Talking, Talking, Talking

Everyday Grayson says a new phrase, a new saying, a new word. Mostly he just talks, and talks, and talks, and talks. Some of his latest:

May I have some more milk, please! (huge improvement over the former I need milk!)

I love you Mommy (melt)

Comment ça va? (How are you?)

What's your name (said to every kid he sees, unfortunately most of them only speak French so we're working on Comment tu t'appelles?)

My name is Grayson

Je m'appel Grayson

C'est rouge, jaune, vert, bleu (It is red, yellow, green, blue)

You're welcome (said every time he hears "thank you")

That was good saying "thank you" (he is just repeating what he hears a lot!)

Here's a few more:

Look Who Was On TV!

Last week my friend Séverine made her television debut on a talk show on France 5 about parenting called "On N'est Pas Que Des Parents" (We Are Not But The Parents). She was invited to participate in a discussion titled "Couple: quand la nourriture est source de conflit" (Couples: when food is a source of conflict).

The program was taped in Paris, then shown a few days ago. Ana-Isabel and I got together at her house to watch the show together (Sév was in Paris with her family). Séverine was so calm and so well-spoken (I admit, I couldn't understand every word, but I got the gist of it, and I totally got that she was a natural on TV).

In addition to Séverine was the host, another guest wife & mother, and a psychologist who was the "expert" on the topic.

Because the topic had to do with conflict in your marriage over food, they showed a few photos of Séverine and her husband Thibault. The discussion focused on how the women usually want to prepare and eat healthy food, while the husbands often tend toward less-healthy food and lots of snacks.

I still wonder what Thibault thought of the discussion.


Afterward I told Sév that she should look into a career in television. She was such a natural, and seemed way too savvy for this to have been her first time in the spotlight.

And if you want to see the segment - you can watch it online by clicking HERE.

Micro Washer & Dryer

For the inquiring minds - this is my Belgian washer & dryer. They were the biggest ones I could buy in Belgium. They do about 1/3 the amount of laundry my American washer & dryer did, which makes for a very long laundry day (or couple of days).

And the dryer does not have an exhaust hose. Instead, the water collects in a water reservoir that you have to dump every 3 loads or so. When I first moved to Belgium I didn't know about water reservoirs, and apparently none of the other expats living in our temporary housing did either. The dryers were constantly overheating and never dried anyone's clothes. Each time I did laundry I had to take my wet clothes up to our apartment and lay them out over all the furniture until they air dried. It wasn't until the appliance man was installing my dryer that he showed me the reservoir. When I looked surprised he looked at me and cooly said "the water has to go somewhere." Duh.

And while we're on the topic of laundry, for the first month that I lived in Belgium I washed our clothes in fabric softener. Looked like detergent to me, but not so much.

Happy Birthday Valentina!

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Valentina's Birthday. Valentina's family is Bolivian, and the party included friends from South America, France, China, Germany, and the U.S. (me and Grayson). Thus is life in Brussels!

Valentina is now 3!

Ana-Isabel and Javier sang "Happy Birthday" to Valentina in Spanish and French.

When We Woke Up This Morning . . .

This is what we saw!

So we suited up and headed out

at 7:30 in the morning

This was the first time this year the snow has stuck

Why it chose to wait until late March we'll never understand

But we were having fun anyway - making snowballs

slushing around


And starting a snowman

Our snowman attempt was pretty weak

The snow was so soft and powdery it would hardly stick into a ball

It kept crumbling, but we eventually got a small snowman

Then we made snow angels

And had a snowball fight

By about 10 the snow had melted, but it sure was fun while it lasted

And Baby Makes Three

My friend Melissa had her baby girl Hannah a few days ago. She delivered at the same hospital in Atlanta where Grayson was born.


Her hospital stay was a bit more exciting than mine, though - she was there during a tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta! She spent several hours (post-delivery) sitting in the hallway weathering the storm.

Oblivious to what was going on in Atlanta, I called while they were still in the hallway. Galen very sweetly said uh, can you call back? What an experience! What a beautiful baby girl!

Mommy - The Easter Bunny Came!

Belgian Easter chocolate - yum!

The hunt begins



Sharing with Daddy

Mommy - Santa's Coming!

No Grayson, it's Springtime. The Easter Bunny is coming.

No Mommy - it's Snowing. It's Christmastime!

No Grayson, it's not Christmastime.

Mommy, we have to get a Christmas Tree!

Oh, OK Grayson.

You Know You're Living in Belgium When . . .

. . . this is the "spring" weather (and fall, winter, and sometimes summer) (these photos were taken today - that's snow mixed with rain and hail - c'est terrible!)

. . . you own a pair of muckers (and actually know what these are)

. . . your car, if you have one, is the size of a golf cart

. . . your stroller cost more than your car

. . . you spend more money downloading current tv programs than going to the movies

. . . you never watch TV, except the occassional re-run of Friends on the Dutch channel

. . . paying 12 euros for a paperback book and 8 euros for the new issue of Vogue doesn’t seem so bad

. . . you've forgotten what AC feels like


. . . your child is a medallion frequent flyer member

. . . your child asks for biscuits instead of cookies

. . . you panic if you don’t have email access for more than 1 hour for fear of being cut off from the rest of the world

. . . you are proficient at texting from your cell phone

. . . fast food has a whole new meaning (like under 2 hours is fast)

. . . you expect unfriendly waiters, and are nearly knocked over if one smiles at you

. . . your neighbor in the apartment below yours hates you

. . . you're used to doing 10 loads of laundry a week in your micro washing machine

. . . your best friends are from 3 different countries

. . . your German friend casually mentions (in English) that she's learning Chinese, her 5th language

. . . Picking food particles out of your sink drain no longer grosses you out

. . .your friends have no idea what a garbage disposal is

(cute picture of one of the streets in our neighborhood - on a better weather day)

. . . you actually know something about European politics

. . . kissing total strangers no longer freaks you out

. . . you are used to being stared at as soon as you open your mouth

. . . you used to care about being fluent, now you care about being understood

Four Grocery Stores Later . . .

. . . and we've got Easter Eggs!

This is what the eggs in Belgium look like. Very brown, very fresh, and very much un-refrigerated (at least until I get 'em home). When you crack them open the yolks are dark yellow and run very easily. These are very fresh eggs. Very yummy fresh eggs.

But imagine trying to dye these guys pale pink, blue, yellow, or green. It's just not going to happen. So yesterday morning I dropped Grayson off at preschool and headed to the "big" Carrefour in Waterloo. It's the massive Publix-and-Target-in-one store that has everything.

But no white eggs. Just 15 varieties of brown ones. Organic, Omega-3, Free-range, but all brown. So I got back in my car and drove to the Deli Trateur. Since the massive store didn't have them, maybe the boutique grocery store would. Nope. Just lots of brown ones.

Frustrated, I went to tennis and hit lots of balls really hard. There's nothing like a good thwack to clear your mind. Most of mine may thud, but when I get the thwack it's really great.

Afterward I went to the Delhaize. It's a mid-sized store, like your typical in-town Publix. I walked in and voila! At the very front was Easter egg dye! Not PAAS, but the same concept. Mix it with vinegar, etc. Armed with my Easter egg dye I went looking for white eggs. Nope. Just brown ones. Do they really think people are going to use the dye on dark brown eggs?

Defeated, but toting the Easter egg dye just in case, I went to the last grocery store in the 2 mile vicinity, a GB Express. The smallest shop of all, they surely wouldn't have white eggs. So of course I nearly jumped up and down when I spotted several cartons of WHITE eggs. Gleaming white eggs! I bought a dozen and considered my day complete.

And now we have Easter eggs. Real, American style, Easter Bunny worthy Easter eggs.