Christmas in July, literally

Naturally, my poking around yesterday regarding the Fontanini nativity sets revealed a heretofore unknown fact about Christmas and Advent items: Christmas in July sales.

Who knew? Apparently this is the best possible time to buy your Christmas collectibles. My mother-in-law collects ceramic Christmas village pieces (can't remember the collection name offhand) and when I spoke with her yesterday she said that she would always add to her collection in July in anticipation of December since that was when you could get the best deal.

My glee was apparent as I trolled the Internet on my lunch hour. I found a Fontanini set that is slightly different from the one we saw in the Christian gift store, but still lights up and is much less expensive. AND THEN the Christmas in July sale knocked an additional 20% off the price. It comes with a stable including lit hearth, the holy family, and 2 sheep. Given how good the discount was, I was also able to procure the 3 kings and their kingly tent that Henry admired in the store. And the whole shebang included free shipping and a free angel. I'm going to tuck it away and then give it to Henry for his birthday in early November, perfect timing for Advent, and I'm *so* excited. SO EXCITED.

Henry actually brought up the nativity again last night, saying how he wants to collect all the pieces, but his favorite are the 3 kings.

*beams*

I can't wait to give it to him. It hasn't shipped yet, not that I'm in any hurry. I'm a bit of a stalker when I order things online though, I'm always dying for them to come. :)

But all of this nativity shopping got me into the Advent spirit, and before I knew it, I was on Christianbook.com's Advent page looking at Advent wreaths, since we desperately need a new one. Henry and I were discussing those as well. I could see Mike arching an amused brow as we excitedly discussed what type of Advent calendar we wanted for this year and what other devotions we should look into. I'M SO EXCITED.

I've also got some Christmas crafting planned for gifts that I'll share at a later date (needless to say, they're cute) and I'm on an email list to be notified when the Advent wreath that I've got my eye on becomes available for the year.

I'm insane.

Christmas in July

Last time we were at our local Christian book/goods store (one of Henry's favorite places; he's a total knickknack fan), Hank expressed an interest in the large display of Fontanini nativity sets. I'm sure some of you are familiar with them. The figurines are quite beautiful, but also quite expensive. This is coming from the household wherein the featured nativity set is made by Fisher Price, so you can see where I'm coming from on this. I told him that we could explore maybe getting the Holy Family starter set if he promised to take really good care of them. I mean, I think just Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are upwards of $50, so this is a much swankier set than we're used to. But I thought maybe it would be good for him to have a nice set that he could care for and take with him when he has his own home someday. And this is a set that you can build on each year. I mean, if you take a look at the sheer volume of figures they have available, with new ones coming out every year, it's mind boggling. You can have the entire ancient Middle East partying at your nativity set.

Anyway, I read something the other day about having the family nativity set be "interactive," such as by not putting Jesus in the manger until Christmas day (something to look forward to) and having the three wise men travel across the living room slowly building up to the epiphany. I thought this was a great idea and suggested it when Hank asked after the nativity set idea yesterday (because yes, he'd like to put the nativity set out now).

"How about during Advent, we put out Mary and Joseph, but keep baby Jesus hidden until Christmas eve..."

...as I turn around, I can already see Hank shaking his head, "no."

"Oh no, Mommy. I don't want to do that. Not put out baby Jesus?! No, we couldn't possibly do that."

He was quite scandalized. But very excited that I'm willing to explore getting him a nice nativity set that he can keep in his room ("We don't want Anne getting into it and breaking anything," he says with a Very Serious Expression).

Super cute.