He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!

We had a wonderful Easter today! I had all sorts of plans for making this weekend special and, pretty much, none of them came to pass. My husband reminded me that it's not what we do that makes this weekend special and points them to Christ, it's what we talk about and what we focus on. Instead of the nice Easter dinner I was planning we had pancakes, sausage and eggs for dinner (most of which Mike cooked!). I realized all my special plans for the weekend were really more about making me feel good (who doesn't like to feel like Wonder Woman?) than they were about teaching our kids how awesome it is that Jesus actually rose from the dead and is alive in heaven speaking to God on our behalf! We did manage to keep one tradition, which is watching the last part of the Passion movie where Jesus rises from the dead and leaves the tomb with the holes in his hands. We then clap and cheer at the victory. We all love this part of Easter.

I have much to blog on this week but, for now I'll just post a few photos from today. Praise Jesus He gave His life that my sins are forgiven!

It is so hard to get Elsie to look forward. She doesn't like photo sessions! It's also rare to get real smiles like this on Weston and Grace. I think Mike was doing something funny.

Weston looks a little dreamy in this one, but not bad over all :) Thanks so Papa John and Memaw Shirley for the girls' new Easter dresses! You can see that Elsie fell down outside and got mud on hers. At least it happened after church :)

I had the bright idea to take a few photos outside. You can tell no one liked my idea but me! It was a little cold and rainy.

Elsie was crying in this one because Grace was choking her. I told them to do a sister hug and this is what we got.

We love Noah's face in this one, it's saying, "Get me outa here"!

Elsie gave us this one minute....

and this the next! Yes, she's 2!

It was quite a challenge to find a pair of pants that weren't too tight around the waist.

Butterfly House

For Grace's birthday John and Shirley bought her a butterfly house. We sent away for the caterpillars in the mail and then watched them eat, grow, build chrysalis', and then emerge as butterflies. Our first butterfly emerged yesterday morning. We probably weren't supposed to take it out and hold it, but their life span is only 2 weeks anyway so...oh well :) It has been so neat to watch this process and tell the kids about how wonderful God is to be able to create like He does. Apparently the caterpillar somehow liquefies and reforms into a butterfly inside the chrysalis. We have 4 more chrysalis' to go, so we're hoping to actually see them emerge (we missed the first occurrence). When the next butterfly emerges we'll set the first one free outside.

Training Pants Make Great Hats!

Who needs makeup when you can make this fashion statement!

Family Visit

We had a wonderful visit from Mike's brother, Eric, and his wife, Christi, a couple of weeks ago. I think they were a little overwhelmed by all the CONSTANT activity in our home, but they were both great sports about it. The second night with us they planned a banana split party for the kids. They loaded the kids up with bananas, ice cream, syrups, cookies, candies, and whipped cream. There was dead silence in our home for about 10 minutes while the kids devoured their sugar...I mean sundaes :) The next 30 minutes consisted of the adults sitting around on the couches while the kids ran laps around the dining room, living room, and hallway. I'm not kidding, I don't think the kids stopped running the entire time. Here's a few photos of the abuse our kids put Eric and Christi through :)

Grace is having a great time, Eric doesn't look so sure!

Tub Chubbies

I love the look on Noah's face in this one! He sure does put up with a lot as a fourth child.

I'm Back!

Okay...only for a few minutes, but I thought I'd give a quick Dahl update :)
We have been very sick at our house these past few weeks. All six of us have had the nasty cold/cough/fluey stuff. Grace and Weston both have ear infections and Grace also has some pneumonia in one lung and a bladder infection (no wonder she's been cranky :)
Weston and Grace are on antibiotics and we're all on the upswing (I think).
T-ball started this past week and it looks like there are several nice families on Weston's team. The team is the Boston Red Sox which both Mike and Weston were excited about. Mike said he wasn't going to have any son of his playing on the Yankees! I'll post some photos as soon as they start the games and get some uniforms.
Noah is now 6.5 months and rolling over both ways. I now have to watch him every minute he's on the floor! Yikes! Today he rolled over next to the potty chair and started to stuff kleenex in his mouth. Weston was supposed to be watching him for a minute while I ran upstairs to get something. When I came down I asked Weston why he wasn't watching Noah and he said he was watching him, but didn't see a problem with Noah getting the kleenex!
Elsie's doing well with the potty training. She doesn't have many accidents, but I still wouldn't take her out anywhere without a pull-up on. As a treat for going potty she gets a chocolate chip. She thinks it's a great joke to tell me she gets a mee-mee (M&M) instead, even though she knows she doesn't get mee-mee's unless she does a #2 in the potty.
Well, there's a quick update. I'll try to post a few photos over the next few days.

Where Am I?

You may have noticed I am not blogging very often (I'm not sure how many of you care :) It seems that four children ages 5 and under have quite a few needs (usually all at the same time). I'm struggling just to keep up with daily life right now which means computer time is lower on the priority list. Elsie also started potty-training herself which adds a whole other level to the intensity in our home. Mike and I figured we'd better get on board and go with it since she was using the potty once in awhile and wanting to wear the training pants. She's doing great but hasn't figured out how to store up the pee-pee and go all at once which means the potty-training is happening about every 5 minutes. :) Potty-training Weston and Grace was not easy so I'm trying to stay motivated and have a good attitude about it!
Well, here's my little list of excuses! I'll do my best to do a few blog posts a month and update everyone on major kid happenings. Weston will be starting t-ball in a few weeks, so I'll be sure to include some new photos!

Tim Keller Sermons

http://www.redeemer.com/serve/stewardship/resources.html#sermons
Here's a link to some awesome and challenging sermons on stewardship from Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Some Catch-up Photos!

Mike building our new fence (Dave was working behind the fence and you can see our neighbor, Mark, helping out also). The old fence blew over in a windstorm and was finally beyond repair!

This is totally silly! Mike and I had a bit of fun giving Weston a "rat tail" hairdo. Don't worry, it disappeared by the end of the haircut ;)

Memaw Mary and Elsie making cookies.

Weston and Grace playing outside and catching bugs during fence building.

Elsie and Noah just sittin' around.

Sisters after bath time.

Grace's 4th Birthday Parties :)

Our big 4 year-old was spoiled enough to get 2 birthday parties this year. A few weekends before her real birthday we went to Bend for the weekend and had a party with Papa Craig and Memaw Mary. My mom made Grace a beautiful Strawberry Shortcake cake to celebrate. Grace had a fun-filled pre-birthday weekend which included a visit to the High Desert Museum with Papa, Daddy and Weston.

The weekend before Grace's birthday we celebrated at our home with Papa John and Memaw Shirley. I made a sad attempt at a pink heart cake with sprinkles. I'm sure it was cute enough but when you're raised with birthday cakes like my mom's the bar is set high :) We had a wonderful visit with John and Shirley and they took Grace to the Build a Bear store for her special present. Grace picked out a dog with a hot pink and red heart dress :) She also talked them into a baby dog and a hot pink dog bed with fur trim to go with it. These grandparents sure are pushovers!

We have enjoyed these past 4 years with Grace Hannah so much! She brings us joy everyday. Grace loves to sing, dance, run, play with dolls, and pretend. She seems to be very musical and loves for us to play the music LOUD. Her latest artwork has been clown faces colored in pink, red, white, and purple. Grace is so loving with Noah and will sit and hold him for long periods of time. She definitely has a soft spot for babies. So far Grace has been the most difficult to parent but we know there will be great rewards if we remain consistent with loving discipline. We are working with her on being a peacemaker (as opposed to causing fights with Weston and Elsie) and also on being a hard worker (she'd rather move slowly and let Weston pick up all the toys by himself). Grace loves to go shopping with me and is very friendly towards people. She also loves to cuddle and melts when we give her lots of hugs and kisses. She also recently learned how to write her name in all capital letters and moved into the top bunk bed when Weston moved into the "boy" room.

Grace wanted to wear pink tights under her swimming suit for some reason. She loves to dress up and pick out her own clothes now. I usually let her pick out her outfits as long as we aren't going anywhere that day :)

My beautiful pink heart cake!
Time with Papa John and Memaw Shirley! You'll notice Grace has her birthday dog with the pink dress!