SUNDAY FUNDAY!

Today was a very hot day, but the perfect summer day to enjoy, so we did.  The boys each stayed the night with a friend on Saturday night, so Sunday morning, Jade rode his bike home in time for church and Jordan was picked up on the way to church, but Jackson stayed at a friend's house further away, so he missed church.  Jordan had to work at our neighborhood pool and Jackson needed to pack for his trip that he's taking with a buddy of his, so I invited London and Jade to go to the zoo for a picnic. 

Pine Cove 2015

Pine Cove is a Christian camp for kids.  They have several camps to choose from but the overnight youth camp in Tyler, Texas is our absolute favorite.  The first time I sent my oldest, Jordan, was when he was in second grade.  I was very hesitant and feared him being away from me with no way of contacting him for a week.  I didn't know what type of people would be there or the influences they may have or if they would feed him yucky food and not take care of him or love him just like me!  Jordan's best buddy, Jeffery and his mom persuaded me to let him go.  Angela, (Jeffery's mom) was going to be working at one of the camps as a nurse, so I felt better about allowing him to go, knowing she would be there.  It was the BEST thing I could have done for him that summer because he learned so much about the importance of God in your life on a daily basis.  So since that summer, I have sent the all the kids as often as I could.  This year because of other camps for the boys, London was the only one to go and the boys were pretty sad about that.

Lisa Dawn Olson

WELCOME TO LISA DAWN OLSON

I started this blog as a way to showcase my life as a Christian, wife, mommy, and teacher.  I love all things healthy, laughing too much, traveling on a budget, fashion, and decorating.  New here? Take a look around – you’ll find my take on how I manage to make things work for me and my family...and of course they don't always do that!  If you like that sort of thing, stick around!

FOOD SHOPPING: The Healthy Way

So it begins!  I truly enjoy planning meals for myself and my family and desire to eat healthy, mostly organic meals.  I enjoy cooking, baking, eating out, and finding new ways to eat as many different foods as we can.  My friends and family always ask, "What's in that?" or "How do you cook like you do with all those kids and a full time job?".  After many times of writing down my recipes or sharing links to where I found one, and telling my story over and over again of how I plan our meals, food shop and cook in the time that I do with a house full of kids on a teacher budget...I have mustered up the courage to begin blogging and vlogging!  I have day dreamed about it for quite some time but discouraged myself thinking, what do I know about any of that health and nutrition stuff? I have always been one to desire health.  I don't care for medicines (though I am not against them all!) and aspire to find ways to eat the right kinds of foods and exercise in order to avoid health problems.  I told myself, it all begins with a desire to research and learn.  So I am going to take you along with me on my health journey and how I do it all with my busy life...that I wouldn't change for the world!

AND SO IT BEGINS...

DUN DA DA DUN...and the trumpets sound as I have taken the jump into blogging/vlogging!  It is something that I have toyed with in my mind and decided to just do it.  I have no idea where this will take me or the direction in which I want it to go, but I enjoy sharing with friends and family what I do in my life, so why not write it down and record it and maybe I won't repeat things so much!  As those close to me know, I am an avid story teller and love to talk.  Sometimes my stories fall on deaf ears (because I can go on and on!), but maybe in time they will be enjoyed by someone.  Since this is all so new, I have just began with what I know and my own research of how to get it all started.