Christmas Cards

I love all the family pictures that we receive with our Christmas cards. It is a wonderful chance to see how our friends families have grown. As we receive Christmas cards we tape the on the inside of our front door so that we can see them daily and our friends and family that visit can see them also. I always get a warm feeling when I happen upon the girls studying the pictures while on their knees, or on their tippy toes trying to see those we love. It was with equally sad feelings that I un-taped these cards at the end of our holiday season. This year after we took the cards down they sat on our kitchen table for a couple of weeks. It was just so sad to see them go. Then I got the bright idea of turning them into place mats for the girls. I had the three older girls place the pictures on their own large piece of construction paper and then we laminated them. I can not believe how well they turned out. I will admit that I was uncertain the girls would be able to lay them all out. I have to say that they turned out cuter than I could have done. Already the girls are entranced with the pictures as they wait for their meal. They know exactly how many girls or boys are on each one, how many dogs. I have even seen them playing a round rosy game with them. Now I can't wait till we can make them again next year!