Every year on Christmas Eve, we reenact the Nativity. Alecia is always Mary, Cory is usually Joseph, and Kyle is usually the innkeeper, the shepherds, and the three wise men. This year, we decided to do things a bit differently. I told each child to give their own version of the story, using whatever media they wanted.
Alecia drew little pictures of each person / group of people / event, taped them to Popsicle sticks, then stood them up in a pan full of rice as she told the story. It was beyond sweet.
Then Cory drew a series of pictures, each representing a scene. Believe me when I tell you: They were awesome.
Then Kyle told the entire story using stuffed monkeys. Seriously. Here is Joseph, with Mary on the donkey.
And this is Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus.
And this is one of the shepherds. He rode in on one of the sheep (not pictured). After he gifted the sheep to baby Jesus, he didn't have a way to get home. Mary and Joseph felt bad and didn't want him to have to walk that far, so they gave him their donkey to ride. (Um, yeah. A little too much creative license may have been used, but it was sweet. :))
And these are the three wise men. They were attacked by bandits along the way, but they prevailed. We won't go into any more detail on that one.
I loved watching each version that was the story of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in great detail that were so different from each other, yet told with so much of the kid sharing the story. It was very much the highlight of the night.
After the various nativities, we moved on to gingerbread house making. And then gingerbread man making.
And gingerbread woman making.
And then onto decorating the boxes. With snowmen. ---ish things. With chicken legs. And multiple arms. And horns. Actually, I'm not sure what it is, but I love the look of concentration!
And then, notes for Santa. I'll translate:
Dear Santa,
I thought that since everyone leaves you cookies, I decided to even out your weight with an apple.
Love, Alecia
And
Dear Santa Clause,
From Cory
I hope you enjoy this banana, and if you want some milk, it is in the fridge. You can have some but please save some for breakfast tomorrow.
The fact that they made a smiley face made Santa smile all the more. At least I'm guessing. It's not like I was still awake when he came or anything.
And this year, we replaced our fading yellowish lights with bluish white ones that pretty much light up the entire house. I recommend not looking straight at them when they're the only lights on at night, lest ye be blinded. But they helped Santa find his way, I'm sure.
I totally loved the wonder of my wee little ones at Christmastime. As it turns out, I love the wonder of not so wee little ones even more.
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