Saint Nicholas and Simplicity

I really struggled with the holiday this year, in fact the entire holiday season has been this way for me.  I had such great plans and yet nothing seems to be getting accomplished.  At least not in the way I had imagined.  Our advent calendar and mama made stockings will be put off for yet another year, and I think I'm finally okay with that.  Today may have just been the turning point I needed. 

Thanks to the facebook status of a friend at 11pm last night I was reminded that today was Saint Nicholas' Day.  I felt an instant rush of panic as I realized that I had nothing prepared and didn't even read the girls our favorite Saint Nicholas book at bedtime.  I sat here lamenting over the fact that we didn't have the wooden shoes I had hoped for, not even the mama made slippers I had promised myself I would make.  In fact, the only available shoes were the shiny silver dress shoes I had purchased earlier that afternoon.  Certainly not the picture I had in my mind and I will admit to going to bed last night with a bit of a heavy heart. 

All that changed this morning as we woke to find this under our tree.

 

 

The girls were overjoyed with their beautiful and completely unexpected surprise.  And this mama was reminded of the beauty that simplicity can bring to a holiday like this.  We spent the day watching a favorite Saint Nicholas movie, reading our favorite books about giving and planning ways we could help others in the coming weeks.  It certainly wasn't the day I had originally imagined but I think, perhaps, that is what made it all that sweeter.