Journal: I'm still here

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny, but maybe more rain?  We have had so.much.rain. the last month.  So much.  We are definitely on the cusp of that transition between Spring and Summer.  We are starting to have more summery days than springy ones it seems.  How did that happen?

Around the house: The kids!!  They had their last day of school on Thursday so THEY are around the house now.  It's good.  It's different.  It's not that I mind having them around, because I don't, but school brings so much good structure to our days, that the prospect of summer honestly had me a little terrified this year.  But it's all good.  It will take some adjusting, but we have a decent amount of activities in June and it seems like we all do better when we have something structured to do.  I will report back...

A part of my desk broke off (thanks, I think, to a certain three-year-old who wriggled his toes on it to boost himself up one too many times), so in order to fix it (in order for Aaron to fix it, I should clarify) I had to empty out my file drawers so it could be tipped on its side, which spurred me to go through my files (I think our burn/shred pile about tripled) and I got us down from three drawers to two...one of those drawers is household-type paperwork, the other is educational/letter-of-the-week stuff for the kids which continues to dwindle as they get older.

I spent the first day of summer break altering Gemma's uniform jumpers and getting a few other things in order for next school year.  I know, I know.....

 

The kiddos:

GEMMA seems to have hit a rough spot lately.  I don't know if it is the transition from school to summer (she really liked her teacher and I know she's going to miss her) or what but she has been not-so-pleasant to be around at times and it is so hard to know how to help her and communicate with her.  Sometimes I feel like I have just completely failed at parenting (that sounded way more melodramatic than it was intended to).  We'll work through it though, so enough of that.  She is devouring chapter books like no-one's business (she is currently on a Beverly Cleary kick, I have NO idea where we'll go next) and her cursive writing is beautiful.  She is obsessed with doing two-minute-math drill worksheets by herself and with Kolbe.  She will have a bit of a hiatus from her piano lessons this summer and as much as I'd like to teach her I just don't know that it's going to work out (without ruining our relationship).  Sigh.  Her playing has come a long way in the few short months she's taken lessons and if we don't continue with lessons this summer I think she will at least continue playing.  She is signed up for a tumbling class at the Y in July, plus art camp, VBS and swim lessons with her brother(s).

KOLBE had his first baseball practice this past week.  He was so stoked he could hardly eat or sleep the 24 hours leading up to it!  I think it lived up to his expectations.  We have a bit of time off for the holiday weekend and then we will be back at it with one game and one practice a week for 8 weeks.  I hope he has fun!  He and daddy enjoy watching the Royals together.  Kolbe learned to tie his shoes the week before school was out so he earned his shoe-bead (which is a big deal in kindergarten) RIGHT under the wire!!

CLEMENT has had his world rocked with the advent of summer and both older kids being home all day.  He'll adjust.  His favorite things to do lately are color pictures of his choosing that I print from the computer (this can get exhausting, I don't have a wireless printer, and he can be kind of -shall we say- choosy at times) and watch/help me cook.  I am amazed at how much more patience I have with him while I'm cooking than I did with the others.  I think it's because I don't have anyone littler at my feet begging to get up and help too.  He loves smelling all the spices, whisking eggs, and asking a million questions about how things work and what particular ingredients are for.  It's fun.

In the kitchen: It's Aaron's birthday weekend and he has been champing at the bit to work on his piece-de-resistance - a whole brisket on the smoker.  So today is all about hanging around the house, yard work, lawn chairs, cold beers and babysitting the smoker.  As long as the kids can remain relatively sane, it will be a good day.  I made a cheesecake yesterday so that is on the menu for dessert.  YUM!  Planning on a broccoli and rice casserole and some corn on the cob to go with the brisket.  Later this week we'll have salads, sweet-and-salty chicken thighs with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, and hopefully some good leftovers!  Some sort of fish on Friday.

Learning:  I made some "learning loops" for the kids this summer, with the motivation of screen time earned after completing the allotted amount of tasks from their checklists (which include independent reading, various writing activities including regular journaling, and math facts).  It's too early to make a judgment on how this is all going to work out long term, but so far they are more motivated than I've ever seen them about working on school work during summer.  I found this website and it is so great for generating customized math worksheets. 

Reading: I have started Seeking Spiritual Direction and I think I'm also going to read He Leadeth me at the recommendation from a good friend (whom I've never met, funny story) so we can discuss it together.  Not in person.  Because we've never met.  The kids and I are on book 2 of the Mouse and the Motorcycle series, and we're also reading a book about St. Damien of Molokai.

Watching: MLB and River Monsters.

Bringing me joy: faith, family, community, good books, coffee, "morning dates" with Aaron (and a cup of coffee) before the kids are up, pretty weather, thunder, organizing things, prayer...God is good.

Thinking about: So much has happened in my life the past month (hence no blogging)...I have accepted a part-time teaching position (music!) at the kids' school this coming school year. I am amazed at the way this all fell into place, and while I'm a bit terrified of the big changes ahead (change is hard!) I know that God will continue to see us through this new stage in our lives if we continue to place our trust in Him and pray that we may always do His will.  I will be job-sharing with a good friend with whom I've worked on other musical escapades in the past so I know we'll have good times.  I will have both kids in class (this is both exciting and terrifying as well)!  Clem will be attending preschool (more excitement and terror).  I am trying to find some college courses in which to enroll and get my license current again (I'll NEVER go back to school, I'll NEVER teach again, boy am I getting full from eating my words with a side of humble pie).  I have a lot on my mind.  But it's all good (as Pete the Cat would say).

Pictures to share:  

Aaron found some baby bunnies while he was mowing at the neighbors'.

As I go through my pictures, finding animals seems to be a theme around here of late (the kids currently have a red-eared slider in a bucket and just watched a soft-shell turtle lay eggs in the rocks at our park).  We enjoy our little slice of nature here in suburubia.

7 Quick Takes: pumpkin seeds, apple slicers, wait...SEVEN?!!

1. Learning loops.
   
   I've been thinking a lot about our summer schedule, as there are only FIVE WEEKS left in the school year!!!  We have some nice activities to keep us out of trouble busy during June (a few camps, swim lessons, baseball for Kolbe, and Gemma will continue with piano lessons).  Things will pretty much come to a grinding halt around the Fourth of July though...  I am trying to not be terrified by this prospect.  I have always tried to do some learning activities at home with the kids during summer, and it's always either been met with pretty huge resistance or we just get busy with other things on the days/times I scheduled educational stuff and any "structured" learning simply gets left out.  I don't have much higher hopes for this year, but I do have an idea.  Learning loops.  I've broken down some activities I'd like to see the kids do regularly (math facts, independent reading, journaling, letter writing, handwriting practice, etc.) into three categories..."Reading", "Writing", and "Math".  I know.  So creative, right?  It's really a wonder no one has thought of that grouping before.....   Anyways, there is also a fourth category, "30 minutes of free computer time".  I'm typically not much for bribes and rewards (except for when I turn into the dragon version of myself) but the system will go like this... You complete the prescribed amount of work from each category (we will aim for one category per day and I am sure there will be days we don't get to anything) and then you get to do the magical fourth category.  Motivation.  It's motivation. Because it has become apparent that the lure of the glowing screen on my laptop is pretty darn strong, and if I schedule math on Monday and writing on Wednesday and computer on Tuesday and Friday, I can GUARANTEE you they will make time and remind me 400,387 times that it is a computer day, but somehow it doesn't work the same for the math and writing days.  Go figure..  I will report back.
2. Pumpkin seeds.
   
   The kids saved seeds from their jack-o-lanterns this past fall and we finally got around to planting them in some pots this morning.  They have illusions of a pumpkin patch in our yard, which is an odd thought considering the fact that Aaron has put his foot down and said no pumpkins in the yard.  Numerous times.  And I reminded them of that this morning and somehow it didn't phase their plans.  So we'll see where this project takes us.  
3. Birthday.
   
   Oh 36, am I really approaching my late 30s?  What the....????  How did that even happen?  My kids were so good to me yesterday.  Clem even insisted on wearing his six-month-old Mater birthday hat (that he found littered on the ground somewhere last Fall and went on to claim as one of his most prized possessions) to Mass in my honor.  I was...amused.   So were the people around us. At least he didn't insist that I wear it.
   
4. Windows.
   
   I cleaned them again this morning.  The outsides anyways.  Because wouldn't you know like the WEEK after I did my spring window cleaning it rained juuuuuust enough to blow dirt all.over.them.  Like, enough dirt to obscure your view when looking out.  Ridiculous, ugly, dusty nastiness. I kept hoping subsequent rains would wash them off, but no dice. At least this time I only had to do the outsides.  And my ecloths make it pretty easy-peasy, I must say.  Also, speaking of Windows, I really wish my almost six year old laptop would quit asking me if I want to install Windows10.  Seriously, I think this poor old dinosaur would blow up if I tried that.  Hopefully one of the kids doesn't accidentally install it for me.
5. OH my word...it's been forever since I've done this.  SEVEN things?!?!?!!  Trust me, I can't remember the last time I've had seven things exciting enough to actually blog about.  And judging from the above, this post isn't any exception.
6. Bible.
   
   Psalm 25 has been my absolute fave lately.  I went through a phase where I read the 23rd Psalm almost daily (because, right? I am so creative and no one has ever thought to read Psalm 23 on a regular basis before) and one day my eyes wandered over to Psalm 25 and it is so beautiful, and now I find myself returning to it daily.  I particularly like verse 15...
   

   "My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
   for he will pluck my feet out of the net."

   What a beautiful image. Stop focusing on my failures, and obsessing over what I have or may have done wrong.  Keep my eyes on the Lord. Love others. Do His will. Always.  He'll take care of all that other stuff.
7. Apple slicer.
   
   I want an apple slicer so bad.  Something like this.  Apple slices are my go-to snack for the kids, and they especially like to eat them at bedtime.  When the thought of grabbing a paring knife and carving up yet another ~#&($&^$"#+% apple is enough to make me want to jab said knife through a wall.  OK.  Maybe I need therapy instead of an apple slicer.  But if a $10 kitchen gadget can buy me that much peace, maybe I should just buy myself one for my birthday because it's cheaper than therapy.  Seriously, when I am carving up the 47th apple of the day, the only thought going through my head (aside from a keen resentment for the fact that my kids are always wanting me to feed them...seriously, what is wrong with them?) is that  I just know that I could solve all my life's problems by owning an apple slicer.  If you own one and your life still has problems, just keep it to yourself, OK?

   

   the image I see in my nightmares...

   Peace out, friends!
   (Find more Quick Takes over at This Ain't the Lyceum!)
   

"Learning time"...what's been working

We've finally settled into a nice groove with our learning time since finishing our Letters of the Week back in May.  Since baby Clem has come, I've gotten really lazy loosened up a bit on the amount of TV time I let the kids have. Good, bad or otherwise, I let them watch an hour or more after we finish lunch.  They have recently started to really enjoy Max and Ruby (which I think is a bit over the top, but definitely nothing objectionable) and/or some DVD's from home or the library.  Kolbe is no longer napping (which I still can't believe, but oh it makes bedtime infinitely easier and earlier), and Gemma doesn't nap either, so this gives them a nice chance to rest a bit and kind of hit the reset button on the day.  After that we read stories that go along with our weekly theme (I've just been choosing a loose theme and then getting a stack of books from the library that goes along with it...IE: farm animals, bugs, colors, flowers, certain holidays or seasons, etc.).  Then we turn on the classical music (we're doing a different composer each month) and sit at the table and work on projects for around an hour or so.  For Kolbe this is either colors, markers or watercolors and a stack of paper or coloring sheets that go along with the weekly theme.  He also participates in the occasional craft.  For Gemma we are rotating each day between a handful of Kumon workbooks, some handwriting worksheets, faith formation as it ties to current saints and/or feasts, a craft that goes along with our weekly theme on Friday and Mass prep on Saturday.  She also enjoys coloring or painting on the coloring sheets I print each week.  Sunday is "quiet time" (IE entertain yourself quietly), and that is starting to work out OK although it was definitely a little rough at first.  ;-D  The kids can look at books, work on puzzles, have some "free art" time, or work on another quiet activity that doesn't require adult help.  Works better some weeks than others.  They're learning.  And that's what's been working for us!!  We'll see what the coming year holds...I can't believe a year from now we will be gearing up for Kindergarten, WOW!

Preschool 2012-2013

I've been thinking a lot about preschool for Gemma (who will be 5 in January) next school year.  I'm still planning on keeping her home, but I've learned to "never say never" when it comes to preschool.  I don't know, it just doesn't feel right for us now, but I'm not going to completely write it off for future children.  We'll just see what the years bring.  But for now, while we're home, I am excited about the opportunity to continue learning together.  This awesome post from Kansas Mom has been a great resource that I know I'll reference throughout the year, and my good friend Michelle always has a wealth of information and resources she is willing to share.  But without further ado, my "plans" include but certainly are not limited to:

READING:  Gemma is definitely showing signs of reading readiness.  I don't want to force the issue, but if she's willing and eager to work on it, I intend to start working our way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons at some point in the near future.

I am looking forward to some more "substantial" read-alouds as well, I think we'll start with:

• Mary Poppins and subsequent titles in the series. -or-
• Little House on the Prairie series, which I snagged in its entirety from Scholastic at some point while teaching.

We'll continue to read our Poetry at lunchtime most days.  I think I may need to break down and purchase The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry.  We've checked it out (and enjoyed its variety of poems and great colorful illustrations) numerous times.  I continue to stumble upon more and more great poetry books.

We'll continue keeping those book-baskets full with weekly trips to the library, and are currently enjoying the Summer Reading Program at our library.

MISC. PRESCHOOL SKILLS:

I hope to work through various Kumon Workbooks including:

• My book of Pasting: Jigsaw Puzzles
• My First Book of Mazes

I also have a growing handful of random workbooks, coloring books and flashcards that I've picked up here and there (Target, Joann's Michael's, etc.) that I intend to pull out for both kids over the course of the summer and school year.  ABC's, numbers, shapes, etc., the usual suspects.

I like so much of what I've learned from Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years, so Gemma and Kolbe will both continue with those activities.

We have acquired some really great learning toys that I'm always glad to see the children use, such as:

• Pattern blocks
• various puzzles from easy to difficult
• dominoes
• Stringing beads
• Lacing cards
• Counting bears
• AquaDoodle

I always have my eye on the activities our library has to offer.  It will be nice when Kolbe is 3 and he and Gemma are in the same age-group for their various offerings, I think we will participate in much more when that time comes.

HANDWRITING:  I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Handwriting Without Tears (teacher guide here) so I think I will take the plunge and make the purchase and we'll give this a try come Fall(ish).

My friend Michelle also shared this site with me, that has some great free printable pre-writing worksheets (among other things).

MUSIC APPRECIATION:  I have a nice, eclectic set of classical CD's (not to mention the library has just about everything) and I've recently started pulling these out regularly for listening during our afternoon/quiet time.  We started with Bach, and I think we will continue through Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc. with a new composer each month.

The library also has some great composer and instrument children's books we've been checking out to go along with our monthly composer.

ART, ART APPRECIATION and CRAFTS:

• I hope to continue taking Gemma (and Kolbe possibly when he turns three) to Art Class monthly at our local art museum.  It is a very neat program.
• We will also continue to do various seasonal/religious art and craft projects.  Some great resources I've found to work with:
• CRAFTS
• Crafts for Kids who are Learning about Weather
• Catholic ABC's preschool curriculum from Catholic Icing
• Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
• The Little Hands Art Book
• Sing! Play! Create!
• ART APPRECIATION
• A Child's book of Prayer in Art
• Museum ABC (and other books in this series)
• A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet
• Come Look with Me series 
• S is for Smithsonian

SCIENCE: 

• We enjoy immensely the small amount of nature our neighborhood has to offer, with lots of trees, a "lake", an open field and all the various wildlife that goes with all that (ducks, geese, snakes, frogs, fish, birds, worms, butterflies, etc.).  My husband is very "outdoorsy", and does a great job exposing the kids to all kinds of critters and nature, et al.
• Trips to the zoo are always a favorite.
• We may try some experiments and activities from: 
• Bubbles, Rainbows and Worms: Science Experiments for Preschool Children
• Science Play (which happens to be illustrated by a friend of mine!)
• Play and Find Out about Nature

RELIGION and FAITH FORMATION:

• I am very excited that Gemma and I will be participating in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program at a nearby parish starting in the Fall.
• We will continue celebrating the Church year and liturgical seasons in our home with various activities from numerous sources, including:
• The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions
• Catholic Cuisine
• Catholic Icing
• The Year and Our Children
• Advent, Christmas and Epiphany in the Domestic Church
• Lent and Easter in the Domestic Church 

• We'll continue praying a Decade of the Rosary each time we go somewhere in the car (soon to be van) with our Holy Heroes Rosary CD's.  I'd also like to check out some of the other offerings from Holy Heroes, they appear to have so much great stuff.
• We enjoy some of the weekly Gospel activities (namely the coloring sheet and info sheet to go along with it) from CatholicMom.
• I am always pleased with anything we read from one of the numerous St. Joseph Picture Books we own.  We use these often during our Morning Prayers.
• Our liturgical-themed centerpieces have been a really nice addition to the kitchen table.  Besides giving my non-decorative brain some concrete ideas with which to work, they are a great "focus point" for morning prayers.  I try to incorporate our candle and other items with the current liturgical color, a statue or crucifix, and a prayer card with the Saint of the Day/monthly theme, etc.
• Several times a month we go to the assisted-living close to our house to visit our dear friend Bertie who we met through the new "visiting ministry" at our parish.  This has been a great opportunity for the kids (and me) to learn and practice the Corporal Works of Mercy.
• Along with the above idea, we have a sponsor-child through CFCA with whom we communicate by letter and pray for daily as a family.

MATH:

I recently checked out Math Play! from the library, and thumbing through it gave me some really great ideas for Math activities for both kids.  Easy stuff, using common items around the home.  Things like:

• taping numbers inside a muffin tin and having child sort various items
• counting and sorting socks
• sorting measuring cups or spoons smallest to largest, experimenting with how much water each will hold
• use play-dough or clay rolled out into "snakes" to form numbers or shapes
• and many, many more...I "jotted" down ideas in a Word.doc as I was going through the book, and now have a nice list of probably 20-30 fast and easy to execute Math activities to do around the house

I'm excited about making some of these activities available with very little work on my part.  If you're looking for Math ideas for kids ages 2-6, this books is well worth checking out.  Along with that, I also plan to take a look at:

• Number Sense and Nonsense
• Play and Find Out about Math
  

Busy bags

Recently a group of friends from my Catholic Motherhood group did a Busy Bag swap.  It was very exciting!  A busy bag is a ziploc bag containing an activity that would give your child something to keep them busy, either with you or without you.  Counting, sorting, shapes, alphabet activities, etc.  You can click HERE for more information on Busy Bags and to see a list of some links to various activities.  Obviously you could make all these activities on your own; but if you do a swap, instead of having to make 15 (in our case) different things (and buy all the various supplies), you make 15 of one thing and come home with 15 different things!!

I made the Spooning Beads activity to share.

We haven't made it all the way through our busy box yet, but the activities Gemma has done she has really enjoyed.  Here she is sorting some buttons.

And working with the felt number tiles and bug counting cards.

Kolbe likes playing with buttons as well!

 WE ALL LIKE OUR BUSY BAGS!!!!!!!

Small successes XLI

1.  Despite the oppressive heat, some of my summer annuals are doing very well...particularly the lantana and moss rose.  AND IT RAINED LAST NIGHT!!!  2.5 inches!!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!!!

2. Finished some sewing projects for some new babies in the family!  Pictures to come!!!

3.  Did some planning for our "school year".  Gemma is 3.5 yrs and while we don't intend to send her to preschool, I would like to do some structured learning with her at home.  She's definitely ready.  I'm going to be using the Alphabet Path and this new book from Catholic Icing (SO EXCITED!!!) 

4.  Got a good deal on some school supplies (crayons, markers, water-colors, storage tubs, construction paper, glue, etc.) and got them all organized and stored in the cabinets in our laundry room.

5.  My husband (yes this is his success, not mine) spent time cleaning up some trash that blew in the neighborhood lake.  We're not able to participate in the HOA (besides paying our dues) or do many of the neighborhood activities and projects, so it was nice to be able to contribute in this way.  I did play outside with the kids while he worked though.  ;-D  

6.  The bathroom remodel is coming along.  It is taking way too long, but I'm trying to be patient and the end product will be so worth it.  The joy of the pink formica being gone makes the weeks that this has been going on and things have been torn up and/or out of order a bit more bearable.

7. Scored some cool books I'd been wanting to read on inter-library loan.  Yes I am lame and get excited about things like that.  Speaking of scoring good deals on books though, have you checked out Thriftbooks?  It is fast becoming my new favorite venue for ordering used (and like-new) books!  FREE SHIPPING all the time without a $25 minimum purchase!!!

Share successes each week over at Chocolate For Your Brain!!

Our weather chart

My mother-in-law gave me a puzzle she found somewhere that was warped and essentially useless as the pieces wouldn't fit together or stay in the board.  She thought I might be able to use it to make a weather chart for the kids.  I am very pleased with the results!!  I painted the back of the puzzle board blue with my acrylic paint, it took two coats.  I glued velcro to the back of each of the puzzle pieces and used scrap-booking sticker letters on the board.  Then I put an "opposite" velcro piece on the middle of the board.  Now we can talk about the weather each morning when we finish prayers.  I just need a "snow" one as the puzzle didn't have a snow piece.  But heaven knows I won't be needing that anytime soon, so I'm sure I'll figure something out by winter.

Feast of the Sacred Heart (and some cool Target finds)

I saw this neat idea for a children's activity for the Feast of the Sacred Heart over at Catholic Icing and adapted it onto paper for my children.  I think next year we will do t-shirts, I'm going to keep a lookout and see if I can find the supplies on sale/clearance.  I just thought it was a really cute idea, and anything involving children's hand-prints is just such a fun little keepsake to look back on.  We also learned the sign-language to the song "Jesus Loves Me" and sang it together several times.

Also, I had to run to Target this morning to grab some toothpaste and of course had to browse the dollar section as well. I hadn't browsed far when I stumbled upon a wealth of educational items.  I was SO excited!!!  I got all this (and a couple more items not shown) for right around $10.  YAY!!!  Go check it out!  

HAVE A HAPPY FOURTH, EVERYONE!!!!

We're still here!

We are still here!!! I have been very busy this week working on a bill that we're trying to pass in our state. I know, politics, who knew?! It's been a very interesting and rewarding process though as we clear the many hurtles needed to pass this bill into law (and we're still not there) but it has been consuming all my free time...and the time I have left I'd rather spend with my children than on the computer. So there you have it. I'll try for some more updates in the near future, but here are a few pictures to suffice for now.

Gemma has been very into numbers and counting lately. When she goes to the learning cabinet it seems the "number" items are always the ones she wants to work with. She has also been enjoying the memory/matching game she got for Christmas.

Kolbe is crawling all over and pulling up on things now. Watch out, big sis!!! He keeps us on our toes but he is quite cute.That's all for now! More soon, hopefully!

Star of wonder, star of night

As we approach the Feast of the Epiphany, I thought I'd share the Christmas gift that Gemma (and I) made for her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, etc. I wanted something simple, where she could do most of the work, but that would still be a nice "keepsake". I found a recipe for Christmas ornament playdough in this book that I used quite a bit during the Advent season. I will say (if you already own this book) that the recipe itself needed a bit of tweaking. Here's the recipe, with my "tweakings" in (italics):

"Perfect Playdough"
2 cups baking soda (yep, you read that right)
1 cup flour
1/2-1 cup of water (start with about 1/4 cup but be ready to add more)

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook gently over medium heat, stirring often until it is the consistency of moist mashed potatoes. Don't let it get too dry. (The original recipe only called for 1/4 cup of water. I just don't see how this would ever be enough. I just kept slowly adding more until it reached the consistency mentioned above and it all worked out fine.)

Put dough out onto a plate and allow to cool. Don't let the kids touch it at this point, even though it looks ready. It's very hot! Cover it with a damp cloth and allow to cool to handling temperature (this didn't take too long).

Turn out onto counter and knead until smooth (this wasn't a big deal at all, it was already a great consistency).

Roll out to approximately 1/4 inch thick and cut as desired. (We used a star cookie cutter and had enough dough for roughly 14 stars.) Remember to cut hanging holes now if you're making tree decorations (I used the top of a pencil that I pulled the eraser out of to cut the holes.)

Bake at 325-degrees F. Bake the shapes until they are firm or hard to the touch and just barely beginning to brown on the underside. The shapes should stay white. (I baked ours for about 15 minutes because I was paranoid of overdoing them. They probably could have gone a bit longer though, as I had to let them "cure" a few days before they were really hard).

COOL (COMPLETELY, I left ours all night) IN THE OVEN. This is important-slow cooling avoids cracking.

Decorate as desired, finishing with a coat of varnish, acrylic, nail polish or white glue mixed with a little water. The point is to waterproof it so that moisture in the air doesn't make it go soft in the future. (We used yellow and gold acrylic paint and then a layer of acrylic glitter/glow-in-the-dark paint after that was completely dry, and they sealed up just fine.)

Gemma had fun using the cookie cutter to cut the stars out, and did a great job with the painting, it was right up her alley and I was amazed she was able to paint the fronts completely on her own with literally no assistance. I painted the edges and backs once the fronts were dry and then she painted the fronts with some glitter/glow-in-the-dark paint once the first layer of yellow/gold was dry. I used one of those metallic sharpies to write "Love, Gemma 2010" on the back of each one and some pretty red and silver twine I found looped through the holes made a nice "hanger" for the tree.

Gemma picked out some pink (imagine) gift bags at Target and we went through the list of people and she chose an ornament for each one, wrapped it in tissue paper, and put it in the bag (which she had already stuck personalized gift tags on all by herself). I found this poem online about the Christmas star and we glued it to the front of each bag.

A diamond shines no brighter than that lovely Christmas star.
It shines in all its brilliance; it's seen from near or far.
A symbol of the Christ child as He lay upon the hay,
It tell to all the waiting world a King was born that day.

O Bethlehem Star keep shining - give us faith and hope and love.
Keep our thoughts forever turning to the Savior up above.
Give us strength and hope and courage to do our best by far
And never falter in our faith as we watch that Christmas star.

And that's it! As we were working I used the opportunity to talk about giving gifts to those we love in honor of Jesus' birthday, and about the wisemen and their gifts, etc. It was a really fun project and I hope to find something equally successful for next year. Here are a few pictures of her work. She was very proud.

She has started doing this very forced, cheesy smile whenever I take her picture.
After wrapping them
Christmas morning (we kept one star for our tree)

Merry Christmas and Happy Epiphany!!