The Nativity

I collect nativity scenes. Unfortunately, most are not displayed these years... Maybe when the kids are bigger & I'm not worried about balls that aren't supposed to be thrown or twirling blankets bumping my pretties.

When David was a baby, I got the most practical nativity ever - Fisher Price Little People! It been fun the last few years to see who else comes to visit baby Jesus.

The first princess sighting in Bethlehem.

How did the diaper duck end up in the sheep pasture?

Apparently the Wise Men traveled by
camel and monster truck.

Last year pirates were spotted in Bethlehem,
and the year before that Elmo & 4 other guests dropped in.

MOPS & Another Christmas Book

Today was our MOPS Christmas Party! I took my camera, but then had such a good time that I forgot to take any pictures! You'll just have to trust me that we were cute - Elizabeth wore a snowman shirt, David wore his VeggieTales Merry Christmas shirt, and I wore a sparkly Christmas tree shirt. We were very festive!

There we are resting back at home after our exciting morning! I think we could have fit the other cats up there with us, too!

Today's Christmas book was My First Christmas (Magnetic Adventures). This book was so much fun! Several of the pages are magnetic with a background scene. The book comes with a whole nativity set of magnets to interact with as the story unfolds. David had so much fun putting the magnets on the pages as we read the story of Mary & Joseph travelling to Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay, Jesus' birth, the shepherds, and the wise men.

I found 2 drawbacks to this book: There's no angel magnet! and this set was made in China. So you'll just have to imagine the angels, or come up with your own - and make sure the pieces are kept away from little ones who might put the pieces in their mouths! There is also the standard warning that the pieces could be a choking hazard; not recommended for children under age 3. Aside from that, this interactive book got David's two thumbs up for keeping him engaged in the story!

More Christmas Fun

While picking up some chocolate chips last week, I happened across a bag of Andes Crème de Menthe baking chips! I love the Andes mints, so the possibilities of mint flavored cookies started spinning around in my head. I wanted a chocolate cookie, so I used my sister's Reindeer Patties recipe.

Saturday morning, David & I gave it a try. Since the mint chips had the green layer, I thought about calling them Grasshopper Patties, but I think we'll just say our reindeer have been eating grasshoppers! David, as always, enjoyed in his "helper" role.

Saturday afternoon, David & I helped Grandpa decorate his golf cart for the GV Christmas Parade. David thought it was pretty neat after dark. If you look closely, you can see Grandpa to the left side of the picture, grinning as he watched his littlest grandson.

Aunt Sissy said she enjoys seeing what ends up in our nativity scene. Today, a small airplane of pirates landed to honor the newborn King.