Saturday, April 30, 2005

Absolute Silence

My dear husband packed up the troops last night and headed to his parents for the weekend. They were a truckful of energy when they left! Everyone, driver included, couldn't wait to get there as it is planting season, and that means tractor rides. Bella was beside herself... Grandpa Jerry is very close to her heart!
I am scheduled to work for a couple hours tonight, so I am home- in the most silent house I have ever heard. I have a stack of chick flicks and a closet to organize. So, if you call today, I just might not answer. I would hate it long term, but am going to enjoy my day of silence...

(For those of you joining me from balmy regions, it is snowing outside right now. Tiny floating flakes, but snow none the less. Yes, April 30th.)

Friday, April 29, 2005

"When you're the best of friends..."

Noah spent the day at school with Jaker on Thursday (Bring your child to work day) and the two younger kids had a blast together. There were wrestling matches, games and lots of breathless giggles! Posted by Hello

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Try this out!



Your Linguistic Profile:



80% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Yankee

0% Dixie

0% Midwestern


Stranger in the Night!

Bella has a terrible habit of crawling into our bed at night. Jake and I are both beyond the infant stage of sleeping lightly and hearing every sound, so we rarely know she's there until morning. Except for the two mornings she has had an accident in OUR BED!
This, very fresh in our minds, prompted a preslumber chat with our darlin' dumpling about how "she has her own bed for a reason, and it has a plastic mattress that Mommy can just wipe right off if she has an accident. Mommy and Daddy's mattress is quite different, and needs lots and lots of work and attention if she has an accident in our bed." On the chat went with a blunt moral, You may not come in our bed at night! Call for us if you need us!
So, we all slept soundly, and very still, evidently. Jake woke to an elbow in the ribs (from a pajamaed prowler later identified as Noah), "Dad, move over, it's not Ellie!"

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Our little woodsmen, fueling the fire. Posted by Hello

Yellow tub water

Last night we burned a pile of brush in the side yard, and it was kind of misty/rainy, so I hauled Ellie in and stuck her in the tub. We had a pack of Crayola tub tints, so I broke it open and blindly tossed one of them in the water. Moments later I turned to find a bright yellow tub. Now kids in yellow water only leave me thinking one thing, but no, 'twas true... Crayola makes Yellow Tub Tints!!!

This past Sunday we celebrated the first anniversary of "stuck in the truck" day. Just one year ago our precious little girl stuck her entire hand down the stake pocket of her Daddy's pick up truck and proceeded to poke one chubby little finger out of a hole in the side of the pocket. The poor imp just couldn't pull her little hand out! We eventually had an ambulance, fire truck, police car and rescue squad SUV in our driveway, and it took a sheetmetal worker on the fire department to cut open the side of Jake's pick up to identify the little finger caught in the hole. They then cut out the stake pocket and were able to get her free. She didn't have anything but a little red mark around her finger and a look like, "What?" on her face. What a memory!

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

A new cousin...

Praise the Lord!
We got word, and photos, of our new niece/cousin today!
Jake's sister Jamie and her husband, Scott are adopting a daughter from China. We now have a beautiful face to put with our prayers. She will be coming home in about six weeks. What a sweet blessing it is to add on to our family in such a special way!

We had a rainy day in the Northwoods. The kids spent the day indoors with some friends. I had my every-third-year mending day. It really took me almost the whole day. NOT for quantity, mind you, because most of the things I had set aside to mend... well, the kids grew out of in the meantime. SO, after a good load down to the garage sale bin, I had ten items and yes, it took me a good chunk of the day. I am a bit rusty, but threading a machine is like riding a bike, and by late afternoon I had a neat little pile of (crookedly) hemmed, and repaired (with the addition of small blood spots) clothes. Penciled in another good mending day for 2008 and we are set.

We had a wonderful surprise tonight when my college roommate, Holly, called and said she was in town! We got to spend the evening together while her daughter Hannah played with the kids. Ellie was very quiet and observant of Hannah...not sure what to think of a girl who could go toe to toe with her in the director's seat- especially on her turf! They always play well together, and we all had a fun night. Holly and I have a unique friendship where we share a brain... scary for her, I know, but what a gift she is!

The kids are sound asleep, and I am headed that direction! g'night...

Friday, April 15, 2005

Our Mr. Photogenic at the playground yesterday... Posted by Hello
This was my view of Ellie from the computer chair as I typed today's entry. Go zoom! Posted by Hello
Ellie playing jumprope with her Daddy and her John Deere trike! Posted by Hello

TGIF

A weekend is upon us!
Ellie wanted her hair in "three braids, cause I'm three!" So, we french braided three braids. She looked a bit Jamaican.

From there we dove into a bit of a crazy day. Leah had a tough morning...she is generally a very good baby, and had a stretch this morning where she cried like never before. I held her, tried swaddling her, laid her down and rubbed her tummy- nothing seemed to help until I fed her a little bit and she went to sleep.
That kind of set the mood for the morning. Doodle needed to go to kindergarten screening, though when we got there we didn't actually need to have it done because he was screened last year. (One step forward, two steps back...) So we bustled on to church! It was our last day of CHAMPS (Our homeschool group). We had a pinata for our Spanish class. Very fun, and VERY full of candy. I think Noah nabbed about a third of what was in it.

Then home where, Ahhh... We're settling into a family evening. The boys and Jake are playing baseball and frisbee (beginning to be an evening tradition). I just finished cleaning up supper and Ellie is trying on many pairs of shoes before she makes the final decision for her evening apparel (I love having a daughter!). Jake and I have a stack of movies for tonight- yes, I'll fall asleep in the middle, but he puts up with me and will try to carry me up after they are over (I will wake up and protest!) Then in the morning I am going to head out on the chain of lakes to give kayaking a try with some friends (I'll keep you posted!).
I'm going to go out now and spend the waning daylight hours with my precious family...g'night!

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Ahhhh...

Noah and I finished first grade yesterday. Today was our first official day of summer vacation. It was blissful. We made Stone Soup for supper (Stone soup was one of Noah's last reading stories, and with it, he got to make up a recipe on his own. We used the same ingredients, I tweaked some of the proportions e.g. 10 green peppers?! and I must say, he did pretty well!), played outside in the 65 degree weather, leisurely went to story time at the library, and got all of my winter/summer clothes switched.

I had my first official Soccer Mom meeting tonight. It was not nearly as high stress and competitively tension-filled as I prepared myself for. I am the Uniform mom for the Falcons, but I think I'll be OK.

Bedtime has come to the Dahl house, time to brush lots of little teeth. good night...

Monday, April 11, 2005


There! CinderEllie is done! Posted by Hello

Noah and his boy necklace... Posted by Hello

The boy necklace

Ellie got several shiny bead necklaces in her Easter basket this year, and for some reason her cool older brother took a liking to them. He started to wear them daily, without any shame(Note the photo of him doing math). When we headed out, I would try to nonchalantly suggest he take them off. One day he was heading to music class at the public school and I asked him to take a pearly pink one off before we left. He objecting, claiming,"But I really like it!" So, we made a deal... "Mommy would love to get you a boy necklace. Would you like that?" He grinned and shortly after that I got him a boy necklace, which he wears with joy 24 hours a day.

Sunday, April 10, 2005


Doodle in his everyday giddup. Posted by Hello

Noah working hard at math. Posted by Hello

Bella helped me scrub the porch floor in a dress and galoshes :) Posted by Hello

We're back!

We had a little password trouble for awhile, but we are back.

My parents visited this weekend. Mom and I pulled an all day shopping excursion on Saturday, topped with a trip to the Olive Garden and Coldstone Creamery... ahhh...
The kids played hard with Papa K and Daddy. Doodle learned to ride his bike withOUT training wheels. He was beaming with pride! Bella is in her "four-outfits-a-day" stage...dirty girl... which poses a problem in the laundry department.

We started a new adventure last week watching "Baby Leah" four days a week! She is a sweet baby and so far it is going very well.

Noah and I will finish first grade early this week! We will keep you posted! He is doing very well and looks forward to giving public school a try next year.

And I will leave you with some photo updates