Childbloom Holiday Guitar Concert

Olivia participated in her first guitar concert last Friday. She did a beautiful job along with her cohorts, and we are so very proud of her. Her instructor is Slobodan Vujisic who is an instructor for the Childbloom Guitar Program. She loves going to practice as well as practicing at home. To her this is a dream come true because she showed interest in playing the guitar by the time she was 2 years old.

Rollercoaster of Life

Well, I'm asking for your prayers again. My dad will have another craniotomy and brain surgery again today because of complications and infection from his surgery two weeks ago. If you think about it today, please say a prayer for him and his surgeons. With heartfelt thanks, Apryl.

Prepare the Way!

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has reached our little house. We put out our Christmas tree, decorated the outside of the house with white lights, and today at dinner we lit the pink candle on our Advent wreath. There's talk of wish lists for Santa, gingerbread houses, school holiday parties, and what kind of cake we will make for Jesus' birthday. I can see why this Sunday is called "Rejoice Sunday"; Christmas is almost here and we will be so ready to celebrate!

On Saturday, we had our Adventure Guides, Christmas potluck supper.












The girls had fun at the Camp Twin Lakes playground and running around the bonfire. The food was delicious; Olivia must have eaten two bowls of Frito Chili Pie, and by the end of the dinner, her little tummy was as round as could be. Genevieve had seven different kinds of macaroni and cheese to choose from, as well as fruit kabobs, so she also was full and happy when the potluck was over.

Afterwards, we headed over to Santa's Workshop in Cedar Park. The girls had a blast making different types of handmade ornaments and listening to the bands play Christmas music. As luck would have it, we ran into my brother Corbin, his wife Megan, and my nieces and nephews, Elena, Gabriella, and Jonah. It's so much fun sharing the wonder of Christmas with children!

Today, Olivia and I went to Sunday School where we celebrated Jesus' birthday with spiritual Christmas songs and birthday cake. (We celebrate Christmas early since there will be no Sunday School for the next three weeks.) Olivia's class made dioramas of the nativity scene, and she is looking forward to adding more details this week when she has more time. Afterwards, we went to Mass, and Olivia was very excited to see the third candle lit on the Advent wreath because she knows that means Christmas is almost here.

This evening, we made presents for her school class party. We made a HUGE batch (10 lbs +) of snowdough and rolled and wrapped a snowdough ball for each child. It was great working on this craft with Olivia. It was the first year where she really lead the gift-making, and I just assisted. She sure is growing up! :) I saved a little bit of snowdough so that Genevieve can play with it tomorrow. Here's the recipe in case you would like to make some too. (This should make enough for two children.):

Snowdough

1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
1T. cream of tartar
2T. vegetable oil
1 c. water
1/3 c. white glitter
1/4 c. white powdered tempera paint
1 tsp. pepperment extract

Mix ingredients together in large pot. Cook over low heat until dough becomes large ball. Cool. Seal in plastic bags.

Three Twirling, Swirling Christmas Snowflakes!

Smitten with Mittens

Eve wore mittens for the first time today, and she wanted to wear them all day long, both outside *and* inside the house. She called them her "puppets" and kept asking them "How [are] you?" while she made them talk, wiggling her fingers inside. Then, she spotted Olivia's old pink camouflage mittens from way back in the days when she didn't mind wearing pink. Eve quickly discarded her little "puppets" for Sister's bigger "puppets". It's a good thing Olivia won't wear them anymore because...

Genevieve is smitten with her "new" pink mittens!

One Week Ago Today

One week ago today, my dad had his brain surgery, and we are so thankful that everything went well. He is still recovering at home and seems to have some kind of infection with the fever he is battling. He began a round of antibiotics last night, so I pray they do the trick, so he can get back to doing the things he likes to do and feeling good again. Thank you for all your prayers during his surgery. They gave us strength when we were worried and gave him peace of mind that God would take care of him. I was in awe of his bravery as they wheeled him into surgery, and his faith and belief that everything would turn out okay.

Grandaddy and Olivia building a bird house in Dec. 2007

Stuck Inside

With the freezing temperatures this morning, Genevieve and I were stuck inside. It was just too cold to take our morning walk, so instead she played in her room for a while and wore her pajamas a little longer this morning. Check out this video to see what she was up to:

It's Beginning to Look A Little Like Christmas!

When we awoke this morning, we were surprised to see ice on the ground. The girls were excited to see this unexpected precipitation, and there was just enough time to play in it (and taste it) before heading off to school.

Over the River and Through the Woods

To Grandma and Papaw's House We Go...for Thanksgiving!













We had an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday spending time with Brian's mom ("Grandma") and her husband Michael ("Papaw") at their home in Plano. Our crew all had bouts with colds the previous week (except for Brian The Invincible), so we were worried that we wouldn't be able to make the trip, but by the day of our departure for Grandma's, we were all feeling good and looking forward to the trip. It took us just 4 hours, which isn't bad considering trips taken previous years during the Thanksgiving week.


We had a wonderfully delicious Thanksgiving feast cooked by Grandma-- even two kinds of turkeys with two different gravies! Only grandmas cook like that! One of the girls' favorite things was Grandpa's appetizer tray with pickles and two kinds of olives. They gobbled up the black olives as fast as they could!



The next morning, the guys watched the kiddos and Brian's mom and I hit the Black Friday sales. It was fun, and we did some damage ;) , but the best part of all was just spending time together and catching up with one another. It reminded me of how I used to go with my own Grandma Sylvia on all day Saturday shopping trips like this growing up. We would leave at 8:30AM for Houston and return sometime after dinner with tired feet but full hearts sharing this time with one another. I feel so blessed to have the parents I have, and now am doubly blessed by my in-laws. They are always so supportive and loving, easy to talk with, and lots of fun! Yes, I'm getting a bit off-topic here, but this post is about Thanksgiving, so I guess I'm just saying I'm thankful for my family. :) See how I brought my ramblings full circle?



Olivia and Grandma made these cute Thanksgiving treats that they put at each persons table setting. They were tasty as well as fun to make!



We made several trips to the playscape at the elementary school just across the street. Eve went down the slide for the first time by herself. Olivia loved swinging on the chin-up bar.























Grandma and Grandpa even babysat for us, so that we could get a mini-vacation in Dallas. We stayed at the historical Stoneleigh Hotel, walked around the area leisurely drinking hot coffee (me) and hot cocoa (Brian), ate dinner at The Melting Pot (a fun fondue place where we would NEVER take the kids), and visited the Galleria. It was our first time away from the kids in a long time. I missed them terribly, but it did good for us to recharge. It was great spending time together and having complete conversations, but by Sunday we couldn't wait to get back to Plano fast enough to give those two girls of ours a big squeeze, and hear all their chatter.

We had an all around great Thanksgiving at Grandma and Pawpaw's house.
We are truly thankful for them.

Rock Climbing Buddies

Olivia and some of her neighborhood buddies went rock climbing one evening this month. They really enjoyed their time together and can't wait to go again.

Meet "Poison Dart Frog" and "Handsome Toad"

This year, Olivia and Brian have joined Adventure Guides sponsored by the YMCA. This is the group formerly known as "Indian Guides" with a more PC name and now open to both genders. Each parent-child team is part of a small group called a "circle" and once a month each circle gets together for a "Circle Adventure". Each participant chooses a special name to use at the meetings, and Olivia chose the name "Poison Dart Frog" while Brian chose the name "Handsome Toad". Those names make me laugh!

All of the circles are invited to several camping trips throughout the year. Olivia's circle, "The Karankawas", along with several other circles participated in a group camp out at Mustang Island State Park on Nov. 14 - 16. She was so excited to be going on a camping trip with her daddy, especially because this one was at the beach. Olivia has never been to the beach (embarrassing for me to write since I was born in Galveston!), and Brian has never beach camped, so this weekend had potential to be a great adventure...and that it was!!! Brian bought 14 inch rebar to hold down the tent in the sand, and it was a good thing he did because at about 8:45PM on the first night, a cold front blew in with fierce 50 mph winds! Thank goodness someone thought to bring a shovel so that everyone could dig huge pits for the tents to sit in. As Brian was shoveling, Olivia wandered around and found a snake. Brian told her "If you're friends with a snake, it'll be friends with you". Now, Brian has more experience camping than me, but I've been around more non-pet snakes than him, and when Livy called to tell me about her snake-find and what her daddy told her, I was alarmed and said, "Don't believe it!" My motherly alarm bell was ringing like crazy!

Brian and Livy were in the tent by the time the storm hit, but they could see the sand moving in sheets around them. They only slept a couple of hours as the sand rained in on them through the tent vent. Finally about 1 AM, they gave up on sleeping and ran around outside in the wind and sand. They called and left me a message that I'll probably keep for a long, long time. You can hear them both yelling, "Sandstorm!", and that's pretty much it because of all the static sounds from the wind. The next morning, the tent was broken and only one-side remained staked down, but they survived and have quite a memory together. They headed home on Sat. instead of Sun. since their tent was broken and it was less than 50 degrees F, but before leaving, Brian let Livy play in the waves, and did she have a blast! What a dad!

Go-go Girl

Genevieve is a big fan of stickers. She sticks them to the front of her clothes; she sticks them to the back of her clothes; and you better watch out because when you are not looking, she'll stick them on your clothes too. The other day, she was decorating with some alphabet stickers, making sure each one had their own designated spot on her shirt. Later when she was walking around the backyard, I had to laugh when I noticed she spelled the word "Go" unintentionally on her back with stickers. I had to run in to get the camera because this shot was too priceless to miss!

Trick or Treat!

The girls had a great time trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Olivia wanted to be a robot this year, so we borrowed some ideas from Family Fun magazine and made a fun homemade costume out of mostly recycled materials. Genevieve didn't care what she was dressed as this year (next year, she will surely have her own opinion), so she borrowed the kitty cat costume Olivia wore when she was little. Genevieve made it to about five houses, and she was ready to turn in for the night. Olivia stayed out a couple of hours later and crashed when she got back home after eating only two of her treats.

This picture is of the girls at our neighbors', the Surles' and Greens', house which is one of their favorite houses to trick-or-treat at each year.








This picture is of Olivia and her neighbor friend, Bryn.

This picture is of our neighbors', the Thomas family, who dressed in 1950's apparel.










This photo is of Olivia and her sweet buddy, Ethan. Finally, this photo is of Olivia and Eve with their cousins and neighbors, Elena (The Cat in the Hat), Gabby (Thing 1), and Jonah (Thing 2).

Falling Leaves and Spooky Things!

What a fun fall season this has been so far! Here are some photos of the girls enjoying cooking, crafting, and being spooky in October.

Eve is laying down on her belly to get a close-up look at her drawing of a spider web.

The girls made spider snacks one day. I was surprised at how well Eve did poking the chocolate chip eyes in and not eating a single one. Olivia loved calculating the number of chocolate chip eyes and pretzel legs she would need for 3 spider snacks.

The week before Halloween, we went to the YMCA pumpkin patch to buy our pumpkins, and although there weren't many to choose from, the girls had fun playing around the pumpkins and props.

This year, we decided the girls should paint their pumpkins while we carve a "family pumpkin". The girls enjoyed participating in the painting and no one complained of slimy pumpkin fingers! Olivia chose glow-in-the-dark paint, and they looked great under the blacklights Brian installed on the porch.




The girls also made old-fashioned paper mache' pumpkins. Olivia blew her balloon so big that she decided it looked more like a skeleton's head than a pumpkin, so she painted it likewise. Genevieve loves stickers, so even though she didn't care for the paper mache paste on her fingers, she kept asking for more "stickers" (newspaper strips) to put on her balloon. In case you might want to try this sometime, we used these directions for making a Bumpkin Pumpkin.
Finally, we made glow-in-the-dark T-shirts for the girls to wear the night before Halloween. Olivia wanted a skeleton body, and we decided Eve would look cute in a Blinky ghost (Pac Man) shirt. Here are our girls in their spooky shirts!

Happy Fall, Y'all!