In the Spirit of St. Nicholas Day ...

we did something new and anonymous to share with the neighborhood. The idea came from stnicholascenter.org. And I just realized we did not take a picture for me to upload :( Ahh well, you're imaginations will just have to be used for this one :)

I went shopping for a few St. Nicholas Day treats for the children and for a few items to make a basket for a family in the neighborhood. Then while at the library I printed out a little story about St. Nicholas. At dinner I brought out all of the supplies much to the children's confusion as nothing is ever at the table except prayer books, the Bible, devotions and study guides. This is a time that we keep focused on the family which is kept focused on our Lord.

With all of the children looking expectantly toward me with wide eyes (yes, even the teenagers!), I explained that we were going to make a small basket for a family in the neighborhood and then ... play ding-dong ditch! That got their attention!! LOL After they calmed back down I explained that this was similar to how many in the neighborhood play "You've been boo'ed!" by placing a note and bag of candy on someone's porch. Only we were spreading the good cheer of St. Nicholas!

I pulled the small basket I had found in front of me and then the paper I had printed and read the story of St. Nicholas and the instructions to the next family to hang the snowflake (that we were going to make after dinner) on their door or mailbox if the door was hard to see from the road, make a small basket of goodies for another family in the neighborhood with a copy of the story and instructions in their basket, and leave it for them to find the next evening. The kids all thought this was grand fun and had so much fun helping me put the basket together and making snowflakes ... we only needed one snowflake but couldn't decide which to put in the basket so we put them all and will let the family choose which to use!

After we made the basket ~ which had a loaf of bread, some bath gels for the little girls of the house, some butter toffee covered peanuts all wrapped up in pretty wrap and ribbon, some hot chocolate for the little girls, our story and instruction sheet, the snowflakes, and a bottle of sparkling cranberry juice (mainly for the grown-ups) to sit beside the basket - we all bundled up (cause it's still in the low 20's/upper teens here) and headed out the door. We all walked down to the neighbor's house. DD12 and DS10 took the goodies up to the porch while the rest of us hid behind the bushes at the street ... the two children tip-toed up on the porch, put the goodies down, rang the doorbell and RAN! Then we all waited, anxiously shivering, for them to discover our gifts :) It took a little bit but finally Mr. Neighbor came to the door, looked around, looked down, saw the gifts, looked around again, slowly picked up the basket and bottle, looked around again, and turned to go inside. We waited another 3-4 minutes before I finally gave the go-ahead for the youngers to run back home. The older girls and I walked as we're known to do :)

I have to say I'm pretty impressed. I honestly didn't think my children could stay quiet for that long ... or still! The older girls actually want to make a couple more baskets and give to a couple of other families in the neighborhood since it is so close to Western Christmas - therefore not a lot of time to spread the cheer. We just might do that. As it might not sound like all that much but it was fun. I can't wait to start this next year - the day after Thanksgiving AND I want to include more details about Saint Nicholas in the story, so I'll need to work on that.

Tomorrow we're making (yes, I know a little late, but I just discovered it!) a 40-day Advent calendar! I'm so excited about discovering things that make Orthodoxy seem so natural and "normal" to the children. Living in an area of 90% Protestant, 9% Catholic, and 1% Other is sometimes difficult - especially since we are old calendar, we fast, and no one has a clue what Orthodoxy is when they speak of it. So it's nice to show them that it's not as foreign as they may think it is... we're not really that 'different' so to speak.

Hmmmm, I feel myself getting into the spirit of Nativity finally. For awhile there I didn't think I was going to find it this year. I am so glad God directed me to OrthodoxMom.com, The Liturgical Year for Little Ones, and so many more via MyOCN.com (My Orthodox Christian Network). Even though I wish I had found them earlier, this honestly was the best time for me to find them - the ideas and inspirations are really helping me and if I had discovered them prior to entering a depressive period the effect would not have been the same at all. God truly knows exactly what we need, when we need it. Glory to God!