It’s different when it snows in March vs. December. This time I didn’t even bother to shovel my driveway because on Monday it’s supposed to be in the 60’s. It will be gone before the kids are tired of playing in it. Somehow it makes the snow easier to swallow when you know warmer days are around the corner, somewhere. Hopefully. But even I can give credit where credit is due. It’s beautiful, especially when it sticks on the trees like this-

And all that beautiful snow belongs outside. Matt. So next time I hear a knock on the door while I know you are out building a snowman with the kids I will not answer it. Because I will get a face full of snow, a wet floor, and wet carpet. I would remind him of his age if I didn’t love that he will still throw a snowball into the house even though he knows he’ll be in trouble. I might not love all the snow but it’s hard not to have fun playing in it when Matt’s around.

]]> http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?feed=rss2&p=2834 http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?p=2822 http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?p=2822#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:58:35 +0000 jenny http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?p=2822 Last week were parent/teacher conferences at the kids school. It’s always fun to hear a teacher’s spin on your own child. I always wonder if they’ll tell me something that I don’t know or shed some light on something that I hadn’t seen or noticed. To date, they never have. Instead they’ve always just reinforced what I already knew-what great kids I’m lucky to have.

Kyla’s teacher told me that Kyla is “spunky” and that she loves kids with some spunk. She told me that Kyla was a great reader (3rd grade level) and loves to put her own voices to the characters. I knowingly shook my head in agreement and said, “Now if you could just get her to pause for a split second at the end of a sentence that would be great.” Her teacher’s summary of Kyla was this- A natural leader, “really takes the bull by the horns, if you know what I mean.” To which I could only reply, “Yes, she is a perfectionist who likes, umm, no loves to be in charge and have things done her way. (which would be the right and only way if you happen to be Kyla.)
Her teacher couldn’t say enough. “If someone at her table has a question, Kyla takes care of it. If I need a volunteer I can always count on her. She has an answer for every question.” The only light shed on my Kyla was that she can’t sit by her best little friend Courtney anymore because they like to talk too much. Not sure how I should have felt about this announcement, but it made me smile and nod. Because there’s really no surprise there either.

McKenna’s conference is always so different. “She’s an angel, so quiet, so sweet and bless her heart, she gives me a hug everyday. We’re just working on getting her to talk more and a little louder so everyone can hear her.”  Again, I just nod my head and give Kenna, who is sitting by me looking very uncomfortable, a squeeze. Her teacher handed me a paper Kenna wrote back in November 2009 that she thought was enlightening. The assignment was to write about someone you admire. I’d summarize it but instead I’m going to share it word for word so I never forget it.

“Jesus Christ”

Jesus Christ is very kind and is willing to help anyone that needs help.  He reminds me of kind things I should do every hour of the day to someone that looks lonely or that needs help.  Jesus is the best to everyone in the world.
He died for us all so we could repent and be resurrected to him again.  He is so very kind to us all.  Jesus makes everyone feel loved and special.  He makes my family feel like the absolute best family in the world.  Whenever I need him he is willing to help and talk about my problem (if I have faith).
Jesus has given me good thoughts so I can have a happy life.  He makes me think more about how I can change my life to be more like him.  After I’m done I always thank him for my life.  Before I go to bed I pray and thank him every way I can because he helps me in every way he can. I always want to be more like him.  He has always been my role model. I always go to church every Sunday and almost all the time I feel Heavenly Father inside of me. When I feel it I feel like my life just changed.

-McKenna

I loved this glimpse into McKenna today. Not a surprise or anything new. It’s reflective, it’s who she is and she captured it so beautifully.

We’ll call her “Chip” for now. It’s the latest name we’ve adopted for Avery. Those darn slippery hard grocery store floors. They don’t mix well when coupled with equally slippery footed PJ’s.

The snow was melted by noon. The paint on their snow clothes lasted much longer.

]]> http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?feed=rss2&p=2816 http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?p=2812 http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?p=2812#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:05:11 +0000 jenny http://www.thedahlfamily.org/?p=2812 Not bad for a last minute announcement of Hippie Day.  Why must they wake up and suddenly remember what they forgot to tell you yesterday?

Kyla expects a lot on her b-day. So there is a lot of pressure on the ole’ padres to make sure her day goes off without a hitch. She has high expectations and therefore is easily disappointed when the pieces sort themselves out in a way that is not to her liking. This only means there isn’t much wiggle room for error.

We started her day with breakfast at Kneaders for Kyla’s favorite french toast. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. De-lish. We almost blew it out of the gate though because while we were scrambling to put some finishing touches on party decorations we were also making a starving 7 year old wait. And well, her patience was lacking. Come to think of it, I’m not sure Kyla even knows the meaning of the word. But we made it and the nice fellow behind the counter put a b-day rush on her order which earned us a few points.

Kyla is our New Orleans Mardi Gras baby and so it was decided that this year she’d show these Utahans how they celebrate down south. Lots of beads, decorating masks with glitz, glitter and feathers, background jazz music, piping hot beignets doused with powdered sugar and a Manny Randazzo King Cake shipped straight from New Orleans helped to make our party as authentic as possible. We had fun and not even Kyla was disappointed. (insert a well deserved pat on the back for Matt and I here.) Especially when she opened the only thing she asked for. A pink digital camera.

Already her focus is racing ahead to her next b-day. Heaven forbid she just enjoy being seven for a year. Always in a hurry to get to the next thing-convinced that it will bigger and better. She’s pre-planning for that new set of scriptures she’s dying to have, getting baptized, and she’s up in the air if she wants a new CTR ring. “Only if they have pink.”  Well, at least we’ve got that one covered.

Just for fun here’s a quick look back to one year ago. A year makes a big difference.

A bike with training wheels to a bike with no training wheels.

Having the longest hair in the family to the shortest.

Moving from Missouri to Utah.

Finding a favorite little friend named Courtney.

More teeth fell out.

Some things change while others do not. At least not this year.
She is still loud and still working on that inside voice (without much success).
She is still wild and fun and crazy. “Spunky” as her 1st grade teacher calls her.
She still sucks her thumb.
She still likes to cuddle but she’s not a fan of getting or giving kisses.
She still loves to read and write.
She still likes to call the shots around here.
She still is a very picky eater.
She is still one of my favorites.

Happy 7th Kyla!

She insisted that she wanted no part of my shenanigans to capture our moments of waiting for the neighborhood school crew to clamber into the car-but the poses just kept coming. I do believe that  I’ll never tire of this girl’s smile or silly faces or even pictures of her size 10 pink shoes that she just had to have. It’s fair to say that today I got much more than just a front-of-the-line-pick-up-spot at school.

It appears that Avery didn’t get much more than a headache though.

A love-hate relationship is also blooming with my P90X work-outs. I’ve been loyal. I love it. And hate it. Who does “corn cob pull-ups” anyway?

Lucky for me February will eventually end, warmer days will come and thanks to those P90X workouts I’ll be ready for the pool and that swim suit I bought in February!

Since its still snowing what are you going to do other than play in it. Sooo, last weekend we took the kids tubing at Soldier Hollow with some of our neighbors. Matt and I were a little hesitant to pay for sledding since living in Utah its not exactly hard to find a hill covered in snow for free. However Kyla would not allow us to turn down the invitation from her best little friend Courtney’s family. And because sometimes the kids call the shots around here, we went and payed a penny or two for a whole lot of fun. The kids had a blast, especially Ellie who has a sad history of not being a sledding’s biggest fan. Her change of heart can most likely be linked to the tow rope that gives you and your tube a lift up the hill and the fact that on this particular day they didn’t seem to mind if we linked tubes and made huge trains.

I’d go again just to hear Ellie squeal the whole way down and listen to her insist on swim goggles because she doesn’t have snow goggles. And it doesn’t matter because they will still keep the snow out of her eyes so her eye balls don’t freeze and fall out. Would you argue with that? Definitely not.

If you are going sledding, let me recommend this as a way to go. With goggles of course because we wouldn’t want anyone to have their eye balls fall out!

Dr. Dahl is good on the slopes. Just like tubes and tonsils, it’s kind of like his bread and butter. He loves it and I must admit that he looks very sexy doing it. Something about the way he shreds down the mountain with his skis perfectly together and his hips moving rhythmically from side to side that really gets me going. And then, if that’s not impressive enough, he takes off his ski’s to hike higher because something about skiing where only a handful of others dare to go really gets him going. There was just one thing slowing him down-the gal he climbed the mountain with. OK yes, I was looking for his approval and maybe another invitation to ski with him so I spent the day skiing way too fast and being totally out of control, which, by the way, he says is a good way to ski. Oh, the things I won’t do to keep up with that sexy guy. Now I know why he wears a helmet and before I tag along again I think I’ll be purchasing one too.

I could have called it a day when the lifts came to a halt but those Jazz tickets were calling.  We got home with just enough time to shower and order the kids pizza before we headed out again. Good game only problem was the stadium seats. Definitely not roomy enough to stretch out my aching knees. Hmm, does that make me sound old? I’m blaming Matt. Too many mogals for one day.

A long day. A whole day. I need another day. To do it all again.