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Bella
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I am wondering what you do?
Last year, we got new slippers for the dc(our floors are freezing!!!), and filled them with a little candy,and a homemade bookmark....it had a St.Nicholas prayer printed on it,with a pretty candy cane border-then laminated it,punched it with hole puncher, and tied a red ribbon thru it. We set them by the front door,and the dc loved them! We read our little collection of St.Nick books,and had hot cocoa.( I think DH printed out a coloring sheet for our DS.)
I could do the same again...or I could peruse an idea, from one of you clever,faithful Ladies!  
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Bella
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JodieLyn
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well our church's christmas bazaar is that day, my oldest daughter and myself (so also the baby) will be there pretty much from 9-3 and maybe longer..
we'll set out boots.. hiking or rain boots or snow boots and they get some little things in those and a group dvd..
I have a St. Nicholas cookie stamp that we were given that I was hoping to use.. maybe we'll have to make the cookies the day before. 
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guitarnan
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We do one small gift per child - usually a book - and one candy treat. They set out shoes the night before. When they were younger we spent the whole school day reading Christmas books (Tomie de Paola books, etc.) and doing St. Nicholas crafts, but now we're kind of stuck with the high school schedule. This year Dec. 6 is a Saturday, though - ds will help his Boy Scout troop set up a parish Nativity scene that morning, but that's all we have planned. Maybe we'll "test drive" some recipes!
(We also do La Befana - Epiphany - in a similar fashion in January, so our Christmas gift budget includes those two items.)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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KackyK
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I love this day...even when I procrastinate and end up making the cookies at midnight the night before.
I got a St. Nick cookie cutter from the St. Nick Center online. So I make gingerbread St. Nick cookies and decorate them so they look just like the cookies in "The Baker's Dozen" book.
Each child gets a cookie, next to their shoe . In the shoe, is a baggie of chocolate coins, a new toothbrush and a new book (again, next to the shoe!). We all watch the St. Nick CCC video that morning and read some St. Nick books throughout the day.
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joann10
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There is no other place as great as this to find St Nicholas ideas than at this site.
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Mary G
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St. Nick is a big fave round here! We usually do some chocolate coins and a book (usually one they're collecting -- like Maggie will get an Elsa Beskow this year).
This year we're also doing the "Santa Letter" in the shoe ... since we're trying to impress on the kids that Santa is St. Nick ... we figure they might as well write directly to him! So they'll put their letters (which they'll work hard on all work copying out as neatly as possible!) in their shoe on Friday night and get treats with the letter gone on Sat.
I love that St. Nick is on a Saturday this year ... and next week is St. Lucy so Maggie gets to wear her costume twice that day -- once as St. Lucy (without burning candles -- I'm a wimp) and once as an Angel in the homeschool drama play!
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MaryG
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Bella
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Oh my ,Joann!!  So much, so rich...in everything! I want, I want, I want!  Thank you! 
Kacky- I love,love The Bakers Dozen!! I would love to have one of his cookies!! 
Nancy,I may "test drive" some recipes,too!
I want to read more on that site,and maybe do some giving as a family. Hmm....
Keep sharing....
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Bella
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Bella
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| Posted: Dec 01 2008 at 9:37pm | IP Logged
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Oh Mary! I am liking this idea of a Santa letter in the shoe. I'll have to run that one by DH. Thank you!
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Bella
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KackyK
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I like the Santa letter Mary.
By the way, your Maggie has great handwriting...shouldn't be too hard for her to get that copywork down perfect...tell her I said so
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KackyK
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MaryM
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Please ... anyone who is going to be posting here or on blogs about great ideas having to do with food traditions and celebrations, consider submitting your links or ideas for the From Thy Bounty fair at Catholic Cuisine on Thursday. Bella, this Bounty of St. Nicholas will be a good place to get ideas.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Michaela
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Bella wrote:
| I am wondering what you do? |
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Celebrating St. Nicholas Day is very new to us.
We enjoy the basic fun everyone has on this day by putting out shoes and putting in treats.
Mary, thank you for the idea of putting a letter in the shoe.
I hope to continue our "tradition" of giving in the spirit of St. Nicholas to an unsusupecting person, and expecting nothing in return.
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Michaela
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Maria B.
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We fill the kids shoes with a Christmas ornament each year. By the time they leave home, they will have a collection of their own ornaments for their very own Christmas tree in their first new home. I posted more about it on my blog
Happy St. Nicholas Day!
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Maria in VA
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Mary G
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KackyK wrote:
I like the Santa letter Mary.
By the way, your Maggie has great handwriting...shouldn't be too hard for her to get that copywork down perfect...tell her I said so |
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You are soooooo sweet! She was the first done of the 3! She went up in her room and just worked and worked until it was perfect.
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MaryG
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Mary G
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MaryM wrote:
| Please ... anyone who is going to be posting here or on blogs about great ideas having to do with food traditions and celebrations, consider submitting your links or ideas for the From Thy Bounty fair at Catholic Cuisine on Thursday. Bella, this Bounty of St. Nicholas will be a good place to get ideas. |
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MaryM .... I soooooo tried to have a post about St. Nick but just didn't get to it early! What with your suggestion about origami for St. Francis Xavier and our love of icons and St. John Damascene's feast ... we just couldn't worry about St. Nick ...
Now if the due date had been tomorrow ....
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MaryG
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CathinCoffeland
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Hey I just finished making our gluten free cookie dough!
Dh was wrestling the dc so I took advantage. I still might be up until midnight on friday if turns out to be a flop- you never know with gf.
We always get new saint nick book -this year it is -The Gift from Saint Nicholas by Dorothea Lachner .
I keep a eye out year round at the used book store and have enough hidden away for at least the next three years.
We also take candycanes/liturgical calendars to our friends and candycanes and a st. nick holycard to the neighbors.
Dd was just asking about doing a letter but I wasnt sure how to approach that- I like your ideas!
St. Nick will hang our empty stockings out next to our treats (orange, candycane, cookies and an onion for a gentle warning) to collect "sacrifice straw" for the rest of advent. (oops I guess id better make a stocking for dd who is not the baby anymore  )
He will fill them with thank you treats from the Christ Child on Chritmas morning.
Enjoy your plans and the day!
Maggie
BTW i did not meet another Maggie until I was 16 yrs old- I love seeing all your dd's named Maggie!
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donnalynn
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Mary G wrote:
St. Nick is a big fave round here! We usually do some chocolate coins and a book (usually one they're collecting -- like Maggie will get an Elsa Beskow this year).
This year we're also doing the "Santa Letter" in the shoe ... since we're trying to impress on the kids that Santa is St. Nick ... we figure they might as well write directly to him! So they'll put their letters (which they'll work hard on all work copying out as neatly as possible!) in their shoe on Friday night and get treats with the letter gone on Sat.
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We have always done our letter to Santa on St. Nicholas Eve - we put the letters in our shoes but St. Nicholas drops our letters off to Santa on his way back to the starry heavens.
It has just never made sense to me that Santa Claus and St. Nicholas are the same so I've kept them separate. Most of my dh's family is very secular - very Santa focused - so instead trying to fit Santa into a true religious depiction of St. Nicholas - I feel I am able to use the St. Nicholas stories in a more meaningful way by keeping the two apart.
New for us this year is this CD which is amazing! And of course- I heard about it on these boards first.
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Angi
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I was teaching about Saints, to my first grade CCD students. I mentioned St. Nick, and someone else mentioned Santa. I had a first grader ask me how St Nick could be Santa, since saints are dead and in heaven, and obviously Santa is not dead!
Talk about being put on the spot.
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hereinantwerp
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We spent 5 years in the Netherlands/Belgium where this was the big day :)
What I usually do at home is very simple, like make cookies (usually gingerbread), and read aloud a book about the real Saint Nicholas. This year is so busy, we have a scouting event and an international students party on the same day . But I'm still thinking of staying home and making cookies with the younger ones---since I need to make cookies for upcoming things anyway!!
In the past we have made gingerbread cookies and passed them out to neighbors with a little card about Saint Nicholas, and another time we invited some neighbor kids over to celebrate and decorate gingerbread men.
In germany they pass out little "bread" men with a little clay pipe--just plain bread, sometimes with frosting to outline a vest or clothing, raisin eyes, etc. but not too sweet. This is a fun and easy idea I might do if I have energy tonight, or we could read a story over lunch with these tomorrow.
In Holland St. Nicholas eve (tonight!) is THE present giving night for families. Adults sometimes have a great time creating and giving each other "joke" presents accompanied with a little homemade verse--usually humorous. Very much a "party" atmosphere, whereas christmas day was more for worship (traditionally--but things are changing there as stores push commercialism and presents).
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Bella
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Ladies,I want to say,"Thank you!"for all of the wonderful ideas and the links!  (I really like the new ornament idea,too!)
In addition to what we have done in the past, we had the DC write Santa letters tonight ,and we are going to bake some kind of ginger bread/cookie thingy tomorrow,and take it to a friend who is very ill.
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Bella
Wife and Mom to my sweeties!
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Celebrating St. Nicholas ideas....
