Happy St. Nicholas Day!

I grew up in Belgium, where December 6, St. Nicholas Day, is a big deal. My sister and I attended Belgian public schools, so we always had special activities on this day. Traditionally, children received many of their gifts from St. Nicholas and then a few more from Father Christmas on Christmas Day. Although Christmas was still when we got most of our gifts, our parents always made sure that we had some presents waiting for us when we woke up on December 6.

It's fun to be able to carry on this tradition with Trip. Last night before he went to bed, he chose a pair of boots to put next to the door. He didn't really understand why we were doing this, but he sure was happy to find them full of goodies this morning. He got clementines, gummy bears, and a Thomas bath toy.

Once Trip discovered his treats and we got Thomas out of the packaging (which is not an easy task these days!), he wanted to watch a Thomas DVD while he ate breakfast. Of course Thomas joined him at the table and he was kind enough to offer his new friend bites of his food.

The other surprise this morning was that we got our tree in the house and lit last night after Trip went to bed. He has been admiring it ever since he got up.