Our Pinecone Reindeer! {Winter Crafts}

I came across this craft idea for Reindeer made out of pinecones and since we had a 

few nice pinecones laying around, 

we decided to make them this week during our holiday "break."

They were really fun and easy to make!!

Of course, our animal lover Em just HAD to hug, hold, kiss, 

talk to, play with and feed "him." 

 We will not be surprised at all if she one day becomes a Vet!

If you have any pinecones and a few minutes to spare, I 

highly recommend this cute craft!

 We also made some easy and quick coffee filter snowflakes.

 Elle (4 yrs old) has really improved in her cutting skills. I am still too chicken to let Em 

have a pair of scissors without being very, very closely supervised!

What other fun winter crafts are you all doing??

We are really enjoying being on holiday break and spending lots of 

time just allowing the girls to be creative and 

have some extra free-play time!!

I thought this was hilarious when I captured Em (28 mos)

playing "homeschool" with our new {to us} dollhouse. I cannot tell you
how excited I got to find the two-sided chalk board and little globe for under $1!!!
I am so glad to see the girls enjoy playing with them;-)

Well, I guess my hair is messy at times, but I sure

hope Em doesn't think that's how I really look:)

And, just because I feel like you may all be wondering "where is Ce Ce?", well,
here she is. Where she spends about 80% of her waking hours:)
Riding right there on my chest---that is why she is never in any of the pictures on our blog.
She is always involved though!

As always, we LOVE hearing from you!!

Please take a moment to leave a quick comment below.

Blessings,

CHRISTmas Break {Part 2!}

I can't believe how fast CHRISTmas came and went!! All of that planning and preparation, only for it to be over way too soon!!

 We certainly enjoyed our family time together and will be said when Daddy has to go 

back to work tomorrow, but glad that it is a short work week!

Here are a few of the activities we enjoyed this week!

We always enjoy driving around and looking at all of the CHRISTmas lights!

There is a neighborhood here that links up all of their lights to holiday songs that play on the 

radio and their lights flash to the music you play in your car!

The girls LOVE going to see these lights every year!!

 We studied snow a bit this week (yes, we had a white CHRISTmas here) 

and had fun reading about snowmen!

 Elle made up a card game last year called "sugarnuts." 

It is like war where the player with the highest card wins, but

when you both turn over the same card, you have to be the first to 

slap the cards and yell out "sugarnuts!!" It is totally fun and we have a ball playing it!

Our little snowmen:)

 Here are the girls on CHRISTmas morning with their 

new matching pj's (our family tradition).

 Daddy reading "God Gave us Christmas" to Elle and Em (Em was sitting on the potty;)

 And, our adorable Ce Ce (7 months old) thoroughly enjoyed 

her very first CHRISTmas!!!

 The girls had lots of fun jumping on Daddy:)

And, yes, he had to go to the chiropractor today, lol.

 It wouldn't be CHRISTmas without cooking!!

The girls and I made this seriously awesome 

Maple Roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and fresh thyme!

It was amazing!!

 Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake---really good!

 Overnight French Toast Souffle--oh, my this was good!

The girls had a ball making snowflake tortillas baked with 

a little bit of butter, cinnamon and sugar!

We also had a lot of fun putting together

our CHRISTmas tree breakfast rolls made with turkey sausage.

It was really good and fun to make, too:)

Well, now the task begins to work off all of the extra fat

and calories we took in over the past weekend!!

WARNING: If Mommy is a bit cranky, it's because I am 

de-toxing from all of the sugar and fat I have indulged in 

that I do not typically eat, lol. Please be gentle with 

me over the next few weeks:)

We LOVE our holiday decor and usually leave it up until New Year's. 

When do you all take down your holiday decorations and CHRISTmas tree??

Blessings,

What we are up to this week {CHRISTmas break crafts}!

Here is one of my favorite ornaments this year!

 
I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this first 

week of our official vacation from homeschooling!! I guess

I have never really quantified the deeply /mental and physical commitment it

is for us to homeschool. In addition to the actual teaching time, the preparation time 

is incredibly demanding and {attachment} parenting 

3 children under 5 is quite the challenge, to say the least!

 But, then the Lord brings to mind 

these (2 of my favorite) Bible verses!!

I am happy to report that our girls

keep asking us for "school work" each and every day! 

Em (28 mos) keeps asking me what the color/letter/shape of the week is

and since I told her we are on break, she is making up her own, LOL!!! It is so cute

to see her doing her own learning chart and making up her own lesson plans:)

So, I decided to just let the girls do a lot of free play, choosing their own activities and I would

 provide some simple CHRISTmas-y/winter crafts they could choose to do during the week. 

Here is a peek at some of the crafts we have done so far. I will add more
as we complete them.

Elle just could not bring herself to eat her 

banana snowman--she wanted to "save it for later."

 Painting and decorating small pinecone CHRISTmas trees.

 We made tree ornaments and snowy pinecone trees as well. 

We got the ideas here.

Because this week is CHRISTmas, we are focusing the girls
on how important it is to be thankful for everything we have and
give glory to GOD for our gifts (tangible and otherwise).

 Elle(4 yrs old) is still really enjoying working on her first grade math worksheets!
I love the delight in her eyes when she is working on what she loves:)

 Elle made a Nativity Scene out of our
homemade Play Dough!

 Elle's favorite ornaments this year.

 Our Nativity Scene

Toilet paper roll snowman.

We went out and collected icicles and brought them in to
explore. The girls watched them melt away and had fun playing with them.

 We decorated some CHRISTmas tree cutouts.

 We decorated some picture frames to give as
CHRISTmas gifts.

 Em (28 mos) working on her patterns.
I got the pattern sheet from Childcareland.com and
then simply laminated it.

 The girls both love playing with the Wedgits I got for $1.91!

 Em sorted some shapes by color.

 Yoga time!

The girls have been begging me to let them nap together (and have sleepovers)
for months! I finally gave in and let them try it.
Neither one of them fell asleep, but they had a lot of
fun telling "sister secrets" and laughing a whole lot:)

We hope you all are enjoying this Holiday season and

we wish you the Merriest of CHRISTmases!!

Blessings,
Aria