Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

We hope your days are as blessed as ours are.  Many blessings in 2012!

sight words

I have been working on blending sounds and sight words with Christian but whatever I have been doing just hasn't been working.  I don't know if it is him just beinf stubborn or if it is me just getting frustrated.  Whatever the cause, I decided that something different needed to happen.  This is what I came up with...

I taped sight words, names of family members, color and number words to each tile going down the hall.  To get down the hall he has to say 1 word from each row.  Once he says that word three times without hesitation the word goes up on the wall.  I then replace that word with a new word.

To come back down the hall he has to read the wall.  This way I know that he knows the words and just hasn't memorized them becuase of their place on the tile.  If he gets it wrong on the wall then it goes back on the floor. 

We just started but this seems to be doing the trick.  He goes up and down the hallway a ton of times during the day and is repeating the words each time.  (He hates it when he has waited too long to go to the bathroom and is in a hurry.  He tries to go around the tile but he hasn't scooted by just yet!)

As he progresses I will add the names of the months, books of the Bible, continents and days of the week since we have been working on these this school year.

Big Dreams

We have some BIG dreams that we are dreaming and we are hoping that you will support us through prayer and maybe even financially if it allows. Want to hear what they are???

We are going to Rwanda, Africa and we want to take Brogan's ministry, Cases of Joy, with us!!

I say we are going but truthfully... We are praying that God will allow us to go. We want to go and feel that God is opening those doors but the fact is we have to have the money to go. Here is a little more information. After you read it, if you feel called to support us we would be humbled and grateful!

Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the organization that we are partnering with. All donations will be set aside in an account for us and a tax-deductible receipt will be mailed to you.

Please mail to:
One27 Ministries
1812 Southwood Drive
College Station, Tx 77840
Memo Section please note: Winston Family


If you would rather donate towards the dresses and animals that we will be making to take with us you may do so by sending your contribution to:
Winston
PO Box 1781
Huntsville, TX 77342

We are not a tax-deductible organization but would love your donations of felt, material, pillow cases or funds if you so desire. You can also make dresses and send them directly to us. We will do a seperate post on an easy pillowcase dress that can be made.




The Info:

Africa?? YES!! You read that right! Jeremy, Brogan and I have committed to a mission trip to Rwanda, Africa this upcoming summer. We will be traveling with a group of about 10 people with One27 Ministries out of Bryan/College Station. This group has been going to Rwanda since 2003 and has a very strong relationship with the established churches and pastors. The trip will be in late June and run through middle of July. It will last about 17 days. I am sure you have some (if not many) questions. I will try to answer some of the obdvious ones below. Please know that we have been praying about a trip like this for some time now. We are not going into this blind and know there will be obstacles along the way. We have served with many organizations locally and across Texas but feel like we are being called to go further. We are really excited about the opportunity to be able to spread the love of Christ with those that are so eager to hear the Gospel.

Why Africa? We don’t know. We just know that we have had a desire to go and this year God has opened the door.

What will we be doing? We will be going into remote villages to share the Gospel and the love of Christ. The people there are eager to hear the Word. We will lead devotionals, songs & skits, and give testimonials of how God has worked in our lives. Some of us will be leading and starting Bible studies with the men and women in some of the established churches. There is a possibility that Jeremy will even be helping with some pastor training while we are there.

Why is Brogan going? Because she feels called to go! She has been talking about a mission trip to Africa since she was in kindergarten and when she heard Jeremy and I talking about it she said she wanted to go to. We have spoken to her about the things she may experience (including the shots before, yuck!) and she hasn’t had a second thought with any of them. She feels like she needs to go love on some kids her age. She also wants to take her ministry, “Cases of Joy”, with us! We are hoping to take pillowcase dresses and animals with us to give to the kids we minister to.
Why aren’t Joshua & Codey going? Simply, they don’t feel called to go. That is important to us that they can say “no” and feel comfortable doing so. They know this isn’t going to be a sightseeing trip and feel like they are being called to do other things. Codey feels really strongly about the time he has spent in Amarillo working with refugee and underpriviledged kids there. He feels like he is ministering to the children of the world there and doesn’t want to leave something that is so close to his heart. We love that he has found something he is passionate about! Joshua doesn’t have the desire for Africa but instead feels called to Europe. We want them, and us, where God is calling.

What about Rylen & Christian? We will figure that one out.

What is the cost? We are looking at about $4000 per person. Multiply that by 3 and (GASP!!) we are looking at $12,000. We realize that figure is astronomical. For us that is. For God that is just a speck. We are believing in Him to help provide the funds that are needed. This isncludes all aspects of the trip: travel, food, lodging, and Bibles to hand out in their native language. It does not include shots ( aprox. $300/person, passports and misc. money that may be needed).


How will we raise it?
Lots of fundraisers! We have some in the works including a garage sale planned for early March. If you have anything you would like to donate to our garage sale we will take it! If you aren’t local but would like to sponsor a garage sale for us it would be most appreciated. We will come to you and help you work it for sure! If you are to far away for us to do that we would be honored if you would hold a garage sale for us J! I am also taking family pictures for $75 a session. Please pass this on to family and friends in the Houston, The Woodlands, Madisonville and surrounding areas. All money from these sessions goes to our mission trip!

Check out our Etsy shop: Shop here for your gift giving needs! All items are made by Brogan or I and all proceeds go directly to the trip. (It is almost up and running!)

Another way is simply by telling everyone we know and asking for help. Hence, the purpose of this letter J. Will you help us? No amount is to small as every dollar helps us to our goal. All donations are tax deductible as One27 Ministries is a 501 c-3.

Know a company that may sponsor us or donate? Please let me know. We would love to speak with them about the trip!

I know this is a lot to take in if you have never heard about our desire to go. We would love to speak with you about the trip or answer any other questions you may have. Please contact me if you would like any other information. We know that not everyone will be able to donate money towards the trip. If you can’t donate you can still help us by praying for our entire family. We will need to have lots of prayers for the trip to be a success. We know that prayers can do more than anything else!

Thank you for taking the time to read and learn more about what we (HOPE!) will be doing this summer. You can find more information on One27 Ministries at www.one27ministries.org. We are asking that you please return the slip and indicate how you can help. Should you be able to donate towards the trip, please make checks payable to One27 Ministries. You may notate “Winston Family” in the memo section. This way you can receive a tax deductible receipt for your contribution. Thank you for your time, support and your prayers.


For Him,
Jeremy, Denise & Brogan Winston

Christmas Outreach

Our co-op group had a Christmas Party to celebrate the end of the semester and the Reason for the Season.  Before the party a group of the kids got together and went over to a local retirement community to sing a few songs and visit with the residents.  Brogan read one of the Bible verses and Christian signed "Silent Night" with a couple of his classmates from his sign language class.  It was a fun time of fellowship and good will for all!

For Sale

I am making canvas art to sell and would love your support!

  All proceeds go toward our mission trip to Rwanda, Africa this next summer.  Please consider purchasing a piece for any birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, showers, graduations, etc.

All pieces can be customized with colors or verses.

This is just a start, there are more to come!

Poppy Camp 2011

Back in October we had our 2nd annual Poppy Camp with family.  We celebrated my dad and looked back on 2 years without him.  The kids had a blast even though it stormed most of the weekend.

A free digital slideshow by Smilebox

Warm and Cozy

One of the beauties of homeschooling...

we can do our work all warm and cozy and not in a desk :)

Co-op Highlight: Week 13

The community service class made soup in a jar for widows and homebound members of the church that we meet in.

Brogan was having a blast in her multiplication class.

Rylen and Christian learned about food chains in their animal kingdom class.

ABC Book: letter T & O

For the letter T we did tree and the letter O we did ornaments.

We decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments. 

(Actually, Brogan did the decorating but we love watching her!)

Winston Manor 2011

Our family pictures for 2011!!!

ABC's of Christmas

For the month of December Rylen is making an ABC book for Christmas.  We will do one letter, and maybe an activity, for each day up until Christmas day.

For the letter A we did angel.  We sand "Hark the Harold Angels Sing" all day as we went around the house.

For the letter B we did bells.  I had chocolates in the shape of bells and put stickers on the bottom of the bells to play a memory game with.  They had a blast playing the game but I think the most fun they had was eating the pieces they won   :D

Just look at that excitement!!

oops

Happy Birthday Christian!!

He is 6 years old today!!!

Today we are thankful that we get to celebrate Christian and the blessing that he is to everyone that he meets!  Thank you Lord for making us his parents!

(Another) Morning Convo

I never know what Rylen is going to be saying or doing and to be honest, I love that about him!  This morning my conversation with Rylen went like this:

Ry "Mom, are you a prince?"
Me "No, I'm not a prince becuase I am a girl."
Ry "Are you a beauty?"
Me "I don't know Ry, am I?"
Ry "Well, maaayyybbbeee, I guess"

He gives me a leg hug and walks away.  Glad he had such confidence in his answer.

Jean Pillows: Cases of Joy

One of the groups that Brogan went to talk to about her Cases of Joy ministry made these awesome travel pillows while she was there!  They are super cute and comfy and great for car rides.  We took them over to the Hospitality House and put one on each bed for this weekends guests.  Now the kids can have a comfy pillow to take home with them for the long car rides, or the adults that fly in will be able to take one for the plane trip!

Comfy Cozy

Co-op Highlight Week 9

Co-op this week had a lot of things that I wanted to highlight so I just made one collage.

For my Galloping the Globe classes we studied Italy.  The kids did Michelangelo inspired art.  I taped a piece of paper on the under side of the table.  They had to "paint" (though we used markers) upside down like Michelangelo did.

For the Community Service class all of the kids brought items and we packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  They packed the boxes, wrote cards, prayed over the boxes and for the kids that will be recieving them.

Rylen's class has 12 rambunctious 3-5 year olds.  They are very active say the least.  Stephenie does a great job in their math class!  They are always moving and shaking and she makes numbers so fun.  Whenevr I ask Rylen about his math class he says that he doesn't have math, he just has Mrs. Stephenie.  So cute!

Christian is taking an Introduction to Sign Language class.  He is having so much fun and learning a ton!

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!!!

Joshua & Codey = Teenage Boys

Rylen & Christian = Surfer Dudes

Brogan = LSU Football Player

A look alike

Rylen and Christian wore their ties to church like their big brither did!!

WFSC: Cases of Joy

Yesterday we made our trip to San Antonio to visit the Warrior Family Support Center. We were even able to take a tour of the Center for the Intrepid. These two buildings are amazing!! I can't put enough exclimations points behind there to explain how amazing the really are!! Both of the buildings and everything in them are from 100% donations. This is truly a place where soldiers and their family members can come to receive treatment and rehabilitation in a place that absolutely does not feel like a hospital.

We took almost 100 items that Brogan made by herself and with her 4H sewing group and kid's group at church.  All of the items will be there for the children of the wounded warriors when they come in to visit their parent.

Thank you to everyone that helped out with this project!

Food Club Officers

Brogan decided that she wanted to run for an officer for Food & Nutrition Club for 4H.  I never would have thought about asking her if that was something she wanted to do.  Who knew?  She was appointed to the office of Phtographic Reporter.  Hence, she gets to use my camera twice a month to snap pictures of what is going on at the meetings.  She is excited about it so we will see what all is in store with it.

Every year at the meeting before Halloween the group has a pumpkin decorating contest.  Last year Brogan got 3rd.  This year she had lots of ides about what to do to see if she could win and settled on the chef above.  I think she did a pretty good job considering the idea and the decorating was all hers.  The group voted and Brogan received 3rd place again.  She was happy with 3rd place and her response "I guess I am destined to be third since I am the third one born."

Morning Convo

I just love my morning conversations with my boys cuddled on the couch.

Today it went like this:
Ry talking to me "how did you get this age? Did you used to be three?".
Me "yes i was three once"
Christian "yeah she was three then she got married".

Then they immediately go into a staring contest to see whose eyes are bigger.

State CC Meet

Cross Country has been training since August and today was the day for all of the preparation to come together.  All of the boys did great!  They all ran their fastest times of the season and completed the race without stopping.

I do have to brag though...

Joshua ran awesome!!!

Last year at this same time he was running over 25 minutes for a 5k.  Just one year later he is running a 19:08.  He took 6 minutes off of his time in one year!  Just 3 weeks ago he ran a 21:59.  He has been working really hard and it has all paid off!  He got 18th out of 107 runners in the state meet!!

I was so proud of how he ran!  He has a plan and a goal for next year and it is so exciting!  Way to go, Boss!!  (and Jeremy who coached him!!!!)

15 years

Happy 15th Anniversary to us!!!

Co-op Week 7 Highlight

Todays co-op was an all day one.  We were supposed to take the community service class over to Carriage Inn to visit with the residents but the staff there forgot to put us on the calendar.  We had come up with some quick ideas to do but decided on splitting the group up.  One group went to help a lady who is moving into an apartment clean up the place.  She has been living at the local shelter and really welcomed the idea of having some help in getting her new place ready.  I took the other group over to the shelter that she has been living in to do some clean up work there.  The Good Shepard Mission just received some money and is remodeling a building next door so that they will be able to house families if needed.  We had a small group but the kids did an awesome job at getting the debris cleaned out of the building.  These are some hard working kids!



Happy Birthday, Rylen!

Our Rylen is 4 years old today!!!!!

Famous quote of the day: 

"Momma, how many days was I three?"  Momma "365"

Ry "How many days until I'm 5?"

Momma "365"

Ry just shrugs his shoulders

*note: I was corrected by Joshua, he will actually be 5 for 366 days due to Leap year

Cheaper by the Dozen Opens

This is the final weekend for Huntsville Community Theatre's production of "Cheaper by the Dozen".  Last weekend the cast and crew did great and this weekend should be even better.

Joshua is cast as the oldest brother Frank and Codey is part of the backstage crew.  They have both done an awesome job!!

Co-op Week 3 Highlight

Hospitality House with Friends

Late Night

It was another late night of practice for the play.  These boys get dragged around and never complain.  He watched quietly until he fell asleep.

Awanas Work

I found them all studying for Awanas and completing their work on their own, without being told, without arguing.  It is times like these that make my heart flutter.  It is times like these that make me think that I am doing something, finally something, right.

Chex Mix

Here is an easy way to make Chex Mix without heating up the house...

WCFA Dedication

Back in May Brogan told her 4H Sewing group what she had been working on for the children of the wounded warriors in San Antonio.  She told them how they could help and encouraged them to make some things also over the summer.  Her leader took the ball and set up a couple of work days for the kids to make some things.  In total they made 67 items to be donated to the children.  The items included bags, tshirts, travel pillows, and pillowcases.  Last night the group went to the Board meeting of the Walker County Fair Assoc. to let them know what the group had been doing and to dedicate the items in memory of a supporter of the group that had passed away recently.  I am so proud of her and what she has started!

DJ B and her Backup Singers

They were so cute making up songs and of course, Brogan was the lead singer.  Ry and Christian made up the backup singers and dancers.  It is always so sweet to see them playing well together  :)

Astros game

We went to the Astros game with Mom and Giaccamo this weekend and had lots of fun.  The 'stros lost but it was really about the ballpark food and the company!

Hammer and Nails

This was a great activity for his fine and gross motor skills and his eye-hand coordination.  Plus, it kept him occupied for almost an hour!

True Love

Found this picture of Facebook from the Protocol dance.  He is still sooo handsome!  <3

New Blocks

Today I bought 2 packages of sponges for $1 each.  They each contained 10 sponges so that is 20 sponges for $2.  When we got home I cut the sponges up.  Yep, you heard me.  I didn't buy them for cleaning and when Brogan saw what I was doing she asked why I was cutting up her sponges.  She thought I bought them for her to paint with.  Ummm, yeah, ok, I don't know where that came from?!

I cut one package long ways into three pieces and the other short ways into 5 pieces.  Why you ask?  Or maybe not but since you are reading this I am going to tell you anyway...

To make these building blocks...

Would you ever guess those were sponges?

I noticed Rylen isn't playing with the wooden blocks as much as he once was and I saw something like this somewhere not to long ago.  I thought it would be fun for him to play with something a little different and it would give me an extra activity to keep him occupied once we start school.  I was right!  They were fun!  What was even more fun you ask?  That Brogan and Christian had just as much fun playing with them.  It was even neater to see how they each played with them a little different. 

I think it might be the best $2 ever spent on sponges! 

HCT...Here We Go Again!!!!

So, Joshua and Brogan decided they wanted to try out for the upcoming production of "Cheaper by the Dozen" at the community theatre.  I warned them not get their hopes up because there would probably be a lot of kids trying out for this one.  Needless to say, they still wanted to try.  Somehow I think they may have the acting bug!

There were a lot of kids there!  Tryouts came and went and we got the email....

A part for Joshua but not for Brogan.  She was disappointed, upset, bummed, pouty, all of the above and more.  She spent a couple of hours hiding in her closet.  Then she came out, said she would support her friend that got the part instead, and carried on.  That's what I love about that girl <3

So, back to Joshua.  He got the part of Frank, the eldest brother and co-narrator.  Lots of lines!  Can't wait to see the end result!

Ummm, rain? What's that?

It hasn't rained here in forever.  Literally, forever it seems.  Each time there is a little rain in town it has bypassed us and we haven't recieved a drop of it.  Until last nighth and today that is.  There was a thunderstorm that came thru.  It stormed most of the night and rained into the early part of the day.  The kids loved playing out the rain!  It had been soooo long! 

Silly Ry

They just love dressing up Rylen because...well, because he will do and wear anything!

Um, I don't even know

This was the second time in two days that he dressed up like this. 

I don't know what he was supposed to be but I do know that he sure is a cutie!

MTM is back!

Muffin Tin Monday is back here at Winston Manor...

This week wasn't anything special but the kids were super excited to have it back.  I hope to be able to coordinate MTM with Rylen and Christian's school lessons.  Either way, there is just something fun about eating out of a muffin tin that makes Mondays so much brighter!

(And, yeah, those are my toes and they would feel a little brighter if they had had a pedi lately, but who has the time?  I'd rather be with Jeremy & my kiddos!)

Back to...

Can anyone guess which of us have started back to school?

The boys and Jeremy are back to school at Alpha.  Praying for a great year for all three of them!