Double Digits~Happy Birthday Thomas!

It's so hard to believe our "baby" is already 10!  Here's a recap of his special day.

Here's my grown up boy all dressed and ready for school.

After school, he opened his presents.  This is the special card Sawyer picked out just for Thomas. 

The loot!

He loved his new creeper case from Grandma. 

Yay!  Wreck-It Ralph from the Bruns family.

A new watch....and this watch doesn't have a timer.  It's just an analog watch with no frills.  Thank goodness because he always finds a way to set the alarm, and we can never figure out how to shut it off.  :)

Yummy treats from the Bruns family too!

A Belgium jersey from Mom, Dad, and Allison.  But, it's too small, so back to the store it will go.  Of course, that needs to happen in like the next two days because they are so great about returns here.  Ha!

I love how excited he gets about opening presents.

More Legos from us.

The Westercamp kids needed a ride home from school, so they were able to join in on the fun.  Thomas loved his Skylanders from Allison. 

We were so happy the Douglas family could join us for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (Thomas's restaurant choice.)

And, they got him a great Lego set, and it's one he doesn't have!  We thought he had them all! :)

The moms!

He ate a full rack of ribs...the boy loves his ribs!

Miss Maddie and Miss Allison...the big sisters. 

Jack was so proud of Thomas for finishing his plate of ribs.

Singing Happy Birthday!

Make a wish!

Photo bomb by Allison.

Making sure we all know he is the star of the day. :)

We're thrilled Grandma and Mike are here to celebrate his birthday.

Thank you Douglas family for surprising Thomas and making his day extra special!

And finally, when we got home, Thomas had to make one more wish.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!  We love you so very much.  We are incredibly blessed to call you our son.

Until next time,
Wendy

Mom and Mike are Here!

My mom and Mike arrived safely in Brussels on Thursday morning.  In an effort to keep them awake and get used to to our time zone, we decided to hit the Grand Place.  We rode the tram and metro to get there.  It's always fun to introduce Mom and Mike to new things, so riding the tram seemed like a great idea.  It was a nice relaxing ride but nearly put them to sleep.  Shoot!  Working against my plan.

We were so glad Lucinda and Emerson could join us.  Look how excited Emerson is about Mom and Mike being in Belgium!  She is saying, "Yay, they are finally here!!!"  LOL!  We had lunch at a Greek restaurant, bought some chocolates, and made our way back home.  We actually didn't have waffles....can't believe it!  We had kiddos to pick up from school. 

The kids were SO EXCITED!  Both came running out on to the playground and nearly knocked Grandma over with their giant hugs.

Mom and Mike slept in on Friday morning.  Later that morning, we had to go to the American Women's Club and do a little Gien shopping.  We HAD to. :) Then, I was off to school to help set up for the International Festival.  Mom and Mike opted for a relaxing afternoon at the house.  Friday night, we enjoyed dinner at Fat Boys (they came all the way to Belgium to eat American food) to celebrate our friend Cary's birthday with the rest of the Collins family, Keowns and Westercamps.  We enjoyed some NCAA basketball and Belgium soccer while we ate.

Saturday was consumed with the International Festival at the kids' school.  It's my favorite day of the school year.  All of the countries come together and set up booths where they sell food, drinks, and items native to their countries.  We enjoyed empanadas from Latin American, paella and sangria from Spain, sparkling shiraz from Australia, and of course there are cupcakes, hotdogs, and rootbeer floats from the good old USA (the dads enjoyed the Budweiser.)  The event really kicks off with a parade of nations.  I was so proud of Thomas carrying the USA sign...only to find out he stole the sign from his sister and refused to give it back.  Sounds like it caused a nice scene during the line up.  Proud Mom for sure.  Ha!  They have a way of keeping it real.

Grandma joined right in on the fun!  It really was strange for me in the beginning to drink alcohol at the kids' school.  It's going to seem so lame when we're back to drinking water and soda at the school carnivals in the US.  LOL!

Allison's select strings group performed in the theater during the festival, so Grandma and Mike were able to hear her play.  It's the first time they've heard her play since she started violin here in Belgium.  Later in the evening, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at our friends the Hauxwells.  It's so much fun having Mom and Mike meet so many of our friends while they are here.  Our friends are our Belgium family, so it's important they get to know each other.  No pictures were taken, so you'll just have to envision what a lovely evening it was shared with good friends and good food...like we hadn't eaten enough all day. :)

We had big plans to head to Germany today, but with the snow and no winter tires we are stuck here at home.  So, we are still in our pajamas and making soup, and Allison gets to attend the Easter party she was bummed about missing.  It's just the relaxing day we need, I guess, for the busy week ahead.

Until next time,
Wendy

Wait, Wait...One More Snow Post

Someday, this blog will hopefully be bound in a book and sitting on my coffee table, so I wanted to be sure these pictures were included.  These pictures are not from our most recent snow.  They are from one of the many others we've had....

My kids are good sports, and I wanted to practice taking some pictures in the snow (which I find very challenging.)  So, we grabbed a few shots as soon as we got home from school.  I didn't even let them go in the house first.  I promised them it would be super quick.  Here are a few of my favorites.

I LOVE his grin.  He rarely shows his teeth, and that's just fine.

Beautiful inside and out...and growing too quickly.

How did I get so lucky???  It's true what they say...Having children: It's like watching your heart walk around outside your body.

My favorite picture to date.  I love everything about it!

Until next time,
Wendy

"Spring" in Belgium ~ March Snow!

It's nearly mid March, and we are all ready for warmer temperatures and hopefully sunny skies.  And, then we get the surprise snow of 2013.  Flurries started on Monday night, and by Tuesday morning roads were nearly impassible.  You know, it doesn't snow here in Belgium (ha!), so the country is really not prepared for this type of accumulation.  I feel like I've said this before on the blog...oh right...I have...because it is always snowing!!!  The sweet lady from the Chinese restaurant we love told us this is the most snow Belgium has seen in March in 200 years.  That sounds about right...

Here are the accidents on the roadways of Belgium on Tuesday.  What a cluster!  I think Chris made the right choice to work from home.  It took our friend Lisa three hours to get to the office.  

The kids had a snow day, so we made the most of it!  

Winter wonderland!  We measured the depth in our yard, and in most places is was 14 cm (6 in.)  That's a lot of snow for here.

The forest is maybe 500m from our house, so it was a nice walk in the snow. 

It's always fun.....

until someone gets snow in the face and starts crying.  And, then their crazy mother starts yelling and screaming and disturbing all peace and quiet in the forest.....

She fell off the log.  He thought it was funny.  If looks could kill.

We're walking along, and he finds the ONLY puddle...loses a boot...and his sock.  Then, he can't get either back on his foot.  Oh, and his gloves are in his pocket.  I think it's time to go home....

Everyone is smiling again! 

Hibernating (I'm about ready to go to sleep until spring is here!)

After Dad finished work, we decided to go sledding at Chateau de la Hulpe.  Just 3 km from our house, we felt by this point in the day we could venture out.  We don't have snow tires, and it really makes a difference here.  I swear normal, everyday tires here are different than normal, everyday tires in the states.  The traction stinks!  So, next year we will be getting winter tires.

The sleds really weren't moving too quickly.  Allison blamed the "dumb sleds," but I really think it was just the powdery snow.  But of course, "We have the worst sleds in Belgium." 

The chateau is even prettier in the winter.

Love the sunshine at the end of the day.

That right there is pouting at its finest.  Someone was overtired!

Never too old to hold her daddy's hand.

Looks like fall colors, but it just the spectacular sunshine.  Hopefully it will be spring time very, very soon.

And, the fun didn't end here.  We had a second snow day on Wednesday because the parking lot and playground at school were deemed unsafe due to ice.  One snow day is great...two snow days is pushing it...BIG TIME!

Hopefully, this is my last post about snow!

Until next time,
Wendy