Scenes from a Sunny Sunday

Here is our day in iPhone pictures...with some commentary of course. :)

The kids were acolytes at church for the first time.  They did a great job and didn't have to wear the beautiful royal blue robe with the white thing over your shoulders like I had to wear when I was an acolyte!  Lucky ducks!

Our drive to and from church is through the forest, and it is a gorgeous drive.  It is really amazing now that everything is in bloom.  I happened to look in the side mirror, and this is what I saw.  Thankful my phone was in my lap, so I could snap this sweet shot.

The best part of the day was the sunshine and 74 degree temperature.  Most of our day was spent in the backyard.  I must say, it was so nice to be home just relaxing.

The American Girl dolls were even soaking up the sun.

Little Miss Allison has a book report due next Tuesday and a long way to go on that book.  She needs to get moving because Grandma and Mike arrive on Monday, and I am quite sure there will be no working on the book report once they arrive.

Allison and her darling friend spent a lot of time on the trampoline when they weren't playing their violin/viola and playing American Girl dolls (so happy Allison has someone to play these with.)  And, I frequently heard this while they jumped.  "Hey Mom!  Take our picture.  Wasn't that jump awesome!  Take another.  No that wasn't good.  Take another one......" I often regret the number of times I made my mom give me a score off the diving board or watch every cartwheel I did across the yard.  I'll bet I was annoying! :)

Well, this one had to get in on the competition too.  Limber is NOT his middle name.  Such a boy!  If I may go on a tangent...we were jumping on the trampoline yesterday too.  I was showing Thomas how to do the twist while we jumped. He then wanted to show me how to do "the screw".  Do you see where I'm going with this?.... He starts jumping and twirling and repeatedly chanting, "I'm screwing...I'm going to screw with you Mommy....Mommy, let's screw!"  And, for those of you who know Thomas, you know that he is LOUD!  Only one volume with this boy, and that is MAX!  Unfortunately, most of our neighbors speak English.  Oh my dear Lord.....all I could do was laugh.

Whoa!  Look at those skills.  Now, if we can just get that to happen on the ground.

Not to be outdone by my children.  I had to prove that I could still do it.  Chris just kept shaking his head.  This was like take #10.  And, not because I couldn't do it well, but his photography skills were not up to par. ;)  LOL!

And, like most days in Belgium, the beautiful day ended with a major thunderstorm.  We actually had lightening and thunder and even lost power 3+ times.  Unfortunately, the chicken wasn't quite finished, so this is how the remainder of the grilling went for Chris.

And, that my friends, is our Sunday at home.

Until next time,
Wendy  

Beach Decor

We have an interesting layout for our upstairs bathroom.  In most Belgian homes, the toilet is separate from the rest of the bathroom, as is the case in our house.  This is really a terrific set up and quite handy with a boy and girl in the house.  In our Morton house, the kids had a beach themed bathroom.  To avoid more spending, we opted to carry the same theme over to this house.  They had a great "to the beach" towel rack, but it lost three pegs on the trip over, so that is going in the trash. Boooo! :( Most of the sink/shower room is tile, so that has posed a bit of a problem for hanging.  I used 3M hooks on the tile for their towels, and hung a "lifeguard on duty" sign in the toilet area.  But, it looked so boring.  I needed something to spice it up and give it some personality.  We have been on some really terrific beach vacations to Destin, Orange Beach, and Mexico.  With those vacations have come some of my most favorite pictures of our family and friends.  I wanted a way to display them...a lot of them...cheaply.  And, Voilá!  This is what I came up with.  And, no I did not see this on Pinterest, but I'm sure it has been done before. :)  The cost of the pictures was less than $20 (Chris picked them up when he was home...and I ordered way too many that I will probably just tape to the back of the bathroom door) and the clothespins were under 3 euros.  

Last night, I backed all of the pictures with fun scrapbook paper.  This is the sink/shower part of the bathroom.  3M hooks are holding the twine because this is tile...no holes here!

This is the toilet area.  I hung all of this a bit too high.  You'll have to crane your neck when you are sitting on the potty. :)

And, the other side of the toilet room.

Some of the details...super cheap because most of it was things I already had!

Can you see the sweet little umbrella brad above Allison's picture.  Love it!

So, when you use the toilet and sink in my house, you'll have something to look at.  If you're in there a while, I won't be too concerned. :)

Until next time,

Wendy

Kitchen Project

Remember...way back when...when I asked for suggestions regarding that big empty wall in my kitchen? Well, I got a ton of messages offering suggestions.  Thank you so much for all of your help.  I went right out and purchased some fun things to fill the space.  Chris's twin brother Jerry and our sister-in-law Amy have a layover in Brussels on Sunday, so they will be coming to the house for a few hours.  And, nothing gets you motivated like a little company.  So, I took that wall decor that has been laying on the floor of the office for the last month and a half (maybe longer...the dust was pretty thick), and finally got it up on the wall.  I was waiting for a little help from the hubs...why do I wait?  I am clearly capable of doing this myself, and it was an argument free project. :) So here it is.....

I know the letters are tiny, but the clocks are labeled with BELGIUM and USA.  No more questions about what time it is back home!  I actually wanted to label the clocks HOME and USA because this is home for now, but we'll leave it like this for now. I didn't want to cause any confusion. :)


I did have to buy a smaller cart because there is a garbage can that sits to the left of the cart...that didn't need to be in the picture.  And usually, I keep my shopping bags to the right, so the cart doesn't look quite so small as it does in these pictures. 

And here is the view from the family room.  I'm going to need to have some interior brick when we move back to the states.  I love it!

Until next time,
Wendy

Puddle Jumpers

First things first....look at this adorable shirt!  Thomas received it in the mail from his buddy River.  They got it while they were in Florida, and River said they had the greatest donuts!  Thank you so much to Dannette and River for making this boy's day!

We are taking advantage of the longer days.  It was light out tonight until almost 7:00!  Hallelujah!  We had ample amounts of sunshine today, but one day isn't enough to dry everything up.  So we couldn't do a walk without our boots.  And, of course, this boy doesn't skip one puddle!

His sidekick wasn't skipping any either!  Note...there is no actual jumping going on.  Their mean mom kindly asked them to refrain from any jumping that would splash mud all over the clean coats and jeans.  

Hmmm....this might be why I needed a new tire.  

And, it just keeps getting better and better in his eyes.

One of our favorite houses in the neighborhood

Me and my girlie!

I'd like to know who lives in this humble little abode....

Here are the train tracks that are just one block from our house.  Good thing they don't blow a whistle anywhere near us.  All we hear is the ringing of a bell as the train approaches.  We can handle that!

Love that we can actually see a sunset.

I got the patio all swept!  I'm so ready for spring...longer days, planting flowers, grilling, entertaining outside...I hope the coming months do not disappoint.  But, I won't get my hopes too high either.

My guy in his tree.  He spends most of his free time up there.

The weeks just keep flying by.  Daddy will start his journey home tomorrow.  He has lots of goodies for the kids.  I got goodies today too after a trip to the American Store in Antwerp.  We have a birthday in the family in just a couple of weeks, and I had to get the goodies to make cupcakes and birthday cake for my most special boy. :)

Until next time,

Wendy

Vacation with Imagination

Today was one of those days reserved for total relaxation.  Allison requested that they leave their pajamas on all day.  And, I happen to think it is good to have days like that.  I actually just told them they needed to go up and get their pajamas on for bed, and they laughed....at least they could put clean pajamas on!  Being home all day is rare for us, but it was good to get caught up on laundry, do a little organizing, and make a quick trip to the grocery store.  The highlight of the day was when my kids were actually playing....not on the DS...not on the computer...not on the iPod touch...they were really playing!  Pretending!  It was music to my ears.  They created pet stores and took turns shopping at each other's store.  Oh of course it wasn't all bliss.  They had to fight over who could use the tape, and they didn't shop at the other person's store frequently enough...blah, blah, blah!  But hey, they were playing, so I was happy.

Allison's Exotic Pet Store

Thomas's Pet Store

With spring break coming up, many friends have commented on family and friends that are coming to visit.  And, we had just received a call that my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew would not be able to come this summer.  It has just totally bummed me out.  I didn't realize how desperate I was for someone to come and see us here.  I don't have a big desire to go home yet...I just want someone to come here and see how we live.  I want to share our life with the people we love.  And then, during my pity party, my mom called and said she was looking at flights for the end of May.  And, she booked her tickets!!!  It's still three months away, but it will be so nice to have her here for two weeks.  I don't feel like I need to have a lot of plans because it's my mom.  And, all that really matters is that we'll be together.    Did I mention I gave up soda for Lent?  I'm a BIG soda drinker, so this is truly a challenge for me.  I think my mood has been deeply affected by this as well.  But, I've gone two days now, and that's the most time I have gone without soda in years.  I can do this!!!

Until next time,

Wendy

This one is for Tyler

So, I was chatting with Kathie last night...and she informed me that Tyler Stephens was tired of the inside pictures of my house and wanted to see some outside pictures of the house. So, in this freezing cold and snowy (yes snowy...yay!!) weather, I went outside and took some new pictures of the outside of the house.  Some of you have seen them on FB, and I'm friends with Tyler on FB???, but this post is dedicated to him.   Enjoy Tyler! :)

There was just enough snow to leave a little message for the kids after school.  Chris is in the U.S., so he doesn't get a message unless he brings home some Lucky Charms.  Just kiddin' you hon!

This is the front of the house.  The house is actually turned sideways, and that's probably good.  It's really not the prettiest front of a house.  I do love the brick though, and once there are some flowers out there with a little table, it's going to look much cuter!

This is the north side of the house (I think.)  I actually hadn't even looked at this side of the house since we arrived, so maybe it is good that I got out and took some pictures!  I like the cute little triangle windows at the top. That's the attic...which is gigantic!!!

I'm standing in the side yard, looking at the backyard.  We are really lucky to have such a nice yard.

Here's the back of the house.  

And the south side of the house which is along the road.  The window on the top right is our bedroom window.  I think it is so pretty!

Here is the view when you pull into the driveway of our home.  Caution...there's plenty of mud!

We have a bit more organizing to do in the garage, so that is why both cars are in the driveway.  I could fit one, but I'm kind of lazy I guess.  I'm really not sure the Volvo will fit.  It's not a very big garage at all!

So sorry Ben and Bekah...look how I am abusing your poor car.  It is not happy about that muddy road, but I have a real problem with car washes.  It's a bit of a phobia for me.  I'm going to have to get over it.

And, here is the view from our front door.  I'm anxious to see all of you pulling into the driveway for a visit.  I can't wait for that!!!

And finally, for bootcamp today I wore lycra.  I haven't worn lycra since 1995 on the ISU Danceline.  I totally caved under the pressure that everyone here wears lycra.  And lycra paired with rain boots is totally HOT, so I thought you could get a good laugh over my fashion sense today.  And my word...that is a ridiculously bad angle!!!  :)

Tyler, I hope you enjoyed this post.  Now you and Molly and those precious children of yours need to get over here for a visit! 

Until next time,

Wendy

Food Critic

Okay, the first part of this post doesn't have anything to do with food.  My mom has been mentioning rather often that I haven't posted any pictures of our master bedroom.  I am aware of this.  Before we moved, I redid our bedroom.  The whole thing...by myself.  I was so proud of it.  Loved the color...loved the accessories....and loved that I could say I didn't have ANY help.  And then one month later we found out we were moving.  And now, someone else is enjoying my newly redecorated master bedroom.  So, as much as I love the beautiful window in our bedroom, there is just something missing.  Maybe it's the white walls?  Or the curtains that don't match my bedding?  Or the rug that doesn't match my pillows?  I don't know.  It's just missing something.  So, here it is...my uninspired master bedroom.  I'll get there.  I'm just not there yet.

How many pictures can I fit on that dresser?...that's too many. 

Now on to food.  My whole life, I've eaten Belgian food.  My mom has some great Belgian dishes and during the holidays, we always have some more Belgian food to look forward to.  Our friend Anna makes these great cookies with a cookie press.  I recall them always being wrapped in foil.  Anyhow, I found them at the grocery store today.  I always take a snack for the kids in the car after school, and this was today's snack.  And you know what...they taste EXACTLY like Anna's cookies.  I was so excited!  I should wrap the leftovers in foil for good measure.

Again, at Christmas, my grandpa has always given us dry sausage.  It is an acquired taste, but I love it, and so does Chris.  Ironically, it was always wrapped in foil too.  Huh?!  Well, on my trip to the grocery store today, I picked this up for some tasting.  I'm pretty sure this is dry sausage.  I admit that I haven't tried it yet.  I'm a little nervous.  It is rather strange looking, but it looks just like Grandpa's sausage.  Neither of these goodies are on my new diet...go figure.

And finally, I found hot dogs....in a can.  That's all I can find.  But, the kids thought they were amazing.  According to Thomas, they taste just like the kind at the ballpark.  Well, I'll be darned...who knew...and they're cheap!  Good thing, because they ate the whole can at dinner.  Oh my fat grams!  Good thing they are young, and Thomas never stops moving. 

That's it for food.  School is keeping the kids VERY busy.  At this rate, they'll be able to skip two grades when they come home.  It is so stinkin' hard!!!  But, I know they'll get used to it...at least I hope because the whining and crying is causing me a breakdown.  Phew!!!

Until next time,

Wendy