Mommy, This is for You

I finally decided to put up our Christmas tree.

We were hesitating to set it up because we knew that N's curiosity would potentially lead to disaster. But P became concerned about having no place to put our Christmas gifts if we didn't have a tree. P even offered to set it up in his room, sacrificing his play space just to make sure that our presents have a proper place under a Christmas tree. Sweet.

I mounted our Christmas tree while N kept popping out from every side, even from inside the box of the tree! He was excited about all the commotion and so was P! P helped me decorate our tree. M, my honey, helped in policing N and keeping him away from trouble.

P was singing to the tune of the carols coming from our Christmas lights while N was dancing to them. We are rearing Christmas-loving boys! I love it!

Aside from the tree, I hung some lights and strings of shiny red balls on our life-sized apartment window. This one is also a little something for our neighbors. I think, Christmas decors are also meant to spread the Christmas cheer to others especially in gloomy little Luxembourg.

Memories of doing the same thing when I was a child came to me. Christmas music playing from our music room while my sisters, my mom and I decorated our home and wrapped presents and my dad played audiophile Christmas carols from his music room. My mom was commander-in-chief but as we grew older, she allowed us to direct everything.

Now, it is my turn to be the mom-in-charge. It is a bit tiring and stressful with P & N jumping around but I like it. It is a creative outlet for me and a way to honor my mommy.

Dear Ma,

I recall how you taught my sisters and I how to prep our home for Christmas. It did feel like a chore most of the time but it still brought warmth, joy, and a sense of fulfillment afterwards. Now, it is my turn to be a christmas mom for my boys. I am doing it with love through all the chaos honoring how you were with us before.

There were times when you would decorate the house all by yourself. We would be pleasantly surprised to see the christmas lights greet us from outside the house when we came home from a tremendously draining day at work and feel the Christmas spirit warm our hearts through the beautifully adorned Christmas tree, Nativity set, table covers, and door hangers! Now, it is my turn to stay up late to finish up the decors in peace while M puts the boys to sleep.

Merry Christmas :-)

I love you!

I honor you.

Love,

Josephine

Discovering Spring

Predominantly White Outfits
Outdoor Barbecue Parties
Bikes
Rollerblading
Sun, Wind, and some gray and rainy skies
Flowers
Pollens
Dandelions

Back in the Philippines, I was indifferent to the four seasons. I couldn't relate to the seasons featured in European and American clothes stores like Zara, Mango, Marks & Spencer, Esprit. I hardly even knew when it changed even if I was born in San Francisco and lived there for five years. Mainly, it was because I grew up in the Manila where we only had 2 seasons -- the hot and the stormy.

Living in Luxembourg for a little over a year, I've experienced the four seasons. Last year, summer was my favorite because it felt close to the temperature in the Philippines, plus Spring felt too cold for me. Now, it's spring time and I am loving it! My body has adapted to the climate and I find the combination of sun and wind with a some rainshowers refreshing. :) We are spending more time outdoors and jacket-free compared to last year.

With the season comes free-flying pollen, dust, and dandelions blown by the wind. A couple of weeks back, I even saw dried leaves from a nearby tree being blown by the wind. It looked like a shower of white leaves falling like confetti. It was astonishing. I was stunned that I wasn't able to capture it on cam. Next time.

With flowers come the pollen. With the pollen, comes yellow dust. With dandelions blown by the wind, comes web-like, cotton-like "dust" on plants and dry leaves that make them stick and bunch together. With the change in season comes the change in our daily attire. Wool, down feather, snow-proof gear should be retired for the moment or they will clutter much of our cabinet and apartment space. The children's winter clothes that would be small for this year's winter should be stored away, handed down, donated or sold in one of the spring sales. Now, I get a picture of what Spring Cleaning is.

In a few days, Spring will turn into Summer. I'm looking forward to Summer but not too eager to bid Spring goodbye.

Boos K'fe

When everyone in the US and in the Philippines was celebrating Mother's Day, my boys treated me to a Mother's Day Buffet Brunch in Boos K'fe, which was my restaurant of choice. :)

Every time we head to Strassen or go to Arlon, Belgium, we always pass by Boos K'fe. The place caught my attention a couple of months back because on Sundays, their parking is always full. They also have a resort-looking outdoor set up that can be seen from outside. I checked them out online one time to see if they are children-friendly before my gang and I trudge over there for a meal.

It was a gorgeous sunny day when we went there. As usual, the parking was full but they had valet parking that still had a few more vacant places and that's where we parked. We didn't have a reservation as it was a spur of the moment decision. Their outdoor tables were fully booked but they offered us a table indoors, which was almost vacant except for two other tables. Sadly, it was warmer inside while it was breezy outside. Well, that's the downside of not making a reservation.

Anyway, the place felt festive. There were lots of people, families, friends taking all the sun the day offered. The music was upbeat and beach-like. There were children running around and playing in the sandstrip barefoot, building a road-way in the sand. Waiters or Lifeguards as they called them were scurrying from one table to another from the kitchen. Some Lifeguards were offering customers outside straw hats as protection from the sun.

Since it was a sunny day, the buffet brunch had a barbecue grill with burgers, beef ribs, porkchops, pork ribs, chicken, and sausages. There was a table for desserts featuring flavored mousse, fresh fruit salad, muffins. There was also a set up for an English Breakfast with a variety of bread, eggs among other things and another table with cold salads, carpaccio, sushi. My eyes lit up and my appetite was extremely alert and excited. The repertoire of their buffet brunch barbecue didn't disappoint. It was delicious and yummy even to my Asian-trained tastebuds that often find European food bland.

When we had our fill, we transferred to a table outdoors where we sat on beach chairs, kicked off our shoes and let Polo play in the sand. We also took off Nicolo's socks and shoes and let him discover the feel of sand on his feet -- it was new to him. We chilled there for a while and allowed our skin to absorb the vitamin D our bodies badly needed.

The buffet set us back by thirty euros for the adults and half the price for the children. It costed much more than what we expected but it was worth it for a Mother's Day feast care of my boys.

'Tis the Season of Cherries!!!

I have a picture cherry-picking in San Diego, California when I was less than five years old. I ate a few pieces of these in the Philippines last year when my sister's boyfriend came home from HongKong (or maybe Japan, I forgot where). On rare ocassions, they were sold in one of the malls in Makati and in Chinatown for Php 300 for one-fourth a kilo.

Luckily, it's in season here in Luxembourg! Last week, I requested my dear husband to bring home some and here's a picture. They didn't taste like the cherry flavor of cough syrups, chapstick or lipstick because those taste more like cherries that come in bottles and are soaked in syrup. These tasted subtle, the kind that make you never stop eating in search for the flavor. In any case, I found them refreshing, a refreshing break from our usual banana, apple, pear, and ocassional strawberry and grape fruit repertoire at home.

The Chocolate House

We stumbled upon The Chocolate House on a rainy windy afternon last Autumn. It was a good discovery! It is a lovely cozy go-to place for chilling out with warm drinks, chocolates, cakes and pastries. It is my husband's temporary alternative to the Starbucks experience that he has been longing for ever since we came here to Luxembourg.

The place is known for their hot CHOCspoons - they are a chocolate cubes of different flavors that come with a wooden spoon. The chocolate cube is stirred in a mug of hot milk that becomes a flavored chocolate drink when the chocolate cube melts. The CHOCspoons are very comforting during cold Autumn and Winter days.

For spring, they have a number of cold concoctions to cool down their visitors on a warm day. Check out what we had:

ChocoLoco - 1 slice of brownie with 3 scoops of chocolate ice cream (but I changed mine to vanilla) with cream and chocolate bits



Kids Only - 3 scoops of ice cream (vanilla and strawberry) with cream, smarties, and candy sprinkles





Stawberry Tarte - one of the cake selections for the day.





For me, their hotchocspoons are still their best offers.

CeCiL - Cercle Cite' Les salons de la ville

The sunshine and blooms that spring brings makes me itching to go out and visit places (much to the dismay of my boys who would rather stay at home and play Wii or just chill out). Last Saturday, there were three events in the city: The British Ladies' Car Boot Sale, the Reopening of the Cercle Municipal, and the Annual Duck Race. I wanted to go to all of them! Reality check: that was not possible with two children in tow.

I was successful in convincing my boys to go see the newly renovated Cercle Municipal. When we arrived in Luxembourg a year ago, it was under renovation (apparently, it has been so for five years already)that's why I was curious to see it. and here are snippets of what we saw and did there:


The colorful mural that featured artworks from children visitors greeted everyone



  

The Grande Salle - four musicians were playing the saxophone. They are the Saxitude.

They caught Polo's attention





Now, we're watching an interpretative dance number from students from the Dance Atmosphere school.
Nicolo is performing his own version.



The Grande Salle's chandelier.



The Grande Salle's window







 

Every thirty minutes or so, a muse in red holding a red umbrella slowly turned to the tune of a musical box.

At the end, we got a chance to dress up for a free souvenir photo in the Salle de reunion...

... Polo had barbapapa (that's french for cotton candy)

... and Nicolo brought home a balloon. :)





Drawing on the Blue Sky 2

Sunny days here in Luxembourg mean blue skies styled with white lines and straight clouds painted by jets. Seeing these lines fascinate me so much that they never fail to brighten my day.

What a lovely background to Polo's picture

Definitely makes the playground look more playful

X marks the spot? Taken while waiting for the bus at the Mersch Gare (Train Station)

It's like they are straight clouds but they are really jet dust.

Taken through the wet window of our car. This is at the carpark of Polo's school.

How do you like the blue skies here in Luxembourg? What do the clouds in your part of the world look like on a sunny blue sky day?