St. Nicholas Day

It's coming up, ya know, on December 6th. Here is a fun little craft to help put St. Nicholas on the map (for those of us who have been staunch Santa supporters.) St. Nicholas is his own guy, after all. Not Santa Claus. He rides in on a donkey, not a sleigh. And, as you already know, his helpers are not cute little elves; quite the contrary. He doesn't work on December 25th. He's not fat and jolly. Different guy. Here's the craft.

St. Nicholas Spoon Guy

Materials
Red Felt
Wooden Spoons
Cotton Balls
Googly Eyes
Gold Glitter Pen
Gold (or yellow) Pipe Cleaner
Scissors
Fabric Glue, Glue Gun or any non washable White Glue
Black pen


Steps:
1) Create a template for the robe (it's not a gown or a dress, folks) and hat. I would have provided you with a pdf with the shapes had I known how to. Apologies.

2) Trace and cut 2 robes and 2 hats from the red felt


3) Glue the robes onto the stick of the spoon. One on the front, the other on the back. Only glue 2/3 rds of the way down the stick.
4) Glue on cotton ball as beard.

5) Glue on hat - one on the front, one on the back.
6) Glue on eyes. Draw nose and mouth.

7) Cut a 5-6 inch piece of pipe cleaner. Bend the top into a cane or circle shape. Glue onto the robe.
8) With glitter glue, draw a cross on the front of the hat.


9) Let dry over night.

10) Your St. Nicholas Spoon can be poked into a plant or cake with the unglued portion of the spoon stick. With a needle and piece of embroidery floss you can make him into a tree ornament. Just thread your floss through the top of the hat.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Here are a few Christmas crafts from previous years.

I posted this over at Skip to my Lou for Made by you Monday.

I've heard it is great . . .

being 38!

I disappeared on you again, this time to have a birthday. Bryce and the girls made it very special. Bryce and I met for a nice lunch on Monday. That evening we all had dinner together and enjoyed the cake that Bryce and the girls made. They *totally* surprised me with a bicycle, a beautiful silvery-blue cruiser. I was the only in the family not to have a bike. Now, as Eva informed me, I can ride my bike down to the bakery anytime I want. Good thinking, my sweet girl!

To my fellow Americans I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! I think I said this last year, but enjoy the holiday chaos. You'll notice it if it's gone. xo

Kids in Paris (part deux)

Kids in Paris.

Kids in the Tuileries

Kids in the Trocadero.

Kids in the Metro.

Kid on a carousel in the Tuileries

Kids thinking.

Kids on the tour bus.

Kids in front of a street performer in front of Notre Dame.

Kid over the Seine.

Kids on a statue in the Tuileries.

Kids eating at the Palais de Chaillot.

Kids in a museum.

Kids in Paris.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For those of you who are preparing for Thanksgiving, here is a link to the Thanksgiving printables I shared last year.

Kids in Paris

You don't need to guess what 3 girls ages 4, 5, and 6 wanted to do in Paris, do you? Go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, of course! We tried to book tickets online, but found they were all sold out. Instead we decided to take Rick Steves' advice and get there first thing in the morning. Worked like a charm! There was a small line and we were through it in no time.

We were sadden to see that the tip top was closed that day. But it's hard to be sad standing in front of the Eiffel Tower so up we went to the 2nd floor. Pictures were taken, views were enjoyed. See for yourself ~

Buying tickets

Looking up.

Looking from the elevator.

Taking in the view (or trying to fit face in metal circle)

Ah, Paris!

Mama and daughter.

Tower shadow.

Time to go down.

Trier (of course)

A trip to visit us here in Luxembourg would not be complete without a trip over the German border to Trier. We took Lena & Sierra on our usual tour of the city but added a stop at the Roman Baths this time! Lena made a check list of things to find for the girls before our trip. The were really into it.

The Roman Baths were pretty cool. There were many underground passage ways we got to walk through. It was like a maze. The Roman Baths stopped being so cool when youngest daughter had an accident of the #2 variety. Now when I look at the pictures of the Baths, I picture myself crouched over in the cold drizzle trying to clean up a most unpleasant mess with a few tissues from my purse and a sandwich bag. Ugh.

The palace garden was still beautiful even without the flowers of summer.

I heard on the radio this morning that Trier has the worst traffic of any city in Germany. The road that is the worst is the one that connects Luxembourg and Trier. We certainly experienced that! Next time we'll take the train.

That was Day 4 (well, technically 5 as we took day 4 to rest and hang out.) Paris is next!

Rock Walls

The End of Day 3: Lena had seen pictures of a hike into Petite Switzerland through some towering rock walls. This was a place she had to see for herself. After Beaufort we went to this amazing area. I stole a few more pictures from Lena for this post. The vertical ones are hers. She really captured the slots that we walked through. Take a peek:

Incredible, no? Once up through the rock slots you walk into an amazing forest. It was the brightest yellow I'd ever seen.

It was so beautiful. If I haven't convinced you by now, I'm sure Day 3 has convinced you to make a trip to Luxembourg. I mean really, have you ever seen anything so cool? It was really this beautiful.

This is what we saw coming down through the rock walls - gorgeous yellows from trees across from the trail head.

This enormous rock hangs over the road right in front of the trail head. After walking through the rock slots there are ladders and bridges up to the top of this massive rock.

Onto Day 4 ~

Beaufort Castle

More Day 3: After the hike we spent some time in Beaufort Castle. We'd be there before, but were eager to share it with Lena and Sierra. The girls were very curious about the torture chamber. Lead to some interesting questions, requiring complex answers.

This last picture was taken by Lena. We discovered that she takes most photos vertically while I'm a landscape person. The view from Beaufort Castle, seen here, was beautifully captured by Lena's vertical perspective.