Christmas Traditions--

I wanted to talk about some of the traditions we do in our family, I already talked about one--Advent. Now to talk about another tradition the Carlson Family does yearly. :D I'm a little behind on this one as we did it a few days ago, but it's all the same when you are talking about it, right?

The first tradition that we do by the date is St. Nicholas day. Every December 5th we read a chapter from "Family Activities for the Christmas Season" on St. Nicholas, and then before the kids go to bed they put out their shoes, rather theirs and everyone else. lol

The following morning they wake up to find that "St. Nicholas" has left them a gift in their shoes. And they all know what to expect, Candy coins, orange and sometimes a cookie. They might get more and they might get less it all depends. :D

"Saint Nicholas (270 - 7 December 346) is the common name for Nicholas of Myra, a saint and Bishop of Myra...
In his most famous exploit however, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them...Hearing of the poor man's plight, Nicholas decided to help him but being too modest to help the man in public, (or to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man's house." (Pulled from Wikipedia).

Of course there is the coal in the shoe or black mark on the arm that goes with all the stories, and sometimes we do them sometimes we don't all depends on who feels like being up when everyone else is asleep and writing on people. :D This year it was Tim with a green marker since he couldn't find a black one. lol

Like all legends there are different stories and different ways to celebrate. This is the way we've done it for years (or my whole life). We used to each put out a set of shoes, but since that got to be way to messy we've moved to a shoe a person and that does include the parents and any other family members or friends visiting when we do it. :D