Crafty Monday. . .

I've been thinking about crafts lately. I remeber how much fun I had making crafts as a kid! What I don't remember is ever having to plan for a craft! Normally, I'd just show up and all the utensils would be ready with a finished product to guide the process! Side note: Yesterday, Kevin and I listened to an Andy Stanley sermon from Northpoint. One line that he repeated several times was "Direction determines destination." I can have all the intentions in the world of doing or becoming something, but if I'm not taking steps in the direction of what I desire, I'm not going to make it to my destination. That's true whether you're a believer in Jesus or not. For example, "I want to be financially secure, so I'm going to accrue as much consumer debt as possible," or "I want family to be my priority, so I'm going to be a work-a-holic," or "I want to know God and remember what Jesus said, so I'm going to get up every morning and read the newspaper (or check email and facebook), or (I'm making this one up) "I want to lose a bunch of weight, but I'm going to make Oreo balls (wait for upcoming post), or eat a whole pizza by myself!" Anyway, you get the point. I got it. "Direction determines destination." I've been thinking a lot about what direction I'd like to take Emma. Well, I want Emma to experience things. I want her to know about the world around her. I want her to love other people well. I want her to know God's Word. I want her to be a kind, loving, forgiving, compassionate, secure and bright little girl (and woman). She spends the majority of her hours with me every day, and while she knows what a Canon Digital Camera can do (because it's in her face every other hour), I really do want her to learn about other things. So today I felt a little more creative and with very little planning, I decided to dig into my stash of old scrapbooking materials, of which I have too much! We played and played and created all morning! The hours flew by and before I knew it, Kevin was home for lunch!! We had such a great morning together! I love this amazing little two-year old. She is just incredible!

Sidewalk chalk (and talking about shapes) & Princess beads

Well, I did it! I let my 2-year old use scissors for the first time. Notice which hand she's using! I think I need a pair of lefty's for her (thanks to the Schrag genes). The irony of this is that Kevin's brother is getting married in December. What was I thinking?? Sure, teach your daughter to use scissors about 2 1/2 months before a wedding. What are the chances, right?? Bright idea, Sandi! I think I'm going to hide all the scissors in the house now. On a bright note, check out her super-cute smock that I bought at Menard's for $1 before we left!! She loved it!

Paper airplane with 20 dot-stickers. That airplane could fly!! Emma had fun running away and hiding behind the table while I threw the airplane in her direction! Oh yeah, another great idea, Mommy, throw a cardstock-airplane at your daughter's face. I'm on a roll today!

Glitter!!!! I'm not sure who had more fun with the glitter, but this project is hanging on our fridge! Yep, our first official "fridge post". Emma loved showing Kevin what she had done when he came home for lunch! Messy, but oh so fun and glittery!!

And then there's Mr. Joe. Not sure why we named him that, but we did. It stuck. Mr. Joe has a long, skinny neck, a way-too-thin chest cavity, no hands, female hips, bellbottom pants and Emma just loved him. . . for a minute or two. He's holding balloons for Emma's friend Mallory. Mallory's birthday is in two days and since we can't be there for her special day, we're just going to talk about her all the time, and dedicate our crafts to her:)

Oh, we had one other craft: OREO BALLS!! But that's a post in itself and as of this writing, they're not quite finished!! Tonight though. I think. I'd like to plan more and create more and really teach Emma more. Today was such fun for me and I think she really enjoyed the undivided attention from her mama.