Advent Calendar Time

MADISON'S BOOK CLUB

It's advent calendar time already - that's right, it's December 1st. Mommy found this calendar book for Madison, but this is the first time we've decided to use it. It is called "The First Christmas," by Stuart Moseley and Sarah Smith. It opens up for one page, and has twenty-five doors that reveal different parts of the Christmas story as you open them. Of course, you open only one per day - which is a point we were attempting to communicate with Madison this morning. Tomorrow, we open door #2.

This is a great way of communicating the Christmas story. Both Daddy and Mommy are wanting the message to not get lost as each day we see Santa and all the other things now associated with Christmas. We don't feel these are bad - in fact, we're taking Madison to see Santa soon. But it is critical that she knows what the real meaning of Christmas is, and this book is a great aid in helping Mommy and Daddy repeat the story each day.

Right now in the picture, you just see the one side of the stable, but on the other - and as we get closer to Christmas, we'll see the Nativity Scene as we know it: Wise Men, Joseph and Mary, Shepherds, Camels and Sheep, and the Baby Jesus, lying in a manger.

Happy December! It looks cold out there...