St Nicholas Day

St Nicholas visited our house last night and left some treats in our kids' boots.  Each kid got an ornament; a bulldozer for our Bulldozer Baby, a unicorn for Lu, and a video game controller for Nolie.  Each kid also got some coloring tools and plenty of candy to enjoy.  Simon was so excited that Santa Claus came and gobbled up that candy so fast! It was so cute watching him get into it.

 We spent the rest of the morning coloring, drawing, and working on letters to Santa which we later mailed at the library.  I thought their letters were so sweet.  I love this time of year!

Hanukkah

After last year's Hanukkah was a smashing success, we decided to make a night of Hanukkah celebration one of our holiday traditions, this time with Grandpa and Grandma here to celebrate with us.  We really dug into the food this year and Eric made challah bread and sufganiyot (filled donuts) from scratch, along with an amazing beef roast with gravy, a cherry upsidedown cake, and of course, latkes.  Hanukkah food is often fried or cooked in oil because the miracle that Jews celebrate involved God providing a surplus of oil, keeping the lamp burning for 8 days.  Here is a breakdown of the story:

A tyrant king from Damascus had ruled over the Jews and forced them to worship Greek gods. Jewish rebels (The Maccabees) fought for their freedom for three years and, victorious, reclaimed the holy temple in Jerusalem. Now to rededicate the temple, they needed oil to light the menorah but they could only find enough to keep the flames burning for one night. And here's the miracle: The oil lasted for eight days. In that time, they were able to make more oil and keep the eternal flame lit.

We also played the dreidel game.  The kids had a blast spinning it to win craisins.  Simon just ate the craisins with reckless abandon.  It was such a beautiful night filled delicious food and the joy of family.  Happy Hanukkah!

Sleepover

 This weekend the kids got to do a long awaited sleepover at Uncle Tom and Aunt Sara's.  Simon even got to go for the evening, so that Eric and I could go out on a dinner date!  They had so much fun playing with dog toys, eating Culver's and raiding the candy dish, and watching movies until they fell asleep  We're so glad our kids have aunts and uncles who love them so much and that they got to make some wonderful memories together!

Cutting Boughs

 It was a beautiful winter morning to gather some pine boughs from the hunting land.  A fresh layer of snow had just fallen giving the whole woods a magical storybook feeling.  The kids were good helpers, gathering boughs from the Balsam trees to use for decorating at home.  Grandpa showed us the best spots and it was fun being out in the woods all together in the snow.  We got toasty warm back at the cabin and enjoyed a quick lunch before heading back to town.  We love having this beautiful retreat to enjoy!

Cake Pops and Cards

 Tomorrow, Tatiana and Elsa will be helping the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry package their food boxes for homebound clients.  Today we spent the afternoon at their house making cake pops and cards to bring a little holiday cheer to them.  The girls had everything set up beautifully and completely handled walking my kids through it.  They are such excellent mentors and friends! We look forward to joining them at the Food Pantry to help package boxes in a couple of weeks.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

 Decorating the Christmas tree is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  I love the assortment of new, old, sparkly, and homemade ornaments.  So many of the ornaments tell a story and I just love looking through and remembering different people, places, or experiences from our collection.  The kids helped me hang the ornaments on the tree and get out the Santa Bears, part of Grandma Edie's collection from her time working at Dayton's.  I love the Christmas season and our many traditions together!