Craft Analysis

So, I've tried my hand at a bunch of little craft projects this month.

My conclusion: If you cook it or bake it or it involves food, I should try it. If it involves using scissors, I should remember my kids can't do that yet. If it involves drawing something, I should remember my kids are very amateur artists. If it involves painting, I should remember I have to let go of my control in order to let my kids enjoy it.

Not all our projects were a bomb, but I think I found some we'll try in another 5 years. I need to find more toddler friendly projects in the future.

Making the reindeer cookies was a great project! The kids can smear peanut butter and stick M&Ms on with the best of them. Go back and look at the previous post to see the little buggers in all their red-nosed cuteness.

We haven't made our gingerbread houses yet. Maybe today, tomorrow, or in the next few days.

I have been working on another little crafty project. It's for Jenna for Christmas.
Rylee has had her name hanging in their room since we moved into our house. A friend made it and gave it to her for her birthday in April.

The girls share a room, so Jenna needs her name somewhere in there too. Plus, the girl is all about the letter J. She notices it on every sign and says "look, it's J for Jenna." So cute! I'm excited to see her reaction tomorrow morning.
I was up late painting the letters and today I'll "decorate" them. Check back for a future post with a final picture.
Okay...here's the finished product. I can handle this kind of craft project! It was fun, pretty easy, and turned out beautiful. Plus, Jenna really loves it!
As I promised in an earlier post, here are some pictures of our GFA Christmas party. The girls were dressed alike and even sort of matched my dress. We were so busy trying to get things ready for the children's skit that we didn't take a family photo. We're hoping to snap one tonight at our Christmas Eve service. But, we got some other cute photos.
The kids did a great job in the skit. We would have changed a few things if we could have practiced on the stage at least once, but it worked out great anyway. Jenna and her friend, Emma, wore our chicken costumes and were the hit in many hearts. Just last night I had several more comments on how cute they were.
After the last two weeks full of parties and Christmas preparations, we decided to head to Austin for the weekend to visit family and friends. Joel took Friday off, so we left in the morning and drove the 3 hours south. We met my cousin, his wife, and their precious 6 month old daughter for a late lunch (made later by us taking wrong turns en route).

Later we had dinner with friends (C. Beth & her family). The wife and I were in youth group together and have kept in touch all these years. We're actually more in touch now...in addition to loving Jesus, we both blog and are moms of toddlers! They are partners with us in ministry, which is a great blessing.

Then, we headed to the home of more friends, Erin & Jose, to spend the night and the rest of the weekend. Erin and I were friends in high school, as well. They have also been a blessing to us as we serve at GFA. Their son, Lucas, is as precious as they come and our kids loved hime to pieces!
Unfortunately, I was a dud at taking pictures and only pulled out the camera when we were having lunch on Sunday. Lame mama! I was just enjoying our fellowship and never thought of 'documenting' it.

Our house is abuzz this morning with excitement for "baby Jesus' birthday" tomorrow! The kids are ready to go to church tonight and then celebrate tomorrow. All the stress of having toddlers is overshadowed greatly at this time of year. Their sheer delight at seeing the sights and sounds of Christmas blesses my heart. The best part is that they keep talking about Jesus and how it's his birthday. I just love it! They really can be focused on what Christmas is all about and still enjoy the fun things, like presents and cookies!

May the Love of the Lord fill your hearts, may His peace be yours as you trust in Him regardless of the trials you're facing, and may you have hope, knowing the Christ child in the manger has done everything to secure your present and future.