"Crafting," finally.

I had the opportunity to host my friend, Elaina's, baby shower today. I am posting pictures so that you can see a little bit of what our German Christmas looks like in our house and the darn fun owls I got to make.

I told her I couldn't bring myself to take down the Christmas decor for her shower so she got a corner....that was it. :) It's her third baby so she has had the big to-do baby shower twice already. This was just an "open house".
(Below, you will see Elaina holding a print at an angle. My neighbor, friend, and member of our ward, Megan Rieker, painted that picture of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. She gives prints as baby presents. She is AMAZING and I'm hoping that I can somehow scheme one from her for this baby. :) Wish me luck!)

These little paper owls were so much fun to make! They turned out really cute too. The best part about it though, was not the finished product. The best part was "crafting" (as Gage would say), with my kids. The moment I brought out paper, cutters, and glue, Gage was at my side. He said, "What?!? You are crafting? Finally, we get to craft again!" He was sooooo very excited and reminded me how I used to do crafts with the kids all the time.
At first, when Gage would ask to use a cutter or some paper or something like that, I would kind of direct him away so that I could get it all done undisturbed. How grateful I am that he didn't give up on me. The next thing I knew, he took matters into his own hands. He went to his room and brought out his own stockpile of paper he received for Christmas last year. He would only use the cutters I wasn't using and found his own glue stick. He then, sat on the floor next to me, with the girls and they all made their own little owls. It really was wonderful and I hate that I didn't want to take the time to set them up with a craft in the first place. But thankfully, they persevered.

(Another really fun thing for me, was drawing that cute owl on the window pane with dry erase crayons! It makes me want to decorate with owls somewhere. It was so very fun to create!)

The funny thing is, I don't think I have really "crafted" with them for 3 years. When Jake started his residency, he was so busy that the kids and I teamed up together to keep the house in contact. So most days were spent cleaning, mowing, organizing, painting, raking, planting, and other necessary household roles. I don't see this as a downer though. Jake did what he needed to do and he did his best at it. That's all we could ask of him and are so very grateful that he is dedicated. And, in all reality, I LOVED owning our house and making it into whatever we wanted it to be. The kids played a BIG part in that. We learned how to have fun cleaning and the importance of work and taking pride in what you do. They learned how to support their Dad in his job and were grateful for all he provided them with.

Even better, I came home from a birthday dinner with friends and Jake was on the floor with the kids, making owls. He was so excited to show me the one he and Molli made. I couldn't help but laugh. The kids made great replicas of my owls, but Jake's looked just like a puppy! A darn cute one to boot too!! He was dismayed at my reaction but I just can't help laughing at it. I'm glad the kids were there to show him how to make them though.

So, here's to crafting again...and have "dad" home!