A valuable lesson...

The kids and I visited the library today to kill time before the boys' doctor appts, they each chose 3 books WAY quicker than I thought. When we were loading up into the car, we noticed a star shaped American flag mylar balloon flying up into the air, and a woman watching it fly away. Then, as we were pulling out of the lot, she was walking into the library with a little boy (maybe 4) who was crying. So sad.

 I thought, we have time. And $1. So off we went to buy a replacement. They didn't have his star balloon, so we found a yellow happy face one, fitting for our plan. We rushed back, tied it to his door, and parked close enough to watch, but far enough that they wouldn't see us. We predicted their reactions while we waited.

Finally, they appeared. Mom, older daughter and son. Skipping across the parking lot on a nice sunny day. He'd probably totally forgotten his lost balloon. Mom sees it, but boy skips past the car without noticing. Mom and sister call him back and point it out. He comes back, stops in his tracks. Mom looks around. She seems surprised and confused. And we blew that popsicle stand!

 I figure it probably made the kid's hour. Maybe mom's day. But being able to teach my kids to act kindly without needing recognition for sure made my day.

AHH, The mouths of babes...

So, I've pretty much been sick all month long. I tend to break out when I'm under the weather.

Ellie sees a commercial for Proactiv this morning and tells me " Mama, you better buy that to clean up your face."

All the livelong day

In July, we found a super great deal online for a ride on a real train! My grandparents took us when we were little, and it hadn't changed at all! We had a lot of fun that day. The boys especially. They imagined what it was like to work on the railroad or travel long distances at the super slow speed we went. They even were excited that it smelled like "train". We ended up at a cute little waterfall where we ate lunch and the boys tried out one of those little cars you hand-pump.

Jax on the tracks 

Boomer pondering life

Daddy just realized he wore two different shoes that day. Whoops!

Family Love

SASS.A.FRAS!!

A Dahlia, by any other name...

While on our freeway drive to Seattle this past Thursday, we were chatting about what our new dog's middle name would be. We were trying to come up with a name that went well with Maggie, because that was pretty much the name we all decided on as a family. We were having a bit of a mental block, so I started paying attention to the cars passing by and would joke..."Navigator? Lincoln? Rav4? Odyssey (taken)? Sonata?" "Moonlight Sonata? hahahaha..." I guess I should explain the humor in that....

For the past 10 years every time moonlight or pretty colors or dahlias or awards would come up, we'd giggle and have a nice little memory of the sweet couple who did our wedding flowers. When we were planning our wedding, I knew I wanted dahlias for our flowers. I had very fond memories of Grandma's dahlia garden, so she pointed me in the direction of some friends of hers that still was very much involved in the dahlia community. When we met with the Wynne's, there was much talk of the prize winning dahlia they created and actually registered Wyn's Moonlight Sonata.  A very pretty flower indeed.



So, Jason says "I actually really like that name. Sunny was one of the names on our original short list!" But, I was just kidding. I really liked the name Maggie much better than Sunny, or in this case, Sonny. But he really wanted it to still be in the running, so I agreed to that much.

We had a great weekend and even asked some friends for middle name suggestions.

Then we get home, and Grandma calls to tell me the awful news that the husband of the dahlia couple, Walt, had passed away in a house fire this last weekend. When I got off the phone and told Jason, he commented on how it was really weird that we would have been considering naming our new puppy after one of their great accomplishments. I got chills and called the kids down, told them the whole story and the sad news that went along with it, then asked if they would like to change her name. They very excitedly agreed, so we have a set-in-stone name for her now. Moonlight Sonata "Sonny" Dahlstrom.

Grandma called me again today to let me know that she had read in the paper that the Wynnes had lost all their dahlia tubers in the fire. I surely hope that she is able to get starts from people and that someone, somewhere, has one of her special Moonlight Sonatas to give back to her.

Dahlstrom #6

This is "Biscuits and Honey". A 4 month old Australian Labradoodle puppy. We are beyond excited to bring her home at the end of the month! Her name is cute, but will be changed. Our list has gotten shorter and shorter and is down to 2...Magnolia "Maggie" or Calliope "Callie". The kids all like Maggie. Boomer has already started adding her to family sketches and labeling her name with Maggie, so that's the most likely. But Calliope is so danged cute! She just needs to cooperate with the whole name-change business!

I've got the FEVER

I've always been a cat person. I had cats all growing up. George, Smokey, Shadow, Princess Jasmine, Serenity, Socrates, Sherbie, Scrotummousefinkerton (don't ask), Molly. I love that cats are playful and snuggly and love to be scratched and loved, and are mischievous and so super cute, but most of all that they are perfectly content with little attention (though, in thinking back, I've always been the kind to always try to get my cats' attention anyway).

Until Miley came along and changed my way of thinking about dogs. They aren't ALL aggressive, taking random bites out of people's noses. They don't ALL poop all day. Everyday. Everywhere. They don't ALL eat a giant bag of food in one sitting. They don't ALL stink like a dog. They don't ALL lick your face constantly. They don't ALL jump all over you and your small children constantly. They don't ALL ignore your commands or run away. I love Miley and she changed my mind about a lot of things, but I was always still on the cats rule, dogs drool (except for one) side.

But there was still one item on my "Reasons to never have a pet again" list. PET HAIR.
Insert the Labradoodle. We recently went to visit our surrogate parents who are breeders. I was so surprised to see that they have a gazillion dogs running around their house and it was like any other house, it smelled normal, I didn't leave with dog hair all over me (and I was wearing all black!), there were 4-6 dogs of all ages running around the same room as my 2 year old and she never got bit or knocked over. Nobody pooped in the house.

That's right when my list changed... "Reasons to never have a pet again...ASAP"

C'mon.... who could resist this

Maybe it's just me...

Am I alone in being extremely annoyed when people ask for advice on FB group pages and then say... "GO". I cringe EVERY time.

Not the funnest week ever...

Upper endoscopy yesterday. Two fillings today. BOO!

Wanna see something nasty?

Yeah, that's dirt and grime and body oils. Blech!

 

Have you ever taken apart your washing machine? Us either. This is what "cleans" your clothes!

 

This house is out of commission for laundry at the moment. And it's really piling up. Luckily I have a super-hubby who knows his way around an appliance an awesome grandma who volunteers to be our laundromat!

 

Silver lining: We have a chance to make it sparkly and clean and new again. And know our laundry isn't floating around in nastiness anymore!

 

Feeling Itchy

I don't know why. Maybe because it's a new year? Because we are laying out our hopes for the future/focusing on the things we want in life?  Maybe because the years seem to pass by quicker the older I get? But I've been feeling like I need a change. Like, a big one. Usually if I'm feeling the need for change, it's because something is going "wrong" or I'm feeling bored and stuck in a rut. But life is pretty sweet. I'm happy. But feel like it's time for the next big thing.

Sometimes the urge is small. A bathroom remodel or selling our bedroom set for something different. But mostly it's big. Like getting a dog, or having a baby (it would be our last), moving, or using the plans we had drawn up and actually building an addition.

For those who really know me, you know that it's kind of huge for me to crave big change. Big change is scary, and I'm pretty much a chicken. Big change is usually a lot to fret over, and I'm pretty much a worrywart. Big change takes faith that it'll all work out, and I've been labeled a pessimist a time or two.

Today we met with the bank to see what it'll take to get a construction loan to build our addition. It's still a bit fuzzy if it's going to be the option we choose, but we are on the right track.

If we don't build, we'll see about moving to a house that better suits our future.

If we build OR move, we'll start talking about that baby.

Whether we build OR move OR neither, we'll be getting a dog within the next year or so. Dang that Miley....She ruined me!

MAKES ONE WONDER....

HOW DID THEY END UP EXTINCT?

 

 

(Illustrated by Mr.Boombastic)

1.1.13

Cutest pic of 2013 (so far)

Ringing in the New Year

10:43

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!




12:13

Not even a yawn!

A Man's Idea of Cleaning

Our naughty little Elf

An Elf on the Shelf came to stay with our family in the last week before Christmas this year. The book she came with told us she was here to keep an eye on the Dahlstrom children's behavior. She magically appeared in a new spot every morning after travelling back to Santa to report each night. We decided to name her Tinsel Peeb Dahlstrom.

Tinsel's naughty introduction, underpants on the tree.

Boys reading their letters for Santa to Tinsel

A peace offering for the naughtiness!

Elfish spa day

"I see you"

"Found her!"

Bedroom Barricade

Tinsel drew on our family pics



Goodbye letter

Christmas 2012

Winter Program 2012-both boys were excellent!

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum. I smell...Gingerbread?

We have a pic like this of each kid at this age. It's a weird tradition.

Santa came!

Unc had to go and spoil his niece this year.

Mama got spoiled too. Opal earrings to pass down to Elle.

Fall in Review



We all participated in the Dirty Farm Trek this year!

Watch out Central.. here come TWO Dahlstrom boys! Jax 2nd, Boom K 

Amazing Jessie planned Ellie's 2nd birthday. Princess Dressup!

"Family Circus" 2012



Ellie and Lo had swim lessons together. So FUN!

Back to the Grind

With Summer fading away and the school year about to start, it's becoming more apperant that I need to get my family on a schedule. It's hard going from no commitments to needing a stringent routine!

I'm going try cleaning my house by days. Monday will be kitchen, Tuesday bathrooms, Wednesday living room, Thursday bedrooms & Fridays will be dedicated to organizing. Obviously laundry and tidying will be daily chores still, but hopefully going by a schedule will help me to feel like my house is not always dirty. I can live in a messy house, but not a dirty one!

Going back to school also means homework. To be perfectly honest, I have never been one to enforce homework. Last year Jax almost never turned in his homework packets on time. That's not really a great look for the PTO V.P., is it? So, this year I will become the mean ol' mom who makes her kids do homework the instant they get home ( I NEVER did my homework when I was in school) but it's not really a cool mom move to stunt your kids' learning, either!

I am also accepting offers for playdates. I could easily get in the groove of cleaning/erranding all day and that's not really fair to poor Ellie, who's always had a sibling home to play with all day. So far so good with that. Lizzie and I will be taking the babies to swim lessons in October, and  Jen and I will continue meeting one day a week like we have all summer, which I'm so happy about!

I know I'll be super busy between doing my household stuff, playing, PTO stuff, Advocare business & maintaining a healthy lifestyle... but hopefully if I become a more regimented person, it will all be a breeze!

bring on the sunshine!

 sprinkler+trampoline=summer fun!

 our new suits... we opted for classic black and white this season.

 cuteness

  i SO love her little buddha belly

 ellie always gets told she looks just like boomer, but you can see the similarities between these two in this pic. it melts me how much he loves his baby sister.

my man 

WHA?!

The other day my neighbor Olivia stopped by to have me take a look at her measurements because she's about to do the 24 day Challenge (I'm so excited for her, BTW) along with her measuring tape. I pulled out my stats and started going over exactly where she should have measured her waist and happened to notice my number was not the same as 17 days prior. I thought, hmmm....maybe Pam measured me wrong?  I checked my iliac crest. Wrong again. Maybe Olivia's tape is different from Xfit's tape? Checked my hips. Different. This time I realized that there was no mistake... I have actually lost even more inches since the challenge! I literally had goosebumps and teared up. I couldn't believe it! I haven't even tried. While on the Challenge I made sure to be SUPER strict with my diet, but have given myself WAY too much freedom since. Taking my MNS religiously everyday is the only thing I've not slipped up on, to be perfectly honest.

So yesterday, on Day 44 of my Challenge I decided I wanted to be weighed and measured again. I lost another 2 pounds and another 5 inches (pretty much all in my midsection/hips)!!! With the help of Advocare products I have lost 9.5 inches and 8 pounds in the last 44 days! CRAZYNESS!!! I believe in these products wholeheartedly and am so excited to help the people I care about change their lives too!