a squeaky Christmas.

i'm sure like many of you, we're busily prepping for Christmas activities. the hurriedness and sometimes chaos of the surrounding events can sometime seem to take foreground stage, causing the month to fly by, leaving us awashed on New Year's shore.
over the years we've tried different approaches to savor the days. different devotions, advent calendars, secret acts of kindness.. all of them were and are good, but i'm one to like new things. and if new things include creativity, thoughts of our Savior, and a bit of whimsy..count me all in.
you've all seen Elf on a Sh*lf.. and while i think it's super cute, i've never been a big fan of the fat red suited guy. sorry, don't hate me. i do, however, love the creative ideas that go along with the little elf dude... how he does silly things at night and helps to count down to the big day.
SO...after poking around the good ole' internet, i found some alternatives.. one of them being a Christmas mouse. the idea i saw had the mouse as a world traveler (which i thought a fun idea for a homeschool unit study.. tucking that idea away for future fun). the world traveler idea didn't touch on Jesus, so it was time to put my own spin on it.
here's what i came up with...
each morning, my boys receive a note from "Felix". each day he reveals something more about himself, and some days he gets a "shipment" with a piece of furniture. he began with his rocking chair..his favorite spot to sit and write. the first note explains that he used to live in a barn, but that it gets very cold during the winter.. he was wondering if he could spend the month in our warm house, asking for a simple box to make his home. he goes on to ponder how Jesus was born in a barn, and how it must have been for Him. each day, Felix asks questions that cause us to reflect and talk about Christ's birth. it's also fun, as the boys look forward to the notes and seeing what furniture has arrived.
here are some picture from the first few days..