. Christmas is upon us .

how has Christmas come so fast?  i feel like time slipped away from us and we didn't get to do near the amount of crafts and projects that i wanted to do.  this has been a calm week here with only 2 babies and my 2 girls.  we've been having more relaxing days, reading books, watching Christmas movies, and just playing.  my husband has been home as well, which they LOVE. 

this Christmas season i am so thankful for YOU.  for you and your children.  for your grandchildren.  for your friends children.  whomever it is that brought you to my blog.  i'm thankful for you.  my family has been so blessed this year by you. 

Merry Christmas to you and your family.  May God bless you as He has done so to me.

. from our house to yours .

. happy birthday, Jesus! .

today we had our party.  our "happy birthday, Jesus" party.  and we had a blast.  i keep these parties simple.  very simple, but we have a blast.  here is our day in pictures...

we had an amazing day.  loaded them up with sugar, yes.  i actually did make chicken fries, and french fries, and fruit for lunch, so that they'd have something substantial.  we've had fun and i think we've sang "happy birthday jesus" about 9 million times. 

. fingerprints .

when i think about what crafts we will make, i TRY to think about what crafts i enjoy seeing from my own children.  the basic color sheet gets a little boring, but is great for busy work.  fingerprints, handprints, and footprints are always winners.  these babies, on the other hand, do not like putting their hands in paint.  i haven't even gone to the feet yet.  so, today we stuck with fingerprints.

i simply drew a black line with sharpie and we used basic fingerpaints to make the Christmas lights.  a very simple project, but would be VERY cute in a frame.

(parents, i do have individual pictures of each child's paper if you need one for whatever reason.)

while i was taking pictures of our artwork, the babies decided they needed to have a photo shoot.  J was rounding the others up so they could say "cheese" together.   i'm so thankful they have  become such sweet friends.

after the others were done though, J was still wanting to pose.  i think he just needed some extra love.

and these sweet girls are best friends too.  they love playing with each other each and every day.

. seeing stars .

we have talked and talked and talked about the star that the wise men saw that led them to Jesus.  toddlers like (and need) repetition, so as i may be getting tired of reading the same words, they are still loving it.  the Christmas story is my favorite to share with my kids and definitely one story i want engrained in their little brains.  and i read it straight from the Bible, so it's kind of too long for them, but the importance is them hearing.  at this age, most likely, even if they are sitting and looking at you, they are hearing you. 

today, after reading the Christmas story, we made stars.

we're down to the simple here, folks.  these babies attention spans are quite short these days.  they are so busy.  this craft, however, made them focus on a small thing.  they had to color each popsicle stick individually.  i wasn't able to take pictures of them doing it b/c i was having to keep markers off the table and the floor and was holding the popsicle sticks for them to color.  so, as simple as it was, i was tired at the end.  the big girls spend quite a bit of time on theirs, making sure to color it all in.

some hot glue and a little piece of twine and it was a super cute ornament.

(ps.  i tried doing handprint wreaths and it was a fail.  maybe next week.)

. handprint ornaments .

today we made our first ornaments for Christmas!  i think i got more joy out of the whole thing than the babies did, but it was so worth it.  i think they turned out so cute.  here's what we did ...

mix together..
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

form into a ball and flatten out into a circle.  press hand into dough.  i used a pencil to make 2 small holes in the top for the ribbon.  then baked at 200* for 3 hours.  here's the end result ...

. baby L .

mondays, wednesdays, and fridays are very laid back around here.  the big girls are at preschool, so it's just me and the babies.  we do our animal sounds and colors as usual and just do baby play.  it's nice to have that one on one time with them, but you should see the smiles on their little faces when the big girls walk in the house at 12:30. 

the youngest, baby L, is now walking around and joins in on most of what we're doing.  now, there are some things i save to do with the other babies when she takes her morning nap, such as play-doh.  but while she's awake, this has been her favorite spot to be lately ...

she's hilarious.  and as little as she is, she lets the others know when they've crossed the line.  :) 

. december .

this is my first december that i am taking care of your kids.  i started in january of this year, so i'm almost at the one year mark.  and what a blessing your children have been to me and my family.  that's not really what i wanted this post to be about, but i'm glad i had the opportunity to tell you that. 

here, we're talking about december.  about Christmas.  about the birth of Jesus, our Lord.  and i'm so excited that i get to teach these babies about the true meaning of Christmas.  yesterday we started by setting up our nativity scene and reading Isaiah 7:14 and we talked about how people anxiously awaited the birth of Jesus.  we put baby Jesus into our nativity and ooo-ed and aahh-ed over Him.  these babies just love babies.  and they know that the little one all wrapped up is "baby Jesus".  

here's everyone (except L ... she was napping) sitting on our carpet squares listening to the story.

today we read Isaiah 9:6-7 and Luke 1:5-25.  we talked a lot about the angel named Gabriel who told Mary that she would have a baby boy and name him Jesus.  then, we made angels ...

we sang tons of Christmas songs today as well.  they love them all!  i found some really cute ones online that have hand motions and all.  they had a blast. 

. wordless wednesday .

december is here!

this is going to be a busy month for us.  i'm sure it'll go by so quickly we won't even know what hit us.  between our usual coloring, playing with play-doh, building blocks, and reading books, we'll have even more activities going on. 

big news this week ... baby L is WALKING!  she was 3 months old when i started taking care of her and i can't believe she's already one and walking all over.  i absolutely love being able to watch them grow and learn. 

mark your calendars!!  december 17th is our "happy birthday Jesus" party!  i chose that day b/c it's the last day in december that all 6 of these sweet kiddos will be here together.  we'll be doing fun stuff and arts and crafts all day, plus a party at lunch time and cupcakes for our afternoon snack.