St. Nicholas Day

It's one of our favorite holidays of the year!

Unfortunately, Wingate does not recognize it as an important enough holiday to cancel classes, and Pete has to work today and tonight...  so we had our celebratory dinner last night instead.  I had a recipe picked out that had a bit of a middle-eastern flair (St. Nick was from Turkey after all)... but Pete was pretty sure the chick peas, quinoa and curry would probably get some resistance from the small fry around here.  So that dish has been moved down the menu by a few days, and we had a tried-and-true, not-at-all-middle-eastern favorite instead:  chicken pot pie.  (And man, I always forget about what a true labor of love that dish is!  I was in the kitchen all afternoon.)

 Then we went out for some stealth missions...

 ... and after the kids were tucked snug in their beds with hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...

 ....he was!

 This morning included a fast and furious stocking exploration.

 Everyone ended up pretty happy!

And, they all got watches this year.

May they be "watch-ful" people this year, looking to share their blessings with those in need -- just like St. Nicholas.



*For more on why we celebrate this holiday and how it's evolved in our family, see this post or this one.