We made it through the 1st Semester of Home Schooling!!

Yay! It was a GREAT 1st semester of our Home School journey! We completed 50 days of school together (just schooling the 3 days the girls are at preschool and using the 4th day as a catch up day along with 8 weeks of Friday school through a co-op). 50 days was the goal I had in mind and I was so excited to hit that day and look back over what the Lord has done in and through our lives as a family the last 6 months. I worked Austin pretty hard having high expectations on both myself and him (thinking that I am responsible for him learning to read kept me motivated!!) He is a great student and worked hard for his Mommy. I think we both loved spending the time alone together too. ;) We did 2 lessons of each subject everyday (2 math, 2 language etc.) and lots of sight words, Bible, copy work and reading. My Hubby and I agree that it is definitely a success so far. More importantly, I feel like I have my boy's heart more now than ever. That alone is priceless!

 So, to celebrate we went on a date together before the Christmas break. :) I took Austin to Build a Bear and he stuffed and dressed his Jedi Snoopy. (His new favorite stuffed friend!)

We then walked around the mall, ate lunch and then stopped by the pet store to love on some animals. This little guy sat on Austin's lap for almost 30 minutes! (Too bad he cost almost $700! Crazy!!)

Way to go, Austin! You did AWESOME your 1st semester of Kindergarten and this Mommy is so proud of you!!

New Adventures Ahead!

Grandpa and Grandma Werley are moving! They are leaving the house that they have lived in for 20+ years and moving out to the lake to enjoy a simpler life. We are so excited for them! I was a little sad walking around their house for the last time over the holidays and snapped a couple of pictures:



This house holds a lot of great memories for our family. I met Andrew for the first time sitting in the living room of this house. Many Christmas and Birthday celebrations and great conversations through card games played in the kitchen in this house.

Andrew's room growing up and where the kids have slept when we come to visit.

Alisha's Room - The room we always stayed in when we visited.

And this was the Pool House (now the studio). It was in this house on the weekend I first met Andrew that I realized I really liked this boy and hoped to spend forever with him over a game of pool. Sweet memories (that feel just like yesterday!) So excited about the great memories our kiddos are going to have going out to Lake Granbury to visit Grandma and Grandpa!

Mery Christmas from the Werleys!!

Merry Christmas!

We celebrated a wonderful and pretty quiet Christmas this year. Because Christmas was on a Sunday, we offered both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at our church, so we decided not to do any travel until the day after Christmas to visit our families. We had a great day celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Here's a pic of the kiddos on our way out the door for the Christmas Eve service sporting their new 'red gift' pajamas. :)

Merry Christmas! The older two drug their little sis down super early to get the morning started (and as you can tell from this pic, she wasn't super happy about it! I have a feeling she 'got' what all the excitement was about this year and next year there will be no problem.;)



 

Dressed in all of our Christmas Day clothes for Church (thanks JG and Big T)!! LOVED our Christmas Day service! So simple and worshipful!

Christmas ended hanging out with the Adkins= GREAT DAY!!

Happy Birthday, JESUS!



Our Little Dancer

Audrey has been taking dance this semester and to say she loves it is an understatement! She loves every minute! Here are some pictures I took at her a little Christmas performance they did for the parents on the last day of class for the fall:

Great job, sweet girl! We love our little dancer and are so proud of you!

A Dream Come True!

 My sweet husband planned a very fun date this month! He took me to the Nutcracker Ballet in downtown Houston! It is an event I have wanted to go to since high school! It had been a CRAZY Christmas season (with attending about 15 Christmas parties at Church). We had been so busy, so it was nice to be alone together. Our seats were amazing and the whole night was a wonderful and beautiful experience.  

Thanks to my awesome hubby for this incredible and thoughtful gift! One I will never forget!

Preschool Christmas Program

The girls had a very sweet Christmas program for their school at our Church. Here are some pics from the night:

Ainsley was a hoot to watch! See that little boy next to her? She was keeping him in line all night! Quite entertaining! :)

Audrey took a very serious approach to her role... :)

Our favorite part of the night was listening to both the girls recite the scripture verses that they had learned at school. So special to hear your children hiding the Word in their hearts! Thank you, Joyful Noise Preschool!

Ainsley's verse: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Audrey's verses: "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12

The Gingerbread Tradition Continues...

A couple of days before Christmas we always make Gingerbread Houses. This year we decided to make a Village so that everyone could have their own house to create. Good times had by all!:)

Question most asked while working: "When will we get to eat them??"

This girl definitely ate more of the house toppings than she put on her house. ;)

Daddy constructed (and re-contructed!) the houses. Thanks, Babe!

The end result. Fun memory!

Best of Friends

 These two have been sweet friends since they were born!

 It helps that their Mommy's are best of friends as well. :)

 Kenzie wanted to come to Houston to share her birthday with Audrey, so we set out to have a special 'girls' day' together.

 Our first stop was Build a Bear where the girls picked out new friends, stuffed them, bathed them, put them in their new outfits and then named them. It was so fun!

 Audrey named her bear "Cinderella" :)

 Then we headed to the Tea Room for lunch. The girls loved this place! They got to drink their lemonade from their very own teapot and teacup. So girly and fun!

 They really do have a blast with each other! :)

That evening we went to a Christmas Production at a Church in town together. It was definitely different and entertaining!

Star Pizza for dinner! We miss our sweet friends and love it anytime we can get together.

Happy 5th Birthday, sweet Kenzie!

Thanks for choosing to spend it with us!