Thanksgiving weekend!

We had a nice weekend at home with one little trip to Montrose on Saturday. We rode on the trolley, met Santa Claus and the kids had a free pony ride. Then it began to pour, so we headed home to be warm and dry again! We stayed home for the rest of the weekend. Lily had a friend over for a play-date, Sinterklaas came and left some goodies in the kids' shoes (Sint kleur- en plakboekjes en wat chocolade), and Ennio lost his upper front tooth!!!

Lily had written a letter to Sinterklaas and put out the playmobil Sint boat we had from last year. She had also left carrots, milk and cookies, and water (poor Piet, no beer!)

Mind the gap!!! (Look at his hand, Ennio's holding his lost tooth!)

Black Friday

Another Thanksgiving tradition in our household is our yearly trip to the movie theater. This year marked a big milestone, as it was the first time that Ennio was actually able to sit through the entire screening without one of us having to leave the theater with him. Yay! We went to see Moana, the newest Disney movie in 3D, and liked it a lot! I have a special liking for Polynesian culture (ever since we went to Tahiti and Moorea) so it was nice to hear the tribal music and see the amazing animation, the crystal blue waves and lush green island mountains... Not to mention the story line kept us entertained all along. After the movie, we grabbed an early dinner at L.A. Live, and took the opportunity to take some pictures of the Christmas tree, nutcrackers and ice skating rink. We're getting into the holiday spirit and will probably set up our christmas tree over the weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving Day with the Gombos Family. It's becoming an annual tradition! Rainer wasn't there as he's currently in Spain working on some Game of Thrones stuff, but Kathryn, Lucy and Karl made up for it :-) Lily and Ennio showed up in their best turkey disguise :-) We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. At night, we met with David and Nathalie, friends of the Gombos's, and their 4 kids (and 2 Siamese kittens). Cat lovers as we are, we had a great time! Despite everything going on in the world, we have much to be thankful for!

Bowling in Montrose

On Sunday, we were invited to Bas' 6th Birthday Party. Bas was a classmate of Ennio's in preschool last year. His parents, Travis and Michele, went all out and had rented the Montrose Bowl for the birthday party! (To their credit, it was Bas' very first birthday party ever, so I think that's why they splurged!) I loved the location, it's a 1950s style bowling alley. There was plenty of food and drinks and it was great to catch up with some of the parents. Most of them we hadn't seen for a while, because our kids all started Elementary School and ended up in different schools! We had some beers and I was able to vent about the elections (see my previous post...). I am so happy to feel surrounded by like-minded souls! I am not alone! We all hope we will survive the next 4 years without too much damage (one can dream, right???) and build an even stronger community. (Did you know that in our local precinct, 87% voted for HRC, 7% for DJT, and the rest for third party candidates?) I love the bubble we live in, just wish I knew how to deal with the rest of the country!!! Thankfully, my Lily keeps me grounded: "Don't worry, mommy. Love is stronger than hate!" Makes me tear up once again (I must be a woman, haha!)

Anyway, I had never been to Montrose, it looks like such a fun little town. Maybe we'll come back soon to go to the Farmer's Market (every weekend) or enjoy some of the upcoming Christmas activities!

There were MANY guests, but I took this pic while everyone else was gathering to sing Happy Birthday to Bas.

Lily and Ella

Benjamin and Ennio ON the Bowling Lanes...

Post-Election Anxiety

Is there such a thing as Post-Election Anxiety and/or Depression? I thought I was doing OK, but now I am not so sure.
On Election Night, I mainly felt shock, disbelief ("This can't be happening!") and fear ("What's going to be happening to this country???"). The day after, I was still devastated, but also in denial. I focused on my daughter's birthday, and tried to make it a fun day. I didn't want to think about the new president-elect (I have a hard time writing down or saying his name - I dislike it SO MUCH!), I buried my head in the sand... We had planned a lot of activities over the weekend... Everything was going to be fine, right? Not really... Over the past week, I have been struggling. With every move he makes, with every new appointment in his transition team, with every story of hateful, plain racist behavior taking place, with every tweet of his, my heart breaks and I die a little inside. Yesterday, I broke and couldn't stop crying. I am terrified for what's happening. It feels like the end of the world coming to us, and I don't know how to un-do it.

I'm trying to find a way to deal. Apparently, I am not the only one. Someone said she talked to her therapist about this, and her therapist  said these feelings were normal. And she offered the following advice for those struggling with the election results:
(1) Let yourself feel however you are feeling. And let your friends and loved ones do the same. Don't tone police their response. Grief is different for each person.
(2) This is not normal grief. The biggest blow was when Trump won. But every time that he appoints a white supremacist, or that you read about a hate crime in his name, or that you have to explain white privilege to your family/colleagues/neighbors... it hurts again. These triggers are everywhere and they will hurt for a long time. Something in a month or a year may make you cry. That doesn't mean you are moving backwards. It means that you are having a normal response to pain.
(3) With a normal loss, the end goal is usually to feel better eventually. That does NOT need to be the end goal here. The end goal here can be to stay f-ing pissed. That's ok. People telling you to "get over it" are giving bad mental health advice.
This is helping me right now. If anyone else has other advice, please let know (I am already signing on-line petitions like crazy, anything to prevent that he actually becomes president and destroys everything this country has fought for so hard over the past 50 years...).
Thank you for listening, I just had to get it off my chest!

Lily's 8 yr old check-up

Gisteren ging Lily ijsschaatsen met de Girl Scouts

Tijd alweer voor de jaarlijkse check-up van Lily! Ik had de dag vrij vanwege 15 november (feestdag in België) en had daarom de doktersafspraak voor vandaag gepland. Ik nam Ennio ook mee, want ik wou dat hij ook een griepprik zou krijgen. Maar verder stond alles dus in het teken van Lily!

Lengte: 137 cm (93e percentiel) (7 cm gegroeid op 1 jaar)
Gewicht: 25,85 kg (52e percentiel) (geen grote toename hier, amper 1 kg bij op 1 jaar)

Length: 53 3/4 inches (93rd percentile) (she grew almost 3 inches in one year)
Weight: 57 pounds (52nd percentile) (she gained a little over 2 lbs in 1 year)
BMI (Body Mass Index): 14 (normal)

Blood pressure:  88/54 (normal)

Vaccines: geen vaccinaties, enkel een Flu Shot.


All good on the health front! Hooray!

Brandon's 40th Sumo Bash!

A few first impressions of the fun we had...

Lily's 8th Birthday Movie Night and Sleepover!

Verslag volgt!

Verkiezingsopdoffer en verjaardag Lily

Wat een leuke dag had moeten worden, begon helemaal in mineur met het besef dat Trump de verkiezingen echt wel gewonnen had. Ongelooflijk. Een regelrecht ramp.
Zo euforisch als ik was 8 jaar geleden toen op 4 november 2008 Obama verkozen werd tot president van de VS (mijn oorspronkelijke due date voor Lily!), zo teneergeslagen was ik op 8 november, de dag waarop Trump de verkiezingen won. Ik wist het al van 's nachts en had amper een oog dichtgedaan. Jammer genoeg kon ik dus niet wakker worden uit een boze droom :-( 's Morgens was ik nog steeds helemaal van streek  en vond het moeilijk mijn "happy face" op te zetten om Lily een fijne verjaardag te wensen. Ze was zo lief voor mij nochtans! Toen ze onze kamer binnen kwam, vroeg ze meteen, "Who won?". Ik zei beteuterd "the wrong person", en toen zei ze lief, "I will still try to make you happy, mommy!" en gaf me een dikke knuffel (ik had haar de avond voordien gewaarschuwd dat ik niet wist in welke staat ik zou zijn...) Wat een lieverd! Uiteindelijk hebben we er toch een mooie dag van proberen te maken. Ze kreeg cadeautjes bij het ontbijt van de oma's en opa's, en van ons (een 3-D pen). Op school werd er gezongen en deelde ze als traktatie donuts met rainbow sprinkles uit. En na school hadden we onze Parent-Teacher Conference en kreeg ze een goed rapport! Onze flinke 8-jarige! We zijn zo trots op haar!

School Photos!

Girl Scouts!

Yesterday, Lily got officially sworn in as a Girl Scout! She's a Brownie (2nd and 3rd grade) and could not be more proud! She's a member of Troop 1955 of Greater Los Angeles. Most of the other girls go to school with her, so it's a fun way to keep connected to the girls who are not in her class this year. She had to state the Girl Scout Promise: "On my honor, I will try: to serve God* and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law." The Girl Scout Law states, "I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout."
*The girls were allowed to make a substitution for "God", for instance say "the Universe" or "Humanity", and most of them actually did.
The girls each got assigned a "Kaper" (a job, responsibility or chore that a Girl Scout commits to or is assigned) and Lily got the "Attendance Leader" job. She had to call out each girl's name and check if they are present on the Attendance Sheet. She loved it :-) They also made their own poster (see above) and started the steps to earn the Girl Scout Way Badge for their sash or vest. Meetings will be once every month, on Saturdays from 3 to 5 PM. We're excited!