The Slice: Nativity scene spiced up by Randy the raptor

When Joan Williams’ kids were young, her four boys took the liberty of augmenting the family’s Nativity set lineup with various action figures.

“Sometimes it would be one of the X-Men, rappelling over the side of the stable next to the angel,” she wrote. “Or Spidey would be hiding up in the loft, alongside a lamb.”

Others, including the Ghostbusters and the Terminator, also made occasional guest appearances in the holy night scene, which the boys referred to as the “Activity Set.”

But ever since “Jurassic Park,” one add-on character has been a constant – a velociraptor.

“He’s just the right size and color to blend in with the other animals,” said Williams. “When his back legs are pulled, he still, after all these years, emits a scream.

“And baby Jesus fits just perfectly in the raptor’s little front legs. Several years ago, I even made a little Santa hat and hot-glued it to his head.”

The other day, as she was unpacking the Activity Set, one now-adult son exclaimed, “Oh, here’s Randy the Christmas raptor!”

And he told his mom she ought to write to The Slice and ask about other nontraditional Christmas traditions.

Just wondering: What words are the most frequently uttered upon hearing that a vehicle did or did not pass the emissions test?

Let heaven and nature sing: I received some fun hate mail for expressing skepticism about angels.

Slice answer: Jeff Brown weighed in on the matter of whether family-newsletter Christmas cards are about to become extinct.

“Gad, I hope so,” he wrote. “Especially the ones ‘written’ by the family dog.”

Today’s Slice question: Watching TV while eating dinner is OK if …

A) You live alone. B) It’s not your family’s only time together. C) You have something good recorded. D) You ran out of things to say long ago. E) You feel like watching TV while eating dinner. F) Other.