Jólabókafló

Okay, so we've heard of lots of cultural things at Christmas time from Krampus and the straw goat in Gävle, Sweden to Belsnickel and the Night of the Radishes.  But we have not heard of jólabókafló.  It's a tradition in Iceland, and despite being a fan of Björk and Iceland in general, this is something we didn't know about. 

Apparently, each Christmas season, the Iceland market is flooded with books.  We're reading that back during World War II, when imports were rare and paper was easy to print, books were found in large quantities in Iceland, particularly at the end of the year.  So what better gift to give one another than a book?  You can see how the custom of giving books became popular, and by extension the custom of spending Christmas Eve reading books, along with some Christmas chocolate.

So tonight we've been in good company as we read a bit from our books at bedtime.  We've got plenty of Christmas books to read from, but the latest readings have been the Christmas-themed devotional, and the Christmas-themed fairy book, "A Fairy's Gift."  There was nothing Icelandic at all about either. Maybe we'll put in some Björk's music or something...

You're probably wondering what happened with the elf this morning.  Well, to answer your question, this: 

It's Godzilla!  Mommy and Daddy are notorious fans of the 1998 Godzilla movie, mainly because it was the first movie they saw together in a theater.  The end result is a whole lot of 1998 Godzilla toys in the basement, one of which Jingle Bells decided to borrow for a ride (after putting on antlers and a bright red nose).  

It appears as if he's ready to attack the gingerbread village we made last night.  The candy is too tempting!

The day was a lazy one for Madison, a well-deserved rest.  Mommy did quite a bit of cleaning around the house, and Daddy had an amazingly full day at work.  We did have KidPak tonight, so Daddy came back to get Madison.  It was a small group night, which is rare for Madison to get to be a part of, as she generally stays home on Wednesday nights to get enough sleep.  But since there's no school tomorrow, she was there playing a relay race game with candy canes, and other fun activities.  We were learning about the Lone Star, the one that guided the Wise Men to Jesus.  And how like that star, we're supposed to shine the light towards Jesus.  It's one of our last Christmas Cowboy messages, which made for a nice service just before the holiday.

It's been cold outside the last few days, but today was a tad bit warmer, and Daddy's been feeling a tad bit better.  Only a few more sleeps until Christmas, and still plenty to do.  Hopefully we can get it all done in time.  If so, it'll be time for a well-deserved rest.  We can grab a book, and sit back in bed reading it until we fall asleep... that'll be a nice night together, when we can all turn to one another and say Happy Jólabókafló!