Tree trimming with the boys!

Boys proud of their work!

Since I made cookies with the girls last week, I figured I needed to do something with the boys.  I invited them to come to my house the day after the girls and help me put up my tree and decorate it.  On the left are Ekusi Lobwel and Idi Ekidor.  On the right are Lopeto Lobwel and Ichwa Ekidor.  These boys have seem my Christmas tree in the past, so they had an idea of what it was supposed to look like.  They had never helped to put it up and decorate it though.  So, this was a new experience for them.

spreading the branches

putting on the garland

 We didn't put any lights on the tree.  I thought it would be easier to just do the garland and ornaments.  I have multi-colored icicle lights above my windows that I turned on while they were decorating.  We also listened to some christmas music.  They thought I was pretty funny singing along and dancing to the music.  :)  Ichwa did dance with me though and they all laughed at that too!

After we finished with the tree, I decided to try again with a simple nativity set for them to make.  The card stock/ clothes pin one didn't work very well, so I tried something different.  This time I bought a broom handle (stick).  I had a friend cut it into 4 inch and 3 inch lengths.  I spent an hour or so in town trying to find some yarn.  No one knew what the english word "yarn" meant.  I finally saw someone with a sweater on (in the desert) and pointed to it and said it is string that is used to make those.  Then they figured out what I wanted and told me where to find it.  Brown yarn was needed for hair.  I had some colorful push pins that I used as well.  This is what we ended up with.

I am still working on the baby Jesus.  The kids will all come back this Thursday for a little Christmas party.  My friend, John Kibet, helped me to cut the broom handle on a table saw.  This insured that they would sit straight.  My thumb is still sore four days later from pushing the pins in!  That wood is hard!  The boys didn't have the strength to get them in, so I had to do all eight.

John is going to help me come up with an idea for the Jesus too.  We hope to have something they can easily make and that will keep fairly well.  I will try to get a picture of one full set once it is made and post it for you to see.  I got the idea from another blog and adapted it to work with what I could find here.  If you want to do something similar and don't live in a remote place like me, I think you can find everything you need to do them the way they suggest on this blog.  So, check it out if you want to.  http://learning-to-b-me.blogspot.com/2010/08/flags-and-more-wood.html  Scroll down past the two flags until you see the little nativity set.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the boys and what they accomplished.  I think we all had fun and it gave them something to do during their month long break.  I hope you are finding time to enjoy the season and are not feeling too rushed!