Blue eyes

Horray for my blue eyed baby. I really hope they stay blue- Go recessive genes!

Snow Days

Our Christmas break started a little early this year with the biggest snow storm in Oregon in 40 years! We didn't have normal church for two weeks, and the kids missed a week of school. It kept us trapped at home most of the time, then we eventually ventured out with chains on the van tires. Don't worry- we still got to do all of the holiday stuff! Luckily, we were pretty much done with shopping and gift giving to neighbors and friends.


I just had to include this picture of our little darling! She has really been smiling at us a lot recently. It is so fun to see her more engaged with the other kids. She does laugh every once-in-a-while, but it is a rarity.

Here is Larry helping the kids to build a snowman on one of the first days of the storm. Unfortunatly, Miranda and Derek had outgrown most of their snowgear, so only Spencer was really able to stay out long. Lindsey stayed out for a long time even though she was practically frozen. The Snowman eventually looked like Gaba the Hut.

Derek thought it was hilarious to pick up the sheets of ice laying on top of the snow after a night of freezing rain, and throw them to see them shatter.

I found Spencer munching and licking this large sheet of ice. Lindsey also enjoyed eating the snow. Since we don't have a sled, Larry made one out of our cement mixing box (a large, plastic rectangle box) with a hole drilled in it with a cord tied to it. He pulled the kids up and down the street in it. It is so weird that they don't have enough plows, so they don't bother to do the residential roads- so they ended up having huge trenches. It took about 2 days of above-freezing temperatures to finally melt all the slush and ice away. Now we're just back to our lovely Oregon rain.

Larry-the Ultimate Fan

If I had to describe Larry with one word, I think it would be LOYAL. Larry is the most loyal person- to his family, his team, and his friends. Larry wore his Blazer gear at Disneyworld in Florida last January on game days- now that is loyalty. In the picture below, we are at the big BYU/Washington game just a few days before Kara's birth. He got about 75 of his closest friends together and was in absolute heaven! He loves to be surrounded by friends and watch his Cougs. Maybe he went a little over the top with the BYU theme this year- borrowing a Cougar uniform and carrying Kara around in a football costume- but you can never go too far to prove your loyalty if you are Larry. He loves this kind of stuff.

At work, he was asked to head up a team of people in a pedometer competition. Where most teams had 6-8 people, Larry recruited around 35. They were the Texas Walking Rangers. After 6 weeks and many, many motivational emails, at the end of it all, he put together these Chuck Norris heads to give to each participant with some inspiring words on the back.

This fall, Larry was coaching again. He coached soccer for a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds, and really enjoyed it. He has promised to coach Miranda's team next year. He also co-coached waterpolo for Hillboro High School again. He is a gifted coach- maybe not very hard-nosed, but great at motivating people and making them feel great about themselves.We are SO glad that to have our Loyal Larry!

Happy 9th Anniversary to us!

We have had 9 wonderful years of marriage! We were so blissfully unaware of the changes and challenges and children awaiting us on that day. We have had our little ups and downs and put in a lot of hard work- but we are closer and know each other much better because of them. I realize now that I didn't know many of Larry's strengths when we got married- they have slowly emerged as the challenges of life, marriage, and children have stretched us both to become more. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father opened my eyes to see Larry as my future spouse!

And anyway, who could resist this studmuffin...

Kara Renee- the NEW baby

Kara is our new addition - born on September 10th. Spencer calls her "the new baby" because I guess he still considers Lindsey a baby. (Of course, Derek would have a mental breakdown if he heard anyone call Lindsey a baby because she is technically a toddler, as I have had to explain a zillion times- but I digress...). Anyway, Kara has been a very good baby in most respects. She is very pleasant and rarely cries- usually only when she is VERY hungry or VERY tired. She is great at soothing herself to sleep. Currently, she goes to bed around 11 pm and wakes up at 5:30 or 6 to eat, then back to sleep til 8 am or so. So, she's very managable.

Kara has big beautiful gray eyes, short dark hair, and the cutest smile. I'm afraid she inherited my "Sam Donaldson" eyebrows, but I think she'll live. She is also growing a ton- she's just over 3 months old and she's already fitting nicely into 6-9 month clothing. Kara has a really pleasant personality so far. She loves to look at the kids and smile, hoping they glance her way. She is quite enthralled with batting toys and looking at books. She has even started laughing, and it is adorable. One of her best traits is her ability to fall asleep amidst screaming children. I don't think she's too deeply asleep, but she gets her little naps in during the day and sleeps soundly at night. We sure love our Kara!

Michelle (Supreme ruler of the house)

Hola! It's me, supreme ruler of our home. This year, I spent much of my time being pregnant with Kara. I still find it a little amazing that I am now the mother of 5 small children. I am constantly getting comments whenever I go out in public. I think it's funniest when someone sees me with Lindsey and Kara, and comments, "you're a busy mom!" I reply, "you should see me when I have my other three kids with me!" (Ha, ha- it is one of the few rewarding moments I experience in public, most are bad- VERY bad). Life is speeding up as the Larry and I multiply and the kids get older. I usually enjoy the busy-ness of it all, although it has taken a while to adjust since having Kara. (As one friend put it- #5 breaks you!) I think it will get better when I don't have 3 different groups of kids to get ready in the morning. All in all, family life is enjoyable and I like working hard- so life is good.

Here is little Kara. Another girl clone, almost. It's a good thing that I enjoy babies, cooking, and cleaning (when there is time). I still love to read- although most of it is church-related, parenting books, or organizing books. I had fun in the garden this year- until the weeds took over. I also enjoyed working out at the gym up until Kara was born. I have only recently returned in the mornings and I LOVE it! I think I experience a lot of endorphins or something.

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. I went out shopping for myself and got some great jeans, a sweater, and slippers. Larry got me an I-pod to listen to while I work out. I also got a great plastic snake that grows when you put it in water for 4 days and some jelly beans. I'm looking forward to my massage (thanks, Lori).

I'm glad these giant days are over- for now...

Miss Miranda Rose

Miranda is the silliest kid in our family. She is the ringleader for pretend school, babies, and pet play. She is great at getting all the kids to work together on some project- whether it is collecting worms outside and making a house for them out of bricks and dirt, or making cards for all the neighbors. Of course, Miranda's love of drawing and writing continues. In this picture, Miranda wasn't allowed to mess up the dining room because we were having guests over, so she took her coloring supplies outside. She just really has a need to create things every day. Other than using many many sheets of paper a day to color and write on, she also loves to dig into the recycling can to get materials for her projects. In this picture, she is a robot with toilet paper tube hands. She has also made sandals, clocks, teddy bear houses, leprecaun traps, castles, travel games, and more out of our garbage.

Miranda is in second grade this year. She loves art, recess, and writing. Math is her least favorite subject. She likes to chase her friends and play on the monkey bars. Her favorite things to eat for lunch are: leftover potato soup, noodles, pretzels, and peaches.

Miranda loves to jump on the trampoline and elsewhere, swing on the swings and jump off, and go under the trampoline and play spies. Miranda likes to wear interesting combinations of clothes. She really loves to wear skirts and bright colored shirts.

One of Miranda's big obsessions right now is her dog and teddy bear collections. She loves to carry them around and has even secretly brought some of them to school in her backpack. They are her favorite toys and accompany us on our long trips to Utah. Some of their names are: Diamond, Crystal, Sparkle, Golden, Cupcake I, Cupcake II, Sprinkles, Cherry, and Heart-y.

Miranda is usually very helpful with Kara and Lindsey. She will entertain them both if I am cooking or cleaning (especially if I'm making potato soup). She sometimes rebells against responsibility, but is usually just looking for something fun to do. In every prayer she asks to "have a fun day". That's our Miranda.

Derek, Jedi apprentice

Derek is such an interesting member of our family. He is quite passionate about his likes and his dislikes- he seems to feel strongly about almost everything. He LOVES: Star Wars and everything related to it, playing games, Sudoku, playing the Wii at grandma's house, baseball, karate moves, reading big books, and debating. Here is Derek playing Othello with a complete stranger. Anyone is a friend who is willing to play games with him. Derek has a few very close friends, but doesn't seem to care that he has no close friends at school- I think he is thinking to much to worry about other people most of the time.

Derek started Kindergarten this year--finally! He is very advanced in many ways- especially in reading and math. He can just figure things out. Larry taught him how to multiply in a few minutes, he can add large numbers in his head (even though no one has taught him how to do it on paper, etc). It is funny to hear him use words in his vocabulary that he has heard in his books. For instance, one day he said, "Mom, that's criminal!" ( I don't think he was referring to my cooking). Anyway, He can memorize and recall things so easily, it is amazing to me. He goes to reading time with the first graders this year, and from what I understand, he will "float" from different classrooms in the future for other subjects as well. Derek's only problems in school are letting the teacher move onto a different subject (because he wants to keep asking questions), listening, and the occasional meltdown when something illogical happens.

Derek also learned how to play the piano this year. He went through about 4 sets of piano books in 7 months. We haven't gotten back to it since Kara's birth, but we will soon. Derek also loves spaghetti, tacos, pizza, and applesauce.

We discovered two more interesting things about Derek this year- he is almost completely colorblind and he needs to wear glasses! He is excited to have these distinguishing traits, and doesn't mind the glasses at all. In fact, I think he's quite proud of them...

Spencer Gary Dickinson BURP

I thought I'd take a chance to highlight each member of our family- kind of like a Christmas card, but more detailed- and at my own pace. Since I did one on Lindsey recently (just look about a month ago), I thought I'd continue with Spencer.
First off- about 3 months ago, Spencer declared that his name is Spencer Gary Dickinson BURP. He won't let the BURP part go. I'm not sure why this came about, and I'm pretty sure that he doesn't even know what burping is because he often says that he burped right after he has coughed. Here is Spencer doing one of his favorite things- making the applejuice in the morning. He just loves to use the sprayer. He is quite handy, really- and I think he feels like a big kid doing it. He also loves to turn on the hose outside.

Favorite foods: Spencer loves fruit and will often eat only fruit for at least one meal a day. I think his favorite is watermelon. No wonder he is such a slender dude! He also likes yogurt and hot dogs.

Favorite toys and things to play with: He is growing out of his train building phase a little. Most days he wants his tinkertoys (to make robots, space ships, and swingsets), and big Legos (to make houses and jails). He has become quite a problem solver. I think his favorite thing to do is to make clubhouses in the living room out of tents and tunnels and blankets. He usually spends little, if any, time actually inside the clubhouses. He also likes to make up games for me to do. For example: He made a game where we had to kick a balloon up the tunnel and see if we could make it come out the top.

Spencer is in his last year of preschool and has a lot of interest in the alphabet. I think he sees Miranda and Derek reading for pleasure and wants to join in. He can also do some math. Spencer is the quietest child in our family and is quite sensetive. He likes to cuddle and westle. He also enjoys cutting up pieces of paper and making things out of paper- like a vacuum out of a brown paper bag and a ziplock bag put together with tape. He also tapes things he has cut out onto his wall.

Spencer is our most active child. Spencer learned how to ride his bike without training wheels this summer- before his 4th birthday. He quickly got the hang of it and loves to ride. (Derek and Miranda are still working on it). If he gets the chance, he will ride for a couple hours with no stopping. He can also run for much longer than the other kids. We think he has a built in motor.

Derek's Bday Star wars training part 1

As you can guess, Derek wanted a Star Wars Bday party. If you don't know Derek he knows more Star Wars knowledge than me and my Star Wars friend Aaron. Derek has stumped him and has read +300 page stars books, every book he can find, so planning for this took some time becuase he does not like me making stuff up.

Yes that is Jar Jar Binks at the party, kids were not allowed to bring their regualar light sabers, well you can guess why. All that was important was for Derek to have fun, his friends and his siblings and it worked some how. Check out Derek with his Cake below (missing a tooth), great smile. I wrote below about the activities but the summary is party was fun,even my dad stopped by at party.

Star Wars Training Derek's Bday

Cake/ ice-cream : Michelle made 2 medium 2inch high cakes and 1 small one, put them together and with gray frosting, and black for details to make a death Star cake, the rounding took some work, but my Derek loved it, I remember, before he blew out the candles he actually turned the cake and was amazed staring at it. We had trick candles that don’t blow out, which was funny and everyone was laughing, none of them had seen them before other than my Michelle.
I did this party to give my son and his friends a fun memory and I think I achieved it. Party just turned out great; it well worth the effort of planning. I had to do some Star Wars geek research to make sure my Star Wars Tech talks before each activitie were accurate, if you know Derek he knows more than most.




Y-wing bombing skills: I started by explaining the important role of y-wing bombers, then Michelle opened the garage door and on the driveway I had drawn a huge death star, tie-fighters, and star Destroyer out of chalk. I also pre made 50 black water balloons, that were placed in a cooler. This went great except for some reason half the time the balloons did not break mostly because the kids did not throw them high enough. Once they figured out to throw them up higher it went better. Sometimes their aim was really bad and my son got hit, but after a couple minutes of crying and change of clothes all had fun. Many of neighbors came out to watch, and they were getting a kick out of it.

Blaster training: My Dad & Mom for another Spencers birthday bought 4 Nerf guns ( 8 shot shooters), and with this game we finally found their purpose. I blew up a 9 page size poster off the internet of a few battle droids and placed it high in the garage. The kids each took turns in groups shooting them. They loved this, they could have done this for an hour but got 10 minutes.

Laser Training: In the early 90’s I used to play laser tag and a few of the guns still functioned. Each party member took turns using the scopes to hit the targets, the guns were fragile so they had to take turns but each loved a chance to shoot one.

Jedi team work training: I told them about how my son pointed out the other day that no Sith Lord ever went down without the team work of 2 Jedis and how we need to practice team work. I have a large back yard, about 30 yards across, in this event the grass became lava, and they need to cross the yard. So they found scraps of lumber, beams, siding, and plastic from a small scrap pile. They placed one board at time across the yard. This was so awesome to watch as the kids worked as a team lifting heavy posts and walking inch by inch across previously placed beams, place them and wait for the next group. I am so glad I added this event, there was no joking around, and they took this task very seriously. Once they made it across the yard to the swing set they played for about 5 minutes until I mentioned the next event.

Balance skills training: I had a wood beam that the kids walked across outside. After that they each completed that, they did it again with a spoon with an egg. It was fun to see how each approached it, many said it was tough but all did it fine.

Jedi Level 1 Light saber training: we went in to the garage where I had made light sabers for each kid, using the water noodles we had, with duct tape on the handles and black tape for buttons, though Derek said red buttons turns them on. I downloaded Light saber training information from the internet, to give stances, foot work, use of the light sabers, and when they should be used as a Jedi. Once that was done the 1st task was using some extra black balloons from the décor. They were to keep the balloons in the air with light saber.

Jedi Level 2 Light saber training: I had some bubbles blown from some bubble shooters and had them hit the bubbles with light sabers, teaching that many Jedi’s can fight at same time without hitting each other. My son reminds me 200 did in attack of the clones.

2 Events not pictured

Star wars Bingo test: I found this on a yahoo website,, it really did not provide much value but did get the kids to calm down for 5 minutes before the big event.

Cave of Fear: If you seen Empire Strikes Back when Luke faced his fear, I found a way to do it, and it turned out to be the best activity I have pulled off in my birthdays ever. (At least today it feels that way ,especially with minimal price and effort). So I had a 42inch TV Box that was about 6 ft across, 2 ft wide, I cut flaps on each end, put Darth Vader pictures inside from the internet, and placed this in our daughters room which gets pitch black. I then pulled all the good Darth Vader sound clips on to a CD such as him breathing and his scary quotes which was playing in the room, lights were off of course. They were told they did not need to complete this to pass star wars training, and Bday boy Derek got to go first with a tiny flashlight I sent him in the room all by himself. He had to go under a box and through a flap into the long box. At the end of the cave, out of the back flap, was a prize box of paper Darth Vader masks ($8 so total $36 so far) they could take(also some Lea printed masks for girls). Each kid took this so seriously, several backed out until later, my son was in there for 3-4 minutes, while everyone was waiting in the hallway not sure what to expect. He finally came out with the mask on. I was impressed he found the masks, each kid waited in hallway for their turn, all scared and excited. 2 kids came back after cake and ice cream who were too scared to try earlier and I said I would be in the room for them; even then they barely could survive that. So simple but turned out so awesome. Kids keep asking if they could do it again, I asked several what was the favorite event, all said the cave.


The party turned out great, all left our house excited and happy, Derek loved it. Now since I do the Boy parites every 2 years, I get a 20 month rest till next Spencer turns 6. Cost was cheap, and I spent more time reading about Star Wars parites than I spent reading in 10th grade but that is another story all togeather.

Adventures in a Parking Lot

Monday I was at Winco, my favorite grocery store, as usual. Every Monday morning I take the two girls with me. Kara, in a front pack, and Lindsey in the cart. The only way I get her to stay there is to pack a large bag of snacks, bring her blanket, and a cup of milk. Anyway, we were done with our shopping trip after about 45 minutes, and headed out to the van. It was a little cold, so I quickly opened the van, plopped Lindsey inside with my bag, and took Kara out of the front pack and sat her in her carseat. Then I loaded up the back with the groceries.

After that was done, I went to my seat to gather up Lindsey and put her in her carseat. Kara was starting to cry a little. I tried the handle- it was locked! So were all the other doors because Lindsey had apparently pushed the lock button while I was loading the groceries into the back of the van! There was my purse, sitting on the driver's seat with keys attached to the handle, and cell phone in the pocket. Lindsey stood on the seat smiling at me. I tried to point to the button and told Lindsey to push it. It is one of those rocking buttons. She did push it- but on the upper side that locks it again. I kept praising her and telling her to push the button- hoping that she would accidentally hit the other side to unlock the door. Then I tried another tactic- pulling the manual unlock. I was pointing to it through the window, but all Lindsey would do it poke the window where my finger was pointing. No luck. Then Lindsey decided to ignore me and try to put a CD into the tape player. She did this for a few minutes, glancing at me now and then.
I moved to the other side of the van- the passenger side had less buttons. Again I tried telling her to push the button. By this time, I heard a laugh. A fellow shopper had pity on me and let me use her phone to call Larry. I told him to come quickly because Kara was still crying and I was afraid I would soon have to call 911 or something. Finally, Lindsey stopped playing with the CD and tried pulling the manual lock. It worked! Yay! I was in! I quickly called Larry and told him not to come. Lindsey was oblivious that anything had been out-of-the-ordinary. Lesson learned on my part- never leave the keys with a 2 year old!

Colorblind!

So, I took Derek and Miranda to the eye doctor last Friday since Derek failed the test at school and Miranda has never been to one before. I told the optomologist that I suspected that Derek was red/green colorblind, so I wanted him to be tested. Sure enough, she pulled out her book with the colored circles that you are supposed to see the numbers in. Derek couldn't see ANY of them! He is also yellow/blue colorblind. She said, "He is 90, no, more like 100% colorblind". She said that he sees everything in shades of gray, but has learned that different shades are called different colors. I was surprized because he rarely has trouble saying what a color is. I think Larry doesn't completely believe it. I did see evidence today while I was looking at his homework. It was a sheet with about 12 turkeys on it and he was supposed to color them. He did them all right, except the Beige one was colored green! (I have read that many colorblind kids color people with green faces).
If that wasn't enough, he also has horrible vision- about 8 points of astigmatism in each eye. He will be getting glasses soon at half the strength, then a full strength lense about a month after those. Otherwise, she said that he would be running into walls! Oh, and one of his eyes is slightly pulled upwards (kind of like how some people's eyes turn in- it's just up, though).

All of this vision stuff is new to Larry and I since neither of us needs glasses yet. By the way, Miranda did fabulous on her test- she has great vision.

So, Miranda will need extensive othodontics and Derek has horrendous vision! What will be next?

Seconds, please!

I have been amazed the past few months at how much food our family is eating now. It seems like it all happened just about when the grocery store prices went up-- our kids started eating a lot more. Where a normal meal of potato soup, toast, fruit, and milk fed us all and made at least two leftover meals for Larry- now I'm having to double the recipe and we still don't get many leftovers! I've had to invest in a few extra large pots to cook with as well. I'm sure that I will eventually have to at least triple most of the portions I now make! Luckily, it doesn't take a lot longer to do so.
Fortunatly, the kids eat almost everything I make now. It's been a year since Larry came up with the treat reward: if you try what mommy wants you to try at dinner, you get a treat later that night! (This could be anything from steamed carrots to casserole). The treat reward came about because Larry and I were so frustrated that the kids refused to try things that we knew they would like. So, over the course of this year the kids have tried and decided to like many of the meals I make. Horray! The treats have been simple- popcorn, popcicle, ice cream, a peice of candy- you get the idea. Now Derek really likes tacos and meatballs. Miranda has ate EVERY reward food so far (though there have been a few she just couldn't bring herself to finish).

On a personal note, I am amazed at how much food and family are intertwined. Many days, it feels like a large portion of my time is spent just preparing and cleaning up meals. It's a good thing that I like to cook! I just wish someone would wash the pots and pans for me. I really enjoy eating all of our meals around the table. There is a lot of craziness that happens, but also a lot of fun conversations and bonding time. I'm so glad I have the time to cook homemade meals- I really don't enjoy eating out very much- and if we had to take all the kids with us??? Forget it- that's torture!!

The One and Only--- LINDSEY!

Lindsey is truly a force to be reckoned with! I thought I'd share some tidbits about our two-year-old for those of you who don't get to interact with her on a regular basis.
Here she is wearing Larry's goggles. She often puts them on and goes trotting around the house in them. She loves to go swimming and is completely fearless! She will walk out into the water until it is up to her mouth and not panic. Of course, she loves going on the slides at the pool and has a tantrum when her turn is over. One day I walked into the living room to find this... In this picture are three of her favorite things-- Her blankee, her magnadoodle, and her pink shoes. The blankee has been with her since birth and is basically her pacifier- she holds it up to her nose and lips and then sucks on the inside of her lower lip. She wears it as a hat, and is very forlorn when it goes into the wash. The magnadoodle is the third one we've purchased. She wore out the other two. She loves to draw circles, and is constantly wanting Larry and I to draw cats and Walle and Eve during church. The shoes were a trade in for a white Gap shirt that grandma gave her for her birthday. (White shirts and a child who refuses to wear a bib just don't mix). I knew as soon as I saw them that she would love them- and she does!

I don't know what it is about my female children; I swear that they have no sense of hot or cold! Here is Lindsey enjoying a pile of freshly raked leaves with no shoes or pants on! She was out there for at least 10 minutes. Lindsey just loves to be active- running, jumping, skipping- you name it.

Here's another classic outfit of Lindseys. She spilled milk on her pants from breakfast, so that explains the lack of pants (also in the leaves picture above). She has claimed the baby's bouncy seat, so now it is bent to almost horizontal. She loves the dress up shoes and scoots around in them. She's got Kara's pacifier that she likes to bite and then offer Kara, lovely binoculars, and angel wings from the costume box. Lindsey LOVES to make people laugh and be silly. She also loves to smile for the camera. She's our little firecracker!

This is a classic video of Lindsey singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'. We sing this together when I lay her down for her nap every day.

Halloween

Here is Miranda with her huge haul of candy from Halloween. I believe she counted 113, or something like that. She is quite likely to not eat even close to that because she really doesn't like candy all that much. I bet she'll be sharing with Lindsey since she is downing her candy as fast as she can! Carving pumpkins with the kids was pretty funny. Of course, it grossed everyone out- at least Miranda and Lindsey gave it a half-hearted attempt. Spencer and Derek absolutely REFUSED to touch the guts! They loved my Mr. Potatohead people. Larry left the pumpkins burning all night long, so we found some charred pumpkin lids the next morning.

Pics of Halloween

This week...

Kara's Baby Blessing

We had a great weekend with my parents in town. Our family is truely blessed with wonderful extended family that is very loving and supportive of us. We just couldn't do without their examples, help, and advice!
Kara's blessing went great on Sunday. She started to cry, but then I heard she just stared at Larry for the rest of the blessing. We've got a wonderful baby girl. She is just over one month old and we are so happy to have her in our family.