Preparations for Advent

So I plan to drag my family through Advent this year, starting with St. Nicholas's feast day, which is December 6th. I went to the craft store today (a scary prospect for any male, but one which is necessary to gather supplies) and bought some things. I want to surprise my family with shoes filled with goodies, including Speculaas, Candy Canes, Gingerbread Cookies, Candles, Ornaments, Advent Calendars, Oranges, etc. etc.

I've had to pull my Grandmother into this plan, as I couldn't find the wooden shoes I wanted, so we're making 'elf' shoes out of green felt, one for each person (I didn't want to use their regular shoes. I don't know why, it seemed more 'right' to have a special St. Nicholas day shoe). I bought the ornaments, candles, and advent calanders, and bells and ribbon for the shoes (as Grandma dictated were necessary).

I couldn't find any advent calendars that surpassed the ones found here: http://www.sellmer-verlag.de/shop2/index.html , so I bought five (one for each 'couple' in my family; Mom and Dad, Marie and Anthony, Andrea and Ben, Lauren and Dan, and one for me). The shipping was pretty expensive, I guess they're shipped from Germany, but they're beautiful calendars.

So the preparations begin. I still have a lot to bake and buy, but this way at least I can get some of it out of the way early. If I can figure it out I'll post pictures of everything - the shoes, everything set up, etc.

By the way, just for future reference; Marie, Andrea, and Lauren are my sisters, (not their real names, but close) and the others are all their fiances. Marie and Andrea are older than me, and Lauren is younger. I'm the only son. Yes, this means I've been spoiled my entire life and yes, I'm the only one who was not proposed to in 2007, as I'm constantly reminded.