Focht Family Blog

It is difficult to catch up once you get behind. At this rate we will still be finishing our crafts after Christmas is over. We have managed to do a color by number with pencils that the kids worked on in the car with my mom while I was getting my allergy shots. Mom finished Joshua’s (toucan), I finished Samantha’s (cat) as well as doing one of my own (butterfly). Timmy hasn’t finished his tiger but he won’t let me finish it for him. Here are pictures of the drawings.

Another craft we did was beads that were placed on a card than ironed together to fuse. It was intended to be three dog faces but the kids were creative and we found that we had a lot of leftover beads so we have flowers, rings, rainbows, snakes, and dogs.

More crafts to follow….

Sunday I took Joshua to the doctor because his cough was getting worse. He has a touch of bronchitis so he is now on antibiotics. On our way back to the RV we stopped at the Best Western in Goshen and checked in for the work week. Since we were going to be at the hotel until Thursday I chose the crafts to take with us based on what wouldn’t take a lot of room or time. It was so late on Sunday by the time we finally got settled that we chose to do two crafts on Monday. On Monday the weather warmed up a little and because of that the dry snow that was on the ground started melting enough that it was sticking together so…. the kids finally got to do the “snowman” craft. This was my first snowman as well so it was a lot of fun. My family spent a Christmas in the Poconos visiting my grandparents one year but the snow wouldn’t cooperate. My brother and I made a snow sculpture on the porch of a snowman laying down next to a boombox. We titled it “Florida Snowman on Vacation”. It was an experience getting to make a snowman that stood up this time. Here are pictures of the snowman project. Nathan kept himself busy throwing snowballs at me as you can see one in the air in one of the pictures. :)

The kids were still in Disney mode I guess because they decided the snowman needed Mickey ears. Samantha finished it off with a Mountain Dew can she found as a bow so she decided it was Minnie.

When we came back in the room we finished the day off with making mosaic ornaments, essentially sticking jeweled stickers on ornaments. :)

Today we spent time checking out the RV progress. The floor is torn out and the tiles should be finished early tomorrow. They are hoping to have everything finished by next Monday or Tuesday. We misunderstood the cabinetry. We will take the RV by on Thursday afternoon so he can take measurements than he will spend a few days making what he needs to make. We will take it back to him next week when Newmar is finished so he can install the new bed. Hopefully everything will be finished before Christmas so we don’t have to come back in January. If not we are already scheduled for the first week of January at Newmar to finish what we want to have done. Although we have stopped in Monday and Tuesday I didn’t think to take pictures. I will try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow.

December 4 was Samantha’s turn again… she chose Santa Faces. They were foam heads that you had to stick the face parts on. December 5 was Timmy who chose a paint by number picture. Joshua went for the abstract and Timmy gave up because it wasn’t perfect. Here are pictures of those two crafts….

December 6 was Josh’s turn but we didn’t get around to it until late so mommy chose a quick project. It was a wooden penguin on a stand that they colored with markers. Again Timmy took issue with his not being just how he wanted it so my mom finished his for him. :)

In years past we stuffed the kid’s stockings with cheap gifts so that they could open something everyday starting on December 1. This is something my parents did that I wanted to pass down. This year I decided we didn’t have room for all of the junk so why buy it? Instead I decided to make up a craft countdown. I went to Hobby Lobby while we were in Statesboro and bought craft kits and supplies to equal 24 crafts and made a list of all of the choices. We are taking turns with the kids choosing what craft we do what day.

December 1 was Samantha’s choice. She chose to decorate a gingerbread house. It was a premade gingerbread house so all we did was add the frosting and decor. I also set out candy necklace kits so nobody fought over the decorating. Here are some pictures of their creation….

December 2 was Timmy’s turn. He wanted to make puppets and chose the fairytale puppets. Timmy made a knight, Josh made a horse, Samantha made a princess and I made a fairy (modeled by Samantha) since the package contained 4 puppet kits. :)

December 3 was Josh’s choice. Since he didn’t understand the list I showed him everything in the bag. I think he may have been encouraged by Samantha but he chose Glitter Domes. They are like snow globes. The kids got to create something in clay and then you add glitter and water to the domes and screw the base and dome together. Samantha and Timmy made Christmas scenes featuring snowmen and I helped Josh create a teddy bear in his. Here they are with their globes.

I will update with the next batch of crafts. :) Timmy is holding out for a good snowfall because one of the choices on the list is to go outside and make a snowman! :)

Today we left Statesboro at around 9:30 this morning. We drove the train to church and then met our friends, Becky and Roger McCoy for lunch. We met Becky and Roger 7 years ago when we moved in across their backyard. Becky brought cookies over and then introduced me to MOPS. We have been friends ever since. I only wish we could get together with them more often because they are a great couple. Here is a picture of Roger and Becky and also one with their children, Madison and Garrett.

We are back on the road and headed north. We are planning on stopping at Greenville, SC tonight. We are hoping to meet the family that travels on the road that is on TLC’s Six for the Road. They are running a Christmas tree stand just south of Greenville.