Besides daily/hourly/by-the-moment prayers, I spend a lot of time thinking of things to send him. I want to include the kids, so I had a light bulb moment today: they would send him hugs!
I let Kale and Addison choose the color paper, paint, and ribbon they wanted to send Papa Craig.
I then poured some paint on a paper plate, smeared it around, and dipped their hands in it (one at a time...I know my kids too well to trust them with painted hands! And while the second hand was being dipped, I had wrapped a paper towel around the dirty hand). They both loved the "icky" paint. *smile*
I helped press their hands on the paper, and then let it dry while washing them up. By this time, their attention span was running out and that was completely fine. Their one last task was to stand with their arms outstretched (as if to give a hug) while I measured ribbon from one hand to the other.
Then they took off to play.
I cut out their [dried] hand prints and set them aside while I melted the ends of the ribbon to prevent fraying. Then I took some tacky glue, put a line on the ribbon, and placed their hands on it.
I'm quite proud of my quick little project, and I know the kids liked the hand-painting/printing part....so I'm thinking some random soldiers may be receiving some hugs for Christmas this year.
