I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  I realize some still celebrate Christmas through January 5th but I haven’t quite figured out what that is all about.  I typically take my Christmas decorations down the day after Christmas but as I sit here typing this post on December 28th my decorations are still up.  Although I love decorating for Christmas after about 3 or 4 weeks I’m kind of over it and just want it all put away!  Maybe tomorrow….

Anyhow, I started a new family tradition this Christmas season.  The goal was to acquire 24 (or 23 if you want to ready the birth story straight from the Bible) Christmas or other special story books, wrap them and label them with a number; day 1, day 2, etc.  However, in keeping with our tight budget I was unable to acquire 24 books but I did manage to get 7 books that the kids had never read before.  I wrapped each book in pretty Christmas wrapping and labeled each book.  Then I put them in a basket under the tree.  Each evening, starting on December 18th the kids took turns unwrapping the appropriate labeled books and we read them together.  The kids really enjoyed this daily activity so I’m hoping next year I will be able to add a few more and start the tradition a little sooner in December.   I saved the story of the birth of Jesus to read on Christmas Eve.  I will be putting these books away with our Christmas decorations tomorrow so that they will be ready to go for next Christmas.  Want to know what books we read?  Here is our list:

Day 1 – A Charlie Brown Christmas!  I got this book from Amazon and it’s a VERY small book but it is such a fun story.  I imagine most of us grew up watching A Charlie Brown Christmas!

Day 2 – The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell.  This was about a little angel who didn’t quite fit in with the other angels in heaven.  In the end, he fits in better then he realizes.

Day 3 – The Oak Inside the Acorn by Max Lucado.  We all really loved this book.  It’s not really about the birth of our Savior but it is a book about being the ‘tree’ that God made us to be.

Day 4 – Christmas in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  My kids love reading Little House on the Prairie books so this one fit right in.

Day 5 – Punchinello and the Most Marvelous Gift by Max Lucado.  Another great story by Max Lucado.  This book is about celebrating Maker Day and giving our best to God.  Wonderful story!

Day 6 – The Fourth King by Ted Sieger.  This was an excellent book as well.  As we know, there were more then 3 wise men and this is a story of the 4th wise man who was desperately trying to meet up with the original 3 wise men to see baby Jesus.  Various events came up along the way and this wise man kept putting off his trip to see Jesus to help those he met along the way.  The last family he helped had a baby and they were escaping the King’s order of killing the young children.  This forth wise man helped this family escape with their precious baby.  Can you guess who that baby was?  Such a wonderful book!

Day 7 – The Christmas Story for Children – by Max Lucado, Randy Frazee and Karen Davis Hill.  A very good telling of the glorious birth of Jesus.

I can’t wait to see what I am able to add to next year’s reading!

God Bless,
Gaylene