Merry Christmas! We made it back!

Well, we made it back from Disney very late on Christmas Eve and Santa found us in our home on Christmas Day.

This was actually the first year we have been in our house in England on Christmas Day. 2006 was spent in Malaga, Spain with Austin, David and Kara and we were in Brussels for 2007 with Kara (Austin visited the week before and Dave had to work.). It has been wonderful being able to travel over the holidays, but we really do miss all of our family and friends terribly! Maybe we will be back in the states for Christmas 2009! Kara will be graduating from the U of IL in December so we will have to make a trip then to witness that major accomplishment.

Max didn't wake up until almost 8:00am on Christmas Day and it was a good thing because Dan and I didn't get to bed until about 1:00am. Max just came upstairs as normal for a snuggle and I wondered how long I should wait to say something. I waited for a few minutes and then asked if he remembered what day it was and he didn't. As soon as I said he could go see if Santa came, he was off. I told him to just look and not to wake up Blake. Well, neither one of those requests were honored and we were all in the family room a few moments later. We started out with our annual tradition of reading The Christmas Story before opening any gifts.

(Austin, David, and Kara - Did you all continue this tradition?!) The boys were keen to say that it was the birthday of Jesus, Henry Peasgood (Max's classmate) and Grandpa Naylon. (Hope you had a great day Grandpa!)

The boys cleaned out their stockings first and daddy just couldn't wait to eat breakfast so we had to take a break. Dan fixed the regular meal for Saturday mornings...pancakes. Max is generally a slow eater except when it comes to pancakes. Blake likes his with peanut butter and syrup which is a Shoemaker trait. They weren't really in that big of hurry to open the presents as they received a couple of guns in their stockings and were just happy to play with those for awhile. It gave me some time to get started on cleaning out the suitcases and the laundry!

(Thanks for the cozy socks Grandma N!...and for a few other stocking stuffers!) Blake's favorite were the peppermint Tootsie Pops!

The Buzz Lightyear gun that Santa brought all the way from Disney! Not sure why he did that as they are quite loud!

We finally got back to the gifts and here are the favorites.

Blake's new motorbike that pops wheelies and a Fireball race track.

Max liked his Power Ranger puzzle, a "home" for all of his dinosaurs and a remote controlled T-Rex.

We spent most of the day in our pjs as I was trying to get the laundry done and the house back in order and the boys were busy with all the new toys. (I will post the pics from our trip next.) We did have a Christmas lunch but I decided it just isn't much fun when you don't have other women around to help cook and clean up. Just feels like a normal day! Kelly's family invited us over for a drink around 4:00p so we walked down and stayed a lot longer than we had planned. We both had a little bit more than just one, but I would have to say that I was in a lot better shape than my hubby! Austin, David, Kara and Dan's parents all were lucky enough to talk to him after a couple glasses of scotch! It was great to be able to share the holidays with Kelly and her family and help us not feel so lonely. Thank you!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!

Disney - Here we come!!

In just a couple hours we will be on our way to London and then off to Euro Disney in the morning. The boys are just busting with excitement. We will get back late Christmas Eve so that Santa can find us at home. We just wanted to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and hope that you and your families are safe and truely blessed this season. We miss all of our family horribly this time of year but are thinking this will be the last in England...who really knows though!

These were the best pictures we could get after decorating our "little" tree. Not sure why we didn't bring our tree or decorations, but we are finally getting enough to fill the tree now. Santa came to visit in our village so we had to run out in our jammies!

We had our Christmas service at church last weekend and it was wonderful! After church we were able to have dinner at Holli and Andy's along with Jerome, Ahdonna, Jason, Natascha and all the kids. Thanks Holli and Andy for hosting another gathering at your house! We are still opening presents from Craig, Sara, and Clyde! We love it and thanks for the Lucky Charms! Those were a hit all around! Austin, David and Kara - We wish that each of you could get on a plane today and join us for our vacation. It just won't be the same having Christmas without you! We love you!

Merry Christmas everyone and God bless you!

Our first sleep over!

Last weekend, the boys had their first sleep over with Drake and Gwen. Our friends, Holli and Andy, were off to London for the day to visit with Holli's brother that was working here for the week. Holli asked if I would watch Gwen for the afternoon and then pick up Drake from school so they could all play together for the evening. Holli and Andy were planning to have dinner with her brother and then come pick the kids up after their train got in. All week I kept telling them to just let the kids stay all night. They insisted on picking them up late at night so they didn't have to come get them in the morning. Well, at 10:00pm, Dan and I were getting quite tired and called Holli to see how things were going. They had just sat down for dinner! I told them that we were going to bed and they just needed to get the kids in the morning. Finally, they agreed! Everything went great, but we learned a few lessons for next time to hopefully keep Drake asleep a little longer than 5:30am and to keep him from waking up his little sister!

Max had a birthday party for a couple classmates at an indoor play place after school so I took all four kids to play. Other than me going in and out of the toilet at least 6 times with all of the kids, it was a great time and wore them out! The place is a "little" dirty so I decided they all needed to get cleaned. Max and Drake wanted to shower and Blake and Gwen took a bath

I'm sure they will love this picture some day! Blake was filling up his cups with water and asking Gwen if she wanted some wine? Should we be worried?!!

Drake and Max would have stayed in there all night!

After getting all cleaned up and ready for bed, we finally had some pizza. That little Gwen ate more than any of the boys. She ate 3 pieces and probably would have kept going!

Can you tell who the goofballs are? This was the best I could get.

Gwen went to bed and the boys watched a little of Max's favorite movie, Jurassic Park! They all were exhausted so went to sleep with no problem.

Drake was up bright and early so Dan got up and made his usual Sat morning pancakes. Drake ate 3 of them! They all had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

We had the Kiesers and Barnes over for a last Christmas in England celebration before they head back to the states for Christmas. (I am getting a little sad about not going home for Christmas as most of our American friends are going back either this weekend or next. This is our 3rd year away from home and it just makes me sad. We are leaving for Euro Disney next Sat so that is something to look forward to!) Anyway, the boys had a great time clowning around in Max's room.

Luckily, Gwen had Jasmine to play princesses with so she didn't have to fight with the boys this time!

Christmas Programs

Last week, Max and Blake had their Christmas programs at school. On Tuesday, they did a dress rehearsal that was taped for us to have a dvd. On Wed and Thurs, the parents were able to attend. Dan couldn't make it those mornings so we sat in on the Tuesday performance and I also went on Thursday again. As you are aware by now, my camera isn't the greatest, so here are the best pictures that I have.

This is Max's class. Can you find him? Their play was called "Welcome to the Fairytale Land Nativity Show". So the fairytale land characters played different people in the nativity. For example, Little Red Riding Hood was Mary, Goldilocks was Gabriel, the Three Little Pigs were the wise men and The Big Bad Wolf was the first innkeeper. It was really clever and the children all did excellent!

Max told us at first he was Prince Charming, but when the costume came home it was a Charming Knight. He was one of the villagers. His best friend, William, is next to him and was one of The Three Bears which were the shepherds.

Next was Blake's class. Their play was called "Happy Birthday Jesus". They had a cake and played musical statues to celebrate his birthday. They then went on to tell the story about Christmas.

This is Blake's class. Can you find him?

He was a shepherd. They sang the cutest song about Mary finding out that she was going to have a baby. The words are "Mary, Mary, I've got some news for you. I think you better sit down, it might be a shock to you. You're going to have a baby, there will be no maybe. His name will be Jesus, you see, he'll be a good boy for you for you. He'll be a good boy for you". I just love the fact that they actually teach the kids the real meaning of Christmas and aren't worried about getting in trouble.

They all worked for months on this production and did a fantastic job. I think they are glad to be done with it though!

A HUGE Christmas package

On Monday, we received the biggest package ever!

It was from Uncle Craig, Aunt Sara, and Clyde and must have taken them weeks to get it ready! They put together a brilliant Christmas package for us. Starting on the 1st of December, the boys get to search through the box and find the appropriate gift.

Sara sent a chalkboard with it so that we can write down the days left until Christmas and then that is the number on the gift, one for each of them. There one day that Dan and I get a present too!

We have been trying to do it before school, but didn't get it done this morning. It was a horribly cold, windy and rainy morning and Blake did not want to get out of bed. This was the third and last morning of their Christmas program. All of the kids did fantastic (post coming soon!). They only have one more week of school left and then soon we will be off to Disney. Thanks Craig, Sara and Clyde for the amazing gifts and for thinking about us WAY over here in the UK! We love you guys and hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!