. 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 ...

. 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.