Scenes from a Christmas Craft Season

Here we are, on the final day of December. It's been an incredible holiday season for us, one filled with activities, family, friends, and crafts. Lots of crafts. Let me show you...

 As usual, Hobgoblin was happy to help us un-decorate. It's his way of making sure the holiday spirit lasts the entire season. Unfortunately, not all of our ornaments lasted to the end of the season this year. I need to figure out a new way to display the fragile ornaments for next year. Cats will forever be toddlers. (Click on any picture for a larger version)

 Sierra and I decided to tumble rocks this year. This photo is of the rocks after their first tumble. She enjoyed sorting them and figuring out what each rock was. My project was to keep the tumbler together through several mishaps, including a disintegrating rubber wheel and a cracked and leaky barrel. We used some of the polished stones for jewelry, and if I had been thinking, I would have taken more pictures of the finished pendants. That was Marina's contribution to the process.

Meanwhile, Chase outdid himself with duct tape. For his dad and sisters, he made sculptures based on characters in their favorite computer games. Marina's is the saber-toothed wolf in the center of this photo. Sierra's is the green Minecraft creeper on the right. For me, he made the E.T.-like creature on the right, based on a character from the book, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.

 Sierra was also sculpting. I was very impressed by these bulls that she made for her brother and sister. Why bulls? I asked that, too. They all share the same star sign, Taurus. So does my father. It's why May is so busy.

And yes, there really was a Christmas card tree. A bit smaller than in my recent comics.

And while we were all busy with our holiday projects, Marina was busy with several art projects at the college. This picture is of her final project, an art installation on a window at the college. Her theme, if you remember, has been East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I love how this turned out, especially its simple message, "Persevere." That says more about the artist than I think she realizes. She persevered this term. She jumped hurdles to reach for what she thought would be unreachable goals. 

The first goal was obtaining her driver's license. She failed the first time she took the road test and struggled through lessons and extra practice with her dad and me. She passed her second road test the day after Christmas. 

The second goal was an opportunity to study at Cambridge in England. The requirements were to submit a five page paper from one of her college classes, but none of her classes had required more than a few pages. I suggested she combine two papers from her English 101 course and apply anyway. Just before Christmas, she found out she got into the program. Not only that, she got a scholarship for it, so it will be less of a financial burden. Perseverance. Those fairy tales really do teach us a thing or two.

 Happy New Year everyone!