New Year, New Schools

Andrew went to our local elementary school last year and we homeschooled Joe. Lillie went to a daycare/preschool for a short period of time 2 days a week. We decided to change it up a little this year. We found out about a great school 20 minutes away in a farming town. They have rated outstanding for the last couple of years. They keep their class sizes small and (gasp) I have both Joe and Andrew's teachers cell #'s.!!!! :) Anyways the boys are loving it and both enjoy going there. Here the boys are in the front of the school on thier first day.

 Here is Andrew at his desk. There are 9 kids in his class. It looks so funny seeing a huge classroom, but a small # of desks.

Lillie started at a semi-montessori preschool and she loves it too. She has made many new friends and is already learning letter sounds.

 She joined in and starting playing right away!

 We have also been enjoying one of these lately! :D

This is Myckennly. She is 2 weeks old and is Casey and my great niece. She has been at our house a couple times a week and we love it!

We just had the Pendleton Round Up "Let'R Buck parade and the kids had a good time and caught lots of candy! We also had a wonderful 9/11 breakfast, procession,  and church service followed by a BBQ. It was lovely and hot! The weather has been very hot and I am ready for some cool fall temperatures. Pictures to come when I find my memory card. :(  Hope everyone has had a great summer and you school adventures have been great!

An Idea to Remember

I thought this was a great idea for teaching fruits of the spirit. Smokity Frocks uses a picture of a grape with the "fruits" on it. When her kids show patience, self control, peace, love, joy......the kids are able to put a gold sticker on their chart. If they see a sibling showing one of these traits, they get to put a colored star on the siblings chart. Take a look! Smokity Frocks - Fruit of the Spirit.

Our family has been pretty grumpy and down right selfish lately, so we are going to tackle this!

When Your Children Make You Proud!

 I am just so proud of my boys that I have to share! :) Both boys were playing out front and came and asked for a bag or bin to put leaves in. What leaves? We really don't have any trees in the front that are dropping leaves right now. I looked outside and saw that they had piled up all the elderly neighbors leaves and wanted to carry them all to our compost pile. :D So proud of my boys for thinking about others!
Wish I would had taken pictures of them hard at work!
Here is a picture just for fun!

Turning 3

Lillie at age 2

My daughter turned 3 yesterday! As with all my kids....I am just in love with her! Although there are days I am exausted from taking care of her, I am so greatful God gave me this sweet, beautiful, yet spitfire of a girl! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLIE, WE ALL LOVE YOU!!!
See how big she has grown!

What a big 3 year old you are!

Visted a new church

Since we have moved, we have not found a new church. It hasn't been my priority for a long time. Finally my priorities have change and I am glad for that. As I have been preparing for homeschooling and have noticed my kids acting up, I decided it was NOW that a home church be found. So in the next couple of weeks we will be looking for a church. This Sunday we went to a small church....I mean small! Only 3 families. No Sunday school. I let the pastor and his family know that my children have only gone to church a couple times this past year and that they have never had to stay in the service with me. They almost always went to a childrens church.

I must say I am dissapointed in myself for not training my children to be able to sit and behave for any period of time. :( And I am now on a mission to teach that to my 10, 7, and 2 (almost 3) year old. They did great though. (ofcourse I felt embarassed for them not sitting the whole time) They all sat good for 40 minutes. I must think positive and realize that 40 mintues is BIG for children who have never had to sit.

I loved that the families there homeschool and very very sweet to me. They realized that this is a learning process for my kids and that practicing at home is a good way to help the kids learn.

I am anxious to start family worship time and doing devotionals with them again. I also plan on having the kids sit in one spot and practice sitting for periods of time.

The church was great, and we plan on going again. Maybe next time my husband will accompany us.

oh Lord!!! I am happy to be in your presence again!

Completing Him Challenge Week 1

Decided this would be a fun challenge. It was started by Courtney and is at her blog.

For week one:

June 14 – Step 1: Post a picture and/or write about your dating days.

So here we go.....
Casey and I met at a big camping bonfire party and I was just smitten by him. His nickname was "The Firefighter". And I love a man in uniform. I had no clue if he was a real firefighter or not. He was not feeling well so I was checking in with him every once in a while. The next morning my friends had left with out me and I needed a ride home. Fortunalty Casey was there and asked if he could take me home. This was the start of our relationship. Our dating consisted of meeting at a local hang out and just talking and having fun. I don't think we really ever went out on a real dinner date.

Here is a pictures of us at the Oregon Coast on a boat hunting for crab legs. Sorry the quality is not so great. Our scanner is not that great!



Step 2: Consider: How much time do you spend on a daily/weekly basis cultivating your marriage now? In what ways can you regain some of what has been lost in the daily shuffle of life?

I haven't been doing this at all. After almost 11 years of marriage, we have really lost touch. So this week I will spend some more one on one time with my husband and remind him how much I love him and respect him! I will lift him up in prayer and make sure I tell and show him I love him! With having 3 children and soon to be 4 (Step daughter comming for the summer!!!! :) ) we really haven't had any alone time at all. I need to make it a priority.

Wish I had more pics, but our scanner is not working very well!

Update from the homefront!

WOW it has been awhile since I have posted. That seems to be the norm around here. We are a very busy family. Both Casey and I have been going to school. Him full time and me part time. It has been hectic, but very enjoyable for me. I actually like going to school and as of right now am pulling A's in both classes! YAY!

The boys school year is almost over and I am as excited as them to have a summer break. The boys have done great in school and really have enjoyed thier teachers this year. I was able to go on a field trip with both of them! It was so good to be able to spend time with them at school. I think Andrew will have a boy teacher next year and he is excited for that. Male teachers are hard to come by! :) Joe is starting something new next year. He was accepted into Oregon Virtual Academy and will be schooling at home. He and I are excited for this and can't wait for the curriculum to come in the mail! :D

Lillie is growing like a weed. She is imaginative playing so much now and everytime I try to video her, she spots me and stops playing! :( She is slowly potty training and is excited to go to preschool this comming fall!

The weather here has been cold and raining one day to sunny the next. I was able to get some planting done, but then we had a wind storm and the chickens were able to sneek out and ate all my crop. So I am starting over and gardening veggies in the front yard in pots. Hopefully we will be able to eat some fresh veggies this year!


Here is a picture of the kids and I at the sportsman show with the golden Eagle.

And here is the one from last year. I love comparing the 2. Boy the kids have grown!