Once Upon a Time

On Thursday last week I got to go to a really cool castle with some friends that are visiting. Here are a couple pictures..

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is late, but....

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

The Red Keep

I got sick of writing book reports for history, so....

Reclaiming the Red Keep
ETL

Spears clashed, shields rang,
Men died, swords sang
As they swung through the air that day.
And when reinforcement finally came,
It was too late.

The girl they found was unhurt but scared;
The family she loved had not been spared.
A baron took her to raise as his own
The day that the Red Keep was taken.

The years went by, the seasons passed,
The girl was nearly grown when, at last,
There arose a man yet still a boy
To save her honor and retake her home.

He laid his plans and rebuilt its wall,
Then fought against the evil *Sauval.
The dawn was bright, the hour was light
When the girl went forth to help him.

Together they fought, together they slew;
The grass was wet with blood, not dew.
They took the castle, but there still remained
A fight to be fought, a fight betwixt two.
A boy and a man.

The warriors fought that precarious fight
With all of their strength and all of their might.
They battled, thrusted, and parried too,
‘Til finally the youth was victorious.

The young but powerful duke of the land
Decided to take the matters in hand.
He proclaimed that the maiden could not own the keep,
But a husband could hold it for her.

Many men stepped up to fill that post,
But one in particular whom she loved most.
So, the lass and the lad were married
That day, and the castle, through love, was regained.

* The Sauval were a greedy and murderous fiefdom that attacked and took the Red Keep in the first place.

Happy Valentine's Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

For God so loVed the world

that He gAve

His onLy

begottEn

soN,

That whosoever

believes In Him

Should Not perish

but have Everlasting life.

Again?!

This morning I was woken up by Valya jumping around the room and jabbering about something. I could just see out of the window from where I was lying..and I saw snowflakes flying by fast! It had snowed again! It might have even snowed more than yesterday! Of course, it all melted again by tonight, but here are some pics.



This igloo/snowfort we built with all the snow that we could find in our back yard and front yard. We even lugged wagonfuls of snowballs from the park down the street! We named it Fort Lizzie after the good snow woman who lent herself to the cause.

Narnia?

Yes, yes, I know that Narnia got more snow then we did, but the fact is, we did get snow! Of course, being rainy, wet, and muddy Belgium, it was very wet snow, but still!

This picture was taken at
the very beginning of our snowfall, last night. (Charlie, Mariana, Nastia, and Jacinta in the front) Notice the lack of snow.

Then, an hour or two later...

(Doesn't this shot remind you of Narnia? Hint-the lamppost..the snow...)

We were even visited by 'breath' taking spirits of trees.

Amazing aren't they?

Then, this morning, while walking home from building snow forts in the park, I noticed that the snow was melting. You could even hear the dripping sound! I heard birds twittering and chirping as things thawed out a little bit.

Now, we have basically no snow, but doesn't this whole experience remind you a little bit of Narnia?

Splish Splash I was Takin' a Bath!

This morning I went into the bathroom to take a shower only to find my sister Mariana (age 6) sitting in the bathtub. I was about to get in the shower anyway, when I noticed a bottle of Sesame Street grape flavored bath foam sitting on the edge of the tub. Now, I've played around with this foam before. I've squirted a little on small siblings in the bathtub just to get them to laugh, but I guess this time I got a little carried away. I picked up the bottle, shook it, and sprayed some on the tile next to the tub. Mei Mei starts giggling, so I spray some more..this time on the faucet. More giggles. Finally I spray her all over, especially on the top of her head where it won't get in her eyes. By this time we're both laughing, so I gave up saving the foam and sprayed the rest of the entire bottle all over the tub, the tile wall, the little sister, the toys in the tub....I spent half an hour scrubbing with Ajax to get the purple stain off the grout afterwards, but ......

It was worth it.