Shopping for breakfast

Raise your hand if you like chocolate!

Raise your hand if you like bread!

I recently found something at the store called "Breakfast Chocolate" and bought it just to see what it was. Zoom in on the picture and you will see that the front of the box shows thin pieces of chocolate on top of bread. There were no directions on the box except something in Flemish, French and German about storing the chocolate at an acceptable temperature. The family has been eating this stuff without the bread at all times of the day. The chocolate is really good! Today I tried to make it the way it showed on the box. I toasted a piece of bread and layed the thin piece of chocolate on top to melt. I wasn't very good. But I guess if we Americans will eat a sugar filled Pop Tart, why not eat a slab of chocolate on bread?

Another try at the post about the doctor

I really thought we might be able to get through 2 years of living in a foreign country without making a trip to the doctor! Ha!!!!! I talked about this with family and friends before. You all must have chuckled at me on the inside while you were nodding your head in agreement on the outside! No stitches, broken bones or episodes of strep throat for 2 whole years? What was I thinking?
Leah is the first to really get sick here. She had a fever for almost 2 days and went through an entire bottle of children's ibruprofin (not available in Belgium, by the way). She even missed school which is so unlike any of my kids. Last night I got the # for a reputable English speaking doctor and took Leah in this morning. We didn't have to wait at all which was nice. The doctor was very very young. He looked like he had just graduated from high school. Then he said he was training someone and asked if that doctor could join us too. The second doc looked even younger than the first. He could have been one of Maria's high school friends. I told him he looked very young and he just laughed. Leah got a very thorough exam and was found to have strep throat. I knew it. I paid the doctor directly, no receptionist and no paperwork. 24 euros, a perscription for penicillin and instructions to rest. Easy.
I have tipped my toes into the doctor pool and it wasn't so bad. Now the kids are welcome to get sick anytime they want!

This blog drives me crazy sometimes

Look at the post below! What did I do? What did I press?

1st trip to the doctor

I really thought we might be able to get through 2 years of living in a foreign country without making a trip to the doctor! Ha!!!!! I talked about this with family and friends before. You all must have chuckled at me on the inside while you were nodding your head in agreement on the outside! No stitches, broken bones or episodes of strep throught for 2 whole years? What was I thinking?

Leah is the first to really get sick here. She had a fever for almost 2 days and went through an entire bottle of children's ibruprofin (not available in Belgium, by the way). She even missed school which is so unlike any of my kids. Last night I got the # for a reputable English speaking doctor and took Leah in this morning. We didn't have to wait at all which was nice. The doctor was very very young. He looked like he had just graduated from high school. Then he said he was training someone and asked if that doctor could join us too. The second doc looked even younger than the first. He could have been one of Maria's high school friends. I told him he looked very young and he just laughed. Leah got a very thorough exam and was found to have strep throat. I knew it. I paid the doctor directly, no receptionist and no paperwork. 24 euros, a perscription for penicillin and instructions to rest. Easy.

I have tipped my toes into the doctor pool and it wasn't so bad. Now the kids are welcome to get sick anytime they want!

The Tulips

I had many questions by email about the tulips at the top of the blog. Yes they are real and yes I took the picture. (I didn't borrow it from Goggle Images!) I bought them last week at the Sunday market for 5 euros. They stayed that beautiful for at least 5 days and then started to drop their petals. I have written about this before, but nothing is open on Sundays. If you really need something, you have to be creative. Here is an example...

Last Sunday I needed an avacado. Bob wanted to make sushi and we had all the ingredients except the avacado for the California rolls. I set out on a quest to find a ripe avacado on a Sunday at 1:00pm. I first stopped at our local convenience store that has odd hours and is open on Sunday. They have a lot of things, although expensive, but no ripe avacados. Then I went to two more stores just like ours in other locations, no luck again. Finally I happened upon the Sunday market in a nearby commune. My time was starting to run out by now and I knew they would close around 2:00. This market is huge with a chicken man, 2 flower stalls, numerous food and wine vendors, and 3 vegetable stands. All 3 vegetable vendors sold avacados but none of them were ripe. All the people told me "3 days" which means we would have to wait 3 days for the avacado to be ripe. Then I happened upon a woman selling Japanese food in little cartons. People were buying and eating her food along with tons of other selections form other cooks. She had a huge variety of stock in her stall with which she used to cook. Oddly enough, she had an avacado behind her counter. In a combination of English/Japanese and Flemish, she agreed to sell me her one, lonely ripe avacado for 2 euros. It was worth the high price because we ended up with great sushi and an even better story.

Prince Leopold Home

I went to the Prince Leopold home yesterday to volunteer. It is an old folks home for people who need constant care but aren't confined to their rooms. They were mobile and happy to see us. I signed up with a group who drops by there once a month for just an hour or two to bring a little cheer. Yesterday was my first visit. We took fruit and cakes/cookies and served an afternoon snack. We talked to all the people, shared some juice and cake and went home. The people there are VERY well cared for and the old chateau was extremely clean. It is so close to where we live, halfway between school and home. Prince Leopold built it as his hunting mansion when the country of Belgium was very young. I can just picture him riding his horse from the big palace in Brussels (8 kilometers away) and going all the way out to the hunting grounds. Now there is a highway just a hop and skip away. It still has one of the many forests of Brussels right in the back yard. Many many horse stables and a hippodrome are also right next to it. When I get old I hope someone can find an old chateau, complete with horse stables, backing up to the forest for me to spend my golden years.

Troc Treasures

Below are the treasures I found yesterday at a Troc. When I described a Troc to my dad, he said it sounded like a glorified garage sale. In actuality, he is right but Trocs have no clothing or bins of McDonalds Happy Meal toys!
Here are my purchases. I also got a boring coat hook for my laundry room but it wasn't picture worthy.
I love this decanter and six shot glasses. Printed on the front is the word Obervellach. After a little research, I found out Obervellach is a town in Austria. It's nestled in a valley of the Alps and is a ski destination. The decanter, shown up close below, has a sticker which says it is hand painted.

On the left is something I have wanted for a very long time. It's a brass umbrella holder. Up close you can see it is shaped like an upside down umbrella...oh so clever. Now I have to find all my big, Mary Poppins style umbrellas! The box on the right is a wine case. The Troc I went to had a few of them in different sizes. This one holds 2 bottles of wine and was originally used as a promotional item for a winery. (according to the internet) My intention is to put two fabulous bottles of wine inside it and give it to Bob. I hope he doesn't read the blog in the next couple of months!

Catching Up

Here is a little info about what we are up to...

Maria: Busy with finals. She had one on Friday, 2 today, 2 tomorrow and 1 on Wednesday. There is no school for her on Thursday, then her classes start again on Friday. Her schedule won't change too much. In the IB program, you have the same classes each semester, just more intense.

Leah: Playing the Bass in the orchestra. She is pretty good and cute when she tries to handle the huge instrument. She moved up a level in French and is the star of the family in foreign language. She wants me to add that she is good at everything.

Jennifer: Playing the Viola in the orchestra. She carries it to and from school daily and even diligently practices. She is tops in Math and can do anything with fractions. She wanted me to add that she is better (than her sister) at everything.

(There is a little sibling rivalry here!)

Bob: Traveling to Spain a lot. He is not complaining at all and loves to eat Jamon, baby lamb and Rioja on every visit. Living just a few countries away lets him come home more often. When we lived in the US he would come to Europe and stay for weeks. Now he travels around Europe and comes home for dinner!

Julie: Toured the European Parliament last week. Don't tell the Belgians but it was very boring. A newer and much more exciting interest is going to Trocs. They are just huge buildings full of high and low quality antiques. Also starting a knitting class in late January.

My next post will be pictures of my recent (and cheap) purchases at a Troc.

Music - Poll

Now I can't get the silly poll to come up. I may just put the music back on and have it play "It's a Small World" over and over and over and over and over...

Music

I took off the music. I had 5 complaints. I replaced it with a Poll. Please vote!

It never snows in Belgium!

Everyone said, "It never snows in Belgium" and we believed them. On Monday we got about 6 inches of snow right during the morning rush hour. It took the girls one and a half hours to get to school on the bus. The picture above is small but click on it and it will get bigger. I can't quite figure out how to make the twins' eyes normal looking so they have a weird glow to them! Anyway, the snow wasn't a good packing snow but somehow Leah and Jennifer figured out how to make a giant chair on the back patio. It took 3 hours and the following supplies to make their creation; a bucket, 2 badminton rackets, 5 pair of gloves, 2 mugs of hot chocolate, 2 jump ropes, 1 small cooler, a snow shovel and two changes of clothing. They had so much fun! It must be so unique to be a twin and have your best friend ready to play, fight or create at any moment. This was one of those times where I stood at the door and watched their relationship unfold. They are a lucky pair!

Funny business

Sometimes when I load pictures onto my computer, this is what I find. Where was I when this fun was going on?

Florence and Pisa

This one is for Mr. A! The twins ate Gelato every single day!

View above Florence

More of Rome

View from the top of St. Peter's

Better picture of the Pope

More pictures of Rome

Jennifer and Leah eating Polenta in Rome. It was so good, we ate there twice!

Bob, Jenn, Leah and Julie in front of the manger on St. Peter's Square

Maria in front of St. Peter's

The girls in the Vatican Museum

Maria in the Museum