Christmas Crafts (cont.) 2010

I have already shown you our glass reindeer thumbprint ornaments, and our gingerbread village. We have also done 2 other crafts this month.

First, we did a handprint craft. It looks like a peppermint candy when finished. I glued magnets to the back, so they are able to be put on the fridge, and they have a cute poem about a child's hand. Here are some pictures of our fun- the girls painted the red stripes for me :).

This picture of Kaelin cracks me up - brief story: she was painting her stripes and had paint all over her hands. She decided she wanted to kiss me - she did. Kaelin has this adorable habit of rubbing her kisses in. Before I could stop her, she rubbed in her kiss, thus getting paint ALL over her face :).

Second, we did apple cinnamon ornaments. These are wonderful, we have done them for the past 2 years. You use 1 cup of cinnamon, 1 cup of applesauce and 1 Tablespoon of elmer's glue. I also added a bit of red glitter for fun. This mixture creates a dough that needs rolled on on a cinnamon sprinkled counter. We used Christmas cookie cutters for shapes (normal and mini), and a straw to cut a hole in the top of each. They took a few days to dry out on wire racks, and then were ready to be strung with string and a tag (Merry Christmas! Love, The Magee's). If you put them on a lighted Christmas tree, the lights warm it up enough to make the room smell good, or you can hang it on a lamp, in your car or closet near a heat vent. The girls LOVE to use cookie cutters - for cookies, crafts or to make our sandwiches fun.

Krayak's and Santa

Last night Jecca and I took the girls to Kraynak's (a local nursery/homegoods/toy shop meets with a discount store atmosphere - best description I can come up with). They decorate a whole 'lane' with at least 12 different themed displays - Snoopy, Polar Bears, Elmo, Mickey - etc. Hailey was so excited - Look at that Mommy, Look at that! She was pointing and running to everything - it was so cute! Kaelin really liked seeing Abby Cadabby (Sesame Street)!

BTW - Hailey was so distracted we couldn't get a good picture - she wouldn't hold still!

As soon as we walked through the displays we got to see SANTA! (He handed out Smarties not Candy Canes! So weird, but the girls liked them!). Shockingly, Hailey broke out in a full run and launched herself into Santa's lap! She has changed SO much in the last 6 months. No longer the shy, quiet Hailey, but a crazy, outgoing, maniac :). Kaelin climbed up beside her and they spent the next few minutes eating smarties, taking pictures and conversing with Santa (apparently Hailey says he's gonna bring her a new doll).

Both girls had a great time! Every time Hailey sees the pictures she yells - That's me with Santa! HO HO HO! :) We may have to make another visit to Santa this year, since she enjoyed it so much!

Gingerbread Houses

Today we created our Gingerbread Houses. I got a different kit this year, with 5 mini houses instead of 1 big house.

The girls cracked me up. Kaelin was very methodical - creating 'flowers' for her garden and trees. Hailey on the other hand COVERED her houses! Surprisingly they didn't try to eat the candy, much.

Our Village

The back of K's houses:

The front of K's houses:

Hailey's Houses:

Christmas Pictures 2010

Yesterday Jecca came over to take Christmas pictures. Here are a 'few' of my favorites! The girls did great! Of course these are not edited for light or photoshopped, or cropped at all yet.

Kaelin:

She loves to pose :)

Hailey:

Blowing me a kiss.

Sisters:




A GOOD FAMILY PICTURE!!! (Jecca is going to crop out Bandit - he couldn't decided if we wanted to be in the picture or not).

2010 Christmas Craft #1

Today the girls and I did our first Christmas Craft for the season (that being said, hopefully we will get to others in the next month :) ).

We made Thumbprint Reindeer Ornaments. This was created based on several ideas online and through a little creativeness. They were VERY inexpensive to make - and easy to reproduce. The girls LOVED putting their thumbs in paint! We made a total of 24 and they didn't get bored (this is a first!) Of course all they did were the thumbprints - I did the detail. Kaelin did help me to glue on the pipe cleaners.

We took clear glass ornaments and the girls put 2 thumbprints on each side (one side for H and one side for K).

Then I took some heavy duty glue to glue on Antlers and a tail. I used a black paint pen for feet, eye and nose, and to write which child created it below the reindeer (though you cannot see the name well in the picture). I also used a red paint pen for a nose and to write 2010 on the ball.

I tied a piece of ribbon on the ball for a 'hook'.

FYI MOMS - Here is what we used:

Clear Glass Ornaments (These were at a craft store for $3.99 for 12)

Brown Acrylic Paint ($.99)

Black/Red Paint Pens ($1.99 each - planning to use again)

Brown Pipe Cleaner ($.79)

Glue (make sure it will work on glass)

Ribbon

I also made little tags for the ones we are giving away that say: Merry Christmas!!!

With Love,

Kaelin & Hailey Magee

Decorating our tree

I came home after work Saturday evening and set up our Christmas tree. It took a while to fluff all the branches, move things around etc. I promised the girls we would set it up the following morning. Of course, AS SOON as we rolled out of bed, they wanted to decorate the tree! They love to have the tree, banister garland, mini tree etc. all plugged in and lit up!

Take a close look at the above/below pictures. ALL of the ornaments are on the bottom foot of the tree :). They did such a cute and good job.

After Justin and I redistributed.

Kaelin's bedtime prayer 11-29-10

Dear Jesus,

I hope Grandma Donna feels better. I hope she feels better today or tomorrow. I hope Papa Bob is taking good care of her. And I hope we can go on a plane and visit her soon, and pick up Uncle Ray. I hope he says goodbye to all of his people.
Amen.

So cute! Explanation: My mom isn't feeling well so she wanted to pray she would get better. Also, my brother is moving his stuff in the weekend of December 19th, then making a trip home for Christmas, before he officially moves here January 10th. Kaelin is a little :) excited- as we all are!!