We're Moving!

We're moving!

Not from Dohlchester, don't be silly, but the blog is moving

As of May 22, 2009, the new blog address is http://thedohls.wordpress.com. Bookmark it!

"Cute Kid"

You never know exactly what your kids are saying when you're not around. If you're lucky, you have friends that can let you know if it's something particularly good or particularly bad. And while 'particularly bad' is good for realizing you need to do some work with them, 'particularly good' is much more fun.

Today I got just such an email from my friend Charlotte, recounting what Kaitlyn had been telling Abbi, her oldest daughter:

Hello! Abbi told me a cute Kaitlyn story. We were chatting about AWANA this am & Abbi told us that our little Kaitlyn friend got a new hairstyle, to this Abbi complimented her & she responded, "Thank you, I love my mommy & I want to look like her." How sweet...

Just thought you would like to know that your wee one is watching & evidently she likes what she sees.

A big "awww!" and a moment to reflect and make sure she always likes what she sees, or more importantly, that it's always worth emulating. Thanks for the email, Charlotte!

Kaitlyn's Haircut

Just before, and right after. Even though this wasn't technically her first haircut, it was the first drastic cut, and mom wanted to save a locke. Luckily for us, they have great certificates with a baggie for the hair that sticks right on it. No loose hair! And I can stick this right in the baby book.

Kaitlyn with Jennifer F., or "Ms. Jenny", as Kaitlyn calls her!

Our Family Is Growing!!

Well, you know I'm generally no good at keeping secrets.  And anyone who has had a conversation with me in the past few months (or read my Facebook stati) already knows what I'm going to say (or had a pretty good clue).  But I think it's time to make it blog official... our family is growing!

 

We're converting the bonus room to a full-fledged bedroom to accommodate the fact that, as of late-August/early-September we will be a three daughter family!  Yes, that soon.  And it's hardly enough time to get everything done.  I have an afghan to crochet.  We have to clean the house top to bottom, because once she arrives it will just be a whirlwind.  Thank goodness we seem to have the school stuff straightened out.

 

Yes, I said school stuff.  What, you thought I was pregnant?  Geez, can't a girl have an ice cream sundae without people saying she's pregnant?  No!  We're becoming an international exchange student host family!  Today we finally crossed a crucial series of hurdles in assuring our host daughter a spot at the high school, and I am jubilant.  We have already been matched with a student - her name is Anja, and she is a 17-year-old German girl who will be a junior here come fall.

 

We'll give more details as they are confirmed, but I was too excited to not make it blog-official :-)

Camping with Preschoolers...help?

I got home from storytime at the library with Kaitlyn to find my husband with various diagrams and lists and maps spread in front of him at the kitchen table.  I knew what this was in an instant.  This was a pitch.  I was getting pitched.  And it's a doozy alright.

Let me jump to the end of the story.  As of noon today we have gone from a family with no real vacation plans for the summer, to a family planning a 16 day car trip to points west.  Oh, and we leave in less than a month.

I need some help.  Some of you think I mean of the mental variety, and you could be right, but here is what I am specifically looking for help with now.

<ol><li><big><b> A tent</b></big>.  One of those jazzy numbers with multiple rooms and ultra-lightweight construction so it folds really small is nifty, but ANY tent is better than the one we have, which is no tent.  Do you or a friend have one we could borrow?  Rent?</li>
<li><big><b>Suggestions.</b></big>  Have you been to Yellowstone/Grand Canyon/Vegas/Mt. Rushmore?  Have you travelled long distances in a car with preschoolers?  Have you been camping?  I need suggestions for things to see/do, there and on the way, with an eye towards frugality (though hot air ballooning across the Grand Canyon sounds awesome) and feasibility (no Vegas shows with a four year old, I fear).</li>
<li><big><b>Prayers.</b></big> We could stay at hotels more.  I can use a AAA guide and internet searches.  But if you think I can make it 2-1/2 weeks cross-country with two preschoolers and no prayers, well, I'll just tell you you're wrong.  That's not even counting the prayers of making it through the abbreviated planning period.  How my husband thinks we can just wash clothes once is beyond me, and I'm already getting discouraged looking at campsites.</li></ol>

I'm actually really excited by the trip.  We had talked of going in the future, but with this being our last chance to go without being constrained by school schedules, Keith crunched the numbers and it's more feasible than we thought.  We're planning on hitting Vegas/Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Mt. Rushmore, plus dart into California, hopefully go to the badlands, maybe swing by Branson... who knows?  And I'm sure there are giant ears of corn or balls of yarn that really need their picture taken with us next to them :-)

 

Oh, and does anyone want to cut our grass for us while we're gone?  Haha.

Kaitlyn's First Chapter Book and KD Season Starts

Kaitlyn and I just finished reading "Meet Felicity", the first in a series of books based on the American Girl doll from the 1774 Colonial Williamsburg time-period. I was looking for the Wanda Brunstetter "Rachel Yoder" Amish books in our church library, and while we didn't have any of those books, my search was not empty!

As much as I love "Goodnight, Dewberry Bear" and "Pete's a Pizza", I am really excited to expand our reading repertoire a bit! The book took us 2-1/2 days, reading a chapter before bed and nap. Kaitlyn loved when I would stop and ask her what she thought would happen next, and has already asked to start on the next book (because of course I got two books, and plan to get more on Sunday if the library is open!) tomorrow.
But "Felicity Learns a Lesson" will have to wait until at least bedtime, because tomorrow marks the beginning of our King's Dominion season! The girls are excited to ride the rides (Kaitlyn, who wouldn't even ride anything except the BENCH on the carousel at the beginning of last summer rattled off a litany of the rides she just had to ride while we were talking about it earlier today); Keith is excited for roller coasters, short lines, and lots of photo ops; and I am excited for long days outside all day... with no bugs because they spray (unlike our malaria factory yard mere yards from a slightly stagnant lake)! Hallelujah. Oh, and all day free refills on soda. I do like that.

So that's what's going on in Dohlchester... what's new in your neck of the woods? Send us an email... really!

We Are... Penn State!

On the first full day of our Pennsylvania trip, we trekked out to Happy Valley to visit Keith's alma matter, The Pennsylvania State University. This was a first visit for all of the other Dohls, and very close to ten years since Keith last visited campus after his 1999 graduation. While there was no football going on, we still manage to have a good part of the quintessential Penn State experience.
You have to go to the Lion Shrine. We also have pictures of the girls sitting on the lion, but they are crying in those! Kaitlyn was disappointed once we got to the lion; she thought it was a real lion we were going to go see. So we stopped by Patee Library to see the stuffed (as in, taxidermist preserved, not plush) Nittany lion on display. This placated her, although she did want to know where the lion's mommy and daddy were.

After hearing Kaitlyn say "This isn't Penn State, this is just [a store, a sidewalk, a restaurant, etc]" all day, we found out what Kaitlyn considers Penn State... Beaver Stadium. She was very disappointed there was no football game going on, but really enjoyed playing in the field that would have been filled with tailgaters if there had been a game!

One of our first stops on campus was The Creamery, but apparently there has been an entirely new and swankier creamery built since Keith was in school. Kaitlyn and Kourey enjoyed the flavor of the week, Chocolate Pretzel, while Keith indulged in Peanut Butter Swirl and Katherine tried out Peachy Paterno. Four days from cow to our spoon... yum.

Ladies' Night

Last night I had our third monthly Ladies' Night at the house, and Keith and the girls had their third monthly fun night with Auntie Kris.

At the house more than a dozen moms of young children enjoyed the chance to shake off our serious mom side - the side that says "don't put that yogurt in your hair!" "eat it, don't smear it on your face!" and "don't play in the water!" - and smear Blueberry Honey Masque on our faces and soak our feet... not to mention facial steams, paraffin hand dips, manicures, pedicures, eye masques ... and lots and lots of coffee and even more laughter!

Kris treated Keith and the girls to a fun evening out while the revelry was going on. What a great sister-in-law and aunt! They went bowling and out for Pizza Hut buffet. Kourey took her first try at "bowling"... and promptly ran after the ball down the lane, Auntie chasing after her! Keith managed to eat a reported 14 (fourteen!!!) pieces of pizza, not including dessert. Wow.

Back at home, Kourey was slightly traumatized at the sight of me in my blueberry masque, so I didn't get a goodnight hug from her!

What a wonderful night! We have such great family and friends!

I Did Not Know That!

Kaitlyn has been obsessed with snow recently.  Nana and Pop have snow in Pennsylvania, she knows this, and talks about going to visit them to play in the snow.  She said she wants to "throw it at Daddy's jacket!" (apparently meaning snowballs).

And generally talking about snow at Nana & Pop's is about as close as she's going to get.  Our part of Virginia hasn't gotten "real" snow in three years, and while we have photographic proof she went out in it, she certainly doesn't remember it.  But right now we are sitting snug in our house with a 5 inch snow blanket outside.

The excitement for Kaitlyn started at kid's choir Sunday night, as the cold rain started turning to sleet and Mr. Clark told all of the kids that if they slept with their PJs on inside out that there would be snow in the morning.  We had to put on her PJs the second we walked through the door, and within a few hours we already had several inches of powdery precipitation.  Kaitlyn wanted to eat dinner outside in the snow ("Why not?" she persisted.  "Because it's dark.  And cold.  And wet."  "But it's snow!").  She wanted to go out and play before bed. 

This morning I caught her rolling around in the hall.  "I'm rolling in the snow!" she giggled, wiggling on her back. "Well, I'm practicing."

Breakfast couldn't end quick enough for Kait, and soon she was on her way out the door in brand-new galoshes, fluffy coat, and no gloves (because she just couldn't wait for me to fish them out of my coat pocket for her).  By the time I got Kourey's coat on her, Kaitlyn was back at the door, crying.  "My hands are so cold!"

After warming up her fingers, she said she didn't want to go play in our snow, because it was too cold.  She wanted to wait to play in Nana and Pop's snow.

"Their snow is cold, too, Kaitlyn."
"No!"
"Yes!  Snow is frozen.  It's always cold.  And always wet."
A beat as Kaitlyn processed this information.  "I did not know that."

We've Got Annie!

After our old minivan had spent almost as much time inoperational as operational since Thanksgiving, we have finally gotten a new (well, new to us) vehicle!

 

Meet Annie, our gold 2005 Chrysler Town&Country:

[this is where a picture would go if I had one]

 

Why is the car called Annie, you might be wondering.  You might not be wondering, but this is my blog so I'm going to tell you anyway.  The new car has a built-in DVD player, and to preemptively nip in the bud the desires or expectations of our children to watch DVDs on routine travel we told Kaitlyn that the new car was special because she could watch Annie and Hairspray (her two favorite movies) on the way to Grandma and Papa's or Nana and Pop's... but not just driving around.  Kaitlyn took this to heart, and started referring to the car as "the Annie Car".  When we picked up the car today she sang part of the song Grace sings after Mr. Warbucks acquiesces to adopt Annie: "We've got Annie!" 

All The Naked Babies

Kaitlyn and Kourey got many wonderful things for Christmas.  These are kids who are well loved and totally doted upon.  One toy in particular has changed the landscape of our den from one strewn with toys, to one strewn with naked toys.

 

Let me explain:  Keith's mom and dad bought the girls a plastic laundry center.  They already had a kitchen, so they needed this setup with the washer, baskets, and foldup ironing board (and iron!).    Right?  Well, at any rate, Kaitlyn loves it.  She has spent many happy hours fussing over laundry at that center.  I have caught her just sitting at the washer/dryer and when I asked her what she was doing she said she was waiting for the clothes to dry.  She "checked" them, informed me they were still wet, and kept sitting.  She irons all of the clothes, many times, and hangs them on the hangers.  She has taken all of the clothes off of almost all of her clothed dolls and animals to wash, dry, and iron.  And that's why we have a proliferation of naked baby dolls (among other naked toys).

 

Let me just make a couple of side notes here:  One, this thing was a PAIN to put together... and it was all Keith doing the putting together!  Let's just say screwdrivers and dozens of screws were involved.; Two, I am unnecessarily pleased that Kaitlyn likes ironing her clothes.  My sister-in-law let it slip that her mother wondered if Kaitlyn would even know what the iron was, let alone how to use it.  I know she just meant that, in comparison to when my husband was growing up when all the clothes were line dried and all had to be ironed (and, according to my SIL by her, but my mother-in-law doesn't remember it that way), irons aren't used as often these days; nothing demeaning to me.  But that my daughter took straight to the iron gave me a bit of vindication, nonetheless.

 

What else is going on in Dohlchester? 

• Kourey has really taken to walking, and it is now her preferred method of transport.  I need to get a video! 
• Our van has died again, and we are shopping for a new (to us) vehicle. 
• I have started a very awesome new Bible study called "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman" by Beth Moore.  The group meets on Thursday mornings, so Keith watches the kids and I have a few hours with a very awesome group of women! 
• Kaitlyn is in love with the following movies: "Annie" (as in singing orphans with Albert Finney, not "Annie Hall", which my brother thought I was talking about), "Hairspray!" (as in the recent musical with Zac Efron, not the John Waters 80s version, which my brother also thought I was talking about, prompting him to declare my daughter the coolest 4 year old ever.  But he was wrong, she doesn't watch Woody Allen or John Waters movies), "High School Musical 2" (but just 2, not one or three), and "Enchanted".
• Kourey has officially picked Big Bear as her stuffed animal object d'amore.  Princess Bear (now with 100% less clothes!) is her downstairs companion.
• Keith and I are both somewhat addicted to pinball on the Wii, and I am a WiiFit fanatic.  Kaitlyn is super cute doing the WiiFit yoga poses with me, or shaking her hips to Hula Hoop!

Baby Steps

Kourey is walking!

 

OK, based on her level of aptitude, that might be a slightly premature statement.  While I won't say the walking mission is completed, she is routinely taking independant steps - up to about 5 or 6 at a time. 

 

She took her first steps the Monday after Christmas when we were at Grandmama and Papa's house (Hudgins).  I was sick and asleep on the couch, Keith was back in VA to go to work (and sick, it turned out), and Papa was watching Kourey.

 

"Katherine, she's walking," he whipsered loudly enough to wake me to see her third step from Papa's knee to her train (that's another story, but let's just say that Kaitlyn and Kourey BOTH loved the ride-on train Papa got them).

 

Now she will walk on her own to get between destinations she can't "cruise" to.  She can turn while walking, and stop, squat, and keep going.  But when she's excited about the destination (like Mommy or Daddy), she tends to "dive" the last few steps instead of just walking.