For the second year in a row, we dipped pretzel rods in almond bark and loaded on the sprinkles and mini-chocolate chips. Some of these became treats for Jacob as he studied for his finals (yay, he's done now!).
A good friend gave us these animal stencils. We decided to carry the idea even further by cutting out the stenciled animal shapes and gluing them on a big Noah's ark poster. We hung it on the wall in the girls' room.
The girls played "Christmas cookies" quite happily one afternoon, using cookie cutters and a homemade cookie sheet made of aluminum foil and cardboard.
One of their Christmas gifts will (hopefully!) be play-food cookies made from this tutorial, on a toaster-oven-sized cookie sheet (the cardboard one is great but I know it won't last very long!).
Here's "us girls" at an ECFE party:
During an ECFE class we did the next activity, and it was so good we just had to repeat it at home: cookie cutter painting. I love this because you set out one or two plates with just a small amount of paint, and the kids can dip in the cookie cutters and can paint without making a huge mess. Honestly, I know painting is SO good for kids--but it can get so messy that we don't often do it at home! This idea was both fun and kept the mess at a minimum.
With all that said, here's the pic! I had the girls paint wrapping paper, and Sofia said this one was for her friend Daniel, since he loves trucks.
We also made Christmas wreath ornaments with pipe cleaners and beads. Kardelen kept making more and more! This activity also brought out patterns, and Kardelen made up her own patterns as she threaded on the beads.
Two more fun Christmasy activities: making applesauce-cinnamon ornaments (Not great. Kids shouldn't touch the dough because cinnamon irritates their skin. I'll do it by myself next time.) and, tonight, waiting for sugar cookies to come out of the oven.
Last picture: the girls at their tap dance class! They started last month and LOVE it. It brings back lots of memories for me!
I love my family!
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