Counting down the days

We have a new Advent calendar this year. It has 24 different people/animal cut-outs, one for each day of December leading up to Christmas. The cut-outs get hung on little nails that are positioned throughout the wooden manger. The first day is the Star of Bethlehem, which hangs on the top nail. Then, each day another "cast member" is added. At the beginning of the month, it starts off slow....a lady carrying water, a stableboy, a woman being chased by a duck, etc...all the little known characters in the nativity scene. Then, it builds up until finally Baby Jesus gets added on December 24. Now that we're less than a week from Christmas, we're getting to the good stuff. The wisemen are in position, the angels have shouted the good news to the shepherds, the camel and the cow are in place, and all we're waiting for is the main event.

Elizabeth is really getting into the Advent calendar. She spent a good hour tonight taking the pieces off and hanging them back up. Of course, the characters didn't always end back up on the right nails, but she still had a lot of fun. And, she definitely knows where the star goes.



I took advantage of the opportunity to teach her about angels tonight while we were playing with the Advent calendar. I showed her the 2 angel pieces, and told her that angels had wings and could fly. (I figured that's about all the theology she was ready for...) Then, we took turns making the angels fly through the air before they landed on their nails. When Daddy returned to the room, I asked Elizabeth to show him what she had learned. I held up the angel piece and asked her what it was, and she said "Angel"...or "aahhhoooo" to those who don't speak Toddlerese...then, I asked her what angels do, thinking she would show him how we were making them fly. Instead, she looked up at him and said, "Airplane." Hmmmm....guess she's right. I guess angels and airplanes do seem pretty similar to her. They both have wings and fly.... You have to wonder what she's thinking....I mean, why did Mary and Joseph come in on a donkey when they could have just flown in the airplane?