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Saint Nicholas of Myra

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Today is December 6.  Many people around the world celebrate December 6 as St. Nicholas Day.   I don't ever remember not knowing that December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day.  I knew that our American Santa Claus has its roots in the very real St. Nicholas of Myra.  Growing up we didn't have a fireplace, so my sister and I didn't hang traditional stockings or put out our shoes on December 6th.  We did, however, lay out our own socks on December 24th.  Real socks. Not Christmas Stockings. That means they were little girl socks so not very big.  My other always put an orange in them and sometimes chocolate.  I didn't realize at the time that oranges and chocolate were very traditional St. Nicholas gifts. Are you familiar with the stories and legends surrounding St. Nicholas of Myra?  St. Nicholas of Myra was a real historical figure though not much is known about him.  One story is about how he gave coins to a poor widower for daughters' dowries.  Another story is based on

Preparing our hearts for December (November Monthly Challenge Link up)

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The Homeschool Review Crew hosts a Monthly Challenge with a theme for each week of the month.  The theme for the last week of November is Preparing our Hearts for December. It made me think of Advent which is more preparing our hearts IN December but then I realized that Thanksgiving helps my family's hearts to prepare for preparing our hearts in December. We celebrate Advent.  Advent is the preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Christ or Christmas.  So how does Thanksgiving, an American holiday celebrating the Pilgrims coming to the New World, prepare hearts for Advent? Well for me it is because I do not view Thanksgiving as just about the Pilgrims.  The Pilgrims had a feast because they had gratitude.  They were grateful for surviving.  They gave thanks to God.   It is that same vein of gratitude, the gratefulness to God for all things, that girds my family's celebration of Thanksgiving. 2020 has been an especially tough year. It is difficult to set aside our grief and