The nearest thing I could find to an explanation as to why the people of Sweden put so much emphasis on a saint from Italy was one line from an online article that said that the Swedish people believe her intercession saved them from famine. Possibly they asked St. Lucy to pray for them because she is believed to have brought food to persecuted Christians who were in hiding.
So, our day began with information and preparations:
My head chefs created our alternative to St. Lucy bread. (cinnamon rolls) 
Julia works on the crown for St. Lucy. 
Paul is busy cutting stars for the Star Boy hat. 
When the props were complete, we did our own reenactment of St. Lucia Day. Our oldest (and only) girl dressed as St. Lucia while the boys took turns being the Star Boy (and all 5 of them wanted a turn- should have just made more hats!). St. Lucia processed in to wake the rest of the "sleeping" family with a plate of hot rolls (we kept the hot drinks in the kitchen for safety purposes ;))
The "sleeping family" got a little wild after the first few reenactments... 
Beautiful Julia with her crown. 
Julia works on the crown for St. Lucy. Paul is busy cutting stars for the Star Boy hat. When the props were complete, we did our own reenactment of St. Lucia Day. Our oldest (and only) girl dressed as St. Lucia while the boys took turns being the Star Boy (and all 5 of them wanted a turn- should have just made more hats!). St. Lucia processed in to wake the rest of the "sleeping" family with a plate of hot rolls (we kept the hot drinks in the kitchen for safety purposes ;))The "sleeping family" got a little wild after the first few reenactments... Beautiful Julia with her crown. 
After our procession, we took hot drinks and "St. Lucy Bread" out on the back porch. The kids ate while I read to them and we talked about Sweden and its Christmas customs. The kids all were interested in the fact that straw is an important decoration in Sweden- it reminds them that Jesus was born in a stable. Also, the goat is pretty important with the Swedish people. A straw goat (a large one) stands by the Christmas tree and is suppose to protect the people from bad things.
After a lunch break (we watched our movie on Sweden while we ate), the kids colored their St. Lucia paper dolls and started to work on their paper doll set from Paper Dali (see previous post).
Mark coloring his St. Lucia (free from the Paper Dali blog) .
Julia, Christian and Kyle work on decorating a tree with Swedish Christmas ornaments (part of the paper doll set purchased from Paper Dali).
A note to add that I found an additional bit of information confirming the importance of the above mentioned "Christmas Goat". In Jane Yolen's "HARK! A Christmas Sampler" there is a short paragraph stating that in Scandinavian Christmas celebrations goats play a large roll. Naughty children need to be on the look out or they may be butted by the Yule ram. To remind children to be good, Swedish parents put a straw goat among the Christmas candles. In Norway, food is left out for the Julebukk (as he is called there) -- if the dish is empty the next day, it means good luck, and if the dish is filled with grain, it means a good crop. Denmark's Yule ram is more of a hobbyhorse that is covered with goatskin and has a ram's head made of paper or wood.
This post lists all the resources we used.
