Ho Hum! Random stuff...

Shane has been in survey since Friday. It has changed the tone for this long 3 day weekend for us. We had all these big plans for these 3 days and now, it's just me and Mason. Shane has been getting up at 4:30 am and hasn't been getting home until close to 9:00 pm every night. Needless to say he's exhausted! I feel for him. AND we miss him soooo much! When survey comes you get no warning, so there was no way to plan for this! It will most likely end for him on Tuesday. So I will be a single mother until then.

I just haven't been feeling the blog thing for a few days. I don't know why. I'm still completely obsessed with everyone else's blogs. This last week has been busy and fun, but I didn't bring my camera, and I haven't felt much for blogging about it. We've gone to a neighborhood water park, Legoland, the Beach, The park, and Home Depot (about 20 times this week).

Oh, and We're less than one week away from moving into our new house. I guess that deserves a mention. It only took us the entire summer to get it ready for this moment! We closed escrow the Memorial Day weekend, and here it is Labor Day weekend. The movers will be there THIS Friday! Can you believe it?? I can't wait to post before and after pictures. This house has gone through some major transformations... and needless to say we are officially broke. Happily Broke, but BROKE!

Another exciting thing... I'm finally starting to read Breaking Dawn! That is what I have committed myself to since Shane hasn't been around. Then I don't have to make people sensor
their thoughts about the book because I haven't jumped on the band wagon yet!

Another thought... I'm excited that summer is going and fall is coming. Fall happens to be my most favorite season for SO many reasons! I mostly love the change in weather, and the change in fashion. I really enjoy wearing jeans and layering tops. I also love that school is back in session so Disneyland will not be so crowded and we can enjoy less than 15 minute lines for rides again, and not sweating the entire 15 minutes either! I love the deep fall colors and I also love shopping during this season. I love that Halloween is coming, then right behind it is Thanksgiving! Woo hoo!

A home with NO music?? (GASP!)

Over the weekend we were talking to some friends about our bed time routines we have with our kids.

Like most parents, Shane and I have a whole routine down with our son. We start out with a bath, brush teeth, read story upon story upon story, sing a whole bunch of songs (church and non-church type songs), say our prayers, give out kisses and off to bed Mason goes! It's like we have mini FHE's every night. If we miss something, Mason is quick to remind us what we forgot, and if we are running late for bed, it's hard to convince him to only do ONE story, and ONE song.

After our explanation of our bedtime routine, our said friends said "You sing?... EVERY night? We NEVER sing! (husband shaking his head... No, NEVER!) I think the last time we all sang was around Christmas time, but there were way more people with us to help us carry a tune."

In my head I was GASPING! I couldn't help feeling sorry for them. So much of our days and nights in our house are consumed by little songs we sing as we go through our days. Primary songs, country songs, folk songs, Disney songs, we make up a song for brushing teeth, for saying I love you, or for what we are eating, and the list goes on and on. Our home is always filled with music. Mason loves it! And we love that he loves it. He often times gets songs stuck in his head and you can hear him singing them under his breath as he plays with his toys.

I don't think we can help ourselves. The song is in our head and before long we are belting it out as we bop around the house. We even have dances and jigs for certain songs. Are we the only weird ones? I seemed to think that most people's homes were similar to ours!

I found this quote from the first presidency at www.lds.org that pretty much sums up what our home is like on any given day.

“Teach your children to love the hymns. Sing them on the Sabbath, in Family home evening, during scripture study, at prayer time. Sing as you work, as you play, and as you travel together. Sing hymns as lullabies to build faith and testimony in your young ones”

I'm grateful that we have awesome leaders who teach these principles. I couldn't imagine our home with out songs and music. I think it would be a sad place. Music brings so much joy and love and happiness into our home.

These particular friends happened to be LDS, so I just casually urged them to start singing to their little ones and reminded them that they don't have to have fabulous voices to sing simple songs. They just have to have a song in their heart that will help them carry the tune. Hopefully they will start to sing! And for anyone else who is reading this who doesn't sing at home.. don't be afraid to start. I promise Simon Cowell wont be sitting in your kitchen chair judging your talents! And the worst that could happen is your kids will have a greater love and interest for good music.

Catch A Wave!

I absolutely LOVED today! It truley was the perfect beach day. Just Mason and I at Huntington Beach enjoying the last little pieces of the summer! This morning I started off bummed out. We had a group of 17 people that were suppose to go to the beach with us, but the morning started off a little overcast and everyone backed out on us. We were dressed and ready to walk out the door so I decided I wouldn't let a few clouds get in my way, and decided to still go, just Mason and I. Within 30 minutes, the clouds had burned off and it turned into a gorgeous, not too hot day!



We spent the first part of the morning digging holes, building and smashing sand castles, collecting sea shells, and chasing sea gulls up and down the beach. Then I decided it would be nice to get our feet wet in the water. Mason has been to the beach a bunch but he usually doesn't like the water. So I thought he would quickly put his feet in and be over it! Boy was I wrong! Mason would run straight for the water, then as soon as a wave would come crashing in, he'd turn and run away, get knocked over, spin around, and usually end up on his bottom, back or face first and COVERED in wet sand. (Even in his eyes, mouth and ears!) The first few times I thought he would get up and say... "All done Momma!" and go marching back to our little camp to get cleaned up... but he surprised me! He would get up squealing and laughing saying "Again! Again! Again-again-again! Momma!" or say "More,More, MORE!" And brace himself for the next wave to come so he could do it all over again! I finally drug him back to take a break and have some snacks and after about two bites, he says to me "I go catch a wave?" and almost instantly turned on his heals and started running back towards the water!


Sometimes I wish there was a way to press record in my brain when I am having little moments with my son that I don't want to forget. The memories I made today with my little bear are so darling and precious to me. I hope as he gets older I don't forget days like this. I suppose that's why I blog. He's growing and changing so fast right now. Some days I just want him to stay little... he doesn't have a care in the world right now. No school, no work, no major responsibility... his only job is to be Mason and to let us love him!

So if he can't stay little, then at least let me remember these little moments forever & EVER.

I love you Mason!

Best Birthday Present!!

Have you heard the news??? The Twilight movie is coming out earlier than 12.12.08!!!

It's coming out on my Birthday! 11.21.08!

Twilight - The Official Movie Site

I've been so excited to see this movie, and I'm glad that I don't have to wait as long!

Anyone want to party with me? Maybe they will have a midnight release the night before? Either way... I will be there!

P.S. They also changed the release of the new Harry Potter Movie to July 2009!

Whitaker & Dahl Cousins

This summer has been so fun for Mason! Our most favorite part has been having cousins that live so close to play with. There have been so many moments this summer that I have caught here and there and I thought I would just share a few of my favorites!

We feel so blessed to be able to live close to family again. This is what life is suppose to be about.

Team Work

This day with cousins deserves an honorable mention all of it's own.

Shane and I thought it would be fun to invite the kids over to 'Help' with some of the work we had to do at our 'New House'. We have been working on the kitchen for weeks (sadly) prepping and sanding, and painting, etc. These pictures are of Jaden, Devin, & Jacob. Their assignment was to help peel off the layers of old shelf paper on the shelves in our kitchen that have been pealing off so we could lay down new liners. It was very hard work and they soon realized that the muscles of 1 child just wasn't enough, so they lined up and gave it one good heave hoe and off it came, shelve by shelve. They were so cute! I'm so glad I had the camera sitting around waiting to capture this fun moment.

Stand on my hand!

Here's a video I took of Mason and my brother Dan a few Sundays ago. After he wore Danny out, Mason kept saying to him.. "I want to stand on MY hand!"



Dan has done this with every baby he's ever come into contact with. I always thought it was fun that he did this with babies... until it was my 7 month old baby he was doing it with. Being a new mom watching your baby do this is all of a sudden... NOT so cute!

It gets cute again when your baby is 2 years old and 35 pounds!

My brother is such a stud. He works out a lot and goes on Lance Armstrong style bike rides every week. My brother is always the biggest kid in the room. I love that about him. If he's there, you better bet he's going to make sure that everyone is having some fun!

(p.s. I have two brothers named Dan. LONG STORY! This is my older brother Dan, not my younger brother Dan!)

Olympic mania is taking over the Dahl House

I'm having a love/hate relationship with the Olympics.

Some nights are fantastic and I can't get enough, others nights I just want to go to bed! (because we stayed up way to late the night before watching them. Then the next day we are tiered and grumpy and wishing there was a way to absorb everything in half the time. Yet at 11:30 pm we are still sitting there.. eyes glued to the tube not even considering going to bed an option!

I have to admit that Shane has been super excited about the Olympics but I'm still warming up to a lot of the sports. This may be the first year that I've watched more than just gymnastics so I'm making progress.

Painting... Burlap vs. Burlap

This is more a venting session for me than an update on my blog!!!

For the the last few days we've had the painters in our house. Today was the first day that they actually put our colors on the wall. I stopped by this morning and got super excited when I saw the kiddo bedrooms... One is bright blue, one is a gorgeous serene green color and another I picked a tan color that didn't make the final cut for the rest of my house. By that point that had only gotten to the 3 smaller bedrooms and not our Bonus Room and Master Bedroom.

Then I stopped by this evening on my way home from my day out and...EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!
(Horror music should be playing in your head while you are reading this!)

I walked into my master bedroom and it looks awful! We chose a tan color for 2 walls (Inside Passage) and a chocolate brown color (Burlap) for the other 2 walls and part of our master bath (For those of you who saw the brown that was on my walls in the San Diego house - I wanted to re-use that brown some where in my new house.)

When I walked in... I saw this mossy greeny brown DARK funky color on my walls... not the pretty Brown from San Diego. I knew it was wrong right away, but both Shane and I couldn't figure out what happened. The painters are insisting they bought the right paint and when you look at the can, it does say Burlap. Luckily I still had my paint sample sitting around. I put MY version of Burlap on a board next to theirs and it's obviously the WRONG COLOR! It's bad! And I'm freaking out a little. But I think I finally figured out what happened. My color, Burlap is from Ralph Lauren... The one they bought was the brand Dunn Edwards... same name, but obviously NOT the same color... which I made sure was clear which paint color they should have bought.

Anyway, I feel a little better knowing what happened, but I'm a little worried about the painters.. I'm going to make them re-paint my master bedroom. Poor Guys! Below is a sample of the colors I picked to give you an idea:



The color to the left is Ralph Lauren - Burlap... The color to the right is Dunn Edwards - Burlap.


On the other hand.. WHAT A DIFFERENCE SOME PAINT MAKES! Wow! With just some paint they've taken a dingy old house that was all one ugly color of Painter's beige/off white and transformed it into a custom house made just for us.

I'm getting super excited! They've only done the upstairs rooms so far and I love every other room they have done! I can't wait to see what the downstairs will look like... Luckily the only place I am putting Burlap is in our bedroom.. the rest of the house is safe aganst any more nightmares... (I hope.. knock on wood and cross my fingers!)

Here's the color combo I am putting in my master bedroom, if it's done right, but now I'm still a little nervous about the combination and wonder if I should be changing my mind and just sticking to one color only? Is this combo too risky???:




OH! And for anyone who is wondering about a great website for helping pick paint colors without having to run to the store ever other minute to get a paint chip every time someone suggests a new color for you to try.. try this website.

www.myperfectcolor.com

It was a life saver for me.. Just type in the color and wall-la! All the brands who have a paint color in that name will come up for you to choose from. It's awesome.. even if you aren't painting any time soon, try out this website and have a little fun. Here are some other colors we picked for our house: Flintstone & Foggy Day, Birchwood (LOVE!), Fly A Kite, Glass Tile.

HAPPY PAINTING!

Delicious!

Just had to share something really fast...

Mason during dinner tonight says to me... :"MMMm! This is Delicious!"

I thought to myself... "Did he really just say that?"

SO I smiled and said I'm glad you like it.

And he says: "NO, it's De-Licious!!!"

I didn't even know he knew how to say that word, let alone use it properly in a sentence.

Too cute! =)

It's getting close...

We are coming closer to being able to move into our new house! It's been 2 months and a week or so since we bought it, and it feels like it has taken FOREVER (it kind of has been a long time!) but we're getting close to getting in. This next week the paint will be finished. Then the new carpet and tile go in after Wednesday and we are DONE. Well not done-done... but MOVE IN READY! YIPEE! I can't wait!

We've been living with Shane's parents since last August.. the 22nd of August to be exact. (Not that I've been keeping track or anything!) I miss my stuff so much! We thought our stay would only last about 3 months. Boy were we WRONG! I would have packed up my house so differently if I knew we were going to be here this long! Oh well! It's almost over now! Maybe I will celebrate by trying to move in on the 22nd of August THIS year!

I couldn't resist...

I'm driving down the 5 freeway going south... I see the exit.. Disneyland Drive... Should I? It's 1:30pm... right about the time that Mason should be falling asleep and taking his nap. He may be a total mess the entire time. Here comes the exit.. And there I go!

At the total last possible second I decided this afternoon would be a great time to just be spontaneous and take Mason to Disneyland... nap or no nap. As soon as I rounded that corner to the parking structure my almost asleep 2 year old exclaimed from the back seat:

"I GO SEE MICKEY MOUSE!!!

Just that reaction made the detour worth it, and we hadn't even gotten into the parking lot yet. It turned out to be a very fun afternoon. Just Mason and I. I loved watching him bounce up and down a million times because he was so excited to ride on the choo-choo tram, and in pure bliss when I gave him that ice cream. And the look in his eyes when I said... "Do you want to go watch the Little Einsteins Show?" He about came apart with excitement. And he sang along with every song and didn't miss one single chance to get up and dance and bust his best moves.

I love that we have passes to Disneyland. It's a fun place to sneak away to for a few hours and have Mommy & Mason time. We rode a few rides, watched the people on the water rapids ride get wet, danced a ton at the Playhouse Disney show, and then went home. We were only there about 2 1/2 hours but it was worth it. I got back to my car by 4:00 pm and Mason was fast asleep as I was pulling out of the parking structure.

His smile, his laugh, his personality, he expressions, his happiness, his love and his innocence.

I had so much fun with my little boy today. No tantrums, no tears... just smiles. These days are the best! I need to have more days like these. To just live in today's moments and take it all in instead of worrying about the next thing on my to do list.