Christmas Joy!

Here is a cute wintery craft we did today.  My aunt Cathy sent this for us to do last year, but for some reason we never got around to it.  But look what a good job Maryn did with it this year.  I am glad we waited.  She colored it herself of course, and she also cut out the wings and the feet all by herself!

But my favorite part, the most wonderful thing of all, is the little "plaid" she made on the penguin's hat.  How stinkin' creative is that?  I could swear sometimes she has the mind of a professional designer of some sort.  I don't think any of us have being drawing plaid or making plaid around the house, but obviously she's noticed it somewhere.  

 I did have to help her glue all the pieces on.  Cathy sent us a sample picture, but isn't it hard for kiddos to copy a sample just right?

At our Kids' Crafternoon yesterday, I was really surprised how many kids (even 8-10 year olds) honestly have no idea how to use school glue, glitter, or make a simple craft like the one above by following a sample.  This is a great tragedy of what No Child Left Behind does to our school systems.  Teachers think they don't have time for those things any more.  But the truth is, these things are absolutely vital to a child's understanding, development and knowledge of how things are made, how things are pieced together, how to follow directions, be creative, pay attention to detail, etc.

When I was teaching, I always found a way to incorporate crafts like the one above into our daily schedule.  That's right--DAILY (okay, maybe not the glitter part).  They usually did things like this during their reading workstations while I was with a small group.  If the principal asked, "how does this involve reading, or improve reading skills?"  I could obviously point out several ways it improves reading skills.  Teachers and Parents:  You gotta be creative, too!

Here's a creative spin on a play date.  Maryn and Ella (mostly Ella) were having a hard time eating their pasta (especially the spinach part), and I remembered we had a giant apple fritter in the kitchen, which I wanted to eat really badly.  So I told them we were going to have a birthday party for Jesus with a doughnut and candles and Christmas plates and Christmas napkins!  But they had to eat their pasta first.  And what do you know, they did.  And we had a little birthday party for Jesus.

 Here's a picture of Josiah after our Kids' Crafternoon.  He sustained several injuries after my neglect of him while setting up and helping other kids do their crafts (by that I mean, clean up glitter and tear it from overexcited children's hands).

 He got a giant bump on his head, a bloody lip, and some kind of carpet burn all over his cheek/chin.  And this morning, Maryn wailed a block at his head so that he now has a gash on the other side of his forehead.

Today, I finally got motivated to make cookie dough for our Christmas cut outs, a family tradition for as long as I can remember.  Maryn was a very good helper.  We read the ingredients list together, gathered them all up, lined them all up in order, read their labels, practiced adding and subtracting ("There are only 5 eggs in this carton.  How many more do we need?  Yes, we need ONE more egg.").  It was so sweet, because later Maryn used this same language with John, saying, "There are three snowflakes and we need one more!"

Now that our craft nights and our monthly food line is behind us, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders.  John has the next two days off and then my mom and Sara will be here for the weekend.  I think God is starting to bless me with some Christmas joy, and I pray it continues.  I pray I can find peace in this holiday, and give to others without feeling obligated or burdened.  That I could make cookies with my sweet daughter, the way my grandmother and my mother and my aunts always did with me, without making it out to be a huge chore, a duty of sorts, or a hassle.  And I pray there are many Italian subs in my future as well.  ;-)