We’ve been trying to teach the kids about some of the different ways that people celebrate Christmas / various winter holidays around the world. So far we’ve taught them about St. Nicholas Day, Bodhi Day (buddhist holiday) and most recently St. Lucy Day. This is a holiday that my husband’s family used to celebrate when the kids were growing up so it was high on his list. Because the eldest daughter in our family is only four, we opted to skip both the crown of candles and the part where she somehow serves us coffee without spilling it everywhere but we lit lots of candles, enjoyed some sweet pastries and decaf coffee for us / egg nog for the kids while watching videos of St. Lucy celebrations in Sweden and reading a little bit about St. Lucy and St. Lucy Day. Next year I’ll need to get on the ball earlier so I can teach them a little bit about Hanukkah and maybe fill in with a few more. Any suggestions?

This weekend we finally got our outdoor lights up – we got a kit at Home Depot that let Dan put the lights up without a ladder using a paint roller extender stick thing and some plastic tabs – apparently it worked even better than he’d thought it would so he was pretty happy. Next year we are going to put the lights up in like October though before we get any snow. We also brought out our little Snoopy lawn ornament and a new reindeer that I am just in love with – so pretty! I hope they fare well this winter.

We also took the kids to the Botanical Garden Holiday Express again this year to see the model trains. They had a Candy Land theme this year with lots of gingerbread style houses and candy inspired artwork. How cute are those giant papier mache m&ms?