School pictures

Greetings and salutations! :) 

Just had to share the wonderful school pictures our brood brought home. I think Zack's smile makes me laugh the most ... can you tell they asked him to say cheese!? 

Will have to post more later. Dinner calls ... 

Much love,

--M

Our weekend

Hey there! :) 

So, we had a very busy weekend ... the school carnival, a visit to the pumpkin patch ... and a tea party. Man, we're tired ... good thing school starts up again tomorrow! :) Pictures from our weekend follow, although they are a little out of order. I have no idea what's going on ... I just want to blog and it has to get complicated! So, bear with me ... 

Union Hill hosted a carnival on Saturday. Chuck's mountain bike team had a booth (a tire toss game) and the kids and I headed out to explore the rest of the festivities. Here, Zack can be seen taking a turn on the drum set. He actually did a pretty good job with it! 

And then it was Chloe's turn. The girl has rhythm to be sure! 

This was Sunday morning. We decided to sleep in and take it easy. The kids humored themselves with a tea party in Chloe's bedroom. Man, they made a mess fast ... amazingly this only took about 15 minutes to clean up. Is fun proportional to the amount of toys on the floor? Not sure, but I'm thinking yes! 

Sunday afternoon, Chuck, Gavin, Chloe and myself decided to check out a pumpkin patch on our way home from dropping off Zack. Here Chloe feeds the horse and Gavin rides the horse. This pumpkin patch wasn't so much about choosing a pumpkin ... for $5 each, the kids got to spend 30 minutes playing in jump houses and going down slides. Perfect way to burn off some energy! 

Back to the school carnival on Saturday, Chloe got a butterfly painted on her face. It lasted about 10 minutes until Chloe had an itch and scratched the whole thing off!

The bounce house on Saturday was a huge hit, too! I love the next two pictures ... the excitement in the faces of Chloe and Gavin and then Zack's big smile. Very cute! :) 

The fire truck on Saturday afternoon also allowed for some fun. Here, Zack is checking out the instruments on the back. 

 

And finally, the bat that Gavin had painted on his face! 

Another big milestone was that he lost a front tooth this weekend. He and Zack were wrestling and out popped the tooth. There was a little blood, but after we got everything cleaned up, Gavin gave Zack a big thank you ... that little tooth had been dangling for what seemed like weeks! 

And so, we get ready for one more busy week. Wednesday there are field trips for both Chloe and Zack (to the local pumpkin patch) and Thursday is Zack's fourth birthday ... HOLY COW! 

Hope you're doing well! 

Much love,

--M

An anniversary, of sorts

Today, October 10, marks one year from the day I received an email from Chuck. This was no ordinary email. We had met in church on October 7, 2007 and I wasn't exactly sure what to make of Chuck at that point. :) We sat in Sunday school with Gavin and Zack and I couldn't get Chuck to say two words to me. (I later found out that he was so nervous he was too afraid to say much of anything ... apparently my smile had pretty much done him in!) Anyway, that was on Sunday. On Wednesday, October 10, 2007, I had an email asking if we could meet and talk some more. And the rest, as they say, is history. It had taken some effort to find my email address and I'm so glad he did! :)

The fun part was that tonight as we were eating dinner, Brad Paisley's song, "She's Everything" came on. (It's the song that Chuck sang to me at our wedding!) Right in the middle of dinner tonight Chuck asked me to dance. It was a great moment ... about a two minutes later we had Zack and Chloe asking if they could dance too. So, we had some family dancing time. :)

And what a year it's been! I've spent quite a bit of time today reflecting on all the changes in my life and I can't help by tear up when I think of where I was last year and what a different place I find myself in now. I have a beautiful family, three amazing kids, an incredible husband, a fun job and some time to work in classrooms, make halloween costumes and take care of the house. Sure, it's exhausting at times and overwhelming, but at the end of the day I can truly say that I'm happy. And that's a nice place to be.

Here's hoping you find some time today to stop and appreciate the finer (albeit sometimes crazy) things in your life!

Much love,
--M

A few more pictures ...

Hi there, 

Just a few more pictures to share with you! 

Chris (left) and Chuck at the starting line of the State Championships in Big Bear. The course was set up in such a way that we could watch them take off and then didn't see them again until they crossed the finish line. In the hour and 45 minutes that it took for Chuck to complete the race, we (myself, Chuck's mom, my mom and my aunt and uncle) headed  for Starbucks. What better way to root on your honey! :) Just kidding. 

And, there's the finish! I was jumping up and down as I watched Chuck come into the final part of the race and I'm shocked I was actually able to snap a picture. But yes, he did win ... and by a HUGE eight minute margin. What a stud. 

Hanging out at the finish line! :) 

Chuck received a plaque and a medal for his efforts. Both the medal and the plaque are hanging on his wall at school. :) 

And the very next weekend we packed up our house and moved. No rest for the weary in this family! :) Before moving we needed to properly decorate the trailer. Thank goodness the kids were here. Chuck can't draw and I was busy packing. Like I said, no rest around here. Geez, you spend all weekend cheering someone on at a bike race and you can't even take off the next weekend to rest. What's up with that? 

So, I guess that gets you all caught up with our family. I will post more when something happens. See you in five minutes. Just kidding! :) 

Much love,

--M

I'm catching up ...

Hi friends! 

Since I have been so lacking on my updates, I figured the best way to make up for lost time would be with lots of pictures. So, here goes ... 

First up is Chuck's race in Folsom on Sept. 13. This was the first race of the season that Gavin and Chloe were able to attend. Not only did Chuck capture first place (HOORAY!) but it was also the first day Gavin got a nosebleed. He went face first off a fence post. *sigh* At least the nurse at the First Aid station was cute and Gavin was well-attended too, but he didn't really seem to care too much! Anyway, it was a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun! Chuck's mom joined us for the race as well. 

 (For the record, I have no idea why all my words are coming up underlined in blue. Just go with me here ... hey, at least you're getting an update!) 

Not only was Chuck looking like his handsome self in his kit, but each of the kids had a jersey to wear as well. No wonder he won ... he had the best looking cheer squad around! :) 

That could well be one of my favorite photos! What a good looking group! 

When Daddy is racing, it can get a little boring. Good thing there was plenty of dirt to play in. This was taken before all the playing got started ... you should have seen how quickly the dirt became part of the outfit. Ah well, the riders get dirty so why can't the spectators, too!? 

This was taken after the race. Chuck's friend (and former student) Chris Thibodeau laid down to rest after the race and Nurse Chloe stepped in to make sure he was doing okay. 

Adorable, if you ask me. :) 

There's my guy! First place! Way to go, Chuck!! :) 

Something tells me it won't be long before 

Gavin is actually big enough for his own mountain bike. 

Oh yes, and there's the wife. :) 

And there has been a lot that has changed since that point. Heck, that was nearly a month ago. I do have more pictures to share, but it would appear the camera is currently playing hide-and-go-seek and really, I 'm not in the mood to seek ... so more pictures will have to come at a later time. Instead, I'll use words to give some more updates. We'll run through the family here: 

GAVIN: The little man still has a front tooth holding on for dear life! My goodness, I'd have thought it would have fallen out this weekend, but instead it's dangling with whatever small bit of effort it can muster. Other than all that, Gavin is doing great. We continue to get good reports from school and he's actually been singled out as a helper on campus. He's going to start working in a friendship club to model good behavior for some of the students who are having some problems. He's also reading up a storm which is a lot of fun to be a part of, too. He's still loving Kuk Sool and should be getting his yellow stripe very soon. 

CHLOE: What a love bug! We've had a few rough patches, but our refrigerator is currently covered in several good notes from school and we couldn't be happier. Last weekend Chloe and I played dolls together ... and boy did we  have a good time! She laid them all out in the living room and then we took turns feeding and burping them. She taught them how to use the potty and then the babies started saying their first words so Chloe kept me up to date on what they were saying. It's been a while since I've played dolls, but we had a great time. I continue to enjoy doing Chloe's hair and she's loving french braids right now. 

ZACK: Z is doing great. Last week he had an MRI (his third in his short little life) to check out his head. Originally, the doctors did the MRI to make sure there wasn't an issue with the size of his head and his speech delay. The good news was there wasn't a huge issue there, but they inadvertently found a cyst on the back of his brain. (GULP!) The did a second MRI a year later to make sure the cyst wasn't changing. It had actually gotten a bit smaller, but they wanted to do third MRI one year after that to check again. 

Last Monday was the MRI and we just got the results ... the cyst has gotten bigger, but in proportion to how much Zack has grown, the cyst is actually small. Did that make sense? Anyway, they won't do another MRI for two years. It's not really a cyst to worry about too much (although when people are talking about your child I'm not sure you don't ever worry about it ...) Apparently we can all have these particular type of cysts, and as long as there aren't any major things happening (slurred speech, falling over, trouble walking, etc) they won't do anything but monitor. Whew. 

Zack is doing great in school and is now seeing a speech therapist twice a week. He really enjoys working with her. :) Believe it or not, Z turns four next Thursday. I'm in shock ... where has the time gone!? 

CHUCK: Well, racing season is officially over for the year! :) Chuck finished very strong ... winning the State Championships in Big Bear. He is coaching the mountain bike club at school and continues to find time here and there for rides in between other activities. He has DJ'd a couple of dances for the local schools and is enjoying his wellness class (health/pe combo) at school. He's hoping to find time to get back into Kuk Sool more regularly ... he'd still really like to earn that black belt. 

ME: What can I say? I'm having a blast keeping up with everybody else's activities! I'm now volunteering in all three classrooms each week and I really enjoy it. Where else does a high school English teacher get to spend time cutting out the pieces for art projects or directing kids in gluing beans onto a letter B? Seriously, I'm loving it. I could never work in a preschool classroom full time, but my two hours a week is enough to get my fix! I am also making the halloween costumes. Gavin will be an Army guy, Chloe a witch and Zack would like to be Bob the Builder. We have a week off in October and my plan is to sew, sew, sew! :) 

We've pretty well settled into our new place. This just started our second week here and there are only about four boxes left to unpack. We'll have the place ready to shine next week for Zack's party ... that will be the first time most of the family sees our new digs. 

Anyway, I hope this finds everyone doing well. I will search out the camera soon so I can add more pictures. 

Much love, 

--M

Don't give up!

Hi there, 

Okay, so life has been a little busy and my free minutes have not been spent updating the blog. My sincerest apologies for that! We moved into our new place last weekend and haven't had a spare moment ... rather, the moments we have had have usually been spent collapsing in sheer exhaustion. :) 

I promise to update the blog this weekend. Don't give up on me just yet! 

Hope this finds everyone doing well! 

Much love,

--M

PS -- A few highlights: 

* Chloe has had several, several good days at school in a row. 

* In just two weeks Zackary will turn four. HOLY COW!

* Gavin is about to lose another tooth. 

More to come ... :) 

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

Good times, silly times!

 

So, I know it's been a while since the last post appeared. Forgive me, it's been a heck of a week and thank goodness for the long weekend and some time to recover. Well, I suppose you'd have to actually take some time DURING the long weekend to recover and that's not happening. So, nevermind. We'll recover later. :) 

Thought I would share some funny pictures that were taken the other night just before we got everybody ready for bed. Zack wanted to sit on my lap and the Chloe wanted to cuddle as well. Not wanting to be left out, Gavin joined in too.

 The montage that follows was just too cute NOT to share! My particular favorite is the one with the feet ... who knew Zack was so flexible! 

Other than pictures, we've had a few more of those, "I can't believe he/she just said that" type moments. My particular favorite went something like this: 

SCENE: It's about 30 minutes before bedtime and the timer has been set for two minutes. Any toys not picked up when the timer goes off are confiscated. 

Chloe (after a not so hot day at school) has opted 

to watch her brothers pick up the toys while she sits and watches. It should be noted that by this time, Chloe has had two time outs since getting home and has nearly worn out our last nerves in terms of her tone. Chuck is supervising pickup and I'm in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner.

CHUCK: Gavin, there are still some toys out and if you don't get those picked up I'm going to take them away.

CHLOE: (In her best possible yelling cheerleader voice) TAKE THAT TOY AWAY, YEAH! (Seriously, if there had been pom-poms with her I would have expected the next part to go something like, give me a T, give me a O, give me a Y! )

CHUCK: Chloe, that's enough go up to your room right now. (This is where she would have sat for a timeout).

CHLOE: (In her best whining voice.) Whhhhyyy?

CHUCK: Chloe, What did you just say? (He, of course, was referencing the take that toy away bit ... but her reply didn't ... )

CHLOE: Why?

And scene. How do you answer that?! I was cracking up in the kitchen ... I mean, she did say why and that was also the answer to his question, although not perhaps the answer he'd been looking for. I have to give Chuck credit, he did his best to keep it together, but let a laugh slip while trying to explain why she needed to have a timeout. There have been several times in the last few days when I've simply looked at Chloe and let a laugh slip ... I loved that response and can't help but laugh at her cheerleader antics. I have no idea if this written recollection of the events even begins to paint a picture of how funny the moment was, but I'm sitting here laughing as I think about. Maybe it's a better inside joke!? Heck, I couldn't even share the story with Chuck's family without cracking up at the thought of it all. *sigh* 

Okay, another moment ... 

I picked the kids up after school one day this week (the exact day is slipping my mind) and I asked Gavin what he did at school. He told me they've been studying the human body. Apparently, according to Gavin, if someone makes you mad it means they get on your nerves. When they get on your nerves your brain can feel it and it makes your ears red and you get mad. In his descriptions, he was actually telling me about how people physically get on your nerves. It was a cute story. Man, kids are so dang cute with their explanations! 

Zack's latest thing is to hold up the index finger on his right hand and announce, "I have an idea... " Last night he told me, "Mom, you rock!" *sigh* I know that won't last forever, so I stopped to take it in ... after a good laugh of course! 

I suppose when life gets busy, work gets hectic and finding time to snuggle with your honey is challenging, one of the best things to do is to stop moving so fast and just listen to your kids. They really do have a lot to say! 

Much love, 

--M

Zack's first baseball game!

Okay, so this post is about a week late, but the pictures were pretty cute and I wanted to share them anyway. Last weekend, Chuck was DJing a wedding and Zack and I joined a group from church at a Sacramento River Cats baseball game. What an event! Z had never been to a game before and he had a ball. It started about 7 so we only made it about an hour and half, but it was enough time for Zack to decide that baseball is something he'd like try. Well, that lasted about five minutes or so ... when we got home later I asked if he still wanted to play and he said no. :)


Before the game we headed over to NanaJosh's house. (By the way, in Zack's lingo Amanda and Josh are one entity and there's no "A" at the beginning of Amanda.) Anyway, we did some swimming before heading to the game. Zack had a ball!

Zack enjoyed a chocolate sundae (holy cow, it comes in a plastic batting helmet!) The whipped cream and sprinkles only added to the mess, er, I mean fun.

Being silly with the Wallers ... one of the many fabulous families in attendance! Actually, Zack spent a large portion of the game sitting in Rick's lap. He couldn't stop talking about it the entire way home. :)


I don't even know what caption to write here ... I just loved the smile too much not to post the picture!

Much love,
-- M

Posting

Hi friends, 

Many of you leave comments after you read the blog ... love to get those :) ... but, I had to change it so that the comments are filtered through my e-mail before they post to the site. 

One day I logged in only to find that spammers had left, um, let's just say some very unclean pictures and rude words on my blog. Grrr ... just so that the site stays family-friendly, I wanted to make sure I read everything before it posted. That said, I hope you will continue to leave notes and say hi ... it's fun to find out who is reading the blog! 

Hope this finds everyone doing well ... Chuck has already left this morning for Tahoe and a six hour ride. Zack and I will spend the day together. I asked him what he wants to do and Zack would like to go to the mall. :) There's a pretty cool playground there. My school is also doing a 5K fundraiser this morning so I think we'll go check it out. Zack keeps asking about my students and my school so I know he'll enjoy seeing the campus! 

Happy Saturday! 

Much love, 

--M

Kuk Sool Won

Our new family activity (well, it's new for most of us!) is Kuk Sool Won. It's a form of Korean martial arts. Chuck has been studying for several years on and off and is a brown belt with two black stripes. Recently, all three kids and myself started as well. On Monday nights Chuck and I attend and on Tuesday afternoons I take the kids while Chuck trains for the upcoming state championships. After that race, however, I am positive that Tuesday nights will become a family affair! :) Anyway, I took a few pictures last night and I thought I would share. There is one of Chloe that is missing, but I will attempt to add it soon. It came out rather dark so it needs some doctoring!





Gavin loves his uniform! This is only his third class but he has jumped right in. He can hardly keep a smile from his face when learning new kicks or techniques. :)

Gavin has class first. The class lasts for one hour so I always bring lots of things to keep Zack and Chloe busy. I was amazed at how well they did this week. They colored and talked back and forth for nearly 40 minutes. When they were done coloring, I brought out stickers and blank paper ... the old standby and they entertained themselves for the rest of the time. Amazing! :)

Gavin's class this week was sparring. Basically, they get to practice kicking, punching and blocking ... never to the face, below the belt or the back. Gavin had a blast! :) Check out that block! When his class was over he asked if he could have an Oreo cookie when we got home. We don't even have Oreos at the house, but it was a cute sentiment.

This week marked Zack's very first class. He had been once before but opted to watch the kids. This week he jumped right in. Tony, the studio owner and a wonderful man, is giving Zack is very first belt. Zack was so excited to get it! Right after Tony tied it on him, Zack turned around and gave me a HUGE smile while pointing at the belt. : ) The name of this class is Turtle Tots. For the most part they stretch, practice jumping, rolling, walking backwards ... all fun stuff. Both Zack and Chloe did a great job.

When they got lined up Tony invited Zack to stand behind Chloe ... Chloe announced to the whole class, "He's my new little brother!" VERY cute! There were some cousins in the class as well and Tony said to one of them, "Come over here with your cousin." Anyway, about 15 minutes later when it came time to do the next activity, Tony moved Zack over near Chloe and said, "Zack come stand next to your sister ... " to which Chloe announces, "NO! He's my cousin!" All the parents were laughing. It was a bit comical!

So, there you go! School continues to go well. Chloe had an awesome Tuesday, Gavin has now earned several "Caught You Being Good" awards and Zack is his usual super-fly self. He woke up this morning excited to be going back to school ... he only attends Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Tonight is back to school night for Zack and Chloe. Tomorrow is back to school night for Gavin and Chuck. Whew! Thank goodness we have Grandmas nearby to help with kid-sitting each night. :)

Much love,
--M

Beautiful Butterflies and Dancing Dolphins

Ahhh, yes. The weekend after the first week of school always makes for quite a weekend. I have to admit it's been a pretty mello day with very little activity. We went out to run a few errands this morning and found some great deals on back t0 school clothes for Chuck ... $5 for shirts ... heck, yeah! :) It's been quite a week. I thought I'd jot down a few of the highlights to share with you. First, 4/5 of the family attended their first day of school at Union Hill on Wednesday.

Zack is a Beautiful Butterfly in the AM preschool class. His teacher is Ms. Debbie and I think it will be a great fit. Lately he's been such a talker ... seriously, the kid can wear you down with all his questions, but he wouldn't tell his teacher or the class his name on the first day. That's okay. He'll open up. Apparently on Thursday they painted butterflies in class and he seemed to enjoy that. He's told me he has made some friends, Michael and Cooper, and enjoys circle time and the songs they sing.

Chloe is a Dancing Dolphin in the PM preschool class. Her teacher is Ms. Riley and this will certainly be an interesting year. Chloe spends the morning in the Bearcat (daycare) program on campus and then after lunch attends her preschool class. The transition away from nap ... although it's been in the works for a while ... will be the most challenging. School after a morning of play could be tough! I have no doubt she will pull through though! She's already done some painting and art projects as well.

Gavin made his way to lower campus to join the elementary classrooms this year. His teacher, Ms. Thibedeau (that's a tough name!), has already made an impact on Gavin. He has come home each night with stories about classroom activities. He has his very own homework planner and is required to get a parent signature each night. (One of his "chores" on our board is to do his homework, so this will be interesting to see if he remembers every night!) He was given the job being a "sub" in class. This means that if any of the students with classroom duties are absent, he will take their place. Wow! That means he has to know how to do EVERY job rather than just one. He was very excited!

Chuck started the year at Union Hill as well. He'll be teaching 7th and 8th grade health and PE. It's a combination class so it's actually called "Wellness." For the first time in a really long time he will have his own classroom! It's kind of a big deal since sharing rooms can always get a little tricky. Last year he had to share with both the GATE program and the homeschool classes. We spent a few hours the night before the first day decorating his room. (I was very excited to do this, especially since my classrooms can't be decorated on the college campus!) It appears it's going to be another great year. Chuck will continue to run the mountain bike club on campus and DJ the school dances. He also has one more mountain bike race for this season ... the state championships on Sept. 21 in Big Bear! So, as you can imagine he is in full race mode these days! :) 

I was the lone duck this week ... I started school on a different campus ... only about seven minutes from the house. Ghidotti Early College High School is going to be fantastic! This starts the third year the school has been opened and the kids are great. It's a little strange getting used to teaching on a college campus since the classrooms are so different and we're moving around, but I think it will be fantastic. Once I can get adjusted to 80 minute periods life will get easier too. I'm very excited to get American Lit up and rolling next week. Our first novel is The Crucible. Nothing like delving into the tough stuff to kick off the year!! 

Our morning routines have gotten pretty interesting too. We don't have all the kids every morning, so we only have a few really busy days. Wednesday mornings we just have Zack, Thursday and Friday mornings we have everybody and every other Monday morning we'll have Gavin and Chloe. I start school at 8 and everyone else starts after 8. This means, that Chuck is responsible for getting the kids to school! :) Essentially, we're up at 5:30 to get ourselves ready before the first munchkin meanders downstairs. I am in charge of getting everyone dressed, doing Chloe's hair and making lunches (5 of them!). Chuck takes care of breakfast and then getting everyone out the door after I leave. It seems to be working pretty well! Friday mornings are even easier since I don't start school until 9 and can help with getting kids to school. 

I think the thing I have enjoyed the most is the dinners at night. Wednesday and Thursday we had all the kids here and it was so nice to sit down at the table and check in on everybody's day. Those of you who know me know that I'm not the best cook in the world. Well, I do okay cooking, I've just never really be motivated to do it! (Who would be with a chef like Amanda at home when I was growing up!) Anyway, I made homemade dinners both nights and much to my surprise, both were pretty big hits. Well, at least Chuck, Gavin and Chloe liked them ... you never can tell what Zack is going to eat! He did pretty well with the spaghetti and homemade meatballs ... although he didn't try his greenbeans so he missed out on the homemade brownies. Thursday night it was meatloaf and homemade mashed potatoes. Apparently that was so revolting he opted to go to bed hungry rather than try it! *sigh* It means he missed out on all my hidden veggies in the meatloaf too! Darn! Gavin paid me a very nice compliment on the meals. I was honored. :) 

So, there you go. One week down and lots more to go! 

This is going to be a great year! :) 

Hope this finds everyone doing well. 

Much love,

--M

The board ...

Of course THIS picture will load, but not the other wedding pictures. Humph. Me thinks the computer is up to something! Regardless, here is the behavior board we have created. 

In case you were curious ... 

OMG! Wedding pictures! :)

FINALLY! :) 

The computer decided to cooperate and graciously allow me to upload a few pictures from our wedding. Wasn't that nice? Actually, it was kind of mean, I think. I got to load four pictures and tried number five. I suppose I was getting greedy. Needless to say, picture five didn't work. So, we'll have to do with what we've got. Sorry they're a bit small ...  

These hats we had were so much fun. My mouse ears had a veil attached and Chuck's top hat had mouse ears. The Disneyland experience was really different with these on. People who worked at the park were so helpful and nice. Other random park-goers yelled, "Congrats!" quite a bit each day. It was very FUN! 

Chuck and I LOVE the movie, "The Incredibles." When we saw Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible we were literally running to meet them. Very fun to have our picture taken with them, but I'm sure we looked hilarious! :)  

Enjoy the pictures. I'll keep working on a few more. 

Much love,

--M