Creativity

On one of the recent snow days that wasn't actually snowy, I HAD to get some things done around the house.  I had asked Brady to help me count BoxTops for PTA; instead he quietly disappeared upstairs.  I think he knew to stay out of the way if he didn't want to get roped into working.  He pulled out his Made by Dad book that he got for Christmas, found this project, and worked on it for the better part of an afternoon.  He felt bad that he didn't help around the house, but I was thrilled that he had a full afternoon just to let his creativity take over.

Valentines

Our Disney trip gave us just the pictures we needed to create some pretty awesome Valentine's Day cards.  With a little help from Pinterest and the WalMart photo center, we created these cards for the kids' classmates:

We all got a kick out of the cheesy phrases:

You R2 good to me

YODA one for me

I "chewse" you, Valentine

Happy

Organization and order make me happy.  A clean house and finished homework make me happy.  Therefore, the new chore charts make me happier than they probably should!

 

Baking and crafting

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the time we get to spend together baking and crafting.  The boys are rather resistant to craft type activities most of the year, but are still interested and excited about holiday projects.  And, they love baking all year round especially when they get to sample the cookie dough.

My traditional sugar cookies and their traditional dipped oreos:

My two projects for the year:  a way to display Christmas cards and Mickey/Minnie ornaments:

Rudy's play-doh creation.  This kid could spend hours with play-doh.

We even shared the love with some cookie decorating at Garth and Ellen's house:

Art Festival

We are always amazed by the amazing efforts the art teachers and the county put into the county arts festival every year.   They hang tons of student work, create special projects related to the theme, and have a half dozen projects for kids to do at the festival itself. (I guess we didn't take any pictures in 2012, but we did in 2011.)

The kids' school students worked on Fletcher, a paper-mache school mascot.   Brady and his classmate Gabriel worked on the shoulder; Rudy worked on one of the thighs.

The theme this year was Chihuly.   There was a plastic replica of the Chihuly boat filled with glass and an amazing plastic bottle representations of a chandelier.  

Face painting.  Brady requested a dragon face and the high school art student spent a LONG time creating her masterpiece.  She even painted his eyelids.  It looked good, but was not very comfortable and he had to wash it off soon after.  

Rudy requested a dragon playing baseball, and that's exactly what he got.  Perfect for his game that afternoon!

Art work on display:  Brady's tesselation project and Rudy's self-portrait.

They also had their special project canopic jars on display.  (These were the ones they created in an after-school session they won at the Fall Festival.)

Brady's:

Rudy's

 

Glass blowing

The other part of our no-school-day adventure was to visit a glass-blowing shop in a nearby town.  The boys each got a chance to "blow" their own ornament.  (I'm glad I had a significant discount on it, because there really wasn't much that they could do!)  I think it was cool for them to get some idea of what Papa does in his hot shop though. 

      

Deficiency of Christmas Spirit

The boys stayed home from school yesterday, because they were suffering from a deficiency of Christmas spirit.  That's a real thing, right?

Their evenings are so busy, that we hadn't had any family time to bake, craft, and just be together.  I had already decided to keep them home before Friday's tragic events; after that, I had even less hesitation about keeping my babies home with me for a day! 

Sugar Cookies:

Making gifts...I can't reveal more specifics just yet...

Brady's rolled-paper tree.  I think it looks awesome and I've been dropping some pretty heavy hints about how much I love it...

Some more of the finished products...

Brady's angry bird:

My button tree.  Brady also made one as a gift.

My grinch:

Wood block nativity set.  Rudy made one for Teddy for Christmas.

Button tree

Another  Christmas craft I tried out for the party tomorrow night.  Not bad...

Gingerbread House

We got a special invitation from Cindy to join Ben and Bella at a gingerbread house workshop at Monticello.  Of course, it wasn't just any gingerbread house...it was a gingerbread Monticello! The kids divided the house in half, with Brady and Bella taking the "front" and Rudy and Ben designing the "back."  Each pair worked well together, and dividing it up that way avoided sibling issues!  

Ready and waiting:

Teamwork:

The melted snowman:

Rudy and Ben's finished product:

Brady and Bella's design:

We had extra time after the workshop to come back and work on some Christmas crafts at home.  The little boys preferred football, but I talked the big kids into crafts.