Good morning, and happy St. Nicholas Day! This day is one that holds a fond place in my heart, and always feels like the real start of Christmas for our family. At church St. Nicholas will come, and the children will get treats and do little crafts….there will be a hint of magic in the air.
   I tried to get a head start on this magic this morning with a celebration breakfast as the sun was coming up….I spread out the gold coins (Found at World Market, and came in all sizes and values, which I liked!) and lit our little angel chime, which is a new holiday addition for us.
   For breakfast we had ‘gold coin’ pancakes and the kids got a St. Nick ornament to put on the tree.

   Since it’s a school day, this is about as festive as we could get in the little time before the rush of getting dressed and out the door. And I’m not gonna lie, there was some bickering, some wailing of ‘she touched me!’ and maybe even a tantrum on the floor by the time the sun came up. It was early, y’all. But St. Nick knows I tried 😉
   But my hope is that when they’re grown, they’ll not remember the grumblings about being tired or the nitpicking and fighting, but just remember of coming down to a candlelit breakfast, a table spread with chocolate coins, a little treat waiting and yummy food not usually had on a school morning.

   Tonight we’ll read some nice books at bed time, including “The Miracle of St. Nicholas” by Gloria Whelan, and one of my favorites— “Varenka” by Bernadette. We’ll also have plenty of chocolate coins to last us a while…..

  Wishing you a very blessed St Nicholas Day! I hope you get a special treat today as well. Take a moment for yourself today, treat yourself to something special. Or, in the spirit of the Good Bishop, take a moment to do something kind for someone else today— without them even knowing it was you!

And of course,
Take Joy!~
h