Some crafts we have been up to

Before my surgery, we did manage to get a couple things done in the craft department.
One of them was these adorable owls. I just love them. Becca, our neighbor, and wonderful friend, who also happens to work at the library and do storytime found them on the internet and did this craft at storytime a couple weeks ago. She had some extra, and graciously shared them with us on the day we had Quin and Trent over. The kids LOVED being able to pick the colors and patterns they liked (pink mostly for Ayla, of course!) and the end results were just TOO cute! It was a relatively simple craft (for us, all the pieces were cut out already) and I think you should make one too! What you need::

~An owl body, usually brown out of construction paper, or even a paper bag
~A circle-ish cut out for the belly. We used patterned scrapbooking paper, but again, be creative.
~A goggle-like cutout for behind the eyes, using a different patterned paper
~2 smaller circles for the eyes
~2 buttons of any size for the eyeballs (we used just tape for securing these and it worked perfect)
~2 cut outs for wings, whichever size/shape you desire
~2 cut outs for feet
~1 cut out for beak
you will love to put these up in your windows!

The other craft we did was our advent calendar. This was inspired from the Rhythm of the Home Blog and Publication (a fantastic work of love with great crafts and what not for you and your family... and free!)We always have a ton of mismatched socks AND I usually get socks for the kids for stocking stuffers each Christmas, so this just seemed to be perfect for us. I used a banner made by Camille at Camille Creates and so generously given to me last year! It was the a great backdrop for the socks above our fireplace. I haven't decided if I will make a more "Christmasy" one for next year, or just use this same set up again. I am, however, going to only get the kids, (or make them) socks for Christmas from now on, and this is how they will be presented. I think it works quite well. I have been putting just little trinkets or candies in there... even some money every once in a while. The other day, I put a little note in the sock, saying they got to open a present... this went over very well.

Surgery update::
My surgery went very well; everything was almost exactly what the doctor suspected. They did a total ACL reconstruction, clipped the meniscus on each side (both were torn), and a procedure which replaced a damaged piece of cartilage with an undamaged one from within my knee (OATES procedure). The last thing is what is going to take a while to heal. I am supposed to put 0 weight on my leg/knee for 4 WEEKS!! That is going to seem like forever. Kellen is not yet crawling, and he is such a mama's boy... we will see how it all plays out! Good thing it is almost Christmas break and Tyler can do a lot of his work from home! And I have great friends that have offered to help when they can!