We went swimming today after school which was lovely and quiet, compared to on a Wednesday afternoon. The pool was almost to ourselves. We played with putting dinosaurs on floaties and repairing submarines and these kind of activities in between bubble beds and jets. We have really taken advantage of that club and enjoyed what it has to offer.

I took some bags of baby clothes and women's clothes to the shelter before the pool. The woman remembered me from Christmas and thanked me about 5 times for these donations which I collect from other people, mostly members of the BCT whom I do not know. I felt really great. It is a small thing that I can do but cleary, it means a lot.

We officially became members of St. Anthony's Parish church in Kraineem on Sunday so I am saving some other used clothing for Sunday's sale. We like this international church and was introduced to it by Tasha, my girlfriend from Australia. The pastor is Irish and I enjoyed his pro-active sermon last Sunday which Claudio and I talked about at lunch today.

Well, time to watch Dreamgirls. Hope it is cute.

All the best to all of you...I almost signed my name!

Today was hot and muggy but then clouded over and a storm passed through with lots of lighting and thunder...I love that calm before though when the skies are so grey and brooding. It was really beautiful. We invited Frunty's friend, Leah, to visit afterschool. We spent a bit of time at the park and then came here to feed Felix Ashley. I set up the paints for the kids on the deck but we all had to move in when it started to rain. It was so green and lush looking out back, with the grey sky and my bright red geraniums.

Pit decided to paint one arm gold and then got furious and cried when I explained we had to wash it off. He was tired from having gone to the pool with his own little friend, Etienne and his mom, Heike from Germany, this morning. The kids all made really lovely works of art. Frunty is awesome with his combination of colours. I enjoyed my time with the three kids and was able to prepare dinner while they painted away at the table...the beauty of open-concept.

I know no one is reading my blog anymore. I quit writing for a very long time. I did not record the day to day things anymore in the blog format, only on my wall calendar. Sometimes we all need breaks.

Pit calls our bunny "Actually" instead of Ashley and we are swapping his name to Felix who was our original rabbit but because he was so wild, we traded him for the calmer one we now have.

We enjoyed a bbq with the Running Club, Moms-on-the-Run and Friends which I co-created with Bente. It was really very nice company and there were lots of cutie kids. The little ones enjoyed the trampoline and tennis court with various games while the big folks played a bit and discussed how our 20K run went last weekend. My sore throat has returned so it reminds me how crummy I felt running last Sunday. I am glad I don't have to run this weekend although I would like to do so.

I just feel really grateful that our club has taken off so well and that we have some super great guys and gals as members. We are thinking about the Paris-Versaille run in September as our next goal and it is only 16K. I think if we all keep on training, it'll be just fine. The Amsterdam half and full marathon sounds good too because it is flat so we will have to decide which one we will go for...I guess some of us could do both.

Gotta get to bed. Great day!

After karate today, I told Frunts I wanted to take his picture with his teacher, Frederique. The way he put his arms around his teacher was very touching. It touched me. Frunts looks up to this teacher and told me in the car, on the way back to Annaya's birthday party, that he is going to try to get each and every belt but that he doesn't want me to wash them but understands now that I will have to do so. I am so happy that he is enjoying his karate which is supposed to help the nervous type.

We got back to the party where Pit had stayed and he gave me a nice kiss good-bye but didn't notice us return. He sat and kept eating his cake. He is such a sweetie and seems quite secure when we leave him at school as well. This is a dream come true for me...to foster a sense of security and confidence in my children. I work on this everyday, in lots of ways and so I love seeing signs of this in them.

Annaya turned three and it was a lovely party. Jess' folks from England, originally AFrica, are really sweet and I enjoy seeing them when they visit.

We miss Mowgli. Our kids gave Annaya a barbie with dog and named him Mowgli already. Hope she likes it. Gotta hit the hay. It was a busy day with the Little Gym, pool, party for Pit but fun. I had really hoped he would have fallen asleep before the party in the car but he was too excited I guess. Frunts was also tired tonight but got pumped up again with Episode 1. Boy are they into Star Wars right now!

May the force be with you.

It was a beautiful day today, weird with the sun and foreboding grey clouds yet it never did rain. The wind was lovely and not too cold. Just right. We walked from our home to the club for swimming. I enjoyed an hour in the steam room while the kids played in Asprini Land. Then Frunts had his lesson and we played in the warm pool. Pit is getting more and more comfortable swimming just around the step area, from side to side a little and diving a tiny bit for his ball. Frunty says he enjoyed his lesson even though his favourite teacher, Phillip, aka Sporticus, was not there and there was a sub.

Pit has started school and it has been a few weeks now! I already here him speaking French in the playground to other kids. It is amazing to watch the wee ones grow. Pit has picked up some funny things from school as well for example, all of a sudden, he wants to hold his doo-doo and suck his thumb. Luckily it is not a habit so he just does it once in awhile and Frunty does too, I think for fun. If it keeps up though, we will have to discuss the implications on the teeth.

On May 24th, Pit swam for the first time at our club's pool. Daddy put a ball in his mouth and went under water. Pit, who had been dunking his head for a week or so, went under water to get the ball at which point Daddy would move backwards and bit and Pit would swim to grab the ball. It was just so fun watching him do this.

Frunty is really doing well with his swimming, soccer and karate. I think next year he will just choose swimming and karate though even though we all love Coach Eirik from Norway, Albert's dad, it just gets to be a bit much. Afterschool is for unwinding and after a full day of sport/play/study, it is good to just take it easy. Frunty's karate teacher is the number one karate whatever you call it in Belgium and Luxembourg. Frederique is about 18 and his dad always comes on Friday to watch the lesson too. Frunt looks up to Frederique and I think he is a good role model. Learning a martial art is very good for anyone and everyone and when we settle, I will start myself. Our club doesn't offer a martial arts class for adults but just started with a self-defense class which I plan on trying.

As you all know, we put our dear dog down on May 15th at 10:30 am. It was a really traumatic experience and we have all suffered in our own ways since. Kids are more resilient so they are getting over this loss quicker. We bought them stuffed toy dogs which they cuddle. This was Pit's idea. I still find dog hair here and there and we haven't put away Mowgli's bowls, bed and other items. I can't write anymore other than to say that if you have ever lived with a pet for more than a decade, then you'll know how quiet the house has become and how heavy our hearts are now.

On a happier note, I completed the Brussels' 20K even though I was quite sick leading up to race day and had almost no energy during the hot, sticky route. My head was pounding and I had to walk a lot. I really should have been in bed but after 5 months of training, running up vineyards in Italy, around fields of gold Colza in France, through thunderstorms and severe wind warning, hopping over fallen down trees in Brussels, I was not going to miss this event. I know I could have done a lot better than my 2 hours 33 minutes but there it is.

I will write again soon. It's a good habit. I just find that I get busy living and enjoying the kids and that is fun too...to enjoy it in the moment. But on the other hand, I don't want to forget...not a second of it.

Wow, it's almost Christmas and so much has happened since I last wrote. We have been enjoying our boys so much and let me try to update you on what is going on.

We enjoyed our trip to Canada very much, and stayed with our dear friends as well as the nonnie and had fun with my folks in Cuba. It was too long away from Daddy though so we won't be doing that length of trip again for awhile. Frunty seems to be generally fine as long as mommy is around whereas Pit cried for daddy the first few days and then subsequently, asked for him and whined here and there...understandly so, he is really daddy's boy. So the reunion in Frankfurt was fantastic and we had fun at the hotel with the bowling alley and pool and driving back to Brussels with our new, awesome car...gold and fast! And catching up with Mowgli too once we got home.

Frunty is really enjoying school as far as we can tell and when he gets there in the morning, I often see him give a hug to a friend or two. His best friend seems to be Leo. Part of the reason, I think, is because they talk to each other in English and that gives comfort throughout the day. Frunty loves doing artwork and as soon as he arrives, he greets his teacher Marie Catherine, puts his collation in one box and lunch in the other and usually sits down and starts drawing. Right now he likes drawing transformers.

Afterschool we tend to go the pool at the club and play in the indoor playground called Aspirini Land which is fantastic with this rainy weather. Frunty is really doing well with swimming on his own and was just given a test to see where he would be placed if/when he started swimming lessons. He was placed with the 6-8 year olds even though he is only 5 1/2 and has never had formal lessons. We have just goofed around a lot in the pool and also, on holidays, Grampa and Nonno have shown different things too. Frunty also loves just coming home and playing quietly in the front room, helping us prepare dinner (making chicken nuggets) and we occasionally do yoga. He loves doing different positions and looking at our yoga book to learn more.

One area that we are booking on with Frunty is sitting at the table and he can now do this very well after we really talked about sitting calmly and eating well. Frunty really responds well to discussing things and loves the bedtime rules and looking at the chart to see what comes next. Now he knows it off by heart. Frunty has some anxiety before birthday parties and seeing St. Nicholas so we have been talking about this and doing some role plays. Also, at school, he complains of little kids beating him up during the recess time. We are doing role plays on self-defense and he no longer complains so I think it must be working. He knows we are on his side but want him to defend himself when we aren't there and so we talk about this and hopefully it is sorting itself out. In the new year, I am looking at signing Frunts up for a martial arts course.

Pit is a solid "chunk" of a kid now and has grown so much recently. He loves getting dressed and always makes sure his socks are pulled up very very high and that his sleeves are pulled down properly after washing his hands. He is completely toilet trained which he did on his own six months ago and even dry most nights. He is really funny and goofy and enjoys making silly faces all the time, especially if someone puts him on the spot.

His favourite past times seem to be going to the Little Gym and usually he wants to go by bike or pousette although the weather dictates by car often and then he gets a bit angry. At the Little Gym he is very far advanced compared to other children his age in terms of physical abilities. He can already somersault on his own, get on the parallel bars and swing and jump off (often landing on his two feet) and is eager to try anything and everything. Because we were in Canada for a month, we are now making up lessons and go twice a week. On Tuesday Pit has Amina and on Thursdays, Pierre. It is great to have two different teachers. I find that Pit really likes Pierre and will try to throw a ball on his head and do other silly stuff and goof around more, allowing Pierre to kiss him at the end of the session. Lately, Pit wants to do different activities with mommy not looking. This is a big, independent step. I turn around until he calls me later to look.

Pit also plays very well on his own at home, sitting in the front room quietly. I find this front room has a really lovely energy and obviously this is so since both kids feel calm and happy in there. I sometimes sit beside Pit and read a bit, something for me, and Pit rarely asks for tv, just plays calmly. He also loves the pool and wanted to try without waterwings one time recently but then got scared in a deeper part and so is back to wearing them. But at least he tried. Pit puts on his goggles and floats around, practising kicking, blowing bubbles etc.

I am really thrilled with their progress and how Frunty is responding to talking about how he is doing and feeling. I used to ask him what he did at school and he would say nothing, or he couldn't remember. I was no asking properly and now that I do, he tells me all about his day and sings songs and other fun stuff. And Pit has very few angry spells now since we right away talk through it and so we don't even seem to have temper tantrums. This whole thing with telling a kid to be quiet when he gets angry or "fix your face" does not work with my boys. It just suppresses their normal, natural feelings of sadness or anger or frustration. We find out why their faces are looking sad or worried or whatever, validate their feelings and then have them work on finding a solution on how we can feel better. While Pit is a bit young for this, just comforting and validating his angry feelings for example, seems to work and with Frunty, going through the process is really have great results. I am really proud of myself for being a patient, loving mom to takes time to help them help themselves.

Daddy is doing a super job too with working more from home, traveling less, and supporting me as much as he can. He is now making focaccia and soon the house will smell like heaven. Gotta go and enjoy!