Author: jennifer

A Year of Habits, no. 50

Helpfulness of Habit



It’s Sunday night.  The Christmas tree is leaning sideways again, undecorated from the three foot mark down.  I’ve given up putting the ornaments back on the tree; there’s a collection box out for packing them up.  The children are busy  and noisy as ever but they keep us laughing as well.  School is out for the holidays, the snowboards are lined up in the garage, curious children sneaking into the studio where boxes hold Christmas surprises which need to be wrapped but also need a full-time guard to protect them from my youngest.  A quick walk around the house at all the clutter makes me wonder why I’ve been so worried about what will or won’t be under the tree.

My sister and her husband stopped by tonight for a while and we loved talking to them while the children ran in circles around us, yelling and wrestling and even putting together an impromptu 3 minute play which was actually quite hilarious.  Kristen can attest that there’s not a single square inch of workspace in my studio that isn’t covered with something related to the holiday to-do’s that still haunt my list.  How will I wrap them all up and get that room ready for out of town guests in the next few days?  I have no idea.  Yet like everything else I’m sure we’ll get there and it will all work out.  Life’s like that, you know.  It all works out.  Still, I will admit to wishing it could work out like I picture it more often.

I keep thinking I’ll reach this point where most things are crossed off my list and it’s time to relax and enjoy, but instead I’m getting just enough done to get through whatever is ahead for today and that’s all.  It’s helping me realize that I need to relax and enjoy the moments when they briefly settle on me in the midst of stress like a butterfly pausing in its flight.  We had such a moment on Friday night when we took the whole family to see a new musical, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, based on the classic children’s Christmas book.  I’m so glad I bought the tickets a few months ago!  We were entertained and our hearts were touched.  I hope that exposing our children to these messages helps reinforce what we’re trying to teach.

I’ll be honest.  I can only think of one habit which I’ve really improved this week.  It would be my response to stress.  I am getting better at handling stress.

Most everything else is a mess of some sort.  I got to be of service today which felt good.  I managed to remember a birthday this week, which is a miracle.  I spent some really special one-on-one time with my seven year old daughter this weekend who is such a gem of a girl.  She makes me smile.  Our oldest four children performed in their piano recital Wednesday night and did a fantastic job.  I love seeing their improvement throughout the year and feel proud of them for working hard.  And on Thursday night when my husband and I were at an Indian restaurant I tasted the most heavenly drink:  a rose water lassi!  A lassi is a yogurt drink and I jumped at the chance to taste rose water for the first time.  I loved it.  I’ve found a recipe and hope to try making them soon.  YUM!

And with that I’ll close for the night.  Oh,what a week I have ahead!  Let’s hope I can be productive (translation:  let’s hope the two year old will be happy playing the the other children and not only in my arms)!

Have a wonderful week!

Jennifer

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Teacher Gifts for Christmas

crafts & activities, Pretty Packages



Yesterday’s peek at my flower embellished paper clips and the chalkboard painted tags came together last night to make these little Christmas teacher gifts.


It’s really a simple gift so I needed to do something to make the presentation great.  I cut this shape using my Epic six machine (that has sat in its box forever) to make large tags.  I played with it to arrange the gifts on the paper.  For the paper clips I cut two small slits with a razor blade and inserted them.


I sanded the edges of the chalkboard tags and added a ribbon to each.  I then sewed a piece of elastic to the paper to hold two tags in place.  Then I stapled a piece of ribbon to the tag to tie a piece of white chalk on.

Super simple, but I feel like I put it together in a really cute way.  I hope our Elementary school teachers like them, or at least find them useful.


Lastly I stamped a little Christmas greeting on a decorative tag and slipped it inside the elastic.  I wrote the name of my child at the very bottom.


The entire gift fit perfectly in a 5×7 inch envelope.  Simple but cute.  My son’s kindergarten teacher raved about it when I picked him up this morning.  I was thinking this would also be a cute end-of-year gift for teachers.  All you would need to do is change the color of the paper tag it’s placed on.  I added up my costs and these gifts came in under $2 each.  I already had the chalkboard paint on hand.


So they’re done and delivered.  Hooray!

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Today

Christmas, Musings on Life and Beauty

Today I am feeling absolutely frantic.  Frantic and yet more confident than I was a few days ago.  It’s really strange to have these two opposing feelings gripping my heart (and throat).

I feel more confident because I’ve accomplished just enough to think I might pull it all off, and far enough behind to feel terrified that I won’t.

I’m trying very hard to focus on what’s in front of me, to breathe, and not to worry about what’s three or four items down the list.

My desk is currently covered with three different projects.  Not the best strategy, but somehow I have to get them all done simultaneously, so there they are.

There are, however, a few highlights:

This week I learned how to do hair in bows, meaning to put a girl’s hair up in the shape of a bow.  Every one of my daughters has had something like this in their hair this week:


The above picture was at the end of the day when the left side had started to come out just a bit.  Below is a mini version in piggy tails.  So cute!  And I’ll even admit to doing my own hair like this in a half ponytail.  It’s so much fun to learn something new.


Today I had an hour’s notice that my daughter needed to be at an activity this afternoon with a dozen cookies to take caroling.  I decided to make a batch of E-Doodles to test the recipe and because I’ve been craving them.  They turned out great, and made enough for me to bundle up a few to give to a friend whose birthday is today.


I figure it’s better to be remembered with something small and simple than not at all.  It’s the best I can do today.  It also reminds me that I’d better get to work on the birthday we’re celebrating at our house on Tuesday!


My Christmas cards are almost done.  Relief.   BUT they still need me to put letters inside them (which I have yet to write and copy) and the envelopes all need addresses on them.  Stress.  I have a package I still need to put together and mail.  And a long drive to pick some things up.  And I’m supposed to be at the school to help with a Christmas party tomorrow.   More stress.

Look what I made last night!


They’re so cute I can hardly stand it.  I’m using them as part of some Christmas gifts that have to be put together by tonight.  I’m also doing something with chalkboard paint:


More on all that tomorrow.  I might be up all night long tonight but I have to get it done.

Tonight my husband and I are going to a holiday dinner for a company he does contract work for.  I don’t have time to go but am really excited to enjoy an evening with him.  I hope we can both calm down and relax for a couple of hours.  And I hope my children are kind to each other while we’re gone.

And that’s where my day stands.  I’m off to the craft store to buy a new glue gun because my daughter borrowed mine for a project at school…. and didn’t bring it home.  It’s now nowhere to be found.  I’m sure she’ll be disappointed when her allowance reflects the purchase price of a new one but we have to learn these things somehow, right?

I hope your day is going well!

Jennifer

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