Busted Ornaments

Today's advent pick was making ornaments.  

Last year we didn't have a Christmas tree.  Aside from having just moved and unpacked in the four weeks prior to Christmas, we had a 20 month old terror running a-muck.   I hated it, the boys hated it, but I knew that putting a tree up with the Diva at that point was just like dancing on the edge of the cliff -we'd be asking for trouble.  This year I don't know that she is going to be much better, and she's definitely got more skills in her destructive repetoire but gosh darn it, we all want a tree.

So we're compromising.

We're getting a tree, but we're not putting any ornaments on it.  Lights and tinsel yes, but nothing breakable.  Jake is still a little worried she might "get in the tree and climb up it", but I'm fairly confident this can be a win-win situation.

Hence the idea of making ornaments.  Paper ones would be fun to make, and who really cares if they get destroyed?

 This is Leah's crafting stool.  She will sit in a chair for any other table activity, but for crafts, she has to sit in this stool.  Go figure.  She also made another lovely pink Christmas decoration.  It looked rather like an Easter egg.  At least part of her is girly.

Austin loves crafts of any kind.  He thoroughly enjoyed making ornaments, even after he realized he was trying to cut paper with Play-Do scissors.

For whatever reason, making ornaments was kind of a bust for Jacob.  At one point he just sat cutting paper into strips and thought we would just hang those around the tree.  

  

And that's the extent of our ornaments.  Austin spends a lot of time on one thing, and Jake just wasn't interested.  We still had a good time, however, listening to music and making cookies while we crafted.  

Random note #1 - My kids all this time have thought the Muppets were called Muffins, and they're pretty sure there are 52,000 of them.  I learned that tonight while crafting.  Who knew?

Random note #2 - I hate taking pictures in my dining room.  The lighting is horrid and there is all that glass on the sliding doors that reflect flashes.