Hi everyone! Today I'm joining in with Pamela from The Coastal Couple and Nora from The Petite Mrs for their 12 Days of Blogmas link up. I'm pretty excited about this. I can't wait to share with you my holiday traditions and ideas. Thanks so much to these wonderful ladies for putting this together. I really hope I may be able to get in every single one. But if not, then I will try as many of them as I can.

My tradition starts back from when I was a child and I have continued it with my children now. I love December. So many fun things happen during this month. Of course, one of them is Christmas which is something I adore. But my holiday tradition begins before Christmas.

Since I was raised and grew up in Germany, we didn't do the typical American holidays. Instead, we celebrated the German culture around us. Since I was little, December 5th and 6th has always been a big deal in our family. That's when the fun begins. It is known as St. Nikolaustag {St. Nick's Day}. And every year on the night of December 5th, the children all leave their boots outside their front door.

If the children have been good that year, St. Nikolaus brings goodies and treats to reward their good behavior. If the child had been naughty, they do not get goodies, but rather switches for their parents to beat them with in hopes the children will have better behavior the following year. In some cases, if the child had been especially bad, they are taken off in a big sack by Krampus. 

That is the story and legend of the tale. So you always want to be on your best behavior so you get treats placed in your boots. And hopefully never see Krampus, who is a very scary figure who goes alongside St. Nikolaus.

So every December 5th, we get so excited to place our boots outside. This year, I placed all three of my children's boots in a row by the door and waited until morning to see what St. Nikolaus would bring. I have blogged about our past years as well.

This was our St. Nikolaustag this year:

So as you can see, my oldest got some of her favorite Christmas candy and the two little ones received some toys. They were excited and happy to get their gifts from St. Nikolaus. And that us the big celebration we do every year in December. And it is also tradition that we do not put up any Christmas decorations nor our Christmas tree until after December 20th. It never goes up before that day. I usually wait until December 24th to put it up as is the traditional German way, but I got a bit more nicer over the years and so I start decorating now four days prior to Christmas.                 The only thing we do put up before that day is our Advent calendar. Which has been in my family for many years. This was the same calendar I used as a small child to countdown to Christmas. It's so fun to see my children enjoying it as much as I did as a kid. We put small chocolates in each pocket for each day. Then once it turns that day, we move the mouse and remove the chocolate.

What are your holiday traditions? Head over to the The Petite Mrs or The Coastal Couple to join in!