I've been looking for one of these little people manger scenes this Christmas! I found this one on sale this past weekend at the Christian bookstore and both of the kids LOVE it! It's a toy we'll pack away with the Christmas stuff and I know our kids will love pulling this out each year!
Alex has been enjoying having me read the Christmas story while he acts it out! It's sooo incredibly cute! I've had to remind Alex several times that this is for BOTH him and Nathan... and that he has to share it. His typical response is to give Nathan some insignificant figure like a sheeep or camel and remind me "he's just a baby..."
We went to see Santa on Monday at the Fairfax Mall! We have decided to do Santa... I know a lot of people decide against it for fear that their children will begin to question God, feel lied to, or put too much focus on the wrong things at Christmastime... but I grew up with Santa and really don't see the huge harm in it I guess. I love this tradition as well. We went to get our picture with Santa EVERY SINGLE YEAR (our parents made us go even in junior high and high school when it was the most embarassing thing ever - we'd drive 3o minutes away so that we didn't have to worry about running into people we knew - ha!) We have pictures now though of our family with Santa every Christmas! Looking back I'm able to really appreciate this tradition :)
I don't have any pictures with Santa because we "weren't allowed" and I'm married to a serious rules follower... LOL. I REALLY wanted to snap a couple of pictures... and I consider myself a "rules follower" too, but I guess with trivial stuff like this that doesn't matter at all (and when I'm spending the $20 to buy two pictures and an additional $30 to buy two frames, I don't see the harm in taking a couple of my own photos!) Anyway, Gary wouldn't let me and I couldn't find the camera to do it anyway! LOL We didn't have any tears this year though! Nathan was a little unsure when I passed him over to Santa, but didn't cry. And Alex was soooo cute! He was really excited, but I kind of expected him to be too shy to actually say anything or smile. When Santa asked what he wanted, Alex said "toys!!" Santa asked what kind of toys and he said, "...and ONE book!" (holding up his little 1 finger.) I'm kind of glad he wasn't too specific, because he didn't really ask for a certain toy this year so if he picks somehting now it's kind of too late! haha. Him and Santa chatted for a while about trains and whether or not he's been a good little boy and a big helper with his brother this year :) He was a little confused when it was time to go and he didn't actually GET any presents from Santa! haha
I remember checking the tree each day for newly wrapped gifts and shaking them all to try and figure out what they were! We wrapped most of our presents Saturday night after the kids went to bed... it was so fun to watch Alex check out the tree the next morning! He pulled every gift out and tried to figure out who it was for. We showed him how to check the tag for the name (although there are lots of letters and words on the tags by the time they say who they are to and from). He knows the first letter in each person's name and with a little help in finding the word he's supposed to be looking at, can figure out who they are to. Any time he finds one that's for him, he'll say "awww, that's so nice! thank you!!!" He's been shaking them all to try and figure out what's inside... it's hilarious to hear his logic! ANY present (regardless of size or shape) that makes noise, he'll guess is building blocks! LOL... he'll say "oooo, it's more building blocks!" I'm not sure why he thinks we'd have 15 gifts under the tree for various people that are building blocks lol.
He's done great keeping secrets this Christmas! He picked out his own presents for Nathan and Gary and will tell them "no peeking" and "it's a surprise!" :) He was very thoughtful (but also a little selfish) in choosing both gifts... he wanted something they would like, but also something that HE will like ;) I guess that's probably pretty typical for a toddler/preschooler!
Anyway, Alex is so excited for Christmas! And, if it's possible, I am probably more excited than he is! :D Kids make the holidays so much fun!!!
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