Joseph's Technicolor Stable

Miss "Deck the Halls" a.k.a. Elle Robinson is in full crafting mode. Every morning I hear her in her bedroom switching on the light and busy before any of the rest of us are up. When I finally come to, she shows me her new creation -- made of collected bits of string and shiny paper, or a feather from an old Indian headband, or a piece of fabric that Ava ripped off of a barbie skirt, along with a saved sticker, etc. Something to hang up for Christmas.

Elle had made the 'stick house' with her dad as a Saturday project she dreamed up a few weeks ago with sticks she carried home from the park. She had painted walls and a roof -- and we decided it would make a great stable. A few days later she was cutting strips of paper... she saved them in a pile I was so tempted to throw away! But when I asked what they were for -- she said "It's hay for the stable!" So we finally made the figures (toilet paper rolls!) (Aside: after we made the Shepard and the angel and Mary and Joseph, the girls rushed them off to play -- and I could hear from the other room Ava's angel asking the Shepard if he would marry her? He said yes.)




And here it is. Isn't it colorful? We found this place for it where the Angel can fly from the lamp and the star can be lit from behind. The girls are thrilled with it. Our tree is up (OK, so it looks like a branch) and the girls are in love with that too! Each night we read our stories and scriptures by it, and it is as cheery as can be. Oh, to be like a child and see the beauty of the shiny paper and bits of string catching the light on a plastic tree -- more beautiful because they helped in the creation. As Elle sat an looked at the tree the night we decorated it, she said with a sigh "Oh Mama, I think this is the most beautiful tree in the whole world. I love Christmas. It just really makes me think of Jesus." With tears in my eyes, I whole-heartedly agreed.