Week in a nutshell

So I started writing this long post about all our ramblings lately and Blogger ate it. Ugh.

I'll give you a short synopsis of our last week. We returned from the farm to our heavy quilt of snow, only to see the forecast. More snow, 6-8 inches of it, and right to our weekend travel destination. That left Wednesday last week as a unpack, launder 6 loads, repack for 5 people for four days, motel, waterpark, and food. Prep van(vacuum and wash) repack said vehicle, make supper, head to church and be on the road again (3 hours south this time) by 8pm.

We got there through little weather and enjoyed an indoor waterpark (our first experience) the entire next day as it snowed and swirled outside. AHHH...
It. was. a. BLAST!

Friday it was on to the boys State Tourney where my DH enjoyed guy time as he almost never has before. Jake, a good friend, and our BIL, unlimited basketball dawn to dusk. He so deserved some good R&R- I was thrilled for him.
The kids and I had our share of fun, too. We got to hang out with a friend and her daughter. We were on my sister's stompin' grounds and she graciously navigated us through the traffic to the Children's Museum, Noodles & Co., a HUGE Kid's Expo (thus the rock climbing). My Mom also joined us (treating us to meals out galore) and brought the kid/adult ratio to one on one- we had a lot of fun. The only bummer of the weekend was that the friends we traveled with were sick, one after another.

We got home Sunday and after two and a half whole days home are hitting the road again this afternoon- this time to a conference that just so happens to be 30 minutes from my parents house... So a short visit to mom and dad's- thanks to the school. We'll be back tomorrow night- just enough time to see the boatload of color they've doused their house with over the past few weeks!

So- the road trips continue (no complaints here!) and the Dahls will check back in over the weekend.

What kind of flower am I ?!?

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist. People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you. You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words. Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What Flower Are You?

(And then somedays I'm a Venus Flytrap!)

  

The Quilt!

I left home Sunday night with the two little kids and headed to Jake's parents.
My Mother-in-Law, Joyce, graciously offered to make us a quilt, and it was time to begin! I have never done quilting, so I listened, then jumped in- cutting and sewing and here is (most of) the top! I brought it home to see how wide we want the remaining strips to be. (Our current quilt is sticking out from under it in the picture) Joyce and I had a LOT of fun (Despite the fact that Noah and Jake were home for TWO SNOW DAYS IN A ROW! Doesn't it figure? I leave town and THEN they get 18 inches of snow and two snow days!!!) and I don't think we did bad for a day and a half! Can't wait for it to be all the way done. I'll keep you "posted." hee hee


  

Enjoying a mild Wisconsin winter...

 













Some days I wish I could just wrap 'em up and keep them this way forever! 

A newsy update...

Oh, how time flies! First of all tomorrow marks one year of Doodling with the Dahls...We're a lively bunch!

Secondly, I thought I just posted a day or two ago, and here a week has already passed. Sorry.

Life rolls on. I am thoroughly enjoying the Bible Study we started at church, "Living Your Life As a Beautiful Offering" by Angela Thomas. She touches on so many basic areas that I have head knowledge of, but not heart knowledge. I'd definitely recommend it.

We're enjoying our first basketball-free week! Last night Jake came along to the last night of swimming lessons! It was so nice to have him there! Noah and Bella both passed to the next level, and Doodle did incredibly well for his first time in Level 2.

School with Doodle is going well. His reading improves each week! We are working double time this week as I intend to take the week off next week (a "spring break" of sorts). The little ones and I are headed to Jake's parents to work on the quilt and visit for 2 1/2 days. Wednesday will be a big laundry/packing day and then early Thursday morning we're headed to the state tournament (with a night at an indoor waterpark resort on the way!)

Noah's homeroom teacher is back after his paternity leave. Noah came home from school with two big folders full of corrected homework and did extremely well. He also brought home a "High Five" award for good behavior. We're still really happy with the choice to put him into public school this year. I miss him terribly during the day, but see him growing and maturing in a lot of ways and he hasn't been "ruined" by his peers just yet! :)

Bella was up most of the night Sunday night with a sore throat and ear. I brought her in to the clinic and it took everything in me to hold her as the doctor tried to peer into the sore ear to no avail. She is one tough cookie. The doctor asked if we had been swimming as the tenderness indicated an outer ear infection. Ah, yeah. Twice a week now for a month! Her throat was very red and swollen, he could see the ear pain, though not internally, so he gave her drops and Amoxicillin and she is a different girl. Our kids have all had numerous ear infections in their first 3 years, and I've been trying to hold off bringing them in at the first complaint, but a night where neither Jake, Bella or I slept was too much. I'm thankful it will be better by next weekend!

Well, just a "newsy" post, but I've gotta run. There's a pie and coffee cake in the oven and Turkey Phillies to be grilled!

She's singing...

Basketball season is officially over.
Banquet next week, and the marathon has ended.
Ahhhh...

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Am I alone, or do others feel it should be illegal to have those #!$?%! (darn) TOENAIL ADS running on ones sidebar while online?! I break out into a full palm sweat every time Lamasil pops up... and quickly refresh / reboot in hopes that I get "scantily-dressed-singles-ad-girl" instead of yellow toenail being pried... ugh.

Why can't Tide advertise on my sidebar? Cheerios?

Doodle, Doodle, Doodle...

Those of you who know our Doodle in person KNOW how he pops in, blurts something out, then is off to the next thing while you are left to wonder...

I hustled the kids out on this beautiful spring-like day (after -20, 34 feels like spring!) and suddenly Doodle burst in, "MOMMY!"

"What!?"

"I FOUND AN EGG SHELL!"

(I closely examine his find, yep, it's an eggshell.) "oh, yeah..."

"Mom, I found it by a TREE!"

"Really?"

"YAH!"

"I don't know, Doodle, it's kind of cold for birds to be laying eggs yet..."
(thinking, "Sweetheart, that is definitely last week's breakfast pulled out of our trash can by those wayward crows.")

"Well, (huge snarfle of snot being sucked back in... arm swipe to nose),
Prolly a rabbit." (SLAM, he's out again)

Oh, my. I don't think I'm doing his education justice. Time to talk mammals/birds.

(I am rocking from laughter and he is whipping around the loop of our driveway on his bike. He saw me laughing and stopped, waved and laughed with me... Oh, I love this kid!

Nearing the end...

We are nearing the end of the basketball season. This is the last week of the regular season, and next Tuesday is the first regional game. It's been a long haul lately... Not many wins for the Bulldogs. I admire Jake's* character through it all.

We're doing well so far in our busy week... Yes, it's only Tuesday, but one day at a time, right? :) Today we have doctor appts. Swimming lessons this evening. I had a clean up/vacuum session upstairs and have one drawer I need to organize before lunch. I desperately need to get to thank you notes for Bella's birthday gifts! Tonight? Maybe during swimming lessons...

The bookends each got invited to separate sleep-overs on Friday, so Doodle and I are headed out on a date! He whispered, "How about Mc Donalds, Mom?" I'm thinking,"How about Mc Donalds, then grocery shopping, Dood?" :) Practical, I know... that's me.

Have a good week, all. I'm not sure how many times I'll get back to blogging this week!

*spell check didn't recognize "Jake's" and suggested maybe "jack***" is what I intended! Nope, not my man! :)

A Whirlwind of a Week to Come

Ahhh... Though it is still frigid, a sunny, laid-back Sunday is just what is needed in the Dahl house. Jake and Bella are upstairs napping,& Doodle and Noah are in the basement playing away. I had some quiet time in the new bible study I'm working on. I think I may sleep a bit before I go out to work.

Here's the run-down of our week:

Monday- by God's grace we have vacation for President's Day! In the evening Jake has a home game


Tuesday-Pediatrition appts. for the bookends (Bella and Noah) about 30 minutes to the south mid-afternoon, Jake has parent/teacher conferences 4-8, kids have swimming lessons 20 minutes to the north in the evening

Wednesday- Pinewood Derby in the evening... Jake has late practice, so won't be there until the end.

Thursday- Chaperone Noah's class to "Seussical" after lunch, Coference with his classroom teacher at 4, Reading teacher at 4:15, Jake conferences 4-8, Swimming lessons at 7.

Friday- Home Game

Throw in all the misc. and we've got a crazy week on tap!
I think I'll be taking that nap now...

Happy Birthday, Bella!

Can it be that four years have already past?

You've taught me a lot about being a mommy. You've taught me patience I didn't know I needed, but God did. You've taught me to chill out over the small stuff (I'm still working on this one). You've taught me that pink isn't so bad afterall.

We love you, angel. Happy birthday.

 
 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Hope "Grandma K" is having a happy birthday! We love you, Mom!
Here are photos for you of Bella (grandma's b-day is the 13th, Bella's the 14th)
opening the very special gift Grandma made for her- handknit baby clothes. They will always be cherished!

My super power fantasy...

Noah posed an interesting question to me on the way home from school yesterday...

"Mom, if you could pick one super power to have, what would you pick?"

Now we've chatted about this before. There are perks to a lot of the imaginable super powers, but after considering pros and cons I've decided what I'd like.

I'd like the ability to think about a task and have it done. (Tasks only, mind you, I don't want all my thoughts coming true "just like that!" Sometimes my thoughts are a bit rash, I must confess!)

I'd have to be more contemplative about what I think, but can you imagine the spare time you'd have on your hands? Of course my super power would know exactly how I want to have the job done (unlike certain offspring) and would do each detail just as I would have- without taking up my whole day!

Just imagine, sitting there, and thinking, "Dishes, laundry, sort kid's clothes, vacuum, wash the floor..." Poof! Time to blog, time to scrap, time to exercise, time to shop... all those things I put off or just don't have time for!

I'm working on patenting this once I get it down...

 


Some of you may wonder, "What in the world is that?" Well... someday it will be a quilt! My MIL graciously offered to make us a quilt- so I went to work with moss green, barn red and plum in mind... I think I'm going to like it!!! I'll post the results in the future! 

Four jobs I've had:
1. Front Desk Girl in my dorm at college
2. Porta-Potty cleaner (yes, I'm serious... like in a real paid position)
3. Activities coordinator in an Alzheimer's/dementia unit
4. Red Lobster server

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Sweet Home Alabama

2. Grease

3. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

4. Remember the Titans


Four places that I've lived:

1. Eastern Wisconsin

2. Northwestren Wisconsin

3. Scotland (for a semester)

4. (Ok, that's really all...)



Four TV shows that I love:

1. Law and Order SVU

2. Dateline

3. Clean Sweep

4. Divine Design


Four places I've vacationed:

1. the Bahamas

2. Jackson, Wyoming

3. San Francisco

4. Europe

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. Chicken Enchiladas

2. Shrimp Scampi (or any shrimp, really)

3. Stir fry

4. Halibut

Four sites I visit daily:

1. Hotmail

2. MSN news

3. Blogger

4. Ask Jeeves


Four places I would rather be right now:

A little warmth would be good, but home with my kiddos is where I want to be.

Four bloggers I am tagging:

1. You

2. You

3. You

4. And You !



If you have as much fun being "It" as I do, please play along, and let me know you did, okay ?

Update

I thought an update was in order on the dishwasher... I think it's going to make it. Last night we gave it a whirl and though there was some leakage, we deduced that it was residual effects of the Dawn (I would have never imagined the havoc a 1/8 cup of Dawn could reek!!!).

We had a great day yesterday with some friends- together getting to know a new family in our church. I find myself so comfortable sometimes in the day-to-day. Calling friends, keeping up on what needs to be done, staying in my comfort zone... but when I do, I'm missing out on the blessings God has for reaching out. I remember being the "new people." What a blessing it was to be invited into someones' home and get to know them past "Hello." It's twice the blessing to be the host.

Today is sunny. A warm cuddly Doodle just crawled on my lap. I've got two cups of coffee in me already- Not a bad start for a Monday!

We had a tought night at the Dahl house... Jake had a homegame and as the time drew near I debated whether or not we were up to it. The kids are starting swimming lessons next week which will interfere with our game attendance, so I decided we better go.

We got there, and sat alone (which was really OK, MH... despite the article), the team was shooting poorly and losing. By halftime they were down more and Bella (who was tired, yes, and had ear trouble the night before) started to be a pill. It ended with her crying and yelling,"I want my Daddy!" We got coats on and I carried her (protesting) to the van. Ugh. She was naughty, but because it was such an embarrassing situation, I didn't handle it correctly, either. Ugh.

I'm glad it's a fresh day. I could really use a dose of sunshine, but it looks like snow instead. We're looking forward to a family night tonight... heading south to have our taxes done. I think we all need some Daddy time... the kids with theirs and me with Mine.

Houston, we have a problem...

 


Ok, so we bought a used portable dishwasher about 6 years ago. It uses approximately 200 gallons of water per load and is so loud that you'd think a shuttle was lifting off, but it's done it's job when I don't feel like standing at the sink and doing mine. In that same spirit of laziness I saw we were out of dishwasher detergent and thought, surely a bit of Dawn would work this one time...

The above photo states our problem well.(Actually, You can't tell as much from the photo, but the white mass in front of Bella is a pile of bubbles in a puddle of water). That was AFTER I sopped up four towels worth of liquid. BUT- I'm not sure that the Dawn alone did it... doesn't it seem like a seal kind of thing that would cause massive amounts of water to emit from the bottom of the said piece of junk appliance?

One other clue that something may be out of whack was the noise- or lack of it. Usually that baby rocks with a rythmic pulse that can be heard in any corner of the house. There wasn't the same gusto today. During the draining parts there's usually a forceful waterfall of gushing water and today there was a lazy stream.

So what do you think? Was it the Dawn or is our gem of a "dishmaid" on her way out? (Is that a cheesy "Trading Spaces" transition or what?!?) 

The End of January...

I'm sitting in the quiet with my "Life is Good" mug full of coffee (PTL) and marveling at the fact that it is February. Wow. We got a couple inches of snow, so the Lake (formerly known as our driveway) is now a white expanse again.

(Little footsteps, Honey Nut Cheerios poured, wild hair tucked behind ears, prayer... I'm back)

The end of January flew... We got back from HM's (still no word of baby), and have been attending Jake's games on a regular basis. The Dawgs have won the last two (PTL) and last night Jake took the team to an area game to scout and have some off-court fun. He really had a good time and the guys said multiple times, "We've gotta do this again!"

Noah didn't have school the 23rd, so we took a Mom/kid hike:

 


This past weekend brought us to Jake's family farm, where we got to see the new barn in working order. They just built a free-stall barn and milking parlor. It was really cool... and milking went SO fast- it's just slick! The boys were in there helping put units on! We all had fun- especially Jake and his brother Josh.
We are all so happy for him!

Jake turned 33 on the 30th (Sorry, no photo)... and we got to celebrate with a beautiful dinner at Canoe Bay, where I am usually the one serving, not being served! It was a delicious meal- and the lengthy, uninterrupted conversation was wonderful!

Well, I now have the Cheerio-eater on my lap and not only does she want to "be the space bar presser" but her wild hair is in my mouth, nose... we've gotta go shower...