Jolly Old St. Nick

As an adult I've learned that St. Nick visiting children and filling their stockings is truly a Midwest (and maybe even more local) tradition.  St. Nick has always come on the night of December 5th and now he brings Moe, our Elf, with him.  This is when it really feels like Christmas in our house!

We got up bright and early this morning to hunt for Moe.  The boys found him looking up a word in our Scrabble dictionary with a chocolate version of the game propped up behind him.

Then the boys ran to where their stockings were hung the night before.  My mom made them beautiful quilted stockings, but they're rather large and once filled with goodies, they're too heavy for the holders on the mantel.

They found all sorts of treasures this morning.  Mugs for cocoa, candy canes, shirts, trading cards, toothbrushes (a silly tradition), gift cards, and other little treats.  They moved so quick all morning I couldn't get any great pictures.  But I think I captured the excitement just fine.

We'll be busy being festive all weekend now that we got a little taste of the fun!