Wandering Wisemen

Wandering Wise Men.....
So I have never liked Elf on the Shelf (yeah I know, I am like the only one left....) it's not the act of having to move the guy around each night or trying to be "that" pinterest parent who comes up with the most amazing scenarios for Elfie.... it's just the fear the kids have of misbehaving in front of Elfie lest he runs and tells Santa.... hmmm... in this time of CHRISTmas shouldn't the daily focus be on keeping Christ in Christmas and that we do good things and act justly because we love Jesus? Being good should be an outpouring of our Love for Christ and others and not a reaction to fear of being outed to a fictitious humanitarian! Now don't get me wrong, i like St. Nicholas and all he stands for, his kindness and generosity to others is a serious inspiration but PALES in comparison to the kindness and generosity of our Lord and Savior! 
    SO, this year instead of caving in to Elfie, I found some discarded Ken dolls (and one Flynn Ryder!) from a local thrift shop, and sewed some super simple robes and turbans! I kept 3 and sent 3 to some AWESOME friends!  (don't freak, I know there was more than 3 wise men but in keeping with 3 gifts, I am going with 3 wise men!) Anyways, we started a little late but hey, better late than never! So on the First day of the Journey, my kids found their new friends roasting marshmallows on the stove (don't mind my stained stove top!)... today's challenge was to create maps for our new friends and assign them names.... now my kids are 8 and 6 and even though they are amazing, their naming assignments were a little off... so this year we are stuck with "Ocean Waves", "Gold Rainbow", and "Green Grass".... apparently these are names that men from the East would have had! 
My awesome friend Anja had her Wise Men arrive on a rocking horse, and my other amazing friend Roxanne, well her husband hid the wise men among the Nutcrackers! 

Each day the Wise Men will journey throughout the house getting into mischief and adventures, yet unlike Elfie, my kids can play with their Wise Men and participate in the Christmas story. As the Wise men brought gifts to the Christ child, my kids are doing small business projects to raise money to buy gifts through the World Vision catalog. My son chose clean water in Africa for a family, and my daughter is raising money for a hutch of rabbits for a family in South America! I just want to teach the kids that gifts are not bad, but that before we open our gifts, we need to spend this month preparing gifts for the King! Would love to hear your ideas for the Wise Men or other ways of keeping Christ in Christmas!-  April