Never Doubt the Power of Prayer

About a week ago, Carli started talking about that time when Uncle Kevin hit her in the eye with a snowball.  We have a faint memory of two years ago when it snowed in Amarillo and Uncle Kevin might have accidentally hit Carli with a snowball.  We do remember making a big deal about her throwing a snowball at him.  Apparently Carli only remembers getting hit and not having her revenge.  So her prayers started including praying for snow in Amarillo so she could hit Uncle Kevin with a snow ball.

Honestly, the weather forecast for our time in Amarillo did not include snow and Keith and I were preparing to break the news to Carli that having snow was not meant to be.  But then, it snowed.  Carli and Ava were both so excited b/c they are convinced that God sent that snow just for them and who are we to argue?!

Kevin and Megan were driving into Amarillo on Saturday when it started snowing.  The girls were so excited to go practice making snowballs before they got there!

When we got word that Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan were close, we got bundled up and ready for the ultimate toddler snowball fight.  Keith helped Carli peek over the fence and throw a snowball at their car in the alley.

And then she met him in the driveway with a snowball...

They were very pleased that Uncle Kevin played along and stood still enough to get hit multiple times with snowballs.  He was a great sport!

And just before it was time to go inside and warm up - they plopped down on the snow to make snow angels...and successfully covered themselves in wet snow.  :)

They were some happy little girls!

Elf Antics

Elves are part of the family too...

Aunt Sarah made the girls a family tree book.  It is awesome!  Shauntee read it one night to all the stuffed animal friends...

Carli said, "Of coarse it would be Crazy Ariel that Shauntee had a marshmallow snowball fight with!"

And Then we Made a Christmas Card...

We had Christmas at Thanksgiving this year and we owed a few folks some thank you cards.  We decided to make some thumbprint reindeer.  In brainstorming that idea, we decided we could make a family of reindeer and maybe get a Christmas card out of the deal while we were at it!

So, first we made a lot of brown thumb prints...

And then we practiced our patience and waited for them to dry.  The girls got a good kick out of Keith and I doing thumb prints too!

Finally we added some pipe cleaner antlers, jeweled noses and eyes.  The girls thought it was so fun to give Daddy's reindeer a pink nose!

The girls did an excellent job of working on the whole project.  They worked really hard on writing their names under their reindeer.

And finally, we have a finished Thank You note and with the help of Uncle Tone...

We got a Christmas card out of the deal too!

Ava & Chuy

Chuy sure has come a long way in his doggie years.  I remember as a puppy wishing he would just be still and cuddle with me.  I never could get him to sleep on my bed.  At almost 10 years old (Feb is his bday), he sure has become quite the sweet, cuddly dog.  Every morning he jumps on the bed when I wake up and comes and cuddles into my arms for a hug and pet.  He use to didn't have much to do with the girls.  His job was to oversee baths, he rarely misses being in the bathroom standing guard.  And that was about it.  But now, if the girls are in bed or reading our night time story he will come over for them to pet him.  And if there is a storm, his bed of choice would be with Ava.  One night the storm was so loud it woke Ava up and frightened her.  When I got her calmed and asleep again, this is what I got to see...that is a rare sight indeed.

Me & My Silly Girls

Sometimes the best entertainment is silly girls, a phone and some funny faces...

Vacuuming

It only took five years, but finally someone who thinks vacuuming is fun!

If only she would crash into furniture...

Homeschool...Sunday School

 Ava woke up Sunday morning feeling great!  Except her throat still hurt and she hadn't been fever free for 24 hrs.  Plus we were unsure if Carli might have gotten strep too even though she wasn't showing any symptoms.  In an effort to play it safe we decided we best stay home on Sunday.  Since it was Sunday, we had made sure to ask Ms. Patty what the Sunday Morning Bible Lesson was so that we could do it at home.  We learned about Jesus being born.  Carli said she really loved doing homeschool Sunday School b/c she got to wear her pajamas!

After we read our story from the Bible and Carli and Ava retold it to us...we did a little craft project of Jesus in the manger, in a barn...they didn't quite understand stable.  But barn, they got that.  :)

 

After the official lesson was over, Carli told us she still had to teach and so we went to the playroom and learned about families that God made us, and the books of the Old Testament...

Finally, Ava had to have a turn too.  She taught us about the fruits of the spirit and baby Jesus growing and growing and growing...

We had a lot of fun and we all learned something too...Carli is a bit strict in class and doesn't like for her students to take pictures while she is teaching!  Ava sure wished all her students would say the flashcards together nicely and not at different times.  :)

We spent the rest of our Sunday coloring, building castles and watching Disney.  The girls had withdrawals about not getting dressed in their pretty Sunday clothes and about four they decided to put on their favorite dresses.  We toyed with the idea of taking them to church that night but Ava's battery ran out around six and we decided we better not push our luck!