Post-Christmas Thought

I've been thinking of the "present situation" that has become our Christmas.  How we celebrate as been weighing on my heart the past few years.  I have an idea that I'd like to implement, but before putting it into practice our whole family needs to be on board.

So my idea:

1) Feast of St. Nicholas: leave shoes out in hopes St. Nick will stop by.  Awake to little treats (candies, oranges), a new Advent/Christmas book, any other supplies needed for Advent projects.

2) Christmas Eve: Gather with extended family and open family gifts to and from one another. 

3) Christmas Day: Morning Mass, putting baby Jesus in the creche, a special breakfast together, sharing our presents for baby Jesus (see Ann for some ideas), and a day filled with family activities.

4) Epiphany: Wise Men reach the Creche, presents for Pearl and each other (3 simple gifts in honor of the gifts Jesus received)

So that is the idea right now that I'm mulling around.  This is definitely different from what our families did when we were growing up, but I think I really want to start our own traditions.  I appreciate what we've done in the past, but I have it on my heart to step out and make a few changes.  We'll see how the Lord moves in our hearts this year.