Rise and Shine!

Have we mentioned the sun rises at 5 AM and sets at 10 PM? It is crazy how much sunlight we have now! One morning my 'surprise' to get the kids out of bed and moving was to show them this sight outside our back door!


3 deer beyond our property line!

Same Old Lives

During our cultural training of Belgium a few weeks before we moved, the instructor told us we would want to keep some family traditions alive so the kids had some consistency. Her family chose to go out for pizza every Sunday night during their stint abroad. I'm not sure we could find a pizza place open on Sundays here??
I completely agreed that we'd need to find something.
We didn't really think about it before the move, but we already had a few things going like scrambled eggs and pancake breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Also, our involvement with a small group from church which met every Sunday evening. The kids really missed that in the beginning - even more than I thought they would. Everyone in the group had small children their ages and the kids played for 2 hours while we had Bible study time. They had loved Sunday nights with their lifelong friends - yes, they've known some of them literally from the day they were born. That was irreplaceable!
We have found a church home here and meet with a small group, but not as often as back home since we meet every 2-3 weeks. But, we still do it and I think that's the important part.
R has joined a laid back soccer club and J hasn't quite found anything yet (they don't start them quite as young here). She'll be able to do Irish dancing lessons this fall though and she's thrilled! She practices all the time around the kitchen.
Here's R doing the same soccer stuff he did in the states, only with bigger kids.

I seriously can't remember if this was a goal or not? Bad Mom!

May 23rd, R's Birthday!

We were headed to Paris during R's 7th birthday, so we let him open his gift early. If you know him very well, you'll be able to guess what it was.

He loves Legos! They are such a great gift because he's actually following directions while he's making a toy. As a former teacher, I love this kind of gift!!

During his recent trip to the states, K had picked up a card that played the Imperial March (Darth Vader's theme song). You can tell he enjoyed it by his reaction. Don't you love genuine smiles caught on camera instead of the posed ones?

Wow - what a sunny day in Belgium it was!
There are those eyeballs again...it must be a boy thing.
He was a little disappointed because for your birthday, you don't quite get the star treatment in Paris restaurants like you do in Indiana! He quickly got over that though when he tasted his ice cream for dessert.

Just like last year, I made him a cookie cake to take to school for the celebration. I had purchased the ingredients before we moved to Belgium in December just in case I couldn't find them here. I was shocked when it turned out great! You never know with the ovens here if your recipe is going to actually come out the way you remember it tasting back home or completely different. Of course when I dropped it off at school and whipped out the camera to get a picture, I was out of batteries. He reported that it was delicious, but we didn't get a bite even though there were extra pieces I had cut. There happened to be a substitute teacher in his classroom that day and he told me she had 3 pieces...Hmmm.

Paris

After our two days at Disney, we waved goodbye to Mickey (which was actually strange because in Disneyland Paris, we really didn't see much of Mickey) and headed to Paris!
The day we arrived to the Eiffel Tower was R's real birthday date. Miserable it wasn't her birthday, J threw fit after fit while we were trying to sightsee. While walking through train stations we would just look at each other baffled as she stands a few feet behind us with arms crossed saying she's not coming. We kept asking, "What is her problem?" Later on in the day we finally realized she was jealous. We kind of clued in when she asked him what it's like to be 7 years old.
Here the kids are waiting for a train.

Her behavior didn't stop us from ascending the Eiffel Tower to see the Statue of Liberty on the river. That made so many connections in R's little mind as he pictured us on the visa trip seeing Lady Liberty in New York. She's in the middle of the picture by the greenery and road.
The Arch de Triumph from the Eiffel Tower

Finally, a good hair day! Maybe that's why I came home loving Paris!
Lunch in a cute restaurant on the sidewalk! Why do little boys usually come to an age where they need to make goofy eyeball pictures for the camera?

Just to prove we were on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, I took a picture. We found a restaurant on the sidewalk that made the best Greek salad! We actually went back there the next day for another taste since I'm a sucker for Greek salads.

Walking along the Avenue, this is a unique display we came across. How did they get that car up there????
The Arch de Triumph below.
Since it was an absolutely beautiful weekend, we took advantage of the sun and stayed outside both days. We took a boat tour one of the days and a bus tour as well. I felt kind of lazy, but the kids had just walked around Disney for 2 days and it was the first time without a stroller...how we've grown up! We still desire to return to Paris later in the year when we can explore more inside museums, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and see the lights at night, but with it not getting dark here until 10:00 PM we couldn't stay awake that long to see anything lit up...especially with J's attitude!

This is a picture of the Arch de Triumph from our bus tour.

Notre Dame Cathedral from the bus
More from the bus...

Disney Paris..."Finally!" Pastor Ben Says!

Yes, back home we're known as the family addicted to Disney World. We've been to the Florida themepark numerous times and even on a Disney Cruise. The kids love it, and we love seeing their faces beam every time we go. Disney sets the bar high for friendliness, cleanliness, and respectfulness. Disney Paris was no different and we remain impressed with the company!!!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle!

As J continually hit the middle metal bar while driving the race car, she repeatedly reported to K,"I'm a great driver, aren't I?" He was a sweet daddy and just agreed with her belief about her skills!

Of course you have to ride "It's a Small World" if only to find out how the United States is represented...here it is...what the Europeans picture in their minds when they think of the U.S.

Now, during the 3 hour car ride to Disneyland, J could not stop talking about her preschool friend, Solenne, who had left the day before us. Every half an hour she would say, "I bet we'll run into Solenne. I wonder what Solenne is riding right now?"...and so on. So I found it unbelievable that we actually did run into Solenne even though the park was crowded the two days we were there! I had to get a picture of this! Her sister in the background is actually the one that spotted us.
You'd think by the way my son is stuffing his mouth with cotton candy that I maybe never feed him, or that I never allow him to have sugar. Both statements are quite false.

Just to prove I do feed him, this is a picture inside the Rainforest Cafe. They create a thunderstorm every half hour in the restaurant, making it seem like a real rainforest, decked out with animals and waterfalls. We stopped here for dinner one night.
With the toy soldiers marching by, it reminded us of the parade in Disney World...this is K's favorite part of the parade!

The Star Wars area was a huge hit with R!

We squished together to ride Dumbo.

There's that sword we can never pull out!

The stained glass provided pictures of the Sleeping Beauty story.

I do have to say there was one sad point in the day when J informed me, "Mom, I don't need to see the princesses this time because I know they're just dressed up." My jaw dropped and I couldn't even respond. The magic is fading! So all of you out there on the fence about Disney, take your kids while they're young. The most magical ages were between 2-4 years. I'm so thankful for our many memories!

Posing with their souveniers: a toy gun and Jasmine dress.

Family Day

Every year the school holds Family Day which is an event serving two purposes:

1. To raise money.

2. To have fun.

The talk of the town is the bottle game. Students donate bottles...shampoo, milk, water, coke, beer, wine (yes, beer and wine at a school function???), basically anything in a bottle that has not been opened. There are two sides...the "anyone" side (costs $0.50) on the left and the "over 16 side" (costing 1 Euro) on the right. The bottles each have a number on them and after paying your money to play, you pick a number out of the hat. The nice workers (who are just volunteers wanting a workout) climb the stairs and find your matching number. You take home the bottle with the number you drew. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. Kind of like a cake walk without the music and walking in a circle part. This is such a big hit and huge money maker for the school as it's all profit since the bottles are donated. This year they received over 2,800 bottles!

Yes, his eyelashes have always been the envy of every woman!

Also included in this day of fun is face painting, auctions to raise money, various kid games, bounce houses, and much more. It's an international school represented by many different countries and most of those set up a booth to serve lunch with cuisine typical of their culture. We didn't stay too long as it fell on the same weekend we were cleaning out the basement, but we did enjoy ourselves and even found Spiderman and a leopard to bring home with us!

12 Years Ago Today

Yes, K and I were married 12 years ago today, June 7, 1997. I won't get all mushy about it, but I do just want to say for the record that I'm so thankful for such a wonderful, Godly husband who treats me right and is such a loving father to his children. What more can a woman want? I'm truly blessed!