This year Ryan and I decided that we were going to do Sinterklaas and December 5th as opposed to Santa and December 25. The idea was so that Camia can keep Christmas and gift-giving separate from each other and still know the true meaning of Christmas without having new toys to spend all her attention on. I will admit, I was a bit leary of doing this, and starting this tradition with the kids because I remember growing up that I did not like it because no one knew who Sinterklaas was and everything was about Santa. Even speaking the name was a little embarassing because it was Dutch. And most of all, it was different. Growing up I hated being different. I felt it was just one more thing to get teased about. Funny how it is that now that I am all grown up, I still don't like being different. I was skeptical doing Sinterklaas because I didn't want Camia to experience the same thing. But, the more people I talk to, the more I see that there are so many people who do it in our community, that it is normal. So, we gave it a try. And we had so much fun. We went to see Sinterklaas at the Deli on Saturday the 1st. The kids got a carriage ride and Camia got a goody bag from Sinterklaas himself. And of course we got photo's too.
Though a little shy - I know, right?? Camia shy? Yeah, she pretended to be shy - Camia sat on Sinterklaas's lap.
Both my kiddies - love this photo.
The horse. I couldn't flip the photo.
Last year I had started on stockings for us, but never got around to completing them. I had the front of mine and Ryan's finished, but that's as far as I got. So, I worked on them this week and got them done about an hour after it was Camia's bed time.
Ryan's stocking
My stocking
Camia's stocking
Caleb's stocking
First thing in the morning she got to open her stocking
After having a special breakfast of breakfast sandwiches and Ryan being home, Camia got to open one gift before Ryan went to work. She knew this one was coming, but she thought it was pretty special that Sinterklaas wrapped it up for her to open.
A princess castle from my brother.
It took me 3 hours - including feeding and caring for Caleb - to get the sucker together.
But it was fun for Camia to play with.
And today Camia has a friend coming to sleep over and they have been playing with it for a few hours. Such fun!
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