First Birthday Party Photos

First Birthday

Today was Ransom's First Birthday. We will be having a party for him on Saturday, but we had to do something special on the actual day.


Ransom and his Birthday Pie

Yep, he liked it.

Ransom got to open his present from Grandma "Ravenne". One of the gifts was a touch and feel book of baby animals.

His favorite page was the one with the fuzzy lemurs.

November Giveaway

Click on this link for Challies November Giveaway:

Tent

The kiddos and I made a tent in the living room on Saturday. Ransom, of course, did not want to be left out of the action. He kept climbing all over them while they watched their video. Jericho seemed to be the least thrilled by this.

African Safari Photos

The Lion, the Jedi, and Sleeping Beauty hang out with the zebra.

"Can we go now?"

"What do I do with this thing?"

Jericho gets some candy from Grandma "Wendell".

Hero Safari Pics

Hero and Jenaci (aka Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbell)

Hero waits patiently for mom to take the picture.

Tossing the beanbag

Pointing out that two of the balls made it on the red.

Jericho Safari Pics

Jericho had a great time with his friends at African Safari. He spent the first part of the night with Michael and Mitchell and the rest with his good buddy Drake (above.)

Jericho's favorite game was fishing.

Here he is getting ready to toss the bean bag.

Jericho and Drake wait in line to pick a duck from the pond.

Ransom Safari Pics

He was very glad to be out of the nursery and free to roam around. He was a lion, by the way.

His favorite game was digging for buried treasure.

He didn't care for the treasure too much. He liked the hamster bedding more and decided to climb right in.

I gave him a wrapped sucker thinking that he would enjoy playing with it. He ended up unwrapping it and eating some of the wrapper along with the candy!

Video Games

Ransom likes to "play" vido games with his brother.

Smoky Haze

Here is a picture of the beautiful California sunset we had tonight. Although we seem to be safe from the threat of the fires, we still experience some of the effects of them. The air quality is supposed to be so bad tomorrow that Hero's school classes have been canceled. Now, I have to find something for three very active children to do inside all day.

Little Climber

Ransom has mastered the art of climbing onto Jericho's train table. To scare his mommy even more, he likes to crouch down and pop up as if he is about to jump over the edge. Thankfully, it seems as if he is able to get on and off just fine by himself. (Should I be thankful for this?!)

Coast Pictures

Oceanside at sunset.

Yes, we know we are cute.

Ransom loves cousin James.

Justin, Meredith, Hero, and Jericho climb the big rock.

Wedding Photos

This past weekend we drove up to the Oregon Coast to attend my sister-in-law Julie's wedding. It was a long, tiring drive but worth it. The day was beautiful with perfect weather. This is truly amazing for Oregon in October.

The happy couple.

The Flower Kids.

Throwing the petals.
Jericho put a lot of effort into tossing those petals just right.

Pumpkin Pirate

Michael's was having a craft day for kids, so Grandma took Jericho to decorate a craft pumpkin. Yes, he did choose pink; all on his own. He calls this his "Pumpkin Pirate"...with two eyes.

October Giveaway

Click on the link at left to be entered in the October Giveaway at Challies.com.

Honey

Jericho is eating toast with honey. Most of the honey has dribbled on to the plate. He proceeds to stick his tongue out and lick it up.
Hero: "Don't lick your plate!"
Jericho: "I'm not licking my plate, I am licking the honey!"

The Electric Bill

(Disclaimer: My father's works for Edison and I am thankful for electricity. Especially in the summer.)

Last month we had the highest electric bill we have ever had. (Except for that $3000.00 one but that was an error of course.) Since our meter has been read wrong in the past, I had my husband check it. I compared this with the number on our bill, and perceiving a discrepancy, I called up customer service. The woman that I spoke with on the phone said the the reading was accurate. We'd had "record breaking heat over labor day" and this must be the cause. This was rather fishy to me considering that we were gone for about four days during this billing cycle. Also, last year when we had "record breaking" temperatures all summer long, (I was pregnant, so that ac was blasting constantly) our Edison bill was never over a hundred dollars. The customer service rep proceeded to inform me that I would be receiving some information on how to conserve energy and that I should set my thermostat at the temperature that it was already set at.

Throughout this past month, I have received various energy conservation pamphelets and a note from Edison once again affirming the high labor day temperatures. I read over each one carefully. I realized that aside from replacing all my windows, installing solar panels on my roof, and getting all new appliances, I was doing the best I could. So, why the high bill?

This month our bill was only $8.72. Our lowest ever. If you add the two bills together and divide them by two, this amount is what we average for a normal month. Hmm...

Daredevil II

After trying to post this video numerous times, I have given up. Please click on the del.icio.us link in the sidebar to view.