Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Happy St. Nikolaustag Day!

December 6 in Germany is St. Nikolaustag day. When I was a little girl, we would go to my Grandparent's house and waiting there for us would be a stocking filled with candy and fruit from St. Nick. It's a special memory to me because it was something unique that my family did and I can still remember the homemade stocking that my Grandma had made for me.

Side note: I just realized how neat that is. My Grandma made stockings for us kids. And my Grandpa (who was a wood craftsman in his spare time) made us all Easter baskets. How lucky we were to have such talented grandparents.

Anyway, back to Nikolaustag. I wanted to start some traditions for my own children this year so Erick and I decided we would do something special on St. Nikolaustag Day. When the girls woke up this morning, they found a letter from St. Nikolaustag as well as a little picture of him (he looks much like Santa and is actually where the legend of Santa originated from. So we told McKenna that he is Santa's brother). The letter explained that his job was to help people in need but that there are so many people that need help that he can't do it all himself. He asked that McKenna and Kyla help him. He left some canned foods under our tree and asked that we take the food to the Good Samaritan Center at church so that they can help people who are hungry. Then St. Nikolaustag said he would like us to say prayers for the people in the world who are hungry. He left each girl a candy cane as a token of thanks for helping him. And he said that he will come every year on December 6 and give them a way that they can help him with his very important job.

It is our hope that our girls will adopt characteristics of compassion and generosity as well as realizing the importance of acting with those characteristics and the importance of lifting others in prayer.

Here is a pic of them with their St. Nikolaustag treasure:


McKenna was very cute about it. She would pick up each item and would say "People will like asparagus. People will like sgetti o's." So that is our plan for the day - stop by the church to leave the food. After that we need to return some of our decorations to Target (they forgot to include some of the parts. Argh.) And then depending on the moods of the kids, we're thinking of going to Disneyland tonight. We'll see. You never know how plans will go when you have a toddler and a baby.

Have a good day everyone! Here is a picture of my little Sugar Plum Fairy that will hopefully make you smile. She dressed herself all on her own:

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is such an awesome tradition to start! I love the whole concept of it.

Don't tell me that you have season passes to DL?!! My DH and I go to DL once every 2 years. We're planning a trip at the end of February. It's a 6 hour drive for us.

Sara

Anonymous said...

LOL! That is a priceless picture of McKenna near the tree. She is like "YES! A CANDY CANE!!!!!!!!!"

Love the fairy picture!!! You could find a lot of cute kits to scrap that picture with. ;)

Your new tradition sounds so fun! I'll have to file it away for next year.

The Gilles Family said...

Oh my GOSH! I had the absolute WORST day, cried all the way home from work. But this entry made my ENTIRE WEEK!

I, too, still have Grandma's stockings and Grandpa's Easter baskets. I still put them up every year, smiling at the memories.

To see how you're starting this tradition with your kids is absolutely amazing. Mike and I celebrate St. Nick's Day, too. But the way we always did as kids...with the stockings. I am amazed at what a wonderful mom you are. Thanks for sharing that!

Anonymous said...

That's such an awesome tradition, Shannon!! Such great memories from your Grandparents too! I love how you've started this with the girls! You truly are such a great mom!
Side note-Nick was due on the 6th and everybody swore up and down that we named him for St. Nick. It really hadn't crossed our minds when we picked the name.

CUTE picture of Kenna in her fairy outfit! What a doll she is!
And I was LOL at the picture of her holding up the candy cane like she just scored big time!!

Anonymous said...

I love, love, love these traditions you are starting with your kids Shannon. So cool! And what a precious little fairy you have there! :)

Jen said...

what a great tradition! we did something for this when I took German class in high school and haven't thought much about it since then.