St. Nicholas Eve/Day!

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there." -Clement C. Moore

Not so much stockings, but shoes!!!

Ever heard of "St. Nicholas Day?" If you haven't, don't be alarmed, you are not alone. St. Nicholas Day is a tradition in a lot of European countries from which David and I have heritage from, such as Ireland, Germany, and some of the Scandinavian countries. When we have children, we really want to start a lot of traditions with them handed down from our families, American traditions, as well as traditions from the countries of which our ancestors are descended. St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) is one of those traditions! It goes like this - on St. Nicholas Eve (December 5th), children leave their shoes out by the fireplace, along with a note for Saint Nicholas. St. Nick makes sort of a "preliminary" Christmas visit this night - coming in on a white horse this evening instead of a reindeer (I guess the reindeer are resting up for Christmas Eve). So it's crucial to leave a carrot as well to make the horse happy. For the good boys and girls, St. Nick will come during the night and fill their shoes with candy, nuts, and other treats. He also will leave a bundle of switches, though, just as a warning that one should continue to be good year round.

So, we've really been looking forward to letting our children participate in this one day. But, seeing as how we don't have kids yet, we figured, why wait to celebrate this day? Who says St. Nick will only come to kids?

So on the evening of the 5th, before bed, we very carefully put out our shoes (actually our slippers) by the fireplace in our den...


And left St. Nick a nice note on the hearth...


And of course, a carrot for his white horse was essential. There are a lot of treats to carry around, and that horse must get tired!


The next morning, when we woke up to go to work, we discovered it worked! St. Nick came!!! We got cookies, chocolate, candy canes, M&Ms, and even Chick-fil-a coupons!!!






Instead of switches, St. Nick left us a ruler with the "Golden Rule" written on it...


What a fun way to start the week!


Yes, David and I know we may be cheesy. But we get a lot of enjoyment out of life, and I think we have more fun together than just about any two people I know. :-)

Hope everyone had a great St. Nicholas Day!!!