Sorry to hear about all the Nikalaus stress that's been going on!
I almost forgot to fill the boots as we had much vomiting going on here yesterday evening and last night, on the part of dd and ds2 - both got another bug, having barely shaken the last one :( I went downstairs in the middle of the night and put a DVD each for dd and ds1, and some Milka choc santas in thier boots (well my winter boots) and a new rustly, squeaky rattle in my smaller "dressy" ankle boot for ds2 (so the older 2 wouldn't question why he'd been left out). This seemed to do the trick and they were both very happy this morning, (the DVDs were 'Cars2' and Alice in Wonderland so no ambiguity about whose was whose and both things they've been asking and asking for). Nikalaus was at both school and KiGa but gave out only fruit, nuts and one Lebküchen per child (Bavaria, countryside) which they were also happy with - KiGa allows sweet items in Brotzeit (though they have guidelines saying every child should have bread and fruit every day and that they shouldn't have the same thing every day... but school doesn't officially, though I don't think it is policed at school.
DD went to school despite being sick yesterday eve - I walked her in and knocked on her classroom door and asked her teacher if she was allowed, as she was desperate to go as she'd been picked to sing a duet for the first verse of a song for Nikalaus's arrival. Her teacher said she could try, and it was fine - that would never be allowed in the UK where they always seem to have th 48 hour rule about sick! Funny that they ban kids who have nits but allow ones with germs... I hope she hasn't passed it on, but the way I see it she was already contagious yesterday as most things are most contagious just before you get symptoms, and she was at school yesterday.
Homework was OK here today as dd wasn't allowed to watch Alice until it was done!
Glad you're feeling better about feeding ds Later - nobody could say you didn't give bf your best shot, and you managed for quite a while, almost 3 months isn't it?
We had a tiny bit of snow but it is really wet out so hardly any is sticking, just a few bits on roofs etc. Kids are being quite annoying atm as it is too wet to play outside, I have banned any more tv as we have watched both nikalaus DVDs already (DS watched his before KiGa) and banned dd from calling for anyone as she says she is too ill for football so I said then she needs to stay home and rest not be out, but it means she and ds are bickering alternately with playing together...
Here the Christkind doesn't put the tree up, we decorate it with the kids on Christmas eve morning, then the Christkind comes while we are having a special mini English Christmas dinner - luckily we have a separate kitchen and dining room, don't know how all the open plan people (which seems to be most locally) manage it...
We have a few decorations up, I'm not into masses of decorations, but I like not having the tree up til Christmas eve. I thought we did it the "normal" way locally, but I am often clueless 
next door have full chav style lights all over their house and inflatable santa etc. etc. (she says snobbishly ...) and have had since first Sunday of advent.
We cut our tree at a forest Christmas market the weekend before Christmas and store it in the garage to dry out for a few days - don't know what people who buy them early do with them, though businesses etc have them up earlier of course...