Christmas Traditions.

On a slow day such as today- church, movie, groceries, supper- I thought I could blog some of the Christmas traditions we have picked up.

Like the tree you see here. This is Ellie's tree. The girls each have their own trees to decorate each season. Last year Ellie went with a Jesus theme, this year she toned down to blue and silver. You will notice that Madison's tree isn't here. That is because she donated it to the Thorntons so they could have a tree- all their Christmas decorations are back in California. Proud of her for doing that.

One of our funnier traditions is dressing up Mark. This is Kevin's Mark V ( I think thats right) dive helmet that is always in our living room. The girls and I have taken to giving him a Santa hat and some holly every year so he can be festive too.

An all time favorite is the countdown calendar- which I think I have mentioned. Ann gave this to us years ago. Everyday a little character gets put into the pocket so that the girls know how close Christmas day is. Every morning without fail they will stumble out to do this even before they go to the bathroom!

Nativity scenes are big here. I have the Willowtree one that Julie gave me- which frankly stays out all year- really love it.

Then I have my Jim Shore one (you've seen in previous Christmas pictures). Its taken me a few years to get all the pieces- I buy them bit by bit at the day after Christmas sales. Only missing the drummer boy- but really do we need him? He isn't really a confirmed part of the nativity anyway!

The girls have their own nativity scene. You will notice below two things. One is that the wise men are WAY down and away from the manger scene- this is because Madison is quite obsessed with the idea that the wise men were never at the birth of Jesus. Apparently historically speaking, they didn't make it until two years after he was born. She is always trying to move my nativity's wise men away too- but I am ok with the inaccuracy. The second thing you will notice is that there is only two wise men. The trouble with low wise men is a certain brown dog's tail- wise man number 3 is in for repair....where is Ross and his glue when you need him? That'll teach Maddie to be so correct!

This book is the last of the traditions I will write about. Its "Santa Calls" and we read it every Christmas Eve. Ellie is going to read it this year (though she is worried about the Japanese girl not understanding it). Its about a brother and sister who don't get along and the girl's only wish is that her brother would like her. Santa puts them through an adventure which ends with them becoming friends. First copy of this I bought was for Alyssa when she was a baby. We've read it every year since Madison's first Christmas. The girl's name is Esther- so the story must be great :)

Last week before Christmas- my holiday won't start until after tomorrow as I have one more day of teaching before break. Can't come soon enough!