St. Nicholas Day 2014!

It's not a secret that I love the German culture and almost got a job and stayed there when I went for my senior trip after high school!

While I was taking German in high school we learned about St. Nicolas Day that is celebrated in German and other countries in Europe.

Basically on the night of December 5th children leave a shoe outside and that night St. Nicholas and the devil/demon (yes you read that right) come to visit. If the children have been bad the devil/demon leave them a stick in their shoe for spankings and it's like a final warning to be good or Santa won't leave you anything.

If the children are good St. Nicholas leaves coins, candy, and maybe little toys as a reward for being good and to remind them to continue to be good for Christmas.

I knew as soon as I learned about it that I was doing this tradition with my children one day and as the day grew closer and closer for St. Nicholas day this year I got more and more excited!

Ron and I wanted to get little wooden clogs and paint our children's name on one shoe each and that will be the shoe they put out each year. But with everything that went on last month I didn't get it in time. Luckily Grandma Echo came to the rescue and she had a little wooden clog that was a gift to her that she let Rondalynn use for the night!

We also couldn't put it outside because Socrates isn't big on shoes being left outside so we put it right by the back door on the inside but we knew St. Nicholas would still find it!

Rondalynn's little (borrowed) shoe set out and waiting for St. Nicholas to visit!

She must have been a good girl so far this year because no stick was left in that cute little shoe!

She got chocolate gold coins (that mommy and daddy ate since she couldn't have chocolate yet), some suckers, and a little pink light up squish ball!

Thanks to teething Rondalynn wasn't feeling 100% that morning so it took her a little bit to really look at the shoe and what was in it.

But once she saw what was in there she got all excited about the shoe and everything in it!

She tried to taste the chocolate coins before she handed them to mommy and daddy!

I can't wait until next year when she is older and may understand things a little better and hopefully will be feeling like her normal self and not be sick!