the sun scheduled to set at 4:44.

As of right now, the temperature is -8...brrrrrr

student teacher

So excited that my friend Anna just started student teaching at our school. She is so bright and engaging! So happy she will be with us for the next few months.

start to finish

So I finished my redecorating project this evening when I got home from school. It was so much fun and I hope Anders feels comfy and cozy in his newly remodeled room.

after washing the wall and before paint

after paint applied and window washed (I've never washed the window in the 13 years we've lived here)

after curtains installed--energy efficient, supposed to keep heat in the room

new bedding and view from his dresser area

alternate view from dresser area

new year's day

Woke up with a blazing headache and initiative to get Anders' room squared away before school starts tomorrow. Woke at 8:30 and started the paint job at about 10. It looks so much brighter already--very exciting prospect!

Brad, Anders, Emma, Katie and Osten left to have lunch with cousin Erin and Ian at Golden Corral in Maplewood. I am sad I wasn't able to make it, but look forward to hearing from the family how everyone is doing.

new year's eve

I was able to start the morning with Mom in her apartment in St. James. We woke up, had a yummy breakfast, visited with Kurt and then got on the road at about 11:20am. We ate lunch in Jordan at Taco Bell and arrived home at about 2:30. Katie had a sleepover to get ready for so I got her to Hudson and then made a return to Walmart and picked up some items to paint Anders' bedroom wall. 

Home for dinner with Anders, Emma, Osten and Brad at Pizza Hut and then we got home to a blazing fire (thank goodness, it never crawled out of below zero) and a game of Dominion. I then went downstairs to prepare the walls for painting while Anders and Emma played two more games of Dominion. At 10:45 we started a game of Puerto Rico while Osten fell asleep on the couch. We nonchalantly rang in the new year and finished up our game at about 12:45am. 

Low key and very fun way to ring in the new year.