September 6

Today was the first day of MOPS for the school year. After taking a year off to adjust to life with two kiddos, I'm leading all of the creative activities again this year. It's exciting and fun and terrifying, but I've been blessed to have an amazing woman volunteer to be my assistant. She may be better at the job than I am.

Regardless, today was the first day. And Caleb's favorite part about MOPS today was his time in the music room, where he got to play with ribbon dancers. They were all he could talk about. (Well, those and toy airplanes. Kid is fixated on airplanes right now.)

So by the time we got home from MOPS, Daisy was asleep and I had somehow agreed to make him a ribbon dancer while he napped. I got him down for his nap, and I laid down to take a nap myself, when I remembered my promise. I jumped out of bed and began scavenging around the house for items that could be used for ribbon dancers. Finally, I came across a hanger from the dry cleaner's. Perfect. I removed the wire part and used it to thread some ribbon through the cardboard tube. Then I secured the ribbon with duct tape and jazzed up the tube with a little more duct tape.

It was beautiful. Really. Not even kidding.

Satisfied with my handiwork, I snuggled in for a nap. Caleb woke me a mere thirty minutes later (curse you, crummy nap!) and his first question was, "Where is my ribbon?" 

I sent him to find it, feeling excitement akin to that of parents on Christmas morning.

He returned, ribbon dancer in hand, and said, "I kind of don't like it."

I was crushed. (Also, because I hadn't gotten my hard-earned nap, I was a bit peeved, too.)

Finally, I deduced that he had hoped for wider ribbon, longer ribbon, and a shorter handle. We decided that the first one could be for Daisy, and he would help me make a second one to his satisfaction. (Of course, this all happened after a long conversation about how his response hurt my feelings and it's never polite to tell someone that you don't like something they've made for you...)

And so, I give you Caleb's ribbon dancers:

Yep. He's all ready to join the rhythmic gymnastics team. Or head to a charismatic worship meeting.

Really, though, these turned out quite well. For a fabrication that I pulled out of thin air, they are pretty and sturdy and very fun. I highly recommend you make one (or two) for the children in your life.

Daisy approved of hers, too.

(She's totally into giving kisses right now. And did I mention that she says, "Airplane"? Because she does, and it's adorable.)