Jenn and Leah take ballet in Brussels.
We have been through MANY teachers at our dance school but our newest one is truly our favorite.  Her name is Joanna and she is just fantastic.  She welcomes the girls with big hugs, encourages them to work hard and pushes them to be better.  In the video Leah is the first one on the right and Jenn is the 4th person behind her.

Tonight was the 6-12th grade Orchestra Concert at ISB.  Bob and I enjoyed the music but since the girls play with the High School, we had to sit through a lot of songs before we got to hear our own kids play!
If you want to watch it follow the steps below.  Feel free to jump ahead in the video so you don't have to watch the entire show.  You will hear a duet by Leah and Aiden at minute 28:28.  They have been playing together for 4 years and we have watched the two of them get taller and taller.  Since they are a boy and a girl they barely speak to each other, but they still communicate well.  After their duet you can jump ahead to the Advanced Middle School and High School combined group at minute 56:43.  Jenn is hard to find but is in the 2nd row somewhat in the the middle.  She sits in between the other two middle school violas, both boys, and puts her leadership skills to good use.  In other words, she claims they are hopeless and rely on her for their every move.  Enjoy the show!

1. go to this link http://www.isb.be/page.cfm?p=2624
2. click on the words "Go to ISB live streaming page
3. type in this password    1170bxl
4. look for the small picture showing Dec. 8 concert and click on it.
5. Enjoy!

I love this quote!

Cooking Class

On Monday I wrote that I live a regular normal life and only get to eat cake with friends on special days...I lied or misrepresented a little :)

 My life is spectacular in Europe!!! 

Ok now that I have admitted it, I feel a little guilty.  I do all the stuff I should like trying to find matches to lost socks and sorting my recycling for the picky Belgian garbage collectors but I also go out to lunch (a lot) and plan outings with my friends.  Today we took a cooking class at the home of a very talented Italian cook.  This old dog (ME) learned some new tricks!  That is me in the picture below working on my creme brulee.

On our flight from Belgium to the US at Thanksgiving, we had this can of Sprite served to us.  No English, French, Flemish or any other language we are familiar with could be found on that can.  What language is it?? 

Some days are normal - laundry, dry cleaner, grocery store, post office, pick up kids, take kids places, gym. (Yes, I am actually a regular now at the gym in Overijse.  Surprisingly, I love it.  I am not sure if it is the fact that I go with great people or the fact that I am actually shaping up, but it is lots of fun.)  Anyway, some days are just regular, not boring at all, just regular. 
Then there are the days where I get to have coffee and a treat with friends.

This is my friend's cappuccino and chocolate cake.

And this is my cherry tart and coffee.

Belgium may not have a Starbucks on every corner or a Target in every town, but they do know how to stop and enjoy life! 

Saturday...

Today we went to Grande Place.  We had to go to the Dance store to pick up point shoes for the twins.  The store just happens to be down the street from this beautiful and historic place.  I love Grande Place especially when its crowded and ready for the holidays!



We bought Speculos cookies which are like a spice cookie.  The one on the right is the size of a 1st grader!  We didn't buy that one!  We also bought nuts and the girls had a hot chocolate.  Lots of small stands are set up for the Plaisers d'Hiver or WinterWonders.  Many European cities celebrate Christmas with Markets selling gifts, hot wine, cheese, etc.  It's fun to go to the markets and see the items for sale and eat the delicious food. 



I also bought some lace.  I am not sure why the stuffed turkey is part of this window display.  Belgians don't celebrate Thanksgiving but they do like to hunt so maybe the turkey is paying respect to the hunters of the season??

Christmas Blog

I really enjoy working on this blog.  I usually don't spend too much time with it but I post when I want and try to keep the family updated.  I have noticed that all I ever write about or post pictures of are the kids so I have vowed to spice things up a little.  Christmas in Europe is magical (if you know where to go!) so I will have some great opportunities to share new things on the blog.

This new Christmas layout was so much work! I started out at 10pm thinking I would just get rid of the turkeys and put on some santas.  Easy and usually a 5 minute task.  I always use The Cutest Blog on the Block for my blog backgrounds and for some reason I just couldn't get rid of the turkey background and put up a new one.  I tried and tried and wasted way too much time.  Finally I realized there were probably other sources for backgrounds and I switched to another and another and another.  Then I called my brother, not for help with my blog but just for a distraction.  He doesn't read my blog anyway so asking him would not have helped.  Sometime in there I also called my mother, did a load of laundry, made a cup of decaf, forced the girls to go to bed, sent an email to the tax guy and eventually changed the background.  I glanced at the clock and saw that it was now 12:30am and I could have been sleeping!!!
The new Christmas look is very cute but it has many flaws.  Did you notice them?  My pictures on the side are not on the right anymore and they are in reverse order.  I could fix the order problem but it would take up too much time.  Our name appears at the top of the blog twice.  I really worked hard on removing the extra label and it was impossible.  The type is hard to read now but I am stuck with that until I change the background again and that won't happen until after Christmas. We are just stuck with mistakes and will enjoy the holly and candy canes until after the holidays.
Happy December 1!