Star Wars, Build-A-Bear and Home Refinancing: Week One

Week one of 2020 was busy for us in the Dahlhouse.  It began on New Year’s Eve.  I took the Fab Four to see the new Star Wars movie.  Raising teens and toddlers at the same time can present challenges at times, but mostly it is fun.  One such challenge is seeing movies.  Such a range of ages and tastes.  I chuckled to myself as I navigated the movie theatre, popcorn buying and seat selection, that the mom in me 15 years ago would have never taken a three year old to see a PG-13 movie in a crowded theatre.  But four kids later...I bought Man Cub M+Ms, brought his blanket, bink and trains and we were doing this!  He was good as gold and I only needed to remind him to be quiet a few times.  

I’ve been a long time Star Wars fan but haven’t really kept up on this new trilogy very closely.  I was surprised at how many times I cried through the movie.  Gahhh...I’m such a softie.  Parent/child relationships, light/dark, love ugh...pass the tissues.  Who would have thought I would be crying in a Star Wars movie.  Never the less....I was. 

We let the kids stay up to midnight on New Year’s Eve.  Then I paid for it the next day with how grouchy and emotional they all were.  

We had fun taking silly pictures with the filter on my phone.  

Over the break we were able to take a trip to Build-A-Bear.  Both Miss B and Man Cub got gift cards for Christmas and they were burning a hole in their pockets.  

This was Man Cub’s first time building a bear and he enjoyed every minute.  I thought it was fitting that they had a Thomas The Train Bear.  So perfect for him.  

Even on the most seemingly perfect of days...we can end up sitting on the mall floor waiting for the tantrum to pass.  Poor guy just doesn’t quite understand why he can have all the toys and cars he sees at the mall.  The concept of paying for them hasn’t registered yet.  So we wait it out while the teens are in other stores shopping for video games and Office sweatshirts.  Another example of the challenges of raising teens and toddlers.

Luke had a recheck on his broken foot.  He broke it the day before Thanksgiving falling UP the stairs chasing his sisters.  The doctor is concerned about the possibility of the stretching of a nerve in his leg, so he is recommending that he sees a specialist that will test his nerve.  Not really certain what they will do with the outcome of this information, but I will find out more next week.  Meanwhile, the bruising and swelling have decreased and he is healing well.

One of our goals for this year and next year (as it seems it will be) is to pay off all our debt.  Living off one income is tough and over the course of the past three years we have racked up quite a bit of credit card debt.  I have felt embarrassed about this in the past, but I don’t anymore.  Mark reminds me that this is a season.  Medical and therapy costs have been astronomical for our family this past 18 months, and all the expenses of raising kiddos and life.  It is time to make some changes and we have been completely overhauling our finances.  So refinancing the house was an option that we looked into.  Not with the plan of taking any equity out of our home, but seeing if we could reduce our interest rate to lower our monthly payment.  Well...we didn’t decreases our payment but we decreased our interest rate and the overall life of the loan to 20 years instead of 30.  So in the long run, we will be saving a lot of money in interest.  Short term not a monthly savings.  However, we have a good plan, and I have been educating myself on the finer points of budgeting, cash and debt reduction.  It’s been quite the education so far.  

Christmas was packed up and put away.  I really loved my tree this year.  It was the first time I have ever really had a vision for a Christmas tree and decorated it for me.  The kids had their tree for their lights and ornaments.  As much as I love Christmas, I was ready for the fresh beginnings of a new year.

The end of week one saw us celebrating 21 years of marriage, which seems impossible since I am only 25!  Haha.  Yes, we were babies when we got married.  Me 19 him 20.  A lifetime ago.  I’ve been so blessed to spend most of my life with this amazing man of mine.  We went to dinner at Ilani and Line and Lure.  We had the cutest little table next to a fireplace.  The dim lights and candles were romantic and we had such good conversation planning this next year.  I love you Dahl!

Happy New Year my readers.  I am believing many blessing and happiness for all of you in this new year!

Life @ The Dahlhouse: First Class

When we got married in 1999, our 20th anniversary seemed so far way.  But time has a way of going by very quickly and just like that...20 years have gone by.  We had always talked about going to Hawaii for our 20th anniversary and flying first class.  When you are married 20 years you celebrate BIG!

We used a combination of miles and money to purchase our first class tickets.  We both have a Hawaiian Airlines credit card and earn miles.  We flew to Maui last year with our entire family (of 6) and pooled all of those miles together.  We flew direct from PDX to OGG on an Airbus 321neo like the one pictured below.  

It is a single aisle aircraft; however, it feels bigger inside than a 737.  I also have flown coach on the 321neo last year and was very comfortable in economy with my kiddos...in the back.  

I have to tell you we had so much fun flying first class!  The minute we sat down the flight attendant was handing out drinks.  We had our pick of a Mai Tai, guava juice and water.  I picked the guava juice, as 6:45am was a bit too early for a Mai tai.  Haha.  We relaxed back into our comfy seats (complete with pillow and a nice blanket) and listened to the Hawaiian music.  

Every passenger was handed a menu of the flight's food selection.  We would be served brunch since it was an early morning flight.  

Seriously...you all...the food NEVER stopped.  And it was all REALLY good!

Mark and I had plenty of room both in our seats and ample leg room.  My feet barely touched the floor (I am 5'6").  Each first class seat was equipped with a foot rest, and we both had our seats reclined the entire flight after take off.

(This is what the first class cabin looks like aboard the Airbus 321neo).  Our seats were on the right hand side (4H & 4J).

As soon as we were above 10,000 feet, the flight attendants were up and handing out iPad minis and noise cancelling headphones.  I have never worn noise cancelling headphones before...they were AMAZING!!!  I need some for around the house sometimes...LOL.  We had access to all the entertainment on the app.  I actually watched 2 movies back to back.  Instant family and Crazy Rich Asians.  I can't remember the last time I actually watched two movies in a row!    

The service was incredible.  I felt like the flight attendants were attentive but they didn't hover.  It was a good balance.  After the Ipads and headsets were passed out, they came around with hot towels and cloth napkins to cover our tables.  The first course was drinks with a bowl of macadamia nuts.  They were crunchy and perfect!

Next was the fruit course.  We were given real silverware and salt and pepper shakers.  The fruit was ripe and sweet.

The main course was a cheese and tomato quiche with sausage.  It was hot and flavorful.  The sausage had a good spice to it. I did not need to add salt or pepper to either.

The last course was a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake.  I requested hot tea and they were more than happy to fulfil my wish.

Throughout the entire flight, our cups were always full of whatever we wanted. I loved the etching of the Hawaiian Airlines logo on the glasses.  Not having to wait in a long line for a restroom was nice as only 16 of us had to share the one up front.
Before I knew it, they were coming by with a bag of Maui chips our declaration forms.  We arrived in Maui relaxed, well fed and ready to continue our vacation.

Flying first class was a treat.  I enjoyed every minute of it, and to me, it was worth it.  I will never forget holding hands with my cute husband at 38,000 feet.  It was an incredible experience, and one I would love to have again.

Week #1 @ The Dahlhouse

Happy 2018!  It is a new year, and with a new year comes new goals and plans.  One of my goals, is to complete a weekly update on the blog.  I started with good intentions last year, but never could keep caught up.  So this year...here I am...making it a goal of mine to complete all 52 weeks.

I have to admit though, the Christmas holiday did not turn out the way I planned or envisioned.  I ended up catching a horrendous stomach bug that lasted for 6 days!  I kid you not!!!  At one point I thought I was going to need to go to the ER for dehydration but eventually was able to keep in Gatorade.  I had all these grand plans to do with the kiddos the week prior to Christmas; however, due to my illness, we literally stayed home in PJ's.  Thankfully I felt much better by the time Christmas rolled around.

Our anniversary was January 2.  We celebrated 19 year of marriage!  How can we have been married that long!  Seriously. In my head I don't feel much older than the day we said, "I do." We celebrated by taking the kiddos to the Oregon Coast.  It was the most beautiful beach day for January.  The kids flew their little kites (even though their was no wind).  Man Cub enjoyed running around in the sand.

The kiddos returned to school January 3 and I have slowly began getting Christmas décor put away for another year.  I think it is almost finished.  Finally. 

I am dealing with the aftermath of a hit and run on our brand new van.  Went into Target to pick up prescriptions....20 minutes later came out to the back drivers side completely scratched up.  I couldn't believe it.  I went back into Target to talk to security.  Unfortunately all those camera signs that they post all over,, don't really mean much unless your vehicle is front and center.  Nothing was caught on camera.  No note left.  No witness.  I've kept a pretty decent attitude about the whole thing, and I was very proud that I didn't say anything I would regret.  My older kids were watching and I am hopeful they were able to learn a valuable lesson about honesty, consequences and people are more important than things.

Man Cub had therapy this week.  He is currently on break from feeding therapy (which has gone very well), and we are awaiting a new evaluation for occupational therapy.  I've had a new awareness of Matthew's (Man Cub's) needs.  He is showing some symptoms/signs of having a spectrum disorder.  You think with my background and education I would have put two and two together sooner, but when it is your own child (and not a student) I think sometimes you just get so caught up in life you don't stop and think.  Currently, Matthew has a language delay, feeding delay, toe walking, he has visual stems he does, lines things up, and sensory issues.  The positives are that he has great eye contact.  I am not borrowing trouble or self diagnosing.  I am only being aware of the symptoms and watching him closely.  I am very thankful that he is in early intervention. I am so glad I trusted my mom gut when I talked to the doctor when Matthew was 9 months old.

Here's to a New Year.  With all the hope, promise and blank pages waiting to be written!

Week #26 & 27 @ The Dahlhouse

Summertime is in full swing at the Dahlhouse.  I am enjoying having a more relaxed schedule.  Even within the down time of summer, we continue to have a "schedule".   Monday's find us traveling to and fro from our little community library.  I finally found it!  It is the sweetest little library and perfect for my kiddos to peruse the aisles searching for the perfect book.  Bella calls it "book shopping" and cracks me up each time she says it. 

Water fills many of our hot days. 

Because this little one LOVES water sooo much, we have decided not to set up our big pool this summer.  Instead we have opted for a smaller pool that can be emptied when finished.

However, the size of the pool does not stop the big kiddos from joining in on the activities.  Pool is a pool.  LOL.  Grace is a joy!  She and Matthew have such a special bond and Grace is an excellent helper.  I can always count on her for Matthew help.  She is growing up.  Can't.even.believe.it!

Even though it is summer, the process of fighting and advocating for my kids does not take time off.  Even on a warm Monday, you can find us in the doctor's office with double appointments because this mama has a concern.  Man...I LOVE MY BOYS!  Luke is struggling...he is such a sweet, beautiful soul.  What a privilege to be his mama.  In the midst of Luke's of trials and hard stuff....I am crazy, deeply grateful for my amazing son!  He bring such joy and how I love him and the good God that brought us together.  Pray for him if you think of him.  We've had some very hard days around these parts. 

And oh Matthew...the little person I wished for that I didn't know that I needed!  Matthew is in Infant Toddler Early Intervention.  We have therapy for him for language delays.  He also is tip toe walking. I am concerned and needed the doctor to look at him.  After an exam and four xrays that left us both sweating and crying, he was referred for a pediatric therapy evaluation.  Knowledge is power.  We will be happy if he is fine, and happy to get help if he needs it. 

I finished this book in June.  Wow!  I knew it would be a hard read...and it was.   As a mama that has had both life and death within her...that has said goodbye to three little babies I never knew...my soul needed to read this.  I needed to feel it again.  I needed to grieve a bit more.  I needed to let myself go there.  And I did.  I cried the ugly cry more than once and surprised myself that even after 15, 14 and 12 years ago of losing my babies, the memories, the pain, the dreams and hopes for these little tiny humans were still there.  I allowed myself to feel it and talk about it.  And.it.was.good.  I am glad that I read this book. 

My photobook from Shutterfly arrived.  I designed one about our anniversary trip to Hawaii.  It turned out better than I expected and I highly recommend them.

My scar from my skin cancer is healing very well.  It is better than I could have imagined!  I am very happy. 

 Everyone needs a batman in their life!

 And a baby with a cat on their heads!  Thank you Facebook messenger!!!

 BBQing at Mimi and Papa's.

 Holding on to Hope while parenting on difficult days.

Bella had the opportunity to take a Mandarin lesson through a company called Lingo Bus.  It is a partner company with the one I work for VIPKID.  She loved it!  She is obsessed with Chinese culture.  She loves Panda's, Chinese food and learning people's names in Chinese.  I heart her so!

We've been selling pizza cards as a fundraiser for 4h.  This is our new mini rex rabbit.  She is super soft.

Papa and Mimi took Luke this last weekend for an overnight at their house.  They also took him golfing!  I am hoping that Luke will be able to join the high school golf team in a couple of years.  He really loves it and I think it would be very good for him.

Finally two of my kids promoted grades/classes on Sunday!  Bella moved up to the first grade class.  And Luke graduated out of children's church on Sunday mornings.  He is now going to be a helper for the younger kids classes.  Grace is excited as well because she gets to begin going to youth group.  Tonight is her first night!