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The kids begged me to come up some sort of Christmas craft.  Merikalyn loves “pwojects” (as she calls them), and Nolyn happily joins in.  Lately, the kids and I have been talking about the meaning of Christmas. I want them to understand that Christmas is not about getting gifts.  Christmas is about Christ who gave us the ultimate gift- his life in exhange for ours.  We choose to give gifts to others to show our appreciation for their love and friendship.  I’m considering calling these presents “New Year Gifts” instead of “Christmas Gifts”.   Think about it. Why do we celebrate Jesus’ birthday by giving and receiving gifts?  How would you feel if, on your birthday, people gave gifts to each other, but no one gave a gift to you?

I cut out a Christmas tree shape (the kids love triangles, so it seemed fitting to do a Christmas tree craft).  I asked them, “What would you like to put on your tree?”

“How ’bout a cross, Mommy? Like my necklace cross,” Merikalyn replied.
With a little bit of help, we cut out cross shapes.
“What else?” I questioned.
“Stars!” Nolyn exclaimed.
“Hearts!” Merikalyn cheered.

I allowed Merikalyn to use the scissors today, the first time in a long time since last year (around this time of year) she snipped off her bangs and which forced me to trim it all off into a pixie-style ‘do.  I’m proud to say she did a good job, although she enjoyed it so much she covered the table in confetti!

Afterwards, Nolyn found a workbook about shapes I bought about a year (or more).  I noticed Merikalyn had worked on some of the pages and found it interesting and awesome that they’ve chosen to do these things on their own, without prompting.  They’re eager to learn, and they don’t even know it!

The two of them are very interested in shapes and colors.  The weather was extremely mild today (no sweaters needed, which is crazy for the Christmas season), so we headed outdoors for a walk.  They pointed out the colors of cars, houses, and flowers along with various shapes (tires, doors, etc) as we strolled. 

I am often reminded that these days will fly by so I need to enjoy every moment and relish every opportunity!