December 2012

So I guess I should finish my Thankfuls for November since we are almost to Christmas and I have not posted on here to complete the 29th-31st.  So first things first!

29: Thankful for Sunny Skies that we see most days.

30:  Thankful for landlords that are super friendly and easy to call when things need done.

31: Thankful for another day , another month, and almost another year spent completed and spent with some of the most important people in my life!

Ok... so now onto December.

This month has been a busy one!  We started out with a busy to do list and it has just grown.  Christmas presents were arriving from the states from order placed ( Some still have not made it!!),  Mathew's Birthday was right around the corner and plans had to be made for that, the Christmas Fayre at school, the Christmas Play for school, Mat's squadron Christmas party to get ready for, presents to wrap... the list is never ending!

So we started ordering presents from state side in Early November in the hopes that they would get here in time for Christmas.  Mathew's presents were ordered around the same time and the delivery dates were reasonable for them to get here on time.  Yeah... no!  I have found that we will not shop from Sears ever from over here...Joann Fabrics... still waiting on that order of yarn...I would rather send money to someone to personally shop for me and send things over.  If it is going to take a month and a half to get here through the company, it is not worth it.  We usually get packages within 2 week when they travel to us from relatives.    So the Present for Mathew for his birthday was redirected as a present for Christmas to allow 2 more weeks for delivery... and we have yet to get that one.. so Santa had to purchase another on the economy so that he would have it and not be disappointed.

The Christmas Fayre at school was nice. The classes had each made crafts to sell and make money for the school.  Of course Mathew had to have his bracelet he made as well as the keychain.  He did a very good job with the patterns.  Paige just wanted to create the crafts that they had there to do.  So together the kids made a plate as well as a snow globe.  We participated in the raffles as well as drawings and Mathew won himself a small digital camera.  He was excited since he received it the day before his birthday.

The Christmas Fayre was the day we had planned to hold Mathew's Birthday Party.  I had made the invitations and everything for that day and then found out that was the day for the Fayre.  Not to take away anything from the school or his party, we had to change the date until after the new year.  I felt bad because I had a crying kiddo in the car that was very upset he had to wait but I knew that it would be for the best.  So after the Fayre, Mathew had his friend William come over and play and spend the night  with him.  William had got him a nerf tag dart game and they had fun  chasing and trying to shoot the shirt targets each of them had on.  The only problem was  that the darts were shot and easily lost so Mathew was upset quite a bit when one was missing.  We fixed that the next day!

Paige had her rededication to Girl Scouts.  She is now in her 5th year and enjoying being a Junior.  She was a part of the Flag ceremony for Opening as well as the candle lighting and also had a part to read about how GS's begun.  She did a wonderful job!

 For Mathew's birthday, Mat took the day off.  Mathew opened one present from Grandpa before school since I knew it was something we would need to charge for him to play with and the rest we saved for after school.  We took both the kids to school and then spent the day running  around.  We picked up cupcakes for the night and he was able to open his presents which he loved.  I can't believe my little guy is already 6 yrs old!  It just doesn't seem like that much time has past!

The next day two days, the children had the Christmas Play for school.  I LOVE IT! They all did a great job and it was nice to see them keep Christ in Christmas here.  It is definitely something you do not see in America's public schools anymore.  The theme of the play was outerspace ( yes ... aliens and astronauts for Christmas).  The story line was created by the Yr 6 class.  Astronauts crashed on the planet ZORG and meet up with Aliens.  The Aliens do not know why the Astronauts want to get back in time for " this things they call Christmas" so the Astronauts have to show the ZORGONIANS what Christmas is all about.  They turn on a TV program that shows carollers and the nativity scene being brought together.  The discuss why we celebrate Christmas and why it was important to them.  The ZORGONIANS  help the Astronauts get back to Earth in time for Christmas.  Paige Was a Caroller for her class as well as for the reception kids as they created the characters for the nativity scene.  Mathew was one of the aliens and they danced around on the stage in a choreographed scene.

Paige's GS had a Holiday ball that we all attended.  Mathew and Paige both had fun dancing but they had more fun chatting with friends.

Last week was Mat's Squadron Christmas party.  Mat was voted to be Santa so we had to explain to the kids that Dad lost a bet and that is why he was to be Santa at the party.  We also had to explain to them that they could not tell any of the other children who Santa was because it was a secret.  It was nice because I actually was able to get a couple pictures of Paige on "Santa's" lap!!  The party was nice.  But we were there way too late and the kids had school the next day.  They did have fun playing with the other kiddos and Paige said she made some "TEENAGER" friends.  GREAT!!

Both kiddos brought home certificates from school.  Paige earned a Handwriting and Presentation certificate and Mathew brought home a Creativity certificate.  We have been working hard on getting Paige's handwriting together for many years and then we get to the UK and their cursive is different from our cursive so we were back to square one with some of the cursive letters.  She is working very hard to match hers to her British classmates!

This weekend was baking weekend and while the women baked the cookies, the men took the boys fishing. We made 7 or 8 different types of cookies and I still h ave more things to make for tomorrow.  The girls helped to decorate some but they were more interested in playing with each other than being in the kitchen.  The boys came back with 4 fish and they also helped to decorate some of the cookies.  Over all it was a great day but super busy!  I was very surprised that the oven held up and we did not burn any cookies!

We had a couple families over for Christmas Dinner.  Not a huge party like Thanksgiving since that was too much but enough to enjoy company and allow the kiddos to all play.  What is nice is that both families had kids around the same age as each other.  The boys were 5, 6 and 6 and the girls 7,8,9  So they all got along well so the parents can relax and chat!

I hope everyone was able to have a wonderful Christmas and we wish we could have share in this special holiday with everyone.  We miss having family with us at this time of the year but we are grateful to have friends to share with!

And a photo of the month..

Jack Frost's visit lasted a few days and we all enjoyed it looking more wintry here in England!