salt dough ornaments

This has got to be one of my most favorite Christmases ever in terms of the kids' ages and ability to really engage in and enjoy the festivities.  I am just LOVING this stage - even my youngest little man is really "grown up" (relative, of course) and he is able to participate in so many things. 

(And by youngest I mean "youngest currently living outside the womb and in our home" - don't you worry, I have many a moment when I realize how complicated life will - HOPEFULLY! - get in the next twelve months with the addition of a newborn and adopted toddler.  I feel this little one twisting inside me and am just grateful that he/she is so very easy to take care of at this stage!  And I fall asleep every night wondering where our adopted addition is, and how much delight - and challenge - he'll be adding to our family this time next year!)

Anyways, to sum it up: It's pretty much the perfect year for making salt dough ornaments.  The girls can do almost everything on their own, with just a little supervision ("not too much flour honey, I think that's plenty") and Isaac is just along for the rolling pin fun. 

I guesstimate that this craft costs me less than one dollar per big batch of salt dough (ingredients: salt, flour, water).  And it's the craft that keeps on crafting - so humid here that I ended up baking my ornaments almost four hours before they are good and dry, which means its a minimum two day activity!  Double bonus. 

Isaac surprised me and was content to just use markers on the first two sets he decorated.  He's also only used his ornament as a weapon ever so briefly - as it turns out, if you put a nice long string on that thing it has a pretty good range when you get to swinging it good and fast!

The girls won't settle for anything less than paint and have pretty much mastered the art of nice thin layers of paint that dry quickly :)

We're planning to paint ornaments for Julianna's birthday party too!

Tonight we are joining the other foreign teachers (5 total) and some really tip-top administrators from Matt's school for a big formal dinner.  This is one of those events that could easily go either way - amazingly, refreshingly smooth for our little crew....... or one big fat disaster waiting to happen.  I've cried in frustration IN THE MIDDLE of this kind of event and, honestly, I'm tempted to say "let's just leave me and the kids out of this!" 

I once called my dear friend from one of these things and half-jokingly said "would it be rude if I gathered my kiddos and just walked out before we spilled another sauce or broke another dish or created another scene?" - the Lord gifted us some very mild-mannered easy-going children, but these events are a stretch for even the most mature of us adults, and when you tack on the added stress of "most watched family in the entire noisy crowded smoke-filled restaurant" you've got quick the mix!

So, with hesitant heart we'll head downtown here in a few hours (ugh of living in a big city - even though we are walking distance from Matt's school the restaurant for tonight's dinner is an hour-ish drive).  Wish us luck :)