December 6

"St. Nicholas Day... a good day to be the son of a German mama."

In case you have not caught on, I am German. Not "born in Germany" German, but my grandmother and all my great aunts and uncles were "boat people" who came into Ellis Island in the early 1900s. I love the traditions and German culture they gave me. One of my favorite German holidays, that we have incorporated into our Christmas, is Saint Nicholas Day. The kids leave their shoes outside the door (or in our case, by the door.) and Saint Nicholas fills them with candy... or twigs if you have been a naughty child. We don't play up the whole "naughty vs. nice" thing because I am not buying good behavior for one day with some candy laden shoes. We talk about the tradition, and such, but don't use it as a threat. Just our way.  (Although when Hadji was a grump on the way home from school the 5th, Alden said, "Ooooh, Hadji! You is gonna get twigs in your Shoooooes!" Ha! Love it.
This year, the shoes were laid out carefully the night before...

 And the next morning, after St. Nicholas' visit...

Emerson and Alden were up and ready. Lincoln decided to sleep was more important. He is my child~ he loves sleep :)

Lincoln must have heard the whoops and hollers of joy, he decided to join us...  I knew he would.

Saint Nicholas brought hershey kisses and such, and a mystery lego man for each boy. Here they are, all assembled for breakfast. (I encouraged removal of candy from shoes. Stinky shoes are not a good long term storage option for edibles.)

So, we love some Saint Nicholas Day. You too can celebrate it... even if you aren't lucky enough to be German. ;)