'twas the night before Christmas...

This year, I felt the personal itch to start a few traditions for our family. There are so many great ideas out there, but there were a few in particular that caught my attention. A friend of mine told me that when she was little, they would eat Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight, and would only use candles for the remainder of that evening; a way to get into the spirit of Christmas. I loved this idea. Of course, I couldn't stop thinking about how I could make this work for my kids. On top of it all, I didn't want them to know ahead of time what I was doing. Over the course of a couple of weeks, I gathered items here and there and put together a tote that the kids, Sean, and my dad took on their "Shepherd adventure."

         

 Inside the tote were: 

-two (very plain) shepherds costumes 

-a 15-minute video about the birth of Christ 

-a treasure map 

-very condensed notes about what they would be doing 

 Once they got into the van, they were instructed to open the envelope that had my notes. They were to first drive to a place that had a hidden treasure, which they needed to find and bring back to give to baby Jesus. Inside the treasure box were papers that had "eternal families" "a testimony of our Savior" "being an example to others" "helping those in need" and other small "gifts." I hid the box about 20 minutes away from the house, because while they were out doing this, I was getting the dinner table ready to look like this:

 

I wanted the table to look like they were eating back in the day of Christ. My mom and I made my grandmother's couscous recipe. We also put out fruit and nuts, cheese, flat bread and hummus to go with the meal. It definitely got ME into the Spirit of Christmas! On the way home from finding the treasure box, I instructed them to watch a video about the birth of Christ. Sean said that they were completely quiet while watching the movie. Eliza kept saying "It's baby Jesus' mommy!" :)

 The last thing they needed to do was get changed into the shepherd costumes. They were then instructed to knock on the door three times. I put on a scarf to play along, and I led the kids through the kitchen and to the dining room so they could see all of the candles and the table. They LOVED it. I told them to sit on the couch until they go further instructions. My mom dressed up as an angel and came into the room and said "baby Jesus was born!" and told them that if they wanted to find him, they needed to follow the star! My mom had a glitter gold star and a flashlight and led them down in the basement to "look" for baby Jesus. They couldn't find him. Then, they knocked on the first bedroom door, where my dad answered and told them that baby Jesus wasn't there either. The knocked on the second door, where Sean answered and told them baby Jesus wasn't there. And then, I answered the last door and asked the kids what they were looking for. "We're looking for the baby Jesus!"

 

 We then brought baby Jesus down to dinner with us, and gave him our "treasure box." We ate our food by candlelight. It was such a great experience for our entire family. The kids then opened one present, which was "The Polar Express" book, and read it to them and kissed them goodnight.