Brugge, Belguim

Our last day and we were in Bruge. Some call this the Venice of the north. Bruge has many little canals and is very quaint and beautiful. We decided to take a horse drawn carriage tour, which was great fun for the boys. The city is super old. The picture shown is us with a monastary dating back to 1245. It was so interesting to see things that old.

We all stayed warm, with Jeb usually in the front carrier underneath Tom's coat (now he knows a bit what it's like to be pregnant!). We don't know the language (Flemish), but we got by okay. Just a few extra hours spent trying to figure out road signs! The drive back was easy and the French countryside is beautiful with small towns scattered throughout, most built around a church with a large steeple. Exactly what you would imagine it to be. The trip was a great way for us to get into the Christmas spirit!

Gent Belguim

From Brussels, we went to Gent. A much smaller town. We checked into the hotel and headed out, intending to take the train to Bruge. We turned the corner to see a beautiful town positioned along a canal. It was right out of a story book! After getting on the train and missing our stop to Bruge, we got off and explored Gent. Very old town, but they too, had many waffles and chocolates (this time in a thin pancake), so we were just fine! More Christmas markets and a 500 year old church to tour. Now we were in the Christmas spirit! But, we were so tired! Off to bed, Bruge is next.

Belguim Trip

We went on a little holiday the weekend before Christmas. We all piled in the van and took the Eurotunnel Train across to France and to our first destination: Brussels, Belguim. The ride under the English Channel took a mear 35 minutes and getting to Brussels from there took 1 hour. Finding our hotel? 1 1/2 hours! Sat maps don't always work!

Brussels has the world's largest Christmas markets, but out favorite was the light shows at the Grand Place (picture shown). Tom's favorite was mulled wine, waffles (unbelievable!) and chocolate (nothing compares!). We spent Saturday on old time carousels, a ferris wheel and ice skating. Jacob learned to do it all by himself. The weather was cold, but we all stayed warm. It's beautiful city, but way too busy for us! Off to Gent.

First Christmas in England

Our first Christmas in England! We were woken up this morning at 7:00am - not by the big boys, but by Jeb. Wow, the boys are actually sleeping in on Christmas morning?! Not to worry, we were up 15 minutes later. Jacob and Aiden were so excited to see the milk gone and cookies eaten (Sorry, we just can't stomach England's mince pies!). So, we opened our stockings. Tom fixed some breakfast, but noticed there was no heat! The boiler is broke! We called the rental agency, but of course no one is there and the emergency repair man wasn't answering (would you?!). So, we bundled up. It's 50 degrees out, so no big deal.

Off to church later in the morning. It's not "Merry Christmas", it's "Happy Christmas"! Otherwise, the service is about the same as in the states.

Back home...now for the big gifts from Santa. Legos! (Daddy is happy!). Then the gifts from family in the states. It's just not the same when you don't open it with the people who give it. We are missing our families today. Of course, they know us so well, so the boys are super happy with their gifts. Dinosaurs for Jacob, trains and cars for Aiden, and baby stuff for Jeb.

So, I am sitting here this Christmas with a smile on my face. I hear Jeb cooing, Aiden playing with a truck and Tom and Jacob playing Legos. Wait, Tom is telling Jacob not to touch the Legos...I think he's reliving his youth. Even so, it's music to my ears.

Merry Christmas!

Jacob's Christmas Program

Here it is. The Holstpur Primary School "Christmas Cracker: Christmas around the World." Jacob was a Hawaiian. Very Cute. He really enjoyed doing it too!

Week in Review: Nov 24-30

This week was a test on my stay at home mothering skills. Listening to one boy cough all day long was hard, but when Aiden got the cough I thought I'd lose it! Needless to say, the cough has now been passed on to Jeb. Jacob seems to be getting better, so it looks like it may last a good week to 2 weeks. Let's hope Jeb gets over it quicker. It stinks to be the third child sometimes!

Parent's were invited to Jacob's school assembly this Friday. I was very impressed by the talent and good manners of all the kids. Wow! Jacob is practicing for his Christmas Program: Christmas around the world. So far, I've only heard what they say in China, Spain and America. Here is America: "I come from America where we scream and shout Yee-Haw!" I can't even believe it. Talk about stereotyping! :)

Jacob learns the Lord's Prayer

After working with Grandma Blauwkamp while we lived at their house, Jacob learned the Lords Prayer. We finally got it on tape!

Jeb at 2 months

Just a glimpse of our little one "talking" with a few smiles. He is a growing boy - already 10 lbs 1 oz. Healthy so far...as long as his brothers stay away from him!

Sleeping through the night!

Last night Joy got her first complete night of rest in 9 weeks! Jeb went down at 8:30 and didn't need to eat again until 5:00 am. I call that sleeping through! He did have a dirty diaper at 1:00, so Tom got that one, but Jeb went right back down after the diaper change. Let's hope it's not a fluke thing!

Thanksgiving in England

Well, the actual Thanksgiving day came and went this year, but we did celebrate it. Just a couple days later.

We were invited over to a couple's house that Tom works with. They are actually from South Africa, but spent some time in the US. They love the holiday, so they invited all the Americans in Tom's office over for a traditional dinner. There were about 14 of us and we had a great time. People were from Seattle, Cincinatti, Austin, NYC, and Oklahoma. Owen and Nikki cooked two small turkeys (the ovens here are too small for a big bird) and we had all the other food that goes along with the dinner. It was a lot of fun. I must admit though, I missed the excitement of shopping and the ads. Without Thanksgiving its hard to get into the Christmas spirit. I'm sure once we get a tree that will help.

Visit to Stonehenge

We decided to take a quick ride out to Stonehenge this morning. It was really fun to see. This dates back to 3000 BC and is amazing when you see how the structure has lasted through the years. No one knows why they built Stonehenge, but they must have been pretty smart. The stones come from 200 miles away and if you look from an aerial view, the stones are in a perfect circle and the 4 outer stones create a perfect rectangle. Ancient burial grounds are all around. Jacob also listened to the audio tour. We'll test him on the facts tonight! Now it's time to warm up! Brrr!

Week in Review: Nov 18- 23

Well, it's been another week that went too fast. I'm sitting here enjoying the sunshine that we've been lucky to have everyday this week. The house is quiet with three boys sleeping! Jacob woke up with a croupy cough this morning, so he stayed home from school. This means that all plans to go out were cancelled. Including my much needed walk around town. Oh well, it's good to lay low every once in awhile.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Not celebrated here in England, but we did a little bit by baking pumpkin bread and making turkeys with our handprints, glue, and dried beans. It was fun! The boys had turkey steak for dinner and Tom and I ate chicken and stuffing after he got home. We'll go to the Venters for the real dinner on Saturday.

This week I discovered something that the USA is missing - online grocery shopping! It's the best! No more dragging the kids to the store and worrying that Aiden is going to get run over by a grocery cart (the Brits mean business when they shop!). I simply point and click and then they come and bring the food to my kitchen the next day at the time I request. I love it!

Tom is finished travelling for awhile and we are all happy about that! Now the travel is with family instead of work. We hope to do some this weekend.

Jeb's First Smile

Well, we finally captured Jeb's first smile. His first was when he was 6 weeks old, but the smiles were few and far between until now. He smiles a ton when he is in his bouncy seat or laying under his gym. I wonder if he's just happy to be out of the carseat, which he is in about 90% of the time. Poor guy, but what can you do when you're the third child?

London Tour

We saw it all atop a double decker bus last week. The weather was great and so were the kids! If you come to visit, this is a must! The kids favorite? Big Ben.

Dreary Saturday in Beaconsfield

We woke up to dreary weather here today. Tom took his mom and sister off to Heathrow and Joy packed up the boys for her first experience of pumping diesel gas into the van. Later in the morning we took off for the Christmas fair at Jacob's school. It was crazy busy, but Jacob had fun. He got a fake tatoo, some chocolates and got to see Father Christmas in his grotto (I don't know what grotto means, I have to look it up later on.) Jacob also got to buy presents for me and Tom. I gave him a few pounds and sent him into the room where we weren't allowed. It took him forever! Finally he emerged with one wrapped present. Guess what? It was for Tom! Nothing for mommy! Oh well!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the house. Tom listened to UofM lose to OSU, but surprisingly, he isn't in too much of a bad mood. All the boys are sleeping and we are hoping that maybe tonight is the night that Jeb will sleep through the night. Yeah, right!

Church and a friends birthday party tomorrow.