Christmas 2025

Let’s Get Glowing!

Last night was one of my favorite nights of the whole year…Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden!

I really think this is the best lights display in the area, and the Central Axis is the best of the best…I could watch it all night long (and I’m pretty sure my family thought that was my plan!)

I love how there are always new elements to the displays, like these butterflies:

And I think the gorgeous water lilies outside the Linnean House are new as well, but I’m not 100% sure. Either way, I really love them!

It’s always nice to see our favorite, familiar displays, too:

The projection on Tower Grove House was updated to a “12 Days of Christmas” theme:

It’s always nice to warm up by one of the fire pits:

One more look at the beautiful Central Axis before we go:

It’s truly the most wonderful time of the year!

Mani Monday

This week’s Christmas mani is a base coat of Holo Taco’s almost-white “Sugar Rush,” toped with polka dots in “Red Licorice” and “Green Taffy” and a thin coat of “Shooting Star Taco” over all.

Celebrating 20 Years of Jack Frost

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year…we drove west to St. Charles, MO, for Christmas Traditions!

This year was extra special, because our favorite Christmas legend, Jack Frost, is celebrating his 20th anniversary at the event. Coincidentally, that’s just about the same number of years we’ve been attending! I was really glad we got to be there for him at this momentous occasion!

Yes, Jack is the star of the festival to us. But there were still plenty of other things going on, starting with the Santa parade:

It was COLD (thanks Jack…I’m guessing the coldest it’s ever been when we’ve attended!), but no matter the temperature, historic Main Street is beautiful and full of Christmas cheer!

We saw plenty of other Christmas Legends while we were there:

And of course we visited with my personal favorite, the first legend I remember encountering at our very first visit all those years ago, the Lord of Misrule and Abbott of Unreason himself, the Master of Revels!

We also encountered a new musical group, The Confectionettes, who represent Edwardian candy makers, and also a new (to us at least…I know we’ve never met him before, but I’m not certain he’s new to the event this year) Santa, Viejito Pascuero from Chile:

This is truly one of my favorite events of the whole year, and I really cherish each time all five of the children are able to attend together!

Santa Lucia Day 2025

Happy Santa Lucia Day!

As always, we started our day with coffee and lussekattes:

A real highlight of the day was going to Christmas Traditions in St. Charles, MO, and greeting Santa Lucia on her day!

We had our traditional dinner of potato pancakes and kielbasa:

And cranberry fluff topped with sugared cranberries for dessert:

The commemoration days that fall during the season of Advent are some of my favorites of the whole year!

Chickadee Thursday

We’re in the full swing of Christmas spirit…Chickadee had fun at the Boar’s Head Festival and at Christmas on The Hill!

She’s also been really excited to get a chance to acolyte at our midweek Advent services, and I delight in her joy at serving in the House of the Lord!

Mani Monday

For this week’s Christmas mani, I used Holo Taco “Wicked Potion” and “Sacrificial Lacquer” (neither magnetized) topped with “Shooting Star Taco.” I love how festive and sparkly it is!

Nikolaustag 2025

Today is one of my favorite days of the entire Christmas season…Nikolaustag!

We tend to celebrate this holiday in a German way, so of course our main activity today was…Christmas on The Hill?

Yes, some of us spent the afternoon in the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis to attend a fun local event. It wasn’t our normal Nikolaustag, but it was fun to switch things up a bit! And we still had our traditional dinner of chicken Döner Kebab this evening:

This year’s gingerbread dessert was a tiramisu:

And we had our traditional wassail while decorating the tree (I didn’t get a picture of the drink, but I did get a shot of one of this year’s ornaments…the theme was Pokémon). I realized this year that the Fab Five fall into two camps about decorating the tree…three of them want to hang their personal ornaments near each other in a collection, and two of them want to scatter their personal ornaments all throughout the tree. These two methods of decorating are pretty incompatible when five people are trying to hang ornaments, and that results in some hilarious conversations!

It wasn’t quite our regular Nikolaustag, especially since Bunny had to work today, and Turkey was at school taking a scary national math exam, but it was fun!

Sartorial Saturday–Winter Florals

Getting a new Christmas apron from Rare Dirndl has become one of my favorite holiday traditions, and this year is no exception! The winter floral apron was made in very limited quantities, and I almost missed out on it…I’m so glad there a small second run, because this is one gorgeous apron!

To really lean into the Christmas theme, I paired it with my red Everyday Dirndl:

Here’s a closer look at the beautiful embroidery. There are so many beautiful colors in the flowers, and even though it’s called a “winter” floral apron, I know I’ll be wearing it all year!

I accessorized with a flower crown and a pair of necklaces from Rare Dirndl, plus an Erstwilder brooch (and a bonus mini brooch worn as a zipper pull!), a pair of Splendette Duchess Bangles, and sparkly hoop earrings from Lane Bryant in red, green, and white:

Instead of a dirndl blouse, I styled it with the green Clarisse-Gia blouse from Miss Candyfloss, which is the perfect Christmasy addition to the look!

It doesn’t get much more festive than this!

I’m already thinking of how I might style this apron slightly differently for Christmas Day!

Chickadee Thursday

At our town’s Santa Parade the day after Thanksgiving:

And Chickadee got to see Santa again this year at the tree lighting…that whole Santa thing is pretty fun now that all of the children are old enough for us not to have to avoid it!