One of my little pet projects this year is to build a stable for an outdoor Nativity scene for Christmas. After going all out for many Halloweens I realized last year that our Christmas display was lacking. Sure, we had plenty of icicle lights dangling from the eaves, candy canes along the bushes, a lit up wreath on the chimney, and rope lights lining the walkway, but where was Jesus? I mean, that's what Christmas is all about right? Exactly. So this year I'll be representing in full effect. Did I just type that? Ugh. The point being we will have a nice Nativity scene out front this year, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, all nestled in a little wooden stable that I'm building. I plan to suspend the angel above them and above the angel there will be a shining star. It should rock.
Belle has been helping me in the backyard as I piece this puppy together. Mostly she just hangs out with the Holy Family while I measure, cut, and hammer pieces together. The past few days she's been taking care of baby Jesus by gathering up straw and piling on top of him to keep him warm. When she's done with that she'll dance around, clapping her hands and singing, in order to entertain him. All the while telling me: "Look Daddy, baby Jesus is laughing!" It's pretty darn cute. The baby statue does look like he's laughing though.
Building a stable means many trips to Home Depot. Most of the wood I had or got from my parents' house, but I still needed some additional pieces and hardware to put it all together. Belle's not a big fan of Home Depot. There are many reasons no doubt, but the main one is that she's always stuck in the shopping cart. That gets old fast. The first trip I had to bribe her with a treat if she behaved. She behaved, and got her treat. The second trip she complained before we even left the house. So I convinced her by explaining that baby Jesus' house doesn't have a roof and if it rains he's going to get wet. She agreed to go, but I still had to bribe her with a trip to the park afterwards. She behaved, we went to the park, and baby Jesus now has a roof. So now it's all put together but I still want to add some tree branches to the top of the roof to make it look a bit more rustic. I'm not sure if that's going to work out or not, but we'll see. Either way, we'll be the first Nativity scene on the street... our block... maybe even in Westchester. Hopefully we start a trend.
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