Feast of St. Nicholas 2015

St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra

We celebrated the feast of St. Nicholas this year by placing our shoes by the door for St. Nick to fill. Growing up, my family hung stockings on the stairway, but now as a mom myself, I prefer the idea of shoes. And here's why: 1. It's adorable to see them lined up from small to big, 2. You only need a few treats and small gifts to fill them (stockings can be WAY too roomy and take forever to fill), 3. I feel that it's more "old world" and truer to the St. Nicholas story.

This year the shoes were stuffed with clementines, chocolate santas, applesauce pouches, and assorted nuts. I was hoping to find chocolate coins, but the store only had hanukkah themed ones.

"Jolly old St. Nicholas, lend your ear this way..."

After Sunday Mass and naps, we took the girls to a local tree farm. It was overcast that afternoon which gave the tree fields a lovely haze. This was a first for our family, we'd never cut our own tree before. I hope we come again next year and make it a family tradition.

As my husband searched the grove of firs for the perfect Tannenbaum, I hastened to keep up with our adventurous 2 year old who was scampering between the rows.

At last, with a final walk through the Cannan tree field, we found ours. A nice 7 footer, evenly balanced with rich green color. Hubby cut it down and carried it up the hill to our van. We enjoyed apple juice and cookies at the farm before heading back home.

This was the only time she stayed still

We ended our day with coloring and reading some Advent themed books. I was delighted to find this jolly St. Nick page on www.HugoLescargot.com. There was also a St. Lucy page that I'm saving for next week when we celebrate her feast day. I gotta point out the awesomeness of this St. Nicholas; he is portrayed with a miter, croiser and stole. Catholic win!

Coloring isn't just for kids, folks. ;)

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