Advent(ures) By Candlelight

On any given night this December, it would have been easy to catch our family gathered around open flames and reading Christmas themed books.

I had the bright idea that we should wrap all of our Christmas books in festive wrapping and give the honor of selecting which one to open and read by candlelight to a different child every night.
We have coupled our literary adventures with hot cocoa and when it's too hot to handle, we sip it through a straw.
One night, somebody threw a tantrum and everyone was fighting when we began. It was the night we had to choose two books because the night before we had skipped reading to go and pick out a puppy.*
When we started it felt like we were fighters between rounds nursing our wounds in our separate corners waiting for the next round to start. With the magic of family dynamics, though, glares turned quickly to smiles and grumbling turned into giggling as Robert read The Nutcracker with silly voices and exotic accents. When I finished up with Let Me Hold You Longer we were all in tears again hugging and kissing each other goodnight.
Reading books together by candlelight: its a Good Thing. (but catching your hair on fire is a very, very bad thing, Stella!!!)

*Yes, we are getting a puppy! She is coming home tomorrow. Pictures coming soon.