Christmas Morning - Bikes - Videos

Christmas Morning - Bikes

 The big gift from Santa this year was bikes for both girls!

I have some video, but having problems uploading it, so you'll have to check back later to see our first ride later that morning!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Nativity Play

We recently started attending a new church, and they asked Grace if she would like to be an Angel in the Christmas Nativity Play.  She really had no hesitation joining in!

It was a cute play about the Christmas story, told from the perspective of the star.

Our Angel

A big hug from little sister.....the children who were not in the play were asked to come up and kneel before baby Jesus.  Audrey hugged an Angel instead, and then got shooed away by the Angel.... and proceeded to cry hysterically for the rest of the service.  Sigh.

Christmas Pictures

Christmas Party at the American Women's Club

We are very fortunate to have the American Women's Club of Belgium here.  The Mothers of Young Children group does a great job of making sure we're sharing American traditions with our children while we're abroad.  This year I helped plan the Christmas party, and it was a pretty big hit with the kiddos.

Waiting in line for 'Pin the nose on the Reindeer'

 Grace pinning her nose....

Sharing a story before Santa arrived

Santa's here.  It's always a chore to find someone to play Santa.   This year the costume was a little less then extraordinary, but the guy was AWESOME.  He made the kids feel so special.  And he was so jolly!

So jolly, that Miss Audrey decided she could tolerate sitting in his lap to get a present!!!

All smiles from Grace!

Grace's 2013 School Picture

I forgot to post this awhile ago.

Here is Grace's school picture from Pre-K.

So serious and grown up looking!!!

And here is her class.....

Her teacher is Ms. Michele on the right, and she is assisted by Miss Megan on the left.  Megan just graduated from Texas Tech and is an intern.  Ms. Michele has been teaching in International Schools for years, and is new this year at ISB.

There are only 4 Americans in Grace's class.  The rest come from all over the world....Sweden, Norway, Finland, Israel, Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium, Colombia, and several other places ....  Grace is really enjoying her class this year and we've been amazed at all the new things she is doing.

Making Gingerbread

Our first attempt at Gingerbread was a huge success!  The girls had fun cutting out and decorating!

A visit with Saint Nicolas!

Santa doesn't exist in Belgium.....  at least in the mall variety..... so if you want your kids to see the guy in red and have a yearly picture, you must go visit Saint Nicolas.  He does do a stint at the mall, but it ends prior to his feast day, which is December 6th. 

We took the girls right as the mall was opening and the lines were minimal.  It was the same guy we saw last year, and spoke decent English.  Audrey wouldn't sit on his lap without me.....but she was not afraid to tell him that she wanted a Barbie Horse with Pink hair (something she saw in a toy catalog!).  Grace was a tad shyer, but not too afraid to go up to him.  But you could barely hear her say she wanted a bike. 

Saint Nicolas promised to pass along the info to Santa.  They apparently play cards every Monday night, and Santa is a big ole cheat! Thanks for the bunny ears, St. Nick.

 Examining the Speculoos cookies he gave them.

This little girl came dressed as Black Pete.  Black Pete is Saint Nicolas' helper.  He's supposedly black from going down the chimney before St. Nick and is covered with soot.  Therefore, most of the Black Pete's running around are white guys in black face.  This would be hugely controversial in the US, I'm sure....but here, it is tradition. Legend also says that Black Pete takes all the naughty children away to Spain.  Doesn't seem too horrible to me!  :)

Ypres, Belgium

Saturday we paid a visit to Ypres, Belgium.  The town was leveled during the first World War and has been rebuilt.

I thought the statue of the soldier over the entrance of the church was interesting....

Also in Ypres is the Menen Gate.  It is a war memorial dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers that were killed here during the war.

Following the Menin Gate Memorial opening in 1927, the citizens of Ypres wanted to express their gratitude towards those who had given their lives for Belgium's freedom. As such, every evening at 8pm, buglers from the local fire brigade close the road and sound the Last Post.

Unfortunately, we couldn't wait till 8pm, but I've heard it is a moving experience.

Next up, the British Cemetery.

And then in stark contrast, the German Cemetery....

Afterwards, we drove to the Belgian coast.  We've never been before, so we didn't really know what to expect.  It was much more built up then we thought it would be.  And it was really crowded for a chilly day in November....at least along the boardwalk.  We didn't get down onto the actual beach because they were doing some work.

Audrey was thrilled to see the horses go by....