Back to school this week and all that normal stuff...

Except Jockey had a field trip to the fire station. I was torn between my desire to get a bunch of errands done without the cumbersome nature of carting around two kids, and being a "good" mom and going on the field trip. In the end, I was surprisingly able to do both! That felt great, and the additional list of accomplishments for the day was long and it was a wonderful day.

Jockey really liked the fire station. What does it mean when he asks two questions: 1) Do you have any trophies? and 2) Where is the kitchen? He did not want to walk up and touch the fireman after he got all of his equipment on, but he really liked climbing into the ambulance and the fire truck. Other than just showing the kids around, I really got the sense that they were trying to put to rest any fear of a suited up fireman... I guess in the unfortunate event that there is a fire, the kids don't run from those meant to help. For the most part, Jockey was really good the entire field trip, and that is a blessing, I was worried that he wouldn't listen and would be disruptive to the classes' experience. And, hey, no rain as we walked back and forth, what more could you want?!

The boys enjoyed their first swim lesson on Monday afternoon. And their second is this afternoon. They are really looking forward to it. Although, from what I hear, Jockey isn't very cooperative in his class and Mike will have to go with him this afternoon. And Caleb is the best in his class! This last weekend, Jockey stop having to just hang out at the stairs and can swim short distances. He says "I don't use the stairs. But Grammy is very important to me, cause I don't use stairs." Hopefully the swim lessons will give them both skills and a boost up for the summer ahead.

We've decided on a pool party for Caleb's birthday. 5/17 @ 2pm @ club's pool. I am cutting corners and made invitations so that it was just one less thing to spend money on. We are only doing light snacks and cake. And I'm trying to find inexpensive "favors" that the kids will enjoy. Still it's expensive for a party.
Of course, expense matters even more now! We traded in the red truck (plus additional funds) on a 2000 white Ford Excursion. It's ALL PAID FOR!!!! no payments! yipee. I had to give up over 6 months of my income, and the $ that Mike was holding for a present for me, AND the Tax return we were getting AND Mike has to work for about 14 hours for his Dad (probably something he would have done out of niceness anyway). BUT the benefits: 1/2 the mileage that the red truck had, rated to tow 9000 lbs rather than the red trucks 7200 (which was just about maxed by our trailer), same gas mileage as the red truck so no change there, the exterior dimensions of this vehicle are within 1-2" inches in size as the red truck so still the same parking, New tires, the red truck started ticking and clunking right after the dealership test drove it so that means something was coming down the pike, etc. But did I mention Paid For!! Mike questioned why I worked and what I was doing with the money, I hope this settles it a bit for him in his mind. I've also garnered a few promises/conditions (in written contract), that will ensure that we are better off than where we were before Sunday. The best part, I think God gave me the answer to the who nervousness question about $ and change which I hate: Mike has to go alone and he has to be so confident that he doesn't need me there to decide. Which in turn causes him to be more objective and meticulous in his perspective. As always, God's got the answers.

Ok, time to get the little buddies out the door for school.

Just a short update since I'm not feeling verbose....

The boys are still away, and fortunately I've (and Mike) have gotten a bunch done. Not as much as we want, but.... some is better than nothing.

I have heard good things about 3 hour swims, Caleb's good behavior, Jockey being a rascal.

The Ladies Tea went well. I realize that I may put on a pretty spread, but I still subconsciously function with the theory that if your arm works reach for the tea pot yourself. I got the first round taken care of, but the refills were occassional from me, and I was assisted by Kristina and Mary twice. But hey, the conversation was good, the food was good, none of the plates broke, the silver is all accounted for, and they all loved the decorations and favors. I had a great time with the details: using my cricut machine (thanks mom again, still) to make place cards, I always love making flower arrangements, I even glitterized push pins to hold the placecards to the rose-holding-apples. I came home WORN OUT, but I still had to wash everything and put it away.

Here are a few pictures. ( I realized when I down loaded the card, I haven't shared pictures for a long time, I'll have to correct that soon.)

Kristina hadn't yet shown up, but she was there too.

And other pictures:

Clamming:

You can see, they started out interested, and then moved on to other sights like green sea worms

Ponies, Pool, and McD's... a big day:

Jockey DID get to ride the real pony too, but he liked this one just as much.

That's all for now. It's time to get some more things done.

Quick post in chopping language:

Caleb's @ School right now. We'll pick him up, take him and Jockey to Woodinville (I'm making PBJ for them to be garnished w/ delightful oranges) and drop them off with Grammy. She will take them until Papa Dahl gets off work and they will then leave to go to Chelan. Caleb's really excited and looking forward to everything. From the sounds of it, it sounds like he is going to rule the roost this weekend. (glad it's not my roost, he's been in a power struggle with me over this one, sigh.) Regardless, I'm sure that everyone will have a great time, they will do lots of things, swim etc. Thank you Grammy and Papa for taking them.

So while the mice are away, what do the cats do? BUSY BUSY BUSY. I have several errands to run, centerpieces to make (I'm proud of the inspiration I had to turn and apple&rose&ribbon&paper into a placecard), I have Devonshire Cream and Lemon curd to make, stuff to haul to the church, set up of course. Decide what to wear for tomorrow, haul more stuff over tomorrow, be a smiling hostess, bring it all home and clean it all up and put it all away. Attend church, and somewhere in the midst of it all.... Mike would like some of my attention too (and of course, watch the NFL draft... hopefully that will keep him occupied a bit.)

So I've got them all packed up and just running through my head over and over again all the things that they will need, where to find them, and all the things that I need to do and not to forget too. The sun is beautiful out and I'm going to feed off the brilliant energy as long as I can!

Have a great weekend.

Caleb's turn...

Caleb developed a cough yesterday and my8:30pm he had a fever. Thus, he is home sick today... although he is without a fever now, the school rules still state no fevers within 24 hours. He does still have a bit of a cough though. But I'm hoping that he'll be over this stuff quick.

However, Joshy and I look more sick with the runny nose, sneezing and snuffles... ALLERGIES, gotta love the nice weather, but the dry weather floats the pollen more than wet weather.

So with a sicky, we will probably stay pretty close to home today.

Last Friday at MOPS, there was a speaker whose topice focused on Training your Children in Chores. I really enjoyed it, and chores have more benefits than just me getting help. They will gain a sense of responsibility towards our home, a sense of their value as contributors to the home, a self of self-confidence in their success, they will be better team players as employees, they will be better spouses to learn how to clean and help in their future homes. Tips from the lecture: Boys are more difficult to train, make chores a routine rather than what can be perceived as an interruption to their life, set perceivable goals and consquences, and the most difficult part for me... taking the TIME (1 hours for a bathroom, sigh) to teach and make them learn rather than doing it in the fast 15 minutes (My mom was a house cleaner, I know how to work good and fast) and just getting it done with. It is so tempting to just do it, get it done and move on... but I really can't if this lesson is important. So we embarked on learning how to clean on Saturday. It took a really long time, a bit of frustration, and yes they are difficult, easily distractable boys. They were all about getting the rag wet (rather than the instructed damp), spraying the cleaner because that's cool, and moving on to the next before completing the first task. That's boys for you. I really did my best to reign them in. If I left it to them, they would be standing on the counter twirling dripping wet rags in the air in a fog of airborn cleaning chemicals. And cheering and squealing with glee. YET, I had to keep them on task and the cleaner used in an appropriately way. It worked sort of. Hard lesson from the lecture #2: Don't follow right behind them and to it right, they will see that they aren't successful and that will stunt their desire to learn/sense of accomplishment. So maybe tomorrow when they are at school there will be a quick tidy up. But at least we have begun the process. I can then give myself permission to dream of the cleanliness of my home in the future, or them rooming together in an apartment at 22 and 24 that's isn't close to being condemed as a environmental hazard or waste dump.

Jockey saw the neighbors have a party to include a pinata. It must be the sticks and whacking, but now that is what he desires for his party. Of course, Caleb will jump in the bandwagon too. What is it about pinatas that make me want to phrase an invite like "full face helmets will be provided"? Instead for Caleb, we will be having a pool party. And Jockey has informed us that he wants to go to Chuck E Cheese (without friends, this might be managed for him).

Jockey is practically living in the Buzz Lightyear costume (he calls himself Jockey Buzz). Caleb has condescended to wearing at least pants in the backyard now that he is older. Their greatest joy is to play with the rabbit still, or climb on the swingset to the highest possible point... and then talk to the neighbors if applicable. I just shake my head. Especially when I hear "Daddy, she's not wearing any clothes." I HOPE he is talking about the 3yr old, not the mom over there.

Ahh, summer.
TTFN

What a week...

We went clamming last week-Friday, I think we caught a cold... Jockey and I that is. We came own sickish on Easter, missed church sadly. Jockey missed school on Tuesday, which meant that I had to postpone work to Thursday. He and I are both on the mend, although still suffering from allergies. Caleb's doing well at school, although he forgot his backpack all week. MOPS this morning, which turned out well, lots of people enjoyed the craft. This weekend not that many plans, but hopefully a little calmness will ensue.
Next week promises to be busy, I'm going to host a table for the Ladies Tea. It's a stretch for me, but I think I can wash and transport my china/silverware which is at least 50% of the task. And that weekend, it looks like the guys are going to go camping, so I will have the time needed for the set up, prep and actual attendance. And if there is any scrap of time left in the weekend, then it is time to work on Caleb's 12 scrapbook project.
Caleb's birthday is also coming on quickly. He's decided a pool party, I've started designing the invites (a cost cutting device so that we can focus on the favors/fun at the party.) He's just going to be happy to have the buddies there, everything else after that is gravy in Caleb's mind.

Well, time for a late nap, missed that all week and it's caught up with me. The boys will be delighted to be allowed to sleep in each other's bedroom for the next two nights. Gotta love sleep overs.
So that's the tales of the "dahl-nut"-shell.

Thought this was fun to try...

Thank Goodness for Little Boys ...


GOTTA LOVE LITTLE BOYS
Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day,
picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.
The man at the counter asked the older boy, 'Son, how old are you?'
'Eight,' the boy replied.
The man continued, 'Do you know what these are used for?'
The boy replied, 'Not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him. He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now, he can't do either one.'


Papa Bill forwarded this to me... fits perfectly, right up until the time Caleb convinces Jockey to lay on the swing set glider, pins him down with a hippty hop and glides while jumping on the hippty hop with a wailing Jockey below...

How to start a weekend?

Well, we picked up Caleb and headed up to Camano Island to attempt to find clams. I say attempt because that is exactly what we did... attempt. We tried 3 differenct beaches and looked for two others... visited the state park. Really we came back with a bucket of mussels, and a bit of time spent with Great-papa Severson (who is for all of you keeping track... 95, turns 96 this coming New Year's Eve!) He told some great stories: the big Seattle earthquake in '49 that broke the water tank/tower loose from the Fredrick & Nelson building and flooded the store; Big a cook for 3 years and the 3 nights the hookers came in and ordered Omlettes; that it was Watermelon rind (the part between the juice red and the outside green peel) that my Grandmother would pickle; the trailers that they owned; my great aunt Muryt (murt) who loaned them the money for their trailer; how he got his Camano lot for $1000 and his mobile home for $6800 (imagine a whole home for that!!!!) and delivered all the way from near Tacoma for only $75!!! Pardon what might seem uninteresting to you, but I'm writing these stories here and now so that I won't forget them and will be able to tell my sons when I'm older.

So anyway, we cheated a bit and bought clams and came home and ate them with our harvested mussels. Good. Dipped in butter just the way they should be. (P.s. GG Dahl, guess what I found Jockey eating this morning... butter straight from the butter dish as he sat and watched TV!)

We stopped at our church for the Good Friday celebration. VERY unique and very cool. We entered the sanctuary and it was very dim. There were donated/loaned trees & shrubs everywhere. The first stop on the path was a fountain that we were offered the touch and remember that Christ is the Living water that quenches the soul... the second stop was a cross all lit up, but the had huge stamps and we could go up and stamp the cross with the word "FORGIVEN", and then we could enjoy worship songs and then the last stop was a room with communion. Caleb was explained the whole meaning of communion as we listened to the songs and he decided that that was what he wanted to do. So Mike took Caleb to take his first communion. Caleb is very excited about it. While that went on, I took Jockey to the parking lot and he got a hand to bum talking to for disruptive, disrespectful behavior (it's been going on for 3 days now).

Now we are settling in for the night and trying to find a bit of peace and quiet. Tomorrow I work briefly, we have the Egg Hunt and then we will see...
Have a great RESURRECTION Sunday celebration!!!!

A Pretty Smooth Week

We visited the park twice this week trying to use the weather to the best of it's ability, and it helped the boys run off some energy! They promptly came home, ate lunch and began to play more in the backyard! I remember the times when I even slept outside as a kid, so those days/years must be approaching. They don't care how dirty they get, somehow dirt is just something that happens that Mom and the shower can remedy quickly, and they love the shower too!

Caleb his begun nagging again about his birthday, and it is almost time to actually start planning something. He's got some CRAZY ideas. All red frosting cake, hello, aren't you the kid we try to keep away from food coloring?! Maybe a Homemade Strawberry glazed cake, of course, that would call upon my less than stellar talents of cooking... but if it's what he wants, I can try to impress a 6 yr old once a year. As long as he's happy and it's not expensive. Joshy is even starting to get excited over the friends Caleb is talking about, AND planning his own birthday party too... sigh.

Easter is this weekend. The Egg Hunt is Saturday Morning. Church of course on Sunday. If I can talk myself into taking my children out on Friday, there is a unique walk through experience to commemorate Good Friday and the rest at our church. Mike is craving Clams and wants to drive up and get some. I guess a clam permit can eventually pay for itself in clams, ammoritized over several meals it should become affordable by the end of clam season. I'm sure the kids will love digging them, it's like hunting for buried treasure in a dirty way... dirt, boys, seafood= perfection in their world. I work tomorrow, and briefly on Saturday; Mike works an extra shift Friday morning. I'm hoping the weather cooperates for the egg hunt... And I hope that my kids go forth and hunt with boldness and come back with lots of eggs rather than a basket of full of disappointment.

So that's our week and our coming plans. Hope you all have blessed weekend of rememberance of our saving Lord.

Spring break week had just flown by!

We came back from a pleasant (though a bit wet) weekend from Anacortes on Monday. Anacortes was nice on Sunday, but we still kept busy on the rainy Saturday. Mike and I went to the St. Mary's rummage sale and filled up a bag full of stuff for $3.00 (by item count, everything turned out to under .10 Each.) Mike took the boys swimming with the Skoog family. I took the opportunity to let the dogs run a bit in the dog park, visit a second hand store on the hunt for books (note: cheaper prices than used bookstores, but hit and miss success if looking for something specific), and picked up a luxury coffee for Mike and I to warm ourselves up with because the cold is seeming to seep into our bones. The other highlight of the weekend, Thank you Peter and Lynda, was the indulgence in the seafood buffet on Friday night. The crab was delicious, firm and sweet, and quite a breed variety to sample. The kids were barely containable in their excitement the moment that they heard the words crab and casino. They are crab crazy, gee wonder where they get that from?!

Tuesday, Grammy treated the boys to a Pump it Up session in which they played with cousin Tessa. It was very fun, and worked well to get their wiggles out. We ate lunch (again thank you Grammy), and then met Mike for a bit of swimming at the club. Quite a full day!

Wednesday, I treated the boys to a playgroup that met at the Burger King. They needed to see their friends, get wiggles out, and it was raining... so where were we going to meet that didn't include cleaning up someone's house so that the kids can ransack it all over again? Worked well. And then I grocery shopped.

Thursday, I worked while Daddy watched the kids.

Friday, I worked while Daddy watched the kids. Then we scouted the prices of things for a MOPS craft that is coming in May.

Saturday, I worked and took the kids (isn't that nice), then we visited the Friends of the Library book sale and scored a few cheap books (probably could take them to the used bookstore and get trade in credit for more than I paid to get the book.) Then it was a quick bike ride in the neighborhood and then who knows....

Sunday, church.
Monday, back to the regular school, work, cleaning, grocery shopping, work, clean, routine.

The kids are enjoying more and more of the outdoors. And sigh, they have discovered the joys of MUD. A little mud never hurt anyone, well their theory... Alot of Mud is a laughing matter and results in an equally fun shower. They are trying their hand at baseball-esque activities, although occassionally they are misguided in their attempts to see how close they can aim the ball at Shooter Rabbit (who is equally excited by the out of the cage freedom that the nice weather brings.)

So that's a little catch up. Hope all it well with you.

(Carolina, if you're reading this, you are my new inspiration for positivity under stress. Book give-away contests to commemorate spinal taps, brillant and I'm in awe of your perspecitive and outlook. Still praying for good results on those tests for you.)