New blog

I started a new blog and here's the address.

http://andrewsfamily2012.blogspot.com/

final posts continued (favorite things)

I felt like a good way to close this out was to ask them about their favorite things.  So here's how they answered...(all answers are Charis then Price)
                       
To do?   see Daddy (Chris might have had some input on this) / play with friends
Best Friend?  both said Jax and Savanna
Color?  Purple and Pink / Blue, Green and Orange
Sport?  Soccer / Football
Submission?  Guard / I don't know...Arm Bar
TV Show?  Backyardigans / Diego
Vacation?  Abilene to see Grandma Ruby / Arkansas (we apparently could save a lot of money on far less extravagant vacations)
What you remember about Grandma Ruby?  She is 90 / She likes to see Nonnie
Best Christmas present?  Candy and Dreamlight / Uno (also could save a lot of money on Christmas presents as we got them $250 bikes this year!)
What Daddy likes to do?  Eat gummy worms / play outside
What Mommy likes to do?  Be close to us / Play with us (to which Charis replied "no she doesn't; she's slow!"
Song?  Behold I stand at the door knock, knock, knocking / Yellow Submarine
Bible verse?  A: All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Romans 3:23 / J: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no one cometh unto the Father but by me. John 14:6  (they learn a Bible verse each week, one for each letter of the alphabet. This is amazing and they do so well at it!!)
Food?  blue berries / macaroni and cheese (Price still refuses to eat meat with the exception of chicken nuggets and hot dogs)
Game?  Connect 4 (new this Christmas) / Crazy 8's
Treat?  Laffy Taffy / lollipops

final posts continued (sports)

Other 2011-2012 happenings....in summer 2011, Charis tried out dance and did not especially like it.  Fall, 2011, Price tried out flag football and did like it!  This was our first go-round with organized team sports and it was a really good experience.  On a side note, because of meeting Frog's teammate Journey, we were turned on to Faith Christian School, a true blessing to our lives.


In Spring 2012, both kids played tee-ball but on separate leagues.  We feel like Price seemed to find his true sports love; he was great at it and loved it.



In Fall 2012, Charis tried out soccer and really liked it and found more of her sports calling.  Price played flag football again but this time with Faith.



And somewhere along the way, Chris decided the kids should try jiu jitsu.  I really fought this one because they seemed not to take to it.  But fast forward 6 months and they have really improved.

January 1, 2013...final post(s)

Given that I have not posted in over a year, seems this is something I am not keeping up with.  The kids are now 5 and 1/2 and midway through kindergarten!! Hard to believe they have become such big kids.    I will back up to 2011 and some of the big events.  We took the kids to San Antonio Sea World with the Cheathams and then on to the beach at Port Aransas with just our family.

In December, 2011, Chris and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a wonderful trip to Le Blanc spa resort in Cancun.




In 2012, we went to visit cousin Michele and her family in Arkansas (January),

we went to Mexico for a week with the Turners (June)


and we took the kids to Port Aransas with the Cheathams (October).


As I write this we are preparing for a ski trip (kids' first time) to Vermont.  Exciting times!!  We toiled over the decision as to whether or not to start kindergarten this year or to hold them back.  While I do think they are flourishing there, sometimes I miss our lazy days at home together.  We decided to put them in Faith Christian School and could not have made a better choice.  They are so precious and play so well together.  I often muse that it would be so fun to have a twin...a built in play mate...always someone there to play pretend with, to play tag, Crazy 8's or Connect 4 with.  They are each other's best friend but yet do not rely on one another.  At this point they are in the same class and we intend to keep it that way as long as they remain as independent of one another as they are.

3rd annual Easter picnic

Each year we host a picnic for our Church group. It's always such a fun time and it's a blessing to see all the families together! This year, we had made some cascarones for the kids' school so I thought it would be a good idea to make some for the picnic too. So fun! And nice to have a little helper!

So this was egg hunt #1....that's a LOT of kids!!

Attempting to get a family pic...

and Easter baskets....and egg hunt # 2...

And the final (futile) attempt at a family pic - following lovely Easter lunch at mom and John's...

Daddy-Daughter Dance

Feb 5, 2011, Compass Church hosted a Daddy Daughter Dance. And of course we signed up for that!! But in all the excitement there was also some apprehension. It was one of the few times the kids have been separated ever and we just weren't quite sure how they'd each handle it. We attended Church together but then went our separate ways.

I had a big night planned for Price. Despite the still-cold weather, we headed over to Grapevine Mills mall and checked out the Rainforest Cafe. He thought it was SO cool! His reaction when the gorillas started their little show was just priceless - surprise, excitement, awe...it was so cute!!

And Charis looked like a little princess and Daddy like her Knight. They were so precious. She loved the night of being dressed up so pretty and getting to spend special time with Daddy. She cried in the care on the way though, saying she

missed her brother. She did have the benefit of most of our friends (who all have girls) being there with her too. All in all it was a great night and the special time with just 1 parent seemed to overshadow any anxiety from being separated!

January 2011

January tends to be sort of an off-month for me...not back in school for most of it but finished with the holidays. I love January, really! I had some fun days home with the kids, we took them to the Stock Show for the first time. Price loves animals so much (maybe he will be a vet?!) that he enjoyed it the most I think. But they all thought it was cool seeing all the animals!

We also celebrated our 17 year high school reunion with an informal gathering with some closer classmates. Not as big an event as last year, but lots of fun!

It was a really cold January, and even closed out the month with some snow, that continued into February, causing us to miss 3 or 4 days of school. Daddy is so fun and goes to play outside in the snow and of course the kids LOVE that!! Mommy waits inside and gets the hot chocolate all ready. We actually lost power during one of the cold snaps and were out for 8-10 hours. We all huddled in bed together until the kids could no longer tolerate that then we had to pack up and head to the Andrews' for the day, as we'd used all of our firewood the day before. We were fortunate to have somewhere to go but even more fortunate that we don't have to suffer through the elements of the weather on a daily basis.