Fun with Ornaments

Clara and I made more homemade ornaments today. We took lots down to family at Thanksgiving but we wanted more for our tree and also want to give them to several friends (and we keep adding to the list - Clara thought of a few more people tonight, all by herself! Love watching her giving spirit blossom!). We made a quite a few but I think with all the people we keep adding we're going to have to make another batch! I love these ornaments, they are so simple, lovely and fragrant! Roughly equal parts applesauce and cinnamon, then add more cinnamon if needed to get a playdough consistency. Roll out, cut, and dry! We like to stick ours in an oven that has been warmed to around 200 and then shut off. If you bake them, they curl. Best to let them dry at warm room temp, though it takes longer. As you can see, Clara had lots of fun with the cinnamon....

Terrific moment of the day: kneading bread (one of my favorite tasks!) while Clara sat at the table and read "Piglet Meets a Heffalump" to me. She told me all about the elephant, and Piglet, and Pooh - I learned that elephants like honey! It was so sweet and a rejuvenating reprieve in the middle of our day.

Despite our fun moments today was rather rough overall. Clara and I each had several time-outs. Tonight, Daddy had to take Clara's stroller away because she kept running into people on purpose. That was the last straw. She bawled and bawled, all through tooth brushing (a battle) and halfway through getting jammies on, then bawled some more when she realized we were not reading stories because she had fought so much with tooth brushing. She was beside herself, "I want to play with my stroller!! I want to read one story!"
"I know sweetie, it's so sad that we can't read or play with your stroller. You did not obey Mommy and Daddy, and those are the consequences."
"I want to obey!!! I obey now, I want to obey!!!"

Isn't this the cry of every heart longing to be right with our Father? Oh, Lord, I want to obey! I see the fruit of my disobedience and I yearn to obey, to have an obedient heart. This is another thing we pray for every night, "Oh God, give Clara an obedient heart. Help her to obey Mommy and Daddy and God, most of all." Though today was rough, tomorrow is a new day, no less full of grace after today's trials. A new day to learn obedience and dependence on God for the strength to do even the smallest thing we know we should. Clara is learning the value of obedience, and so am I.