This Little Piggy Went to Market

Friday, Cohen and I pulled up in our big banana at the American School to attend the kids holiday music concert. I have to admit, I waited until the coast was clear before getting out of the car. The kids were great and excited to see us at school. It was the first time really interacting with the school, and I was surprised how international it is. We had some time to kill after, so decided to hit the nearby American store and explore Pozuelo, a village just a short walk away. We bought our Goldfish crackers, and 6 Euro box of Fruity Pebbles (that's almost $8 for a box -definately not making our normal grocery rotation) at the tiny, very limited "Taste of America" store and were on our way. We passed lots of restaurants, panaderias (bakeries), and cute boutiques, as well as a few lifeless piggies waiting to go wee, wee, wee, all the way to someone's home. We never even made it to the heart of Pozuelo as I didn't have the stroller and wasn't wearing appropriate footwear. We turned around when Cohen said his toe hurt and wanted me to carry him. We had walked a lot further than I thought we would be, so we had a long walk ahead. When I put him down to give my arms a break, he would drag his leg behind him. It was so funny to watch, though I must have looked like the mother of the year, making my lame 3 yr old son struggle to keep up in the chilly weather while he complained of being cold.

The moving company told us we would have our stuff early next week, so we decided to move into casa roja Sunday. In preparation for Sunday, we stopped by the house to make sure the heat had been turned on. While we were there, someone rang from the gate (0ne of the many security measures). I scrambled trying to figure out how to buzz him in and when I went to the door, there was a most welcome surprise. A package! Never was there a sweeter sight. A package from Grandma and Grandpa Ross, yay! Now a package is always exciting, but especially so under the circumstances. I was pretty excited that the package said "Open Before Christmas". Not that I would have waited anyway, but it's always nice to be guilt free. It was addressed to the kids, so I debated waiting until they were home from school until I realized I had a perfectly good present opener whom qualified as "kids". Cohen has never opened a present before. We try to let him, but with so many older "helpers", he never really gets the chance. He was unsure how to go about it, and not sure if he was allowed to rip the paper or not (he's such a rule abider). Once he got the hang of it though, he got more and more excited. It was the most perfect gift - something handmade, christmas-y, totally in need of, and a great tradition to start. Grandma Ross had made the kids each their own magic Christmas pillowcase, with a little poem, and some beautifully illustrated Christmas books (with our lack of books, Gavin has been reading the Madrid Guide for his nightly reading homework). So, thank you, thank you, thank you, your timing is impeccable!