Kids Creating

Years ago we had a friend who "gauged" his TV, meaning, he filled it with shotgun shells.  Isn't that a grand idea?  I love it.  We have never had a television, but there are times when I would like to gauge the computer monitor. :)  Occasionally I find a girl or four with eyes glued to it for way too long, watching the early episodes of Little House on the Prairie, or some such thing, via DVD.  The less expensive and more reasonable alternative here would be to ban videos for a while. So I did it!  Mother No moved in!  And you know what immediately followed. TNDS, or, There's-Nothing-to-Do Syndrome, immediately hit the house. Some residents were hit harder than others, one in particular being the most despairing.

But look!  This is what happens when you turn the TV off: the girls' imaginations and their hands are now at work!  They are making things.  Betsy wanted to make a doll house out of popsicle sticks.  What started out as just a box with a peaked roof became a mansion!

Amy followed this tutorial to make an ear-bud case (or three) for herself, so that she would quit losing her ear-buds at the bottom of her travel bag, under the covers, or in the mess multitude of valuable things on her dresser. It slides easily on to the zipper of her jacket or bag, and she's set!  Is that cute or what?  You can make one yourself in about 20 minutes, or you can pay $12 for one on Etsy.  (I know what I would do!)

Alison has suddenly acquired a desire to learn how to draw, hence "Susie" here.  (This is a Hebrew play on words.  In Hebrew, a word approximately pronounced Susie (soosee) means "my horse".)

And when she couldn't get the music to an arrangement she liked, she decided to write it out from listening to a recording of it.  The left hand is missing because she doesn't need that part.  I love to listen to Amy and her play.  If I don't watch myself, I can already start tearing up at the thought of them leaving us in a few years for some unworthy young men.  :)

Emily is drawing, baking, and writing her own composition.

I have only heard one person mention LHOP lately, and it was the one hardest hit, the one who was convinced she would have NOTHING to do.  She is recovering, however slowly.  At the moment she is making grand plans for a tea party with some other little girls in the neighborhood.  Mother No Maybe is in charge right now, and she is making that particular child exercise some much-needed patience.  How about a few weeks after the holidays?  (Anyone have any ideas how we can give it a gospel theme?)

I am enjoying these good after-effects of the video ban.  Hmm.  Might have to extend that ban indefinitely!