Winter Wonderland

So, yes, school was cancelled and the kids are thoroughly enjoying a day in the snow. We made a little sledding ramp in our front yard. Nothing too exciting, but it will do on a day when we're stranded since one of our cars is still at our friend's house.

Belgium Myth #3 - It Never Snows in Belgium

Oh Really?????

Then explain to me why it took us an hour to get out of the parking lot at the school on Thursday after the elementary Christmas performance when white stuff was stuck to my car? Then another hour to drive not even a quarter of a mile? Until my daughter in the back seat said those dreaded words, "I have to use the restroom." We'd already been in the car for 2 hours and had not even gone any farther than a half mile during the snowstorm. At this rate we'd be lucky to make it home before midnight.

So, we turned on a street right by school only to knock on a friend's door (you couldn't get hold of anyone by phone as the network was busy) and say unexpectedly, "Can we come in please?" So, we pottied and stayed for dinner. I had been to the grocery before the performance and placed my dairy items in a cooler, so we were able to contribute some chicken and salad to dinner. Around 8:30 we wondered if the kids had school tomorrow, so we tucked the children warmed by borrowed pj's into accommodating beds, waiting to decide if we should head out anytime in the next few hours or camp out there ourselves too.

Around 10:00 the man of the home appeared...it had taken him 2 1/2 hours to drive a normally 15 min. drive, and he still had walked the last leg of the trip. Around 10:40 he ventured back out to see if the road had cleared in any way to retrieve his car, and told us he thought we could make it up the dreaded, treacherous slope. (I desperately wanted my own bed.) If not, we could return to the "Motel 6" as the lights would still be on at their house if we were unable to make it home.

Two groggy children were snuck from their beds to hop in our car headed for home. What would we find? About 15 minutes later, we were in the driveway texting that sweet, hospitable couple telling them we'd made it.

I have the pictures to prove we received about 4 1/2 inches of snow yesterday. So, I think that Belgium myth is marked "BUSTED!"

School Play

Somehow the Pre K and Kindergarten kids mixed fairy tale characters into their Christmas play and it worked! Our little J played Mary, and was thrilled to have the microphone attached to her Red Riding Hood in blue outfit. She had many speaking lines and seemed comfortable on stage. It was also cute to see her and Joseph whisper to each other about how the play was going. (Baby Jesus is the boy in the basket.)

All of the fairy tale characters paid baby Jesus a visit and brought gifts pertaining to their stories. Little Red Riding Hood was one of the first to bring a basket of plastic foods while the kids sang "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?".

The kids all did a marvelous job bringing fairy tales to Christmas!

Christmastime in Disneyland Paris!

3 days after our cruise, I had just enough time to unpack and then repack for an overnight with K's company in Disneyland Paris! We're not privileged enough to get these fun trips in Indy with his work. The office here holds only about 20 employees, so they had a budget for taking everyone to Disney!

I have always loved Disney World during the holidays and Disneyland did not disappoint, although there are a few things that make it more European. For instance, there are no designated smoking areas...all areas are smokable.

We did wait in line to see Papa Noel. He did speak English too which was a bonus!

The kids both wrote their Christmas letters to him while waiting in line for their turn to chat with him. We even received a post card back from him a few weeks later. Of course it was all in french even though our letters were in English.

Here is his workshop.

What a great weekend! We rode all the rides we could hope to ride and picked up a few shows (half English and half french - pretty clever!). They even pulled out all the stops like only Disney can do. There were live horses manning the sleigh for his show!

Taking One for the Team

When K left for the airport last Sunday, he had clothes filling one suitcase and another suitcase equal in size completely empty ready to bring back the American treasures for Christmas, J's birthday in January (including party stuff ordered from Oriental Trading), crafts for R's school Christmas party, other random grocery items from my list, additional baby items for my new nephew coming to visit in about a week. My family already has diapers, formula, baby food, strollers, car seats, (the list seems endless when you have baby travelers!), etc. to bring. He helped them out by bringing a few items ahead of time.

So, his sacrifice in all of this was leaving ALL his clothes in Indianapolis with my parents. (No, he's not becoming the Naked Barcelona Man.) He's basically coming home to us tomorrow morning with the very clothes on his back and that's IT! What a trooper! He didn't donate them to Goodwill, but my mom is going to wash them and store them for his return on business in January or February. He won't have to pack a single item when he returns. Why didn't we think of this whole concept earlier? I could have been bringing back sooooo much stuff from the states (especially since the exchange rate is stacked against us over here!)...now, we just need to hope and pray he doesn't get stopped in customs. I don't even want to think about what the taxes would be on 2 huge suitcases full of new treasures without any clothes in sight!

Spilling the Beans

In lieu of a Santa Shop, the kids' school holds a Christmas Boutique where families donate unloved items for regifted treasures. The students are charged 1 euro for each gift purchased for their family members. All proceeds go to the parent/teacher organization.

Low on the donation list this year was dad gifts, so an extra note circulated pleading for more dad donations which resulted in about every father receiving a tie this year. (Hope ours isn't reading this or he'll have a hint about his gift.)

Mom volunteers helped students shop and then wrap the gifts while the children watched, elated at their purchases. Chatting with them about their gift selection while wrapping that day was just plain fun! You could see the pride on their faces as they thought of the person that would be receiving the lovingly purchased gifts.

My daughter shopped on Monday and then R on Tuesday. Upon seeing her Monday evening, she immediately told me I would just love her gift. She exclaimed, "Mommy, it's something you love. Do you want to guess? Well, can I just tell you? It starts with a 'p'," all in one breath. So I tried to be a good mom and ward off her temptation to tell me by changing the subject or talking about someone else's gift. (Even though I already knew what it was by process of elimination since I worked there all day Monday.)

We then placed her gifts under the tree, and this did help distract her mind from the excitement until tonight when we ventured out to pick up the gift R bought for her. Apparently it was too large to send home on the bus, so I received a note Tuesday saying I needed to pick it up tonight. While dealing with this, she brought back out the gift for me, placed it on the kitchen table and said, "Mommy, why don't I just tell you what it is and you forget that I told you?!" How can you say 'no' to that comment? What a great idea!
So, this wrapped gift below is...

Some of this type of stuff called polish pottery. Yes, I do love it and have already been to the Netherlands with girlfriends to purchase some decorative serving pieces. Boy, kids don't miss a thing!

So, I probably could have won an Academy Award with my reaction to her spilling the beans, and I'll hopefully win another when I open my forgotten about present.

Note to friends here: I know you're wondering, "Who would be getting rid of polish pottery????" Well, I lucked out because this brand new gift was donated by our PTP because it was a silent auction basket that didn't receive a bid. I'm not quite sure why, but I'll take it!

What I've Been Up To

Does the sign look familiar? We had a Scholastic book fair at the kids' school and it was a blast!!! A little stressful (I helped with the organizing), but it was pure fun. Our goal for the 2 days was to sell books in English to students at school that might be otherwise difficult to obtain since English bookstores aren't in abundance here. We ordered and shipped the books from the U.S. so we aren't able to return any books left unsold. Along with the exchange rate, we had to pay for shipping fees as well. We carefully chose the items and prices for the books because of that. In the end we came out in the black instead of red, so it was a successful event!

It just so happened that the theme this year was "Read Around the World" - how appropriate for us!!!

We also don't have access to those wonderful rolling bookcases in American schools, so we had to improvise and display our books our way!

Helping with this event and another with the American Women's Club has put me a little behind on the blogging side of life, but I'm excited to get some pictures up of our recent trip, Thanksgiving, and many others.

It was all worth the time and effort when a little boy peeked over the counter as he paid for his books and asked, "So, do I get to keep these books forever?"

"YES!!!" he exclaimed as we shook our heads, smiling. We were exhausted at the end of the sale, but thrilled that so many people could enjoy such wonderful books.

Cute comment: One of our friend's daughters exclaimed, "Mommy, I think 'LeBron James' is French because you know 'le' comes before lots of french words," as she displayed to her mom the NBA book she bought at our book fair!