St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6)

Ever since I was little, my family has celebrated St. Nicholas Day. Mom always has said that she learned about it when we lived in Belgium. According to her it was a way to separate the commercialism of the holiday season from the true celebration of Christmas. So, on Dec 5 evening we all put out wooden shoes and St. Nicholas comes and fills them with little gifts. Almost every year one of these gifts was a hand-made ornament from my mom about something that happened in our lives that year. (Interesting that Mom and St. Nick worked so closely together...) Anyway, this year we celebrated St. Nicholas Day with Eliana. Here's what we found Dec. 6 morning.

Eliana got two shoes full of gifts... a first as far as I know. In them were a rubber duck for bathtime, two rattles for her wrists, and a pacifier (which she still refuses to use). She also got a book of nursery rhymes. Her mommy, daddy, grandma Dorine, and grandpa Russ also got gifts, but they aren't as interesting as hers.