Getting this Reading Thing

One of the things I love about homeschooling is the ability to tailor fit my children's education to meet their individual needs. Although, Mercy has struggled more than Ransom at learning to read, I think she is finally getting it!

 



New Beginnings

  As you can see from the above photo, no longer are we simply dreaming of Oregon.  The dream has come true!  After the long search for a pastorate, God has led my husband to a church in Eastern Oregon.  We have been so blessed by our new church family. We are still amazed at the way God worked everything out in His perfect timing!
  So what's with the title of this blog post?!  Well, I'm going to try to get back into the world of blogging.  Mainly this will be used as a way to update my family and friends about our life happenings without inundating Facebook with photos. I'm excited to make a fresh start on this blog as I continue in this new phase of life that God has brought me into.

Leopard Gecko

Hero is now the proud owner of a leopard gecko.  It was a rough relationship at first.  The thing started hissing at her when she tried to take it out of the box!  Thankfully, we looked up some info online and she is now working on getting her pet adjusted to his new surroundings.

This past weekend...

This past weekend we made a really quick trip up to Oregon.  The reason that we chose this particular time to go was to attend our 10 year college reunion.  We were also able to see Justin's Grandma, my new niece, and celebrate Hero's birthday with the Peter's side of the family.

The fam with Gigi.   (Yes, I realize my kids are covered with weird markings.)

Two of my adorable nieces.

Hero and her birthday "pie"

Honor Roll

Jericho made the First Honor Roll for the first quarter. This means that his GPA was 98% or higher.

While we were expecting the honor roll award, we were surprised when Jericho also received Student of the Month for October.

Way to Go, Jericho!

Ransom's Fourth Birthday

I can't believe my little guy is now four! We had a great time with our extended family celebrating this milestone in Ransom's life.

Ransom and his best friend Danny now have the same Star Wars gun. It doesn't shoot anything (thank goodness) but the sound effects are annoying enough. Now we know what we put Danny's parents through!

This hat is perfect for Ransom!
This costume combines Ransom's favorite things: Batman, blue, and gloves.

The Bat signal.

Farmer's Fun Fest

The kids really loved the Farmer's Festival at our church this year. I'm not sure which they liked better the games or the big bags of candy they brought home!

Ransom and his best friend Danny try to eat the donuts on strings. (Danny actually chose to lick the donut. This made an easy victory for Ransom.)

Mercy totally disregarded the "no hands" rule.
Ransom and Danny decorating pumpkins. Ransom said that this was his favorite room.

After noticing all the people with their faces painted, Mercy really wanted something on hers. She did a very good job sitting still.

I think she liked it!

It's hard to tell, but Jericho has a football on the side of his face.

Hero won a Lego prize at the fishing game. She gave it to Ransom for his birthday. What a sweet sister!

Mercy and her friend Sarah enjoying their hot dogs and hot chocolate.

Fall

Daddy had "tons of fun" carving pumpkins with the kiddos. Hero chose a werewolf, Ransom a cat, and Jericho a dragon. Justin's favorite part was making an emergency trip to the store for replacement pumpkins ;-)

Mercy had a lot more fun playing with Ms Pumpkin Head. (She didn't like the flash on the camera! Thus, the closed eyes.)

For Justin's Birthday, I got him a giant marshmallow heart. After the pumpkin carving festivities, everyone got a piece of it.

Disneyland

This past Monday and Tuesday we went to Disneyland and California Adventure. We had a great time, but were definitely worn out by the end! The kids seemed to enjoy arguing over who got to ride with Aunt Heidi :-)

Crazy Hair Night

Last Sunday night was "Crazy Hair Night" at Awana. As you can see, we had a lot of fun with Ransom's hair!

The Potty Song

Easter Pics

"Guy"

This is Ransom's "Guy". For a while, this was his favorite stuffed animal. (I oppose calling him a doll. I can't bring myself to say that my son plays with dolls.)

Recently, Ransom has been afraid to be in his room alone. He keeps saying that he hears something. I attributed this to the fact that his room shares a wall with the washing machine. However, the other night, Ransom came in to my room, with his "Guy". He said that this fuzzy-headed creature was attempting to eat him. After tucking him back into his bed, he refused to allow "Guy" to be in his bed.

The next day, he once again commented about hearing something in his room. This time he told me that it was "Guy" saying, "I'm going to chomp you!" To remedy the situation, I put "Guy" up in my closet. Unfortunately, this was not good enough. Ransom could still "hear" him. Thus the tape over his mouth. Problem solved.

Memory Lane

While browsing some old photo albums, we came across these photos of Hero when she was about 8 months old. It is amazing to see how much Mercy (at 20 months) looks like Hero.

Hero

Hero

Mercy