We Four Kings of Orient Are...

Those members of my family who know of my unending quest for the perfect light up yard nativity scene will be happy to know of my big find yesterday.

First, for you who don't know me well enough yet to be aware of my many eccentricities, a bit of background. Since approximately 1999, I've been "shopping" for a blow mold nativity scene to put in my yard during the holiday season. The problem is, I'm picky. I don't want to settle for just any set. One of my pet peeves is that many of the newer sets have Mary holding baby Jesus as one figure. I don't really care too much about anything other than two important factors:

1. I want the figures to be at least three feet high.
2. I want a Mary not holding Baby Jesus - I plan to put my set up early, and we all know that Baby Jesus shouldn't arrive on scene until the big day. I want my boys and I to build a manger, complete with hay, that can welcome a SEPARATE (not attached to Mary) Jesus on Christmas morning.

I'm not sure why this quest has been so difficult. I live in a relatively large and very suburban town with lots of big box stores. I have friends in several cities involved in the quest, and even two very devoted E-Bayers watching for me!

So yesterday, Greg and I were out shopping and we ran across a clearance on blow mold nativities at our local hardware store. Sadly, the set of three pieces was not up to par, but was extremely cheap.

Piece 1 - The three wise men, bearing gifts. One looks strangely like Santa Clause.
Piece 2 - Assorted shepherds, with one oversized camel and one undersized donkey.
Piece 3 - The Holy Family - Of course, Mary is lovingly holding the Baby Jesus.

Greg and I, after much debate, decided to purchase the entire set, largely due to the very cheap price and the fact that I felt guilty leaving Baby Jesus in the clearance section. It is now after Christmas, so I guess it's ok for this year that He is attached to His Mommy.

Here's where the story gets crazy. Amidst the remains of these cheap blow molds, we found one odd man out - King Gaspar. (You can find K.G. in the picture above - he's the tallest king). None of the rest of the characters, just King Gaspar. We found the very elderly gentleman working in this particular department and inquired about the possibility of ordering the other figures, but alas, no go. The ordering guy recently quit to go to work for Home Depot. Strangely, no other figures from the TPI set that Gaspar is in were shipped to the store - just Gaspar. As a result of the fact that no one wants to buy one king, Gaspar was now on big time sale.

So he went into the cart too.

So do the math - we now have a total of four large plastic figures, including four kings. We've decided that the one king in Piece #1 is now to be called Santa Clause king. Now we just need to find the remaining 16 pieces that go with Gaspar, and we will then have two complete Outside Light Up Nativity sets...in the mean time, we have one set, with four kings. (or three kings, and a clause).

But wait, there's more....

Owing to the fact that we did not have the proper light bulbs, the pieces never made it out of the garage last night. I forgot about them, until later in the evening.

Son number one, the teenager, had some friends over and we had "garage band" night. Six teens, pizza, Pepsi and lots of loud music. I was sequestered in the living room, but Adam called me out to show me something in the garage.

With the band loudly playing a Rolling Stones tune, Adam pointed to the "audience". He had assembled all members of the new oversized plastic tribe in a line, adoringly staring at the garage band. The members of the band, agreeing they need to practice in front of an audience to get ready for their upcoming performance at the school talent show, had left Mary, Jesus, Joseph and company in their front row places. It was a surreal site, one you'll only find in a Catholic garage - a bunch of fourteen year olds playing "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" with an audience of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, shepherds, camels, sheep, and FOUR WISE MEN...

I love my life! And I think we're ready for Epiphany at the Hendey household!

p.s. If you know of anywhere that I can buy a few more kings, email me at Lisa@catholicmom.com