Getting ready for Christmas

Excitement is running through our house as we prepare for Christmas. Jack is old enough where he is really getting excited about everything. December 6th is Santa Claus day in Switzerland and Jack put out a boot before he went to bed and then when he woke up in the morning "Santa Claus" had filled it with treats. He talks about it every day. He's really excited about presents and when I ask him what he wants he will always include something for Lily which is so sweet. 

Luke on guitar and Jack on drums for Christmas carols

I am part of an english speaking group here in Switzerland. It is where I go to ask all sorts of questions that I can't find anywhere else. This group hosted a Christmas party a few weeks ago and we decided to attend. It was the first party I have ever attended where I didn't know anyone. It was also the first party I have ever attended where people introduced themselves by their screen names "hi, I'm fairywomen" was the first person I met.

English speakers Christmas dinner

Our new friends

 For dinner they served raclette which is a traditional Swiss dish. Traditionally a big half circle of cheese is melted in the fire and then the melted parts are scraped off and put over potatoes. But the Swiss have invented a handy dandy raclette machine where you can just put slices of cheese under a broiler and then you can use the top as a grill. This is one of Luke's favorite meals here and so I we are going to treat ourselves to our own raclette machine this Christmas

A raclette machine where you can cook your
cheese on the bottom and grill meats on the top

 Since everyone was dressed up for the party, I attempted to get a picture with both kids.

Jack looks guilty in this photo

The other day Jack woke up from his nap in a cranky mood so I went in his room and sang to him until he fell back asleep and in the meantime Lily fell asleep too. It was a Christmas miracle.

 Can you tell that Jack adores his little sister?

 Tummy time...

 You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a picture with both of them smiling.

 This picture is from my cellphone but I love it because it shows how chubby Lily is.

 But she is so cute!

Poor little girl has cracks and folds all over her body. She has at least 3 folds in her neck that we have to clean every day or they get red and stinky. You can kind of see one of the red folds here:

 Love her smiles

 She's even cute when she's mad

One of the greatest places I have discovered here in Switzerland is the Ludotech. It is a library for toys where you pay a small yearly fee and then you can go and check out toys. It is great since Jack gets bored of his toys so quickly. We can just go every week and get a new toy. Here he is playing with the Mr. Potato Head game:

And my greatest discovery has been a cheap box of small beads and bottles of water. Jack spent every morning this past week dropping beads, one by one into the bottle and then pouring them out through the sieve and then doing it all over again. This has bought me 2-3 hours every morning where I can do other things while he is fully entertained by this game.