Who's Black Peter??

"In the Netherlands,the Christmas season begins on December  5, St Nicholas eve. St. Nicholas, who was a bishop in the early Greek church, was always ready to help those in need. It is thought that the custom of giving gifts to children in his name began about six hundred years ago. Nuns would leave presents at the homes of the poor on the eve St. Nicholas Day. This custom spread across Europe, until the night became one of great celebration. It includes street parades led by someone dressed as St. Nicholas riding a white horse. Gradually this custom became connected with parents trying to get their children to behave better. Good St. Nicholas was said to visit every home to find out which children were good all year. The story goes that he and his helper, Black Peter, journeyed to Amsterdam from Spain, visiting every home. This part of the legend probably comes from the time when the Dutch people where ruled by Spain. St. Nicholas wears a white robe with a red cassock over it. A cassock is an ankle-length garment with close-fitting sleeves worn by priests. St. Nicholas also wears a tall headdress and carries a golden shepherd's crook. His beard is long and white. Black Peter slips down each chimney, since St. Nicholas must not get his white robe dirty. Peter puts presents in the wooden shoes which the children have placed by the chimney. But first, he removes the offerings the children have have left for St. Nicholas' white horse, gifts such as a lump of sugar or a carrot or some bits of hay. Black Peter leaves many fine treats for the children, including pink and white candy hearts or marzipan candy shaped like like apples, potatoes, or tiny fat pigs. But best of all, he leaves large gingerbread figures of St. Nicholas on his horse or Black Peter with his bag of treats."

Happy St. Nicholas Day! Yet another Carlson Christmas tradition. So what did Black Peter, aka Katie and Emma, leave in our shoes last night? A candy cane, 2 pennies, a gingerbread man, and a orange.
Usually we get chocolate that has been wrapped to look like gold coins. But Mom couldn't find them.
So this year we got pennies. We also usually put hay out for St. Nicholas' horse. We didn't do that this year though. Surely if St. Nicholas knew about the drought that we are going through right now and if he saw the hay prices around here he would understand, right? ;-) We did do some thing different this year though. At Central Market Mom found the cutest little marzapin pig! I think that this is the first time that we have had a marzipan pig on St. Nicholas day. Almonds and sugar shaped like a pig.  I bet the little boys are going to love eating that! :)

A Christmas Tradition

We at the Carlson household have a lot of traditions that we observe around Christmas time. Who doesn't have a lot of traditions during the Christmas season? One of my favorite traditions that we have is called "Christmas buddies". At the beginning of December every one old enough to participate draws the name of a family member. No one else knows whose name you pulled, it is a secret. Through out the weeks leading up to Christmas you do special little,or not so little, favors and jobs for that person. Some times it is as simple as bringing them coffee every morning. Other times it can be as big as doing their daily farm chores. You should be so nice,sweet, and helpful to this secret buddy that when Christmas morning rolls around and you tell every one who your secret buddy is,every one should say "I could'ave told you that".  It can be pretty funny trying to do some one else chores for them. Like the time Linnea drew my name and tried to do my chores for me. I'd be sitting at the table enjoying a cup of tea and look out to see her feeding the animals. For some reason it never clued in that I was her "buddy". I just thought that she was bored and trying to fill up her time. So I would go out there and try to take over for her.  It is really funny watching the younger kids trying to take care of their buddy. They're so excited about helping that person that they let the secret out. For instance when Noah drew his partners name he tried to tell us who it was. He was SO excited!! It is a lot of fun!! So now I get to figure out how to help my buddy. What fun!! :)