Catching up ...

Hello Friends!

I keep telling myself that I need to post on the blog, but I keep thinking that tomorrow will be an easier day to find a few minutes. Now as I log in I see that my last post was about 14 days ago. So much for tomorrow!

Although I don't have a lot of free time at the moment, I wanted to post a few highlights of our last couple of weeks. Very soon (I PROMISE!) to provide some more details!

FIRST -- Chuck won the State Championships! We had an exciting time last weekend ... both our moms went with us to Big Bear to watch him race. My Aunt Pat and Uncle Tim, cousin Tricia and her husband Lee met up with us and we were all there to cheer Chuck on to victory! He completed the course in about 1 hour and 46 minutes. The second place person in his class was about eight minutes behind him ... what a great way to end the season! Way to go, baby! :)

Let's see, what else is going on these days? OHHH, right ... we're moving. Minor detail, right!? It's been a lot of work, but we're very excited about our new place. The new house is about four years old, 1700 square feet and very open and bright inside. We've been moving loads each night after school and will finish the move on Saturday. Whew ... it's been rather exhausting! I'm very excited though, the new kitchen is unreal ... tons of space!

Anyway, time to wrap things up, but I promise to provide some more information after we get through this weekend. Hope this finds everyone doing well.

Much love,
--M

A perfect day

Can you hear the sound of the trumpets blaring? Of the angels singing? No? :) 

The reason for all the fanfare? 

Well, I posted a copy of Chloe's note home from school today. I hope you will take notice at the huge number of stickers and wonderful comments that decorate this piece of paper. In case you can't read them, please allow me to point them out. 

1. Great AM also! 

2. Good effort today; she got to be a helper, "The Door Monitor."

3. She loves food! :) 

4. Very happy and friendly today

5. Nice listening and good participation since it was her share day.

6. She loves to color and practice writing her name.

7. She loves to be read to

8. Very attentive today

And then there is perhaps the most wonderful comment, the finishing touch to such a fabulous day ... 

BEST DAY EVER!! WOO HOO!!!

Excellent work, Chloe! 

Love, 

A very proud Daddy and Megan

A mother's guilty pleasure ...

It is a Friday night and I find myself enjoying the peacefulness of an empty house. I'm torn though, should I be sad and missing my kids and husband? Or, is it okay to enjoy the peace and quiet and my glass of red wine? I'm guessing it's okay for a mom to enjoy these quiet moments ... but that's not to say I miss the other four a whole bunch right now, too! 

Sure, I've spent most of the night grading papers and planning out the rest of my Crucible unit, but there really is something to be said for being able to spread out papers on the table without fear of spilled water or the disruptions of arguments over toys and sharing ... or lack thereof. 

I thought I would take a break from school work to share a few more fun stories from the week.

My story about Gavin warms my heart for so many reasons. As an English teacher it's been quite fun to see his reading ability increase. Since I work with high schoolers I don't get to see the early reading growth very often. He's learning new sight words each day and got a 100% on his first reading test ... it's not just the English teacher in me though ... a mom (step mom or not) always loves to see her kids do well! On Wednesday night I made cupcakes for dessert. Gavin (as usual) was the only one to finish enough dinner to earn dessert. As he and Chuck and I were sitting at the kitchen table, Gavin told us that cupcake was a compound word. It came out that simply. No fanfare. Nothing ... it was so matter-of-factly that I think it made his announcement all the more adorable. We quizzed him a bit more and he told us that railroad was a compound word as well. Nice work, Gavin! :) 

The next story is about Chloe. After dinner on Wednesday night she went into the living room to play with the boys. The first thing she says ... "Gavin, can I be a man?" Chuck and I looked at each other and cracked up ... and then went in to see exactly what she was asking. It was simple really, Gavin had action figures and Chloe wanted to play with one of them. Cute phrase though ... although it did catch us off guard a bit! 

Master Zack has learned that if he smiles big and says please in the most adorable tone, he can get just about anything he needs from the teachers at school. Several of them have commented on how difficult it is to tell him no, as they all seem to melt when he asks. What a flirt! :) 

Happy weekend! 

Much love, 

--M

Playing catch up!

Hi friends! 

So much has been happening in the last week and there just hasn't been time to share all the fun. :) So, I decided to post some pictures and write some captions (sorry, that's the yearbook geek in me) to catch everyone up on the latest stuff around our crazy house. Here goes ... 

Pictured above is Chuck's ever-growing Union Hill mountain bike club. The group meets each Friday after school and rides for an hour through Empire Mine. Last Friday, 18 students showed up to participate! Pretty incredible numbers, then again ... when the "coach" and teacher is ranked No. 1 in the country it would be hard to pass up the chance to ride. On a side note, several of my high school students know Chuck from his days as a Nevada Union mountain bike coach. A few of them have actually started showing for the Union Hill Friday rides to participate. What a great experience all the way around! 

On July 23, Chuck and his good friend and riding partner, Chris Thibodeau left at 6:30 a.m. for an all day ride in Lake Tahoe. All day, by the way, was about 12 hours, as they returned home about 6:30 that night! The ride took them through some beautiful country and Chuck was able to figure out the timer feature on our new camera to snap this photo. There were lots of pictures that came back and after seeing them I had a hint of jealousy. I would love to get to see some of that area with my own eyes, but I know there's no way I could ride through the terrain they did. I suppose I'll settle for the pictures and stories!  

August 24 we celebrated Chuck's birthday with my family at Mas in Roseville. This was the day after the big bike ride and Chuck enjoyed the mojitos (a Dickson family favorite) with his meal. 

(Now that's saying something!) It was a great little party. 

Monday night we enjoyed another Kuk Sool class, but this time it was Chuck's turn. I love watching him run through the forms. His body movement with the kicks and such is amazing. Yup, I'm in love! <3 

Labor Day weekend wasn't just for an extra day off school. Nope, we put those kids to work! :) Just kidding. The weather was so perfect that we had some fun playing outside. The kids managed to discover "treasure" while digging. (Between you and me it looked amazingly like an old piece of bike chain, but our "pirates" were able to make it into hidden treasure and keep themselves occupied for quite a while!)

Chloe stops to pose for the camera. She loves when she's asked to smile! :) Outside she's usually the one showing the boys the best way to get dirty in the dirt and leaves. I love that she just jumps right in. A bit of a girly girl at times, but certainly never afraid to get her hands dirty. Thata girl! :) 

Zack, on the other hand, would not let me take any pictures of him digging or playing ... his new favorite thing to do is turn away from the camera so his face can't be seen. But, at least in this picture you can tell how much fun he had. Either that, or he's prepping for an audition in Annie as one of the orphan kids. Hahaha! JUST KIDDING. :) 

Saturday night we celebrated Chuck and Aunt Donnie's birthdays. What a fun family get together! The kids even found time to play in the pool. By the way, we don't usually put Chloe in a shower cap to swim, but we forgot her earplugs. Personally, I think she may be on to something ... bringing shower caps back. She is a fashionista! Veeerrry nice! :) 

I think that pretty much wraps up the week. The upcoming week will have more Kuk Sool, school pictures, bike rides, mountain bike club, Chuck's first school dance, a slumber party at Grammy and Papa's for Zack and so much more! Hope your long weekend was great! 

Much love,

--M