Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas!
Another St. Nicholas Day has come and gone at our home. And oh what an exciting day it was, as always!
The two oldest could hardly bear to climb into bed the night before -- they kept getting up to wander downstairs and see if St. Nicholas had arrived yet. It was like a mini-Christmas Eve, the giddiness and joy the day brought out of them.
The morning of, we had to hold the boys back until their sister was awake and ready to go downstairs. Then it was a flurry of excitement and activity as candies were discovered, new books leafed through, and obscene amounts of chocolate were eaten in lieu of breakfast before I shuttled them out the door to school.
Oops.
This year, we made little treat bags with gold coins for their classmates.
Noah's teacher was impressed enough to write a thank-you note in his agenda for us doing that. I was so pleased.
When they got home, I had gingerbreads baked and icing made and we got down to business of decorating a plethora of cookies. I wish I had taken a picture of the cookie-art they produced! The boys made quite adorable, and impressive gingerbread Christmas trees, stars and boys. Anna, adorably enough, squeezed icing from her piping bag onto the same cookie for about 10 minutes straight. It was a rock-hard layer of icing, almost half an inch thick, after she was finished with it.
I think my favourite part of this feast day is the fun and simplicity of it. A few candies and some new books, and you'd think they had won the lottery.
What was especially sweet to me was how well each child remembered the previous years; it doesn't take long for tradition to take hold in their hearts, and it is so, so dear to behold.
******
Now we are deep into Advent. Tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday, Monday is Patrick's birthday and then the "real" flurry begins: baking, wrapping gifts, Christmas concerts at school (where my oldest will be St. Joseph for his class' Nativity play!), plus the 'ordinary time' life of a tremendous amount of laundry, plus cooking three squares a day. It's... full.
But I'm hesitant to use the word "busy." Most of our shopping was either done online or at a few local stores here, so no dreaded trips to the mall, we'll have a quiet Christmas Day just with the six of us here, and we don't do much decorating because although I love Christmas decorations like a child loves candy, I'm too lazy or disorganized, or shall we say "practical" to be bothered hauling out bin after bin of decorations only to put it all away a month later. That makes me feel so, so tired. I prefer "consumable" ornaments -- boughs we cut ourselves, homemade paper snowflakes the kids cut so sweetly, and that sort of thing.
I like that our Christmas is quiet. I mean, we tend to generate enough noise as it is.
The two oldest could hardly bear to climb into bed the night before -- they kept getting up to wander downstairs and see if St. Nicholas had arrived yet. It was like a mini-Christmas Eve, the giddiness and joy the day brought out of them.
The morning of, we had to hold the boys back until their sister was awake and ready to go downstairs. Then it was a flurry of excitement and activity as candies were discovered, new books leafed through, and obscene amounts of chocolate were eaten in lieu of breakfast before I shuttled them out the door to school.
Oops.
Engrossed in Kinder egg toy construction
This year, we made little treat bags with gold coins for their classmates.
Blurry photos I snagged literally right before they left for school
Noah's teacher was impressed enough to write a thank-you note in his agenda for us doing that. I was so pleased.
When they got home, I had gingerbreads baked and icing made and we got down to business of decorating a plethora of cookies. I wish I had taken a picture of the cookie-art they produced! The boys made quite adorable, and impressive gingerbread Christmas trees, stars and boys. Anna, adorably enough, squeezed icing from her piping bag onto the same cookie for about 10 minutes straight. It was a rock-hard layer of icing, almost half an inch thick, after she was finished with it.
I think my favourite part of this feast day is the fun and simplicity of it. A few candies and some new books, and you'd think they had won the lottery.
What was especially sweet to me was how well each child remembered the previous years; it doesn't take long for tradition to take hold in their hearts, and it is so, so dear to behold.
******
Now we are deep into Advent. Tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday, Monday is Patrick's birthday and then the "real" flurry begins: baking, wrapping gifts, Christmas concerts at school (where my oldest will be St. Joseph for his class' Nativity play!), plus the 'ordinary time' life of a tremendous amount of laundry, plus cooking three squares a day. It's... full.
But I'm hesitant to use the word "busy." Most of our shopping was either done online or at a few local stores here, so no dreaded trips to the mall, we'll have a quiet Christmas Day just with the six of us here, and we don't do much decorating because although I love Christmas decorations like a child loves candy, I'm too lazy or disorganized, or shall we say "practical" to be bothered hauling out bin after bin of decorations only to put it all away a month later. That makes me feel so, so tired. I prefer "consumable" ornaments -- boughs we cut ourselves, homemade paper snowflakes the kids cut so sweetly, and that sort of thing.
I like that our Christmas is quiet. I mean, we tend to generate enough noise as it is.
Hannah has taken over decorating completely. I don't have to do anything! She is in the process of transforming the front room and went Christmas tree shopping last night with Dave. She started putting out the crèche last night and I thought, "oh, I completely forgot about the crèche. Oops." I am so impressed with your st. Nick loot bags - so awesome and so enriching of the classroom. Here's to much, much more!
ReplyDeleteI am actually tempted to hire Hannah to do this for me! And maybe do a seasonal craft with the kids while i nap. If she can pull that off, and I'm pretty certain she can, she's basically Mary Poppins.
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