O Christmas Tree!

Hurray for Christmas! Yesterday we went to cut down our tree. The day was sunny, but freezing cold.

Marcos, Me, Lili, Abby, Saul, and Ruben. Abby and Saul are our neighbors who came along for the fun.

Edgar the Chopper.

Ruben and Lili helping Edgar carry the tree.

Marcos had to go into his exersaucer--though he's too big for it. He wanted to eat the tree--and the camera!

Ruben and Lili were very excited about putting ornaments on the tree.

You can't even tell that most of the ornaments are at Lili/Ruben height, right? Also note that all presents will remain above our cabinets this year. Marcos loves to tear wrapping paper.

I love sitting by the lit tree and breathing in that pine smell!

Christmas Season!

I had to get a new Christmas look for my blog--for all two of you who are out there reading. I just have to make note of the fact that I'm back to the Cutest Blog on the Block. They just had a lot more options for the blessed season than Hot Bliggity Blog. It's time for school, so I will post something later (it might not be until next year), but at least I'm current with my background.

Ruben Superman

Lately when I call Ruben by his name (something I've done his whole life), he says, quite indignantly, "Mom! You forgot to call me Ruben SUPERMAN!" When Edgar calls him Ruben, he says, "My name's Ruben Superman, but you can call me Ruben if you want to." I am not granted that privilege. It's difficult to believe that Ruben Superman will turn 5 on Friday. We survived his birthday party, thanks to a lot of help from Aunts Marianne and Jennifer and Cousins Deseret and Liberty.

Here we are at the party: Ruben's cousin, Luke, me (in my polyester "grumpy shirt" I bought for $1 at the thrift store in Wells my Junior year in high school). It was supposed to be a Thomas the Train cake.

Ruben with his cake.
Our birthday boy is also sporting a new look. Lately I had noticed that Ruben Superman was squinting and running into things often. Edgar thought we just had a clumsy kid on our hands, but last week the pediatric ophthalmologist confirmed that the superhero needs glasses. The glasses came today:

Can you imagine a cuter superhero? You can see why 4 eyes are better than none!

Lili's pretty sure she needs glasses too. She told me she was having some trouble seeing. Everything "looks a little yellow." I think the appropriate color may be green--as in with envy.

Last night I let the children stay up too late. Edgar was working all night and my brother Tabor called. We talked for a few hours which is very easy for Tabor and Anyone to do. I finally got the children to bed. Then Ruben needed a drink. As I tucked him in again, and said, "Goodnight, Ruben." He gave me his usual response about forgetting to call him "Ruben Superman."

I said, "You forgot to call me Mom Superwoman!" He assured me that I am not "Mom Superwoman," that I'm just "Mom."

I went back to my bed only to have the little superhero show up again. I said, a little impatiently, "What is it this time?" He burst into tears and said, "I just wanted to tell you that I guess you can be 'Mom Superwoman' if you want to." I gathered my little hero into my arms and bed and told him it's enough for me just to be Ruben Superman's mom.

Another new Background--So Soon?

Jennifer told me my blog had lost its background. I was hopping mad, of course, and decided to get to the bottom of the problem. I wasn't sure I would still be endorsing Hot Bliggity Blog, but as you can see, I am. They had a little section on their website to find out why my background was no longer showing and apologized appropriately. It was also easy to remedy the problem.

Here are a few pictures to catch up:


The boys' costumes are hand-me-downs (thanks, Thelma!). Each of my kids has worn this cute little clown costume. Part of my obsessive-compulsive disorder is that I do things like that. Every Thanksgiving I wear the same sweater that I first wore my Junior year in High School. On my mission I wore my brown corduroy dress to every district or zone meeting. Some Elders would say that Sister Dahl was "brown-bagging" it again. Do you think they were making fun of me? I left that dress in Poland for Elder Lukengay (who wanted it) when I left. I told him he could make a pair of pants out of it. His response: "Oh, Sister Dahl, I could make two pair of pants out of it."

The best thing about Lili being a witch was that we didn't have to struggle over brushing her hair.

Marcos loves the rocking horse. Lili and Hyrum love assisting him on it. Hyrum asked his mom for a baby for his birthday. Today Lili told me that she's been praying Marianne would have another baby. Watch out, Marianne. Beware the faith of a child.

Poor Marcos had his first haircut yesterday. Ruben and Lili were getting into the Christmas spirit and putting gift bows on everything. Ruben stuck one on Marcos's head using masking tape. Poor Marcos tried to get it out, and got it even more stuck in his hair. I couldn't remove it without hurting him, so I cut the tape out. He looks a little different without that bit of hair that always stuck straight up.


Here they are, all ready for the Primary Program, which was last Sunday. This is, as Ruben says, "the best we can do" at looking nice. Marianne told me there is no future for Lili as a cosmotologist with me as her mother. I can only say I come by my lack of hair skills honestly.

Hot Bliggity Blog

Dear Reader, you may notice that I am now endorsing "Hot Bliggity Blog." That's because their site was able to explain to my addled mind how to change my background from summertime cherries to autumn patterns. Their explanation was more thorough than that of "The Cutest Blog on the Block." I am sure that the deficit has nothing to do with my tech-deprived mind.

So here's what's new:

1. Marcos's boots. It's not that cold yet, but they stay on. He pulls most shoes and socks off much more quickly than I can put them on him. It makes me look like a bad mom (especially in the eyes of my mom). He also loves eating apples by himself now--a very fall-ish pastime I believe.


2. Ruben's Song. Ruben's a little singer. He loves to perform and he goes around singing or humming constantly. His new song is "We're off to see the LIZARD! The Wonderful Lizard of Oz!" We went to that play (starring the lovely Johnson girls) last week (the children went twice, thanks to Aunt Jennifer). Ruben loved it. He's such a nut. He insists on goggles in the bathtub. The other day my dad said, "He is so much like his mother." He could have sounded a little more complimentary when he said it.


3. Liliana's Christmas Wish List. It changes daily. We got an American Girl magazine today and now she thinks one of those would be lovely. I have already decided to follow the Johnsons' example of having her read all the books first before she gets one. Maybe next Christmas. Her other news is that she has learned to ride a bike without training wheels. Thrilling.



4. Cormac Ammon Dahl. Our newest little nephew was born to Ammon and Melanee yesterday. He's darling, and if I were Adam, I would be able to get his photo off of facebook or something and put it here. He's a doll.

5. I won! Thelma won some shoes (http://thelmadavis.blogspot.com/2009/10/id-like-to-thank-academy.html--there's no way I can figure out how to let you click on something to get to her blog), but I (think) I won an award for my glittery pumpkin at Jessica's pumpkin carving/decorating party. I'm pretty sure I won in the adult category AND in the glitter category. I might have been the only contestant in each category, but here is a picture of my award-winning pumpkin.


More pictures of the pumpkin party:

It was a gorgeous day. Grandma is holding Hannah's youngest, Norah. Hannah and her three beautiful little ones made the trip from American Fork to visit. We (Hannah and I and sometimes her daughter Laurel) stayed up way too late having a wonderful talk. Hannah is holding Laurel, I'm there with little Marcos. Emily Smith (who's married to my cousin) was there with her darling Jason. He and Norah make Marcos look like a peewee. Marianne has Hannah's Maisy.

Jessica--founder of the party and some of the contestants (Liberty, Clarissa, and Deseret--Marianne made her gorgeous dress) in the children's/adolescents' categories. I let Ruben use a knife, much to Cor's dismay, and she was right. He did end up with a very minor cut.

Grandmothers and Babies. Savannah and Marcos are enjoying Grandma Corba (she's thinking "I told you so") as Grandma Dahl looks on with a smile.

Carolina, Luke, and Ruben

Liliana and Hyrum

This has gotten longer than any of us wanted it to. Happy Fall!

It's Autumntime

Since it's a new season (and since I've been enjoying others' blogs even though it's way past my bedtime--yes, 10:00 is way past for me), I decided to post something.

I'm even trying to add a fall-ish feel to the blog. I don't know if I'm smart enough to change my background. "The Cutest Blog on the Block" is very user-friendly and that's why it's fine with me to advertise for them on my blog. As you know, my blog gets a lot of traffic. Hannah and Thelma both told me that their computer-savvy husbands both know how to remove the "Cutest Blog on the Block" insignia from their blogs. My husband is food-savvy more than anything, but even if he did know how to do something like that, I think CBotB (do they go by that?) deserves credit--especially if I am successful in changing seasons on my blog tonight.

So why am I even bothering to try to blog since I don't seem to have anything to blog about? I am just rambling about because it's been so long and I don't really know where to begin. Perhaps I should just end.

Maybe some pictures would be nice and give me some direction:



On 9/09/09 little Marcos turned one. I gave him this quick bath in the sink yesterday because he got into our liquid soap under the sink and spilled it all over. The bubbles are just from what he had poured onto his clothes and his skin. The other day he slathered himself and the furniture and carpet around him in Vaseline. Yes, Lili did do that too. No, I didn't learn my lesson. And to answer Edgar's "Why did you leave it where he could reach it?" I wanted to ruin the carpet. Actually, this time I Googled carpet and petroleum jelly, and I think I got it all out. I bet Enoch and Jennifer wish I'd done that the first time since their living room now sports the stains from Lili's petroleum jelly experience.

Lili and Ruben have bike helmets (and knee pads--Lili's are supposed to be elbow pads, but only one of the helmets came with pads, so we're sharing). We are now a 4-wheeler owning family much to Edgar's joy and my chagrin. The kids love going with him and of course, safety is always first with Edgar. Cousin Jessica called tonight to let Edgar know she saw two bucks right by Grandma's garage. I texted Edgar about it right away. Edgar's hunting season starts Monday. We are so pumped. I even cleaned out our freezer (which hadn't been done in more than 3 years) in anticipation of keeping the venison there until Edgar's friend comes to pick it up. Though Edgar is blood-thirsty and likes to kill the poor deer, we don't like the taste of venison.

Marcos was weaned way too quickly. I wanted to do it gradually. He took to the bottle far too quickly and too well.

And here are a few pictures from our wonderful vacation to Washington. We visited the Davises--please see Thelma's blog (thelmadavis.blogspot.com) for a more complete, though perhaps biased description. (And do ignore the part about me being psycho. There's not an ounce of truth to it.)
We got to go on a ferry ride.

We got to go to Vancouver to Stanley Park. My children wish they were Davises. Lili said, "I wish Emma were my sister." The best part of the trip for Ruben was "playing with Mark's toys."

Seeing Thelma's tastefully decorated home was inspirational until I tried my own decorating project. Then it was rather depressing. Some sisters have it. I don't. We three sisters enjoyed comparing the lengths of our limbs and our flexibility. Mostly we laughed a lot.

Multnomah Falls, by Portland, was lovely and very accessible.

There are more pictures that I uploaded, but they got lost in cyberspace I guess. There's a reason I don't blog more often. I've been working at this for over an hour and I am not even sure I was successful in changing my background. If you're still seeing red cherries instead of fall leaves and colors, I take back everything nice I wrote about TCBotB or whatever that website's called.

Behind

The only thing I don't like about having a blog (not that I should even be allowed to act like a normal blogger or even that I have a blog because I could be convicted of blog neglect) is that everyone knows when my last post was: February 14. More than three months ago. I am behind on everything in my life--laundry, dishes, housecleaning, scrapbooks, weeding, and anything else there is to be behind on. Fortunately for me, the date I last cleaned the toilet isn't posted anywhere on the internet. My name is not listed anywhere on the internet for others to see that I last changed my kids' sheets seventeen days ago (or so). I feel a little anxiety every time I see my name listed at the very bottom of someone else's blog list along with how long ago my last post was. As the days have turned to weeks and then months, it has seemed more and more hopeless that I would catch up.

I have so many cute pictures to post--Lili's birthday party and Spanish and English family parties, Easter, Women's Conference, Cor's 60th birthday celebration, Sunshine Generation performances, T-ball games, Memorial Day. Then there are these zany people I live with that I could write about--Edgar now has his concealed weapon permit, Ruben is fond of saying I'm the "BIG mommy ever!" I hope he means "best". Poor Lili is struggling with allergies and mosquito bites. Little Marcos, whom I've always called my little monkey, is finally eating solids and he adores bananas.

So there. That's as caught up as I'm going to get for now. I look forward to seeing that my last post was hours and days ago. Maybe I'll come up with something else in the next quarter.

Happy Valentine's Evening

Edgar's working tonight--all night. Liliana, Ruben, and I played Candy Land to celebrate Valentine's Day. I wasn't going to cheat at that game tonight, but I did. Lili was stuck, waiting to get a blue forever and I rigged the cards. I've cheated every time we've played that game--just to get the game over with. Then Marcos started throwing up. Four shirts and five vomiting episodes later (I finally quit changing shirts), he snuggled up to me and fell asleep.

It's not the most romantic Valentine's evening I've had, but it might be the most loving. I'm amazed at how much love I feel for my sweet little baby who's sick for the first time in his life. I look in at his siblings sleeping peacefully and feel the same incredible love for them. And when I called Edgar to report the throwing up episodes, I felt so grateful that I have someone to call who loves and cares about these little people we're raising as much as I do.

Our Family Got a Haircut!

When I was growing up my dad cut my three brothers' hair (usually on a Saturday night) and my aunt Mary (a professional) gave us three girls and my mom haircuts and perms (during the same trip to Salt Lake). We always got our hair cut together.

It had been eleven months since I'd had my hair trimmed and twenty years since I'd had bangs, so I got both. Mindy Uhlig is set up now as the local beautician in Wells so Liliana and I left the boys home on Saturday afternoon and got our hair cut. I'm trying to get used to having something on my forehead and still don't know how I feel about my new look. Anyway, our haircuts coincided with Edgar cutting Ruben's hair so our family got a haircut.

Our other big news is that Marcos is starting to dribble cereal down his chin (I can't say he's starting to eat it because none of it is getting inside him). I only try to give him a few bites every night, but Liliana is more persistent. Our first night of solid food, I came out from giving Ruben a bath to find this:


There's just something about feeding a baby that makes you open your mouth really wide.



Marcos enjoyed the experience--socially, not nutritively (is that a word?).




Here's Lili doing math. I love that I don't have to fix her hair before school.

I NEED A NEW NECK!

Last night the missionaries and a Spanish-speaking family they're teaching came over (Edgar and I are ward missionaries, called to work with the Spanish speakers).  The Elders had a little game that involved opening up bubble gum and chewing it.  I foolishly let Ruben have some gum and he somehow got it on his neck.  I was trying to scrape it off and it hurt, so he yelled, "I'm going to die!"  Then he told me he needs a new neck.

I like some of the things our kids have said of late.  Lili gave me a picture of a heart she made for my birthday and told me she gave me a heart because she "loveded" me.  I hope she still does and it not just double-past tense.

On my birthday Liliana and Ruben went to a birthday party.  Edgar and I took advantage of the free babysitting and went to dinner.  The party had an "under the sea" theme and each child left with a goldfish.  We have recently gone through three goldfish in quick secession.  When the first one passed on, Lili was really upset, so Edgar quietly disposed of the second and third ones when they went the way of all the earth.  On our drive home, Liliana said, "When (not if) my goldfish dies, I want to bury it."  I guess she has a good grip on reality.

Ruben has started saying the following prayer, "Heavenly Father, we miss you."  I never would have thought to say that in a prayer, but I like it.  This week we found out that he no longer qualifies for Speech Therapy.  The teacher said, "You don't have to come back, Ruben."  He "loveded" going, so he said, "I will!"  We decided we could visit . . .  sometime.  During the test, he said some funny, but factual things.

"Ruben, what's the opposite of good?"

"ME!"

"Ruben, a ladybug is little, but an elephant is _____________."

"Eating the ladybug!"

Marcos doesn't say many words, but he does squeal and laugh in delight.

Aren't kids fun?  Here are some pictures of us of late:

Lili invited the cousins next door to a tea party.  They were so nice and not only humored her, but got really into it, dressing up for the occasion.  Carolina even walked over in flip flops!  Yes, it is January, but she's a Johnson.

Don't tell my in-laws, but we returned some of their Christmas gifts to us (our kids had too much) and bought the kids snow pants and a sled.  If only the children could have brought themselves to look at the camera (and the sun) at the same time!

And here's the chubby-bubby, roly-poly, fun-loving, laughy-jokey, should-be-in-a-country-song one:

Wearing Grandpa's hat: