We are very thankful for safe travels after a busy Christmas season. It's always fun to plan for trips and visit friends and family, but it's also nice to come home. The first couple days home after traveling, the children play so nicely with each other (for the most part). Things are familiar, and there isn't so much stimuli. Today we did a bit of "school" and then I let them play. Meanwhile, I did surgery on a new toy that is nice but was entirely too loud...not anymore. It's amazing what a small screwdriver, 4 cotton balls and a determined Mama can do.
We were able to be home on Christmas day so that we could complete our own Christmas tradition. I had purchased a "Bethlehem Village" nativity set a few years ago. Last year, we came up with the idea of keeping Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus out of it until Christmas morning. I made a road out of brown vinal and used white puff paint to make 25 cobble stones. We also did a bit of research and made the road in the shape of the possible path that they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem including the towns that they may have traveled through and wrote them on it as well. I haven't been able to find a figurine of Mary on a donkey and Joseph walking the size of our other figurines, so I printed off a clip-art picture, laminated it, and stood it up. Then for 25 days before Christmas, we let the children take turns moving Mary and Joseph along the road after a devotional. They loved it and kept saying, "They're getting closer to Bethlehem!" On Christmas day, we put Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the manger without the children seeing, so when they come in and looked, there was Jesus! This is the second year of doing this and we plan on keeping this tradition.
Keeping Christ in Christmas is a challenging prospect and more changes toward this end are likely. Any ideas?
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