It's Officially True

For those of you who don't already know...I figured it's time to make the announcement official.
The Dickson Crew will now total 7! We are growing yet again. It is said that surprises keep life interesting - and this was definetely a big one. It took a couple weeks of shock and trying to shake off the feelings of total meltdown...to get to the excitement we now feel and trust that all will work out SOMEHOW! And yes it is also true that we have mastered the virtue of consistency (I'm not sure if you can call it a virtue, but it makes us feel better) we found out this past weekend,

IT'S A BOY!!

I guess, no pink for this house! We have the jerseys at the printer...we can soon begin training with a full basketball team. And we are opening a special account to start saving for the grocery bill 10 years from now. :) We really do feel blessed and are thankful that we have such good, handsome boys - no wonder there needed to be 5th!

Pumpkin Reggata

While it is a standing 6-year tradition in the city of Tualatin, it was our family's first time at the Annual Pumpkin Reggata - and of course Dad (Bart) had to go above and beyond again. Instead of just watching fellow crazy citizens race around the lake in the center of town in locally grown ENORMOUS pumpkins, he had to be one of them out paddling himself!

Here's Bart before the race - looking as silly as we would let him and boarding his giant pumpkin

Half way around the lake in a tight race with the pirate pumpkin

Nearing the end of the race and really straining. He said it was MUCH harder than it looks. His legs were cramping from intensely trying to hold the slippery pumpkin steady from the inside. And his arms had to do a lot of work with each stroke to get around the giant gourd not to mention the nose of the plane attached.

Here Bart is at the end of the race with his "crowd" of admiring fans! Good job Dad. I love our community for all it's beauty, quaintness and family fun activities. It was a gorgeous fall Saturday and a wonderfully fun way to spend it.

Winning Season

Soccer season wrapped up last weekend with a bang. Caden's team, the "Firebombs" (coached by Bart) went undefeated! Bart told them at the beginning of the season that they could dog pile him and soak him with water if they won ALL their games. That was ALL the motivation they needed. They played awesome this season (at 2nd grade, they really started to get it and played REAL soccer) and fought hard for a few wins. In fact, they were behind or tied most of the final game...some of the players started to ask Coach Bart on the sideline, "Can we still dogpile and pour water on you if we TIE?" Bart of course said, "NO WAY - undefeated means all WINS!" And win they did...

It was fun to see the boys work hard together, have fun and learn a lot. I have to give kudos to my amazing husband who stepped in last minute to coach when the original coach took a job transfer. Bart truly does it all and does it well with a lot of heart. While he was known as the "loudest" coach in the league (big shocker huh?) the boys loved him, parents expressed huge amounts of gratitude and I continue to be amazed at just how much the man can fit into his busy schedule. We love you Dad, Coach, Bishop Bart!
Tyler had a great season as well playing with his 1st grade team, the "Jedi Warriors". When competetive Caden would try to give constructive critisim to Tyler before games, Ty would simply answer, "my coach just cares about having fun". Winning wasn't a common occurence this season for the Jedi's but they had FUN and sure looked cute doing it!

Churh Halloween Party

The annual party at the church is one of the most anticipated parts of Halloween. This year's party didn't dissapoint and was a wonderful family Friday night.

Caden dons his football helmet for the festivities

Tyler as Darth Vader (minus the mask) waits his turn for pumpkin bowling

Bo, the pirate quickly found one of his favorite buddies for a sword duo

Cole our little monkey enjoyed being passed around between all the teenage girls!

Our scary skeleton that decorated our door and guarded our candy for the trick-or-treating around the church building.

Pumpking Patching

Weekends have been so busy the past few weeks with soccer and such, that we hadn't found a time to go to the pumpkin patch all together as a family. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful fall day last week, so while the older boys were at school, I loaded up the two littlest, called my mom to come along and we headed for the little farm down the road to enjoy a touch of fall.

Bo quickly picked out his favorite pumpkin...the first one he saw!

Cole loved crawling through the piles

The boys loved being towed around in the wheelbarrow with their pumpkin picks

Pumpkins, corn mazes, hay rides and farm animals make for perfect fall fun.

Cute Little Cubs

These pictures were too cute and this activity too fun to pass up the chance to give a shout out to my cute little wolf den. I am a den leader together with another woman and I absolutely LOVE IT! I love the scouting program and I love how cute these wolf cubs are. Especially the one below on the right. (Do they get any cuter than Caden?)

We did this cooking activity with them a few weeks ago to pass off one of their acheivements. It was a hit and a simple little Halloween meal to try with your own kiddies.

Carrot chunks, a dallop of cream cheese and olives sliced in half make for great "edible eyeballs"

Apple slices and slivered almonds go together for some awesome "apple bites"

Hot dogs sliced into long strips can be boiled until they curl...placed on a bun and squirted with ketchup makes for a gross "worms on a bun" look.

What 8 year-old boy isn't thrilled when they find gummy worms frozen in their ice cubes...a "cool" touch for a spooky meal. Lots of fun.

Great job to my wolf den for helping to make it and having no problem gobbling it up.