The orange things in the kids' shoes are carrots. They are for St. Nicholas' horse or reindeer, whichever he chooses to ride to deliver gifts. We read last year that the children in Germany traditionally leave carrots so the horse/reindeer have enough food to make the journey. Apparently, the kids didn't think that St. Nicholas has a car here in America either.
If you can't tell in the second picture, the kids received a holy card, a little flash light, and some candy in their shoes. They were very excited!
In discussing the feast of St. Nicholas, the kids came up with some interesting questions. The first one was, "Why do they call it a feast day? We don't eat a big meal that day?" Apparently, they were remembering Thanksgiving, because the next question was, "Is Thanksgiving a feast day?" The last question was far more difficult to answer, "How can St. Nicholas bring us gifts if he is dead?" That one came from my son. He is very practical at times. About the only way to answer that one truthfully was in a round about way and then quickly move off topic. I said that St. Nicholas died, but his soul is immortal ,so he now lives with Jesus in heaven as do all the saints. I quickly switched the discussion to naming other saints that we had been learning about over the past few weeks.
I just feel so sneaky some times. The kids didn't bring up the question again and all are kept in quiet belief...for the time being.
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