Great news on the In-Laws side of the house.

The last of Laura’s five brothers and sisters not to bear children is in the process of rectifying the issue. Laura’s brother Nathan has passed the virility test and is expecting a child with his lovely wife Deann.

This is great news! Lately Laura has had to endure my constant complaining that 78 nieces and nephews is not enough. There are still weekends throughout the year where there isn't a Dahl-related birthday to celebrate. This cannot go on.


Ain't they cute? I guess they're not shooting at storks.

The names they are considering are:
Shooter
Remington
Winchester
Glock
Beretta
Skeet

Their timing is impeccable. With the 2010 Census ramping up the Dahl family can officially be upgraded from a platoon to a battalion. Five more births and the dream of a Dahl Army will come to fruition. Once that objective is achieved the entire family jumps into the rocketship named "The Lunar Ark" and colonizes the moon. The rocketship will be designed and constructed by Allen Dahl in his backyard on a summer day.

Basketball at zero gravity will be very interesting.

Congratulations you two.

The Other Birthday Party

Then there was the other birthday party for PJ; it was on her actual birthday. Party-goers included immediate family and grandparents.
She got some cool gifts from her grandparents (Leggos, Cooties, cheerleader outfit, shoes, etc…) and she got her Princess Piano. It’s not the actual $90 piece of plastic junk provided by your friends at Hasbro, but an actual wooden vanity with a mirror and a drawer and a pink Barbie piano on top of it.




And the puddin’ cake wasn’t bad either.

DDT Wallpaper

It's 1947 and your lovely domicile is suffering from the kind of disease-bearing insects that thrive in dirt and muck and filth. You worry about your child's well being so you're looking into ways of getting rid of those icky inhabitants. Why not protect your dear children with DDT-treated wallpaper, and look...

there's Disney characters!



Wait, there's more. Woolworths is having a sale on asbestos pillow cases.

Happy 4th Birthday Parker

The morning of Parker's birthday I looked down at her and said, "Parker, do you realize that you're not three anymore. You're four now!" Her eyebrows raised up in realization and then she looked down at her body. When she looked back up at me she said, "But I'm still the same size as when I was three. I thought I was going to be bigger when I was four".

PJ's brithday was drawn out over 3 days (I feel like I've been baking for a week though). We had the grandparents over for dinner on her real birthday.


Cupcakes were taken to school on Friday. Parker was very excited about this. She even asked to take some lifesavers she'd received as a gift from grandma Powers to school to pass out to each kid in her class. Her generosity always surprises and impresses me. Parker got a blue birthday ribbon at school that she wore for the next two days.

PJ's birthday party took place on Saturday. We got a break from the rain and were able to have some of the party activities outside. This year we did a birthday Tea Party. The kids loved this and were really well behaved sitting at their little tables using real ceramic tea sets. I was a little worried these might get broken, especially since they were all borrowed (thank you Becky!) But the kids rose to the occasion and acted like little ladies and gentlement. They were adorable.


The Hello Kitty water cooler was definately a hit with the kids. They drank so much water from it...I was very pleased. I love it when kids drink water.


The highlight for me was getting to make a beautiful cake. It's been a while since I put this much work into a cake (Loren's wedding I think?) The kids were intrigued with the miniatures. I had a lot of fun making them too. I finally understand the fascination with doll houses. I felt like I worked for a doll house manufacturer. I kept finding myself saying, "Oh my gosh this is soooo cute! Look how real the apples look". Parker enjoyed watching me make them too.


It was a great day for everyone. Childrens birthdays sure can be fun!

Validation That I'm Doing Something Right as a Parent

Sure there have been some tender moments the girls have shared. And some have been captured on film (well...SD card). But nothing compares to the most tenderest moment of all that continues to bleed my tear ducts dry.

There's the oh-so tender moment when Parker helped Georgia with putting her shoes on.

That's not it...




Or there's the time when Parker and Georgia put on their matching bathing suits and strolled around the backyard on a beautiful Saturday afternoon ensconced with the future promise of perpetual kinship and love for each other.

But that's not it either...

These tender moments make both Laura and myself feel as if it is all worthwhile. All the incessant crying and screaming we had to endure at bedtime or at the diner table more than makes up for itself when we look at these precious photos.

I promised Laura I wouldn't incessantly scream and cry anymore.

Sure someday when they're older they'll be moments when they're in this same backyard pulling each other's hair and kicking each other in the shin because Parker stole away Georgia's boyfriend or because Parker takes 30 minutes in the bathroom every morning to get ready but that's a long time from now.

And when that does happen I hope to be at work.

But for me the most tenderest, most precious moment that makes me proud to be a parent came on a Tuesday evening on January 5th, 2010. That defining moment captured my imagination. It was a moment where everything I've held dear to me from childhood and throughout my eternal struggle with adulthood erupted like a Mt. St. Helens of emotion. Finally, my children have joined that exclusive club.

The moment came when I turned on the tv in our bedroom and set Parker up for the first time to play...

Ms. PACMAN!!

AND GEORGIA WATCHED TOO.

It was then I realized that my purpose in life was to breed children for the purpose of playing video games with me.

Mission Accomplished.

Oh the future we have together, Saturday afternoon trips to Golf-n-Stuff, hanging out at Electronic Boutique at the mall for 2 hours, a day trip to "Tilt" in the Thousand Oaks Mall (is that place still open?), or purchasing a PS3 and simply buying cool games to play until 2 o'clock in the morning.

Finally I see a future with my children that isn't all about them, it's about what I want as well. To sit at home on a rainy afternoon and play Tiger Woods golf on the Wii! until one of us contracts a mild case of "Wii elbow".

Parker, Georgia meet your new cousins Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, you'll be getting to know them better.

ahhhhhh...parenthood

P.S. the leopard-print blanket is not mine, it's Laura's. It matches her leopard-print boots and leopard-skin-tight spandex pants she wears on "80's Metal Night" at Nicholby's. She's been caught walking around the house singing "Don't Need Nothing But a Good Time" as well. Someone please stop her.

Let the Product Licensing Begin…A Magnificent Fantastic Business Plan

The first step in this marketing campaign is t-shirts, then our business plan kinda goes awry…

1) The Potty Town Map of Ventura County – a parent’s guide to nice, clean bathrooms for children in the Ventura County area. For the parent who shops a lot and wants to know the location of the best child-friendly public bathrooms. This is inspired by the bathroom Parker and I found a long time ago at the Pacific View Mall by the food court. There are several private bathrooms with a big toilet for adults and a little toilet for children…very cool. Everybody probably knows about this but no one told me!

2) Mr. Fancy Pants - A new line of children’s pants made of flashy satin accompanied with other bright accoutrements such as dazzling fake diamonds, LED lights on the pants cuff, etc…

3) The “Spank Me” Spanking Paddle – comes with booklet on other punishment options when the child is performing extra-badly, chapters include:
a. An Introduction to Pressure Points
b. Waterboarding, If It’s Good Enough For the C.I.A. – foreward by Dick Cheney
c. The Comeback of Castor Oil
d. The All Vegetable Diet…nothing else but!

4) The Let’s Swing Swing Set – nothing more than a mere swing set, of course it will cost twice as much than most swing sets due to the “Let’s Swing” licensing moniker

5) Brushin’ My Teeth Toothpaste – butter cream frosting flavored toothpaste…yum yum

6) Opening an actual Goody Goody Gumdrops Candy Store…strike that…after further research it was discovered that one already exists… www.goodygumdrop.com (hmmmm…maybe they need a theme song)

7) The Laura Powers bobblehead doll – it just sounds funny

8) The Wonderin’ If It’s Time To Go Potty Chair – as soon as the child sits down the sound of running water comes out of the speakers

9) The Pink Thongs Lingerie Shop- nothing but thongs

10) The “When I’m Sleeping” Sleeping Bag – plenty of hidden pockets inside to store candy for midnight snacks

Other ideas are always welcome...

A New Cd?...SWEET!

The creative process can be as entertaining and rewarding as anything in life.

In our biggest musical enterprise yet, we’ve finally finished the Magnificent Fantastic double cd titled “Sweet”. Although the project was quite tedious and time consuming, there were some memorable moments of laughter and creative fulfillment for all of us involved. Some of the songs can be heard at:

www.myspace.com/themagnificentfantastic

I believe there’s ten copies left if anyone is interested.

I was thinking yesterday about how these songs provide a dual purpose. Not only are they some measure of aural entertainment for children and adults alike but they also provide a snapshot into our experiences and observations as a parent, much like the goal of this blog.

This project has provided for some memorable moments. A few memories that come to mind:
- Parker still does not use the pronoun “she” when she’s referring to a third person of the female gender. Hence the lyrics in the song Seasquirt (her name is Seasquirt and her’s my best friend/her greets me in the morning, her’s with me at the day’s end). One day her’s going to grow out of it and I’m going to miss the way her misuses the word “her”. Grammatically it’s her-rendous.
- After not hearing the song “Sugar High” for several weeks, I was driving PJ home from preschool a few weeks back when out of the blue she belts out the line “so high you can touch the sky…kiss the ground goodbye”. I still chuckle thinking about that moment.
- Although she’s doing it herself now, Parker used to yell out the phrase “MOM/DAD CAN YOU WIPE MY BUTT?!!?” so incredibly loud with complete disregard of the personal aspect to it. Of course it’s coming from the bathroom which adds some reverb to it as well. She was “performing” about five to seven bowel movements a day so for Laura it was seemingly a continual exercise for her. That’s something I’m going to miss…well sorta. I will miss her declaration but not her defecation. Luckily we have a little song on the cd to commemorate the memory.
- Whenever I’m at the computer, Georgia walks up to me, taps me on the knee and chants “Da…Da…Da…Da” very enthusiastically which means she wants to dance. Whenever I play her one of my songs she looks at the computer screen, then looks at me and shakes her head meaning “no”. Then I put on “The Littlest Little in Littleland” and she goes nuts. She bee-lines to the ottoman, climbs on top of it and dances.

Notable songs from the cd include:

1) Sugar High - I love this song moreover I love annoying Jeff with my 8 minute song creations. Let it be known that this song, like many had input from other people. I had the initial idea and lyrics but Laura and Jeff helped out with the “when the sugar hits her brain” mantra as well as the lyrics in the Pink Floyd-ish breaks.
2) Potty Town – this song was written by Geoff Nicolle. He came to me with the idea in his head and the lyrics and it’s one of my top 3 songs of the cd by far. I love this song…especially the “freedom” part.
3) Seasquirt / Fuzzy for the Many – I can’t stop writing songs about Parker’s blanket. I don’t know why, it’s kinda weird. Fuzzy for the Many was written (Loren Barroca helped with the lyrics) based no something PJ said a long while back. She was telling me how she preferred the Fuzzy side of her blanket as compared to the shiny (silky) side. She mentioned that some people might like the shiny side more but most people like the fuzzy side of her blanket because it’s so cozy and cuddly.
4) Going On A Trip – the best song on the cd penned by Jeff, in my opinion. The lyrics are quite inventive and paint a very visual picture of a child using her imagination. What’s most impressive is the feel of the song. It paints a distinct picture that meshes so well with the lyrics which is a difficult task to achieve, believe me.
5) Spank Me – this song was fun to create (Laura, myself, and Jeff…and a couple wee drops of alcohol) in the music room. A couple things stand out; my father-in-law’s recitation of the clinical definition of the work “spank” and Jeff’s cathartic singing at the end “NO…MAMMA NO!”
6) The Littlest Little In Littleland - I have never ever heard the word "aperitif" used in a song, much less a children's song. Don't know if i can top that lyrically. Kudos to Jeff.

FEEDBACK...PLEASE. Although I think the sound quality is our best yet, I would thoroughly appreciate some feedback on the sound quality of the cd. How did the mixes sound? Are the vocals loud enough or are they buried too far in the mix? Too much bass in some of the tracks? How about the volume of some of the songs, we tried to keep it consistent but it’s more difficult than you think. Jeff and I suffered through numerous iterations of the songs all the while arguing over the type of equalization as well as mixes on each track. Again, I would love some feedback on anything that was wrong with the mixes. It’s amazing how the cd will sound different in each stereo it’s played from. I don’t know how the professionals do it.

This cd is intended to be our swan song to children’s music. I figured the well had run dry after this endeavor. I never would've imagined we be able to put together 48 songs. It originally was intended to be a songle cd but the hits kept on coming. Plus, I wasn't ready to be done after one cd and delaying the project meant that I could procrastinate the inevitable and unenviable task of writing music for adults.

Writing and recording children’s music is a great cover for us. The expectations are inherently lower in this format which is great for the songwriter. Also, you can be as silly and witless as you desire. It's songwriting with a warm, fuzzy and cuddly safety net.

In the movie "The Candidate", Robert Redford starts as a long-shot senatorial candidate in California. He spends the entire movie enduring the trials and tribulations of being an unknown candidate going through the rigorous campaign obstacle course otherwise known as California politics. Eventually he overcomes all the setbacks presented to him and wins the senate seat. In the final scene Redford walks into an elecetion night celebration party and looks back to his campaign manager and asks the poignant question..."Now what?"

So now that we are done I can finally get back to spending quality time with my wonderful wife sipping wine while sitting on the couch watching our favorite tv show “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN be THE BIGGEST LOSER on PROJECT RUNWAY before an INTERVENTION occurs by OPRAH and you continue to be in the running of becoming AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL yet would rather be spending your time DANCING WITH THE STARS”.


ahhhhhhh good times ahead…


I do want to say...

to everyone who listens to it and enjoys it. Although our fan base is approximately seven or eight people, it's nice to know that a few people are waiting with some level of anticipation for the cd. It motivated me to make this project sound as polished as possible.


P.S. - don’t give up on either cd after track 24.

P.P.S. - thanks Becky for the pictures

The Cracks In PJ's Social Shell Are Showing

The Sunday mass we usually attend includes a “children’s message” portion where the pastor invites all the children up to the front to sit down while he tells them a little story or a magic trick or an allegory or something of that sort. Last Sunday’s service provided us with a special little surprise.

Parker (who’s usually quite shy in these matters) meanders up to the front with her cousin Ella, holding hands as they usually do and sits down with the rest of the kids. Laura and I are sitting in the middle of the church where our line of sight to the kids is somewhat hampered by the big headed people sitting in front of us. Pastor Steve starts the message with “well kids, did everyone get the presents they wanted for Christmas?” The response was as expected…pretty quiet except for a voice that echoes out…”well, I was hoping for a princess piano but I didn’t get one”. I cringe with delight, embarrassment, and a bellyful of chuckles. This was not expected from our shy little girl. She continues on in some detail about the princess piano she wanted but didn’t get. The pastor then speaks about the notion of light and whether one candle and light up the room and if not, how many were needed to light up the room. Parker enthusiastically states “Fifty Five!”…not sure where that came from. But Parker then continues to offer up some more informational tidbits about how her daddy got a light for Christmas that he can use when they go camping. By this time I’m flabbergasted.

Next Pastor Steve speaks about the spelling of the word “Light” and what the letters represent. “L” is for love, etc…. Parker offers up another tasty piece of information…"Hey L is in Ella’s name!”

After the children’s message is over the parents usually come up and help escort the kids to their Sunday school class so I walk up to get Parker and casually walk by Pastor Steve and tell him “no more Starbucks for her”.

As I reflect on this experience I still chuckle inside.

My girls

Growin' Like a Weed

Growth from Febuary to December

Christmas Dresses

My mom and I made Christmas skirts for all the little girl cousins in the family. I couldn't get them all together for one picture unfortunately.

Peyton, Parker and Georgia



Here's Parker and Ella in the Christmas pagaent at church.



Tobias, Daphne, Georgia and Parker
I have to say we have some gorgeous children in this family!