Mary's Star Path

It's feeling a little flat here, now that Christmas is over and Grammy and Grandpa and Uncle Luke have all returned home.  There is so much build up to Christmas, and then suddenly, it is over.  I have been researching traditional New Year's foods, and we will have a little family and maybe neighborhood celebration New Year's Eve, and then for Epiphany, but it is a little hard to wind down from Christmas for me.  Both will involve outdoor fires, and some kind of special dessert...

I put a picture up yet again of Mary's Star Path again, because I want to reflect on it a little bit for next year.  I did not actually put it on our nature table this year, because my kids play so much with the nature table.  Elsa generally ends up putting all the little figures up in whatever greenery or trees we have on it, and things do disappear for a while.  I really do have to steal myself up to let them do that, because I like it all neat and arranged.  But it is, after all, for them.  But I really didn't want them to play with Mary's Star Path, so we put it up on the mantlepiece, which worked well.  I might make some kings for it this year, although I haven't quite figured it out yet--do they come out and then get taken down?  I suppose we could put them on the other end of the mantlepiece and then move them over as we move toward Epiphany.  Anyway, I am basically very happy with it, and am looking forward to doing it again next year, and maybe even adding some shepherds and more animals...

And I am trying to decide what to put out for our winter nature table...something simple, I am sure, but Elsa in particular does really love it.  I am curious to see how other people are celebrating New Year's with their children.