Wrapping It Up

Well, we're wrapping up the Christmas in July week. We've continued to listen to Christmas music, play with the manger and all the characters to the scene. The girls have been coloring stories of Jesus' birth and we've been reading the story to them. It's been a fun week!

Hope you had fun with your family too!

Pasta Braclets

In the afternoon, yesterday, I taught the girls how to string beads. Well, the string was pipe cleaners and the beads were pasta, but it was just right for their 2 year old skill level. I put one piece of pasta on the end and secured it before they got up from nap. They've been carrying them around all day today!

We also opened our dollar store gifts last night. That was fun too! Will and I also each got a gift.

Hope you are enjoying Christmas in July if you are also doing it!

O Christmas Tree

Today we decorated a paper Christmas Tree!

To make it a bit more summery I pulled clipart into Microsoft Word and printed it on sticker paper. We had seashells, swings, balls, slides, and crosses to put on our tree. We also taped on some pipe cleaners. I believe the tree will evolve over the week as we add some rings cut from paper towel tubes, and other artwork we create.

Also to come later in the week: some fun dollar store gifts :)

Having a "Real" Moment

I felt the need to start this blog to share ideas I find or come up with, to challenge myself to do more with my daughters, and also to just be real about how it is to be a mom - from my perspective of course.

So here is my first "real" post or should I say honest. I mentioned to Will, while he has home for lunch, that I often breathe a sigh of relief after the girls are in bed. Anyone else out there do that? I know many of you do. And now I'm considering why I do that. It would be easy to say I'm exhausted and call it a day, but for me it's much more. I love being a mom and have always wanted to be, but it has literally turned my life upside down! I have always been quite independent, just ask my mom, used to dropping everything to go do whatever I wanted and whenever. I now have two beautiful girls who consume all but 2 hours of my day from 7:30 am until 8:30 pm, and they much prefer to be exactly where I am, trying to be involved in whatever I'm doing. I like to grab 'me' time when I can get it, but even that gets detoured with thoughts of them or buying them things or scrapbooking photos of them.

The reality is they are part of me and I of them, and that's that! No solutions or conclusions here, just another moment when we moms are in need of our Creator and Designer to re-mold us and re-shape us! Be blessed as you are a mom today!

Isaiah 64:8
Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

A Week or More of Christmas in July

I don't know about you, but we've been going crazy at our house. The temps have been in the 90's and heat indexes in to 100's! So we've been cooped up indoors just to stay cool.

This week I thought it would be fun to have a week (or more) of Christmas in July. Two days ago I filled our CD changer with Christmas music. Today I pulled out our Little People manger and a Christmas book that explains the story of Christ's birth. I also pulled out a music box that the girls love.

And tonight for dinner, I'm making Christmas tree ka-bobs! A little red (cherry tomatoes), a little green (zucchini & broccoli), a little white (mushrooms), and a little brown (pork).

It's fun getting my creative juices going again! Looking forward to tomorrow's fun project: Decorate a tree!