Parties and Projects

Last week was the Week of Parties! I think we had 5 parties all in one week! It was a very busy week, along with the usual "life stuff" and some special projects that we were working on. I think those who look back may call this "Craft Christmas" because I've actually made a lot of things for presents- pulled the ol' sewing machine out of the basement and managed to produce some things that are (I think) far from the "gnarled messes" that my first attempts at new projects typically resemble.

One of the more successful of the Christmas Projects for this year was the Christmas Cookie Forest. With some help from great friends, we made hundreds of star cookies on Saturday morning- then with a careful mix of balance and frosting, managed to stick them together to form these really cute Christmas trees!! We took some to a party and brought others around to share Christmas cheer. But I'm glad Brad took a picture because they turned out even cuter than I'd expected! A bit labor-intensive... but I think this may become a tradition over the years because it's so much fun! :)Saturday, we had a party at Heather, Rich, and Rachel's house to celebrate Christmas with our Friday playgroup. It hardly seems possible that we can have been playing together every week for almost 18 months now!! On the one hand, it feels like we've been friends a long time- and on the other, I just look at the kids and wonder what happened to the babies we used to sit around and cuddle together?!
Everybody had a great time. :)
We managed to get a halfway decent group Christmas photo.
We were experimenting with a new mode on our camera (since the flash seems to wash everything out, but unless the light is really bright, pictures seem to turn out blurry any other way), so this picture is blurry, but I love it because it shows just how our kids play "together" at this age. Everyone's trying to get some of what someone else has and there are occasional teaching moments where we have a lesson in politeness... but they do seem to have a good time together, and goodness knows, we mamas do too! I'm so thankful for these girls! They've brought so much fun into my life and I'm blessed to have them as friends. In so many ways, I was really quite lonely before Carolyn came, working full-time, odd hours much of the time, and new to the area, but she brought with her so many opportunities to get to know other moms and my heart is full this Christmas with love and friendship and belonging. We are blessed and we know the One to whom thanks is truly due. :)