I have a lot of blessings by being a mom of twins. One of them I LOVE is getting two homemade Christmas presents that they make at school. I don't know if my Christmas would be the same without them. Seriously. I tear up every year when Matthew and Lucas come home with their gifts made at school. Even better is that Derrick and I don't have to share-we each get one! In Preschool is was the traced hand ornament with their picture on it, Kindergarten was a painted coffee mug, and first grade was a wreath made out of their hands with their picture in the middle. This year it is an ornament made out of MiniWheats, molded and mixed together with glue then shaped into a circle. I know for certain that Matthew wasn't excited about making it. That is enough to make me love it even more. I can see him sitting at his desk, while all the other kids are getting messy and molding/mixing, with his hands up as if the teacher was asking him to touch a snake. He does not like things that feel funny, and mini wheats mixed with glue is high on that list. Part of the process was breaking up and crushing the MiniWheats before molding. To avoid touching this, he told me he put it in a bag and sat on it.
In Kindergarten, they were all about hiding the coffee mugs under their beds until Christmas. This year, Matthew wanted me to open it ASAP when he got in the door. I managed to put it off...trying to wait until Christmas, encouraging him to hide it, wait until Daddy gets home...but nothing worked. Finally after dinner, he asked me nicely to open it and so I did. He even included a letter-they're learning about friendly letters in school.
His letter says: "Dear Mommy, I love you. You are the best mom! You are the 'allsomest' (read awesomest) mom ever! Love, Matthew
When Derrick got home, Lucas asked him to open it. Lucas's approach was different. Since it was for the "family" tree, he thought he should help Derrick open it, and the letter inside was "Dear Family....". So cute! Matthew's wrapping paper-a cross with Jesus on it.
And the topper on all of it, is the homemade wrapping paper. I loved how excited and proud they were to give us a gift. It showed their sweet side! The front of his paper bag-a heart, and nice coloring!