Sunday, December 5, 2010

Happy Saint Nicholas Feast Day!


I give Joy to the World when I remember the true meaning of Christmas by celebrating Saint Nicholas' Feast Day with my family, which is on Dec. 6 each year.  Who was St. Nicholas, the person who is more commonly known as Santa Claus?  Find out more here at the St. Nicholas Center (dot) org.

It is a tradition in many households to set out your shoes by the fireplace or door so that St. Nicholas will leave small treats in the shoes to represent how St. Nicholas long ago showed God's love to others by leaving money for those in need.  We have our shoes ready by our fireplace again this year.  Here are our shoes from a few years back that were filled with chocolate gold coins and candy canes:


Another way our family and homeschool group celebrates St. Nicholas' Feast Day is by making cookies that look like good ole' St. Nick. I got the idea from Family Fun and they are so easy and fun to make.  Here is what they look like:


Here is a picture of our daughter from several years back making her St. Nick cookies:

Another fun way we celebrate and remember how Saint Nicholas shared God's love is by watching a CCC DVD titled, "Nicholas, The Boy Who Became Santa".

My family loves the CCC company and their award winning animated films DVD collection.  We have all their Saints and Heroes DVDs and my children watch these short and inspiring stories over and over again! I enjoy watching them too and I'm learning so much about our faith along with my children!  I highly recommend CCC as an excellent resource for teaching our faith to children young and old!

Be sure to check out Lacy's blog over at Catholic Icing for more St. Nicholas ideas and traditions and Jessica over at Catholic Cuisine has free St. Nicholas printables that fit onto standard chocolate coins in the post!

Also, one blogger will receive a $30 Target gift card from our "No Ordinary Blog Hop" giveaway! Just click on the button below for more details on how you can join this fun blog hop throughout December and try to win a Target gift card at the same time. Hurry! The last day to enter the giveaway is on Dec. 10th, but you can continue to link your blog hop posts until the end of December! 



 

21 comments:

Kara said...

What a great post! I love the cookies! I miss Family Fun...this tempts me to resubscribe! We love the Nicholas DVD too. We have it, Francis, and Patrick. I had to LOL...I had JUST posted on St. Nicholas myself and saw my post and yours side by side on my Facebook feed. :-)

Unknown said...

St. Nick's feast day is one of our favorites! We do our Christmas stockings for the season. We also love the St. Nick dvd. Hope you have a great feast day!!

Patty said...

I just LOVE this feast day!!! It is one of my favorites in the Catholic church. St. Nick just brought the Nicholas DVD this year. And those cookies are so darn cute!

We are reading a book on St Nicholas today for school. I haven't ever done the shoes thing but may have too in the future:) Sounds like lots of fun at your house during the month of Dec. Voted for you today

Unknown said...

What a great post, and a wonderful way to celebrate a very special man. Have a wonderful day. I voted for you today and yesterday.

AAAh! Love the cookies! I love things that you don't need 'special' cookie cutters or cake plates for. I wonder if they would look more "St. Nick" with a more bishop style decorated hat???

Tiffany said...

Love your fun celebrations...cookies are adorable! God Bless your feast day...Oh and I just love the St. Nicholas center too:+)

Mom2Seven said...

Don't you just love celebrating the many feast days of our beautiful Catholic faith?! St. Nicholas is one of our favorites. Happy feast day!

Hi Tracy,
We just read a 1/2 book on the real St. Nicholas today. Going to finish it up tomorrow. We are Lutheran so I didn't really know this story. Voted for you today

Unknown said...

Chocolate coins. cookies.. it all sounds like a good celebration!

My boys decided to learn about Hanukkah this year, so will start that tonight- though I am pretty sure it already started, I never checked the dates. we just do things when we feel like it it seems. I call it Lazy Mom School

(stopping by from the Hop, but have been here before....)

Hi Kara!
Thanks for your visit and comments! I hopped onto your blog and left a comment on your great St. Nicholas post :) Thanks for sharing! I have all the CCC dvds and we all love them! Have a blessed Advent!

Hi Jen!
St. Nicholas' feast day is always a bright and joyful time in our home too :) Hope you had a great day celebrating another wonderful role model for our faith and lives :)

Hi Patty!
We love the DVD and watch it whether it's December or not :) Hope you enjoy it and hope you had a great day!

Hi Anna-Marie-I hope you are enjoying your St. Nicholas book. Which book are you reading? (title?, author?) Yes, December is a great month with all the Feast Days to celebrate in our Church!

Thanks Lynda :) St.Nicholas is a wonderful role model!

Hi Lacy!
Thanks for your visit and comment! If anyone can figure out how to decorate the cookies with a bishop hat, it would be you! :) I'm loving all your posts in December with all the beautiful feast days! Thanks for all your wonderful resources and ideas!

Hi Tiffany!
Yes, the St. Nicholas Center is a great and fun resource! Thanks for your visit and comment!

Hi Annita!
There are so many beautiful feast days of our Catholic faith, especially in Dec. ! It's one celebration after another! So fun and meaningful! I hope you are having a great 2nd week of Advent!

Hi Kimberly!
Thanks for your blog visit and comment :) I hope you are enjoying your Hanukkah unit !

Jenilee said...

such cute ideas for the holidays! visiting from the homeschool hop!

Thanks Jenilee for your visit and comment!

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