Christmas Time

Though my birthday isn't really Christmas related, it's close to it and I don't have enough pictures to warrant it's own blog. I turned 29 in December. Koen and Hadley went off to school and Macie and I went home to do our usual thing. I watched a little Downton Abbey and Jon surprised me with coming home early so he could take me out to lunch. I was grateful for this because the whole day was feeling mighty normal as adult birthdays can. Time with Jon in the evening was going to be limited since he was needing to go to mutual with our church's young men too.

After lunch, we ran an errand and picked kids up from school. I was able to skype with my parents. They always make us feel special on our birthdays by singing to us.

A perk to my birthday is that I can take a picture with Jon without any fuss. 

Jon was willing to chop onions and make tortilla soup for me, which he doesn't really like.

He clearly loves me.

Koen played the part of Caspar, a wise man, in his school nativity play. Koen has exploded out of his "shy shell"and has gained so much confidence. He didn't seem a bit nervous about his play and had no problem memorizing his line. He did a fantastic job with his part and we are so proud of him. The play was very cute and I am looking forward to seeing Hadley participate next year.

Hadley's preschool had a fun Christmas party which had a few special guests arrive. Father Christmas was one of them and brought a gift for each child. Hadley hasn't gained the courage to go up to him yet, but he's a pretty nice guy and gave her a gift anyhow.

Olaf was notably larger than expected.

Hadley wondered why Anna wasn't with her sister, Elsa. She was also curious why Elsa didn't use her real magic and later told me this wasn't the real Elsa.

Christmas crackers are a common tradition here in England. The kids enjoyed them at their school festivities, restaurants offered them during the season, and Santa even put some in our stockings this year. They all come with tiny games and tissue-paper crowns. 

I totally meant to get a descent picture of Koen with his bike, but this is the best I have so far. He asked me to help him make a sign to put on the front of his bike so that he could wish everyone a Merry Christmas to and from school. I loved that he wanted to do this and did so proudly. 

We made the traditional Christmas cookies before Christmas and shared some with the neighbors. 

Our Christmas was simple and sweet. Jon and I discovered the convenience of doing the majority of our Christmas shopping for the kids online and appreciated not needing to hire a babysitter for a Christmas shopping date.

The kids didn't wake up super early on Christmas morning. I woke up debating whether I should shower and possibly make the kids wait for me to get out, or wake everyone else up myself so that we could get going. I opted remove old nail polish on my nails and the kids came in not long afterwards.

Our waffle iron got fried in the outlet, so we opted for desert-like pancakes for breakfast. With church at 11, we were able to take things pretty easy in the morning without feeling rushed for church. I love going to church on Christmas and singing a ton of Christmas songs about Jesus. They are some of my favorite songs to sing. After church, we had a good time playing with new toys together and listening to Jon's new Piano Guys cd.

 Koen asked Santa for a chocolate pen. It's pretty much a mechanical pastry bag that you use to make designs out of melted chocolate with.

Back in October, Hadley was disappointed she did not get an Elsa dress for her birthday. Santa came through for her.

 This was our first year of doing Secret Santa within our family. When Christmas Eve arrived, Koen decided he wanted to give a gift to his sisters even though he hadn't drawn either of their names. I offered to help him make something but he wanted to buy a toy and was willing to use his own money for them. So Jon took him to the store Christmas Eve Saturday and Koen picked out a toy for both of his sisters. I thought it was sweet of him to be willing to use his own money and his toy choices were fitting for him and his sisters. He gave Hadley a small Princess Lego set that he hoped to build with her, and Macie was given a Peppa Pig car that was practically a large Lego set as well. He also built it for her after she opened it.

 The girls had such a fun time playing with Hadley's new makeup and nail polish. 

Merry Christmas from the Williams Family!