I have picked up many a customs and traditions along my life as a nomad. One of these is St. Nikolaus, from my time living in Germany. On the Eve of December 5th, children put out a boot or shoe outside of their front door. In the morning the children find that St. Nikolaus has filled it up with gifts and sweets after checking to see if the children were ‘good, polite, and helpful the last year’. The boys woke me up as they were opening up their goodies from their shoes. There were candy canes, lego figures, toy airplanes, and a helicopter. It is a nice tradition I have enjoyed thus far with my kids. ‘Morty the Moose’ left some moose paper for the boys to make paper chains with today. They enjoyed the craft and we will have fun growing the chain through out the month.
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| Maddox holding the candy and toys left in his shoe. |
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| St. Nicholas came and filled the boys shoes with candy and small toys. |
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| Crumpets with jam and clotted cream |
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| Ronan and Maddox at school. |
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| Lamb with sweet potatoes and roasted veggies. |
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| Step One: Folding the wrapping paper in strips. |
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| Step 2: Cut along the fold to create long strips. |
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| Step 3: Cutting into smaller strips |
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| Step 4: Fold strips into loops and tape to secure. Add another strip into the loop and repeat. |
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| Step 5: Hang up on the wall |
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| Our hanging decoration. |
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| Our Polar Express Christmas bells from Christmas 2008 |
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| Bows, cookie cutters, bells, ornaments, and lights. |
Today was the much awaited birthday party for my newly seven year old, Ronan. He loves Indiana Jones. We went to a leisure centre for his birthday party and all the kids got to play in the soft play area which had two stories. Afterwards we had an english tea with a lot of canapes and treats. At the parties in England you light the cake, but send pieces home instead with the guests. You also do not open presents until you get home. The boys had a great time!
