St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas Day takes place on December 6 each year. This holiday is widely celebrated in Europe. St. Nicholas Day is an honor of the saint and not specifically tied to Christmas, although Santa Clause is derived from St. Nick.

My Father went to Germany on his mission and brought (well you really can't bring it) home this tradition of St. Nicholas. We actually didn't celebrate it on the 6th because it was too hard to remember, so we celebrated it on the first weekend in December. And now that I have a family we celebrate it. We even celebrated it before we had kids, but now that we have children it's much more fun. Most things that you enjoyed when you were a kid are more fun once you have kids of your own.

I found this little blurb about how to celebrate St. Nicholas Day.

Instructions

Step 1: The night before St. Nicholas Day, tell your family about the legend of St. Nicholas. Historically, St. Nicholas was the Christian bishop of Myra, a Roman province in present-day Turkey. One of the most famous legends holds that he saved the dignity of three young women by leaving a bag of gold for each one, possibly by dropping them down a chimney, where one fell into a stocking hung to dry.

Step 2: Have children (and adults) leave their empty shoes outside their bedroom doors when they go to bed on the evening of December 5th

Step 3: Fill shoes with small gifts, toys, candy and coins (edible coins wrapped in the gold foil are popular in Germany). Little gifts including something religious, are the custom.

Step 4: Enjoy a delightful morning as children relish their new gifts from St. Nicholas. Make a festive breakfast and have some family time and Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Well we talk about St. Nicholas and this year I found some cute little ceramic stockings, that a battery operated tea-light candle sits inside from Tai Pan Trading. (I should have taken a picture of them because they are so cute...there's always next year.) So we "lit" the candles and left them by the door in hopes that St. Nicholas would come. In our family tradition St. Nicholas brings you a new pair of shoes. Inside the shoes you get an ornament for the Christmas tree and candy. (That would be Carters favorite part.)

So here's the pictures of what St. Nicholas brought:

The kids boots filled...or should I say overflowing. Madison got 2 soccer ball ornaments, Carter got a football and a basketball ornament, and McKinley got a snowman ornament. Most of McKinley's candy was eaten, not by her, but I bet you only need one guess as to who ate it

And Mom and Dad's shoes.

It's fun having different traditions for different holidays. I'm glad we have this one it reminds me of my father, and the history there. Anyway....

Since we were completely slacking (beyond busy) during December. We'll try to catch up with all that happened so be prepared for many more posts to come. Till the next post...