Baby Jesus.

There is a nativity atop our piano that I bought the year H was born. Ironically enough I used a gift certificate from some Jewish friends to buy it.

It's nothing fancy. There's Mary. Joseph. Baby Jesus, who often goes missing in our house. A sheep. And then the wood manger with a bright yellow star.

The figures are glass but I let the kids handle them.

I have always wanted one of those Fisher Price nativities and finally this year when Target had them half off a couple weeks ago I swooped one up before they sold out.



These two love it and play with it together.

They never do it alone, just together.

I love that they love it. I love that E's got a wiseman hanging out of her mouth and that H's favorite piece is the camel.

Most of all I love that H can tell E the story with the figures. I love that he asks me to tell it again.

I would someday like one of those pretty, fancy, so very breakable, beautiful nativities to sit atop my piano. But right now I want my kids to approach the nativity and see the story and want to move the story around and tell the story and with a pretty, fancy, so very breakable, beautiful nativity, that wouldn't be possible.

This is what we choose to focus on at Christmas. Over and over and over again.

And yes some days {many days?} we get side tracked and stuck on a to-do list of errands and shopping and wrapping to get done. But in the end, if they know the story and why we're doing what we're doing, we will have done our job.

*****

Two new giveaways are up over here tonight.

Children's Book: If I Could Keep You Little by Marianne Richmond and Sesame Street Live Tickets.