Advent Days 12 - 15

I forget how short Little Man's attention span can be! Of course, with two kids to manage, my attention span is short too.... Oh well, whatever works, right?

I thought I would get a jump start on last weeks activities since they would involve some drying time with the paints and while I"m glad I did that, I've got a back log of activities to post. Some still aren't dry and I haven't started on this weeks activities yet. Though I figure this is some of that "extra" stuff to keep busy through the holidays when I'm not swamped with shopping, wrapping, baking, parties, school programs and all the normal daily stuff so I forgive myself for not posting daily. Do you forgive me too? :)

Day 12: Census
Little Man enjoyed learning about the Census; we went around the house taking a census of kinds of things after craft time. He counted up to 20 which is a first for him. Making the craft was fun for both kids because I poured some flour & egg dye in a plastic baggie for Missy to play with in her high chair. She enjoyed smashing and mushing it all together too. I used two little pebbles I had instead of marbles and used a permanent marker to draw faces on them.

Day 13: Bethlehem
This was an easy project but Little Man gobbed the paint on so it took overnight to dry. He enjoyed getting use a permanent marker to make the windows. I'm thrilled because I finally found the twine I knew I had bought for this month and get to use it to hang the ornaments instead of the pipe cleaners I had been using.

Day 14: Stable
While Little Man enjoyed picking up sticks in the front yard, he was dismayed he would have to choose two to break. After that tantrum ended, he ended up picking two he felt were too long and breaking parts of them off to make the stable. He loved cutting the craft sticks with Mommy's scissors as consolation. So much so that we made a two-story barn for Jesus to move into when he gets bigger!

Day 15: Manger
This is the event that probably took the longest. It was the first time I've made or baked salt dough. There was a bit of a learning curve associated with it {that reminds me, I need salt the next time I'm at the store...}. There was enough dough left for us to make a few other things too. Missy didn't like getting her hand jammed into the dough so I could make some handprint ornaments for the grandparents but oh well! Little Man painted the manger all green "because it's my FAVORITE color!" {news to me!}

If you would like to follow along (or to just check out the book for your family) click the link below (or to the right) to visit Amanda's website where you can download a copy for yourself.

Merry Christmas!

 Truth in the Tinsel.