Our children wanted to make some homemade Christmas gifts for each other. Not all of our gifts will be homemade this year, but I think it's a good start by having the kids make things for each other. I'll also hand make something for each child.
The kids realized that it can be tricky to work on their projects with everyone else always around. So, they even built a hidden workshop.
They think it's really cool when they get to bring in a flashlight, turn it on, and work alone in their little cave shop. Sometimes a couple of kids hide away in the fort working on their projects. It's amazing how quiet they are when they are working so diligently!
Here are some of our works in progress...
Chimpy is having a fitting.
Here's another requested item that Kathleen is knitting.
Mary Kate thought up this one by herself. You can see the edge of her project on the right side, but we wouldn't want to give it away before Christmas, right?
Mikey is working on something with cardboard, but I haven't been allowed to see any of it yet.
Same for Jimmer on the secretiveness, but I know he's making something with felt.
Here are a couple of other projects going on around the house.
Children are naturally creative. I just learned to knit last year when Kathleen checked out a knitting book from the library. Now the girls are learning embroidery stitches, something I haven't touched since childhood. So, these homemade gifts are a way for all of us to use our gifts...to give!
May you all give or receive something handmade for Christmas this year!
I love it that our kids believe GAP stands for God Answers Prayers. (They saw this explanation written on a friend's baseball cap.)
The legs fell off this little guy before he got to the plate!
Something just doesn't seem right. 
(Yeah, that's a hot chocolate stand right in the middle of a cul de sac.)
They think it's really cool when they get to bring in a flashlight, turn it on, and work alone in their little cave shop. Sometimes a couple of kids hide away in the fort working on their projects. It's amazing how quiet they are when they are working so diligently!
At Home Science awarded this to me. I thought it was quite sweet since SHE is the one I get a lot of great ideas and resources from for homeschooling science. Most recently, her advice on microscopes and even pocket microscopes has been much appreciated! I have also enjoyed checking out the books on her sidebar. Her widget is in my sidebar. Thank you, Kris!
No, this isn't our festively lit and decorated house. It's our neighbor's. See that boxey building (with no lights or decorations) to the left of this home? That's our home. We didn't want to make our neighbors look bad and go Griswold on them--you know, with an overabundance of lights. Like I've been trying to reinforce in our household for many years, we're all about simplicity! That's easier said than done in a state like Texas...especially when you have neighbors like this.
Our neighbor builds this train platform anew every year. It displays two of his train sets.
See the other train tracks on top of all their landscaping brickwork? 
There's no train there this year. They only have four trains running right now. 
It reads:
It reads:
It reads:
All made with a paper hole punch.
Carefully strung with thread and needle.
A festive garland.
While Mary Kate led the group, Jimmer did an excellent job singing. 
This is really what they were looking forward to after a job well done.
The snacks and treats! (We brought pumpkin cheesecake brownies.)
He'll celebrate his 1st birthday next month!
