What do you do the week before Christmas?

Here are some snapshots of the week before Christmas at the Dickson house.

We of course went and visited Santa, who happened to be spending some time at the Chico Mall! Kaelyn asked Santa for an art set, Jaren asked for a scooter and a race track, and Kenna didn't want to tell Santa anything, but as we walked away she said Santa probably knows she wants a scooter, too. Yep, Santa's pretty smart that way.

Kaelyn had fun performing with her ballet class at a local "Elderly Living Home" ( apparently they are no longer called nursing homes!) She did great and the whole family enjoyed watching her dance!

Buddies Jaren and Kenna waiting for Kaelyn's dance to start at the Elderly Living Home.

Kenna wasn't feeling well one morning, so she was laying on her bed instead of the usual running around with her best buddy, Jaren. Jaren and I walked by her room and she burst into tears. What's wrong? I asked. She replied, " That's why I'm crying, Jaren, because I miss you!" Drama!

The kiddos got a little creative with the dress-up bins and the chairs to the art table. The result? Santa and his trusty reindeer, Rudolph, of course! Kenna dressed up as a "princess Mrs. Claus" but had her costume (princess dress, knit scarf and santa hat) off before I could get a picture.

Kenna loves to play with the nativity set. I like to I sneak by and listen to her act out the baby Jesus story and move the people around. And I love that she calls the wisemen, "the wise old man". You gotta love 4 year olds! (Ignore the date on photo-its not right, I have to turn that feature off of the camera!)

Snow for a day!

We have had a pretty cold week, and there was a rumor we may get snow. On Monday when the kids and I went to pick up Kaelyn from school, there were a couple of flakes floating around in the sky. By the time we reached her school 5 minutes later, it was full-on snowing and you should have heard the playground. It was 15 minutes early, but teachers were letting the kids out and there was screaming, yelling, hugging, skipping--everyone was going crazy! I've never seen such excitement. Girls were singing "Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!" Kids were running around catching flakes on their toungues. It was so fun to see such joy. We raced home and quickly geared up in our pathetic snow gear. (It is mostly rain gear to be honest, but hey, it worked!) We drove to a nearby church with a big snowy field and the kids had a blast. I got my fill, then waited in the cozy car watching them until they were finally cold enough to come home. About an hour later, it stopped, and by the next day it was all melted.

My kind of SNOW!!!

Kenna's first taste of snow!

Of course, we had a snowball fight. Everyone gained up on the one without the gloves! I was too cold to throw snow back at them!

These kiddos are so proud of their little snowman!

I know, there is just not enough snow to make a snow angel-- but that did not stop Jaren from trying his little heart out!

Kaelyn is looking a bit pale these days!

Fall Fun

Interesting Fact: an average oak tree has about 200,00 leaves. And they lose almost all of them in the fall. And we have about a million oak trees-- so guess what we've been doing around here?

Raking leaves! But of course, the real fun is jumping in the pile.

Kaelyn did the most work so she got the first jump!

Here goes Kenna!

Jaren gets some serious altitude. We have big hopes for him on the Basketball court!

Just another reason why I love this time of year so much!

Happy Halloween!

One of my favorite things about Halloween in California is the great trick-or-treating weather. You don't have to cover up your costumes with coats, and you can feel your fingers and toes the entire time! Jaren was sick earlier in the week so we were crossing our fingers he would be better for Halloween. He was very excited that he didn't miss out!

The Fireman and the Ladybug. (There's probably a romance novel out there with that title!)Jaren liked to remind everyone that he was not a firefighter, but actually the fire chief! And Kenna squeezed into this ladybug costume (size 2T) because she thought it was "so beautiful!" Kaelyn wore it when she was little and Kenna pulled it out of the costume box and fell in love!

Its hard to imagine sweet little Kaelyn as a witch, but I have to say she pulled it off. And she developed quite the wicked cackle as well!

Oh and Greg's costume? We like to call it, "Rogaine gone bad!"

It takes a family to carve a pumpkin!

We decided to simplify this year and only carve one pumpkin for the whole family. So we each had our own very important jobs. We all picked out the pumpkin (no Pumpkin Patch this year, we were supermarket sell-outs!) Kenna and Jaren were the scoopers. Kaelyn designed the picture and she and Greg carved the pumpkin. I supervised (of course!) and also roasted up the pumpkin seeds.

Kenna just realized she was supposed to stick her hand in to pull out all the gooshy seeds inside.

Are you serious? Jaren was not excited about it either at first. But then they got into it!!

Behold the young artist at work!

And here's a look at the final masterpiece.

Fall Fashion Show

My kids are all about dressing up. We have 2 big bins of random dress-ups which are in our art room, and my kids are not shy about designing creative and unusual outfits. Allow me to invite you to the Dickson Kiddos Fall Fashion Show:

This lovely model today is wearing a vintage bridesmaid's dress complete with about 25 clips in her hair to get the desired upsweep hair-do. Look familiar, Amber?

This young strapping model is going for the ever-so-popular "sombrero-wearing-tatted-cowboy" look. A must-have for the fall season!

She's cute and she knows it! Always stylish pink cowboy boots compliment the polka dot ensemble. And what wardrobe is complete without a black and white cow hide vest??

Don't just stand there, let's get to it-strike a pose, there's nothing to it! VOGUE!

Doing a little exploring

We decided to take a break from all our projects and have a little fun on Greg's day off last week. Just 15-20 minutes away is a beautiful little lake, (Paradise Lake), with a very easy hiking trail around it. We were there in the early evening so the sun was reflecting off the lake as it was setting. It was beautiful! The little ones are getting more co-ordinated so hiking is getting to be more do-able. Of course, ever-dramatic Kenna still will suddenly stop and say she can't go another step, but that's what Greg's shoulders are for!

I love this picture! It was a little steep down to the bank of the lake and I asked everyone to go down so I could take their picture. Kenna asked Jaren if he would hold her hand so she wouldn't fall. So he did. Aaah, will they always be that sweet to each other?

Our three amigos posing on the trail. We had a great time admiring the trees, throwing rocks in the water, and helping Jaren find the perfect walking stick. We look forward to seeing all the other beautiful things our new town has to offer!

I should write a book!

So how many times have we as parents cracked up when our kids say hilarious things and say we should write a book? Seriously, if I had writing skills I would consider it because I am surrounded with rich material thanks to these 2 cuties in the bathtub! So here are 2 I happened to remember and write down this week:

Jaren: Holding up a pair of jeans with a huge hole in the knee "I'm going to wear these pants because they give me lots of fresh air"

Kenna: Let me set the scene: It's early Sunday morning, and Jaren runs in to report that Kenna had snuck into the candy she got at a birthday party. Greg and I go find Kenna and ask if she had eaten any candy. This was her very serious response, "Weeelllll, I was perfectly walking around, then I bumped my head and fell on the ground. That made my mouth open and a piece of candy rolled in!"

What will they say next?

Kenna is 4!

Kenna was very excited about her birthday this year. She decided early on that she wanted a "flower" themed birthday so that's what we did! She picked out the flower cups, plates, and napkins and we even found flower shaped candles so I thought we were good-- until the day before her birthday she told a friend that she was going to have flowers sticking out of her cake like they were growing. I said yeah, we got candles that look like flowers growing. I was immediately corrected that she wanted big flowers that were part of the cake growing. Really? Because we hadn't really talked about that, Kenna . . . Well, good ole Jo-Anns to the rescue, they had flower shaped brownie molds that apparently work for cake as well. She requested chocolate frosting, (that's my girl!) so the flowers were decorated with colored sugar and sprinkles. She was thrilled with the outcome and loved picking the flowers and eating them.

We started a new tradition this year of everyone saying one thing they love about "the birthday girl". Since Kenna loves compliments, this may have been her favorite part of her birthday. ( She especially loves it when Jaren gives her a compliment. For instance, she'll say, "I love you, Jaren." Then if he answers, "I love you too", she'll say, "Yeah! Jaren you love me!!!That's awesome! You love me . . ." until Jaren is so embarrassed he tries to disappear.) But anyway, back to her birthday, we all said we loved her wonderful smile, her dimples, her spunky attitude and that she is fun to play with.

Here is a glimpse of Kenna at the grown-up age of 4. She is a big fan of dolls and spends her quiet time playing with baby dolls, her doll house, or now, her recently acquired Cinderella figurines. She also loves to be read to, or look at books on her own. She will sit on my lap and read book after book. I asked her what her favorite book was and she said, "Llama Llama Red Pajama" (Probably because she can really relate to the line, "please stop all this llama drama and be patient for your mama")
Anyway, Kenna loves to dance and sing and be the center of attention. She learns the words to songs very quickly and likes to belt them out no matter where she is or who is around. She also loves to talk and will confidently talk to just about anyone about just about everything. Let's just say she will never have to work on overcoming shyness.


Kenna also loves to color pictures (especially of her family)and write her name. She spends a lot of time at the art table using crayons, scissors, stickers, etc. She loves to play with Jaren and Kaelyn and her friend Ellie. She says her favorite foods are pizza and "pa-sghetti", but is not a big fan of brown rice or plain meat. She is very playful and loves to be silly and make others laugh. We love you, Kenna!

Back to school!

Here is Kaelyn on the first day of school. We started school pretty early this year, on Tuesday, August 11th, and we were racing against the clock to be completely moved in to our house by Monday night. And by completely moved in, I really only mean moved in enough so we could find bowls and spoons for breakfast, round up some toothbrushes, find the school clothes--just the essentials to get to school the next morning.

Kaelyn letting us know she is starting the 3rd grade. Third grade already? It does bring on the tears every year as I watch her find her desk then put on a brave face and wave good-bye. Then I make my way back to the car all the while silently praying that she will be safe and confident and happy in her new school year. And I still have so many "first days of schools" ahead of me! Hope my heart can take it!

Jaren and Kenna miss Kaelyn so much when she is at school! Actually we all do. She is a peacemaker in our family (most of the time!:)) and she loves making up games and activities for Jaren and Kenna to do. I especially love it when she plays "school" and reads them books and has them practice writing their names. Or she will teach them how to draw certain animals. Or they will make big elaborate villages out of blocks with all their animals and little people included. Lately they make art projects , then sell them at their "store" for 10 cents a picture. (Anyone want one?) We all miss Kaelyn when she is at school and look forward to 2:00 when we pick her up each day! So far she has loved the third grade, and her new school, Paradise Elementary. She enjoys her teacher Mr. K, and has made many new friends. What more could we ask for? Maybe less math homework!

Lots of girls and giggles!

Amber and I had such a great visit when she came in July. She and I grew up together in Boise and have been friends since the 4th grade. She lives in Utah now, but she made the trip with her 3 daughters (her hubby couldn't come this time) to visit. We packed in as much fun as we could in the few days she was here. We went school shopping in Roseville with our older girls, mastered chopsticks at P.F. Changs for dinner, and swam in the local pool, to name a few. We always have so much to talk about since we have shared so much of our lives together. One highlight for me was going running with her --it reminded me of our running days in high school where we would meet each other half way between our 2 houses and then start our run.

Kaelyn, Jaren, Kazia, Kenna and Keagan. (Karrica is not in this picture) Just try keeping all those "K" girl names straight. It was crazy! We were just throwing out "K" names and even inventing some new ones until we finally got someone to answer us! Poor Greg and Jaren were very much outnumbered this week!

Kenna and Keagan. The spunky ones of the group! Our kiddos played so great together, it was a joy to watch them laugh and interact together.

Karrica is 14 so we had to try extra hard to keep her entertained. She zipped through the books she brought, then moved on to my book collection. One night, Amber and I went out just the 2 of us after putting the little ones down, and Greg borrowed our friends' Guitar Hero and challenged Karrica to a tournament. He and Karrica had a great time staying up all night rocking out.

I had the best time with Amber and her girls and feel so blessed to have her in my life. We used to plan our future when we were little and it included our kids growing up together so I am so thrilled we have the chance to visit and nurture these special relationships!

Living in Paradise

So the past few weeks have been so crazy I have not even touched a computer for weeks! (The fact that we were not hooked up to the internet for 2 of those weeks contributed to that!) Anyway, starting back where we left off from our wonderful 4th of July in Washington--we returned home from our trip with the worst case of stomach flu our family has ever experienced. Each little kiddo got it for 4-5 days, one after another, so we were out-of-commision-sickos for 2 weeks straight. I pretty much only did laundry and distribute saltine crackers for that stretch of my life. The following week, when we were all healthy, my BFF in the whole wide world Amber came with her girls and stayed for a few very fun and giggly days. (More on that later!) Then a few days after that, Greg and I went to San Francisco for Greg's annual Les Schwab meeting (much thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Dickson and Aunt Kelcie who stayed with the kids.) Then the following week, school started for Kaelyn. And sometime in those 4 short weeks, we bought and moved into a new home in nearby Paradise, CA. It has been a whirlwind around here, (AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT TOO!), but we are so happy to be settling in to our little piece of Paradise.

The kids love collecting acorns from the huge oak trees, playing with the pine cones, and spotting deer in the huge back yard. The back yard is landscaped up close to the house, then there is about an acre of untouched "woods"-- already the kids are naming the squirrels (so far we have Chester, Nutty, and Mike)

Enjoying popsicles on the back porch. My 2 favorite things about the house are the front and back porches. (Oh yeah and the walk-in closet, but that isn't picture worthy. It almost is, but not quite) .

Jaren is not flashing gang signs despite what you have heard about California, he is just really into the peace sign these days. Anyway, here are our little people hanging out on the front porch. We are very much looking forward to settling in, unpacking all our boxes, finding a place for everything, then relaxing in our new space!

Three cheers for the red white and blue!

We spent the 4th of July this year in Arlington, Washington visiting Grandma and Grandpa Dickson and Aunt Kelcie. Of course we couldn't miss the good old Arlington parade. We were not early enough for a front row spot, but some nice people let the kids sit on the curb in front of them while we sat in the back row. So the kids had a great view and a prime location to collect candy. They got a ridiculous amount of candy, but had so much fun chasing it, gathering it and showing us every single piece they got!

Jaren taking a moment to say hello to us in the back row during a break in the parade.


Kenna showing us how excited she is to get a Laffy Taffy. Apparently those are her "fravorites!"

Kaelyn and Grandma snuggling waiting for the fireworks to start. Is it just me or does it seem to take FOREVER for the fireworks to start? No matter where we go --maybe because its always the end of a busy, fun-filled day, but waiting for the fireworks to start is torture, especially with 3 kids asking, " When are they going to start?" "Its been five more minutes! " "Its dark now, are they starting yet?" " How do they make firecrackers?" But its always worth the wait!

Kenna found the best seat in the house. She just went up to Grandpa who was resting on the blanket and without saying anything climbed up and looked around.

When Jaren and Kaelyn saw what Kenna had discovered, they wanted in on the action. Usually people say "dog pile" ( in Toy Story it is called "pig pile") but this was a "monkey pile" for sure!!

Finally the wait was over and the show began! It was colorful, glittery and sparkly and our kids were totally thrilled. I loved watching their faces as they enjoyed the fireworks. It was a great way to celebrate our blessed life in our wonderful country!