Chubbyfoot Photographyhttp://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/Kingwood, Houston Area Photographeren-US2012-02-24T18:13:17ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/)waterloo, 1815http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/21/waterloo-1815.htmlMackenzie2012-02-21T12:48:38ZEurope Personal travelOur home is about 5 miles from the cute village of Waterloo, Belgium. Being a history buff, I was instantly intruqued that we'd be living so close and am suprised it too me 7 whole weeks to make it there! ( I've actually been before, but was excited to show the kids). The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was one of the bloodiest battles in history and offciially ended Napolean's career, for good this time ;) He was exiled (for a 2nd time),  no longer to return. At that time, Belgium was a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the British and Prussians were key and defeating the vertically challenged emporer.
The momument is a man-made hill, made of dirt from the battlefield. It was chilly atop the mound, actually snowing when we got down, but a perfect day to have a little history lesson in our new backyard, which i was happy to share with my kids. There's a huge reinactment every 5 years, so if we're still here in June of 2015, you'll likely see part 2 of our Waterloo tour!

]]>Dimanche Gras : Carival de Binchehttp://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/20/dimanche-gras-carival-de-binche.htmlMackenzie2012-02-20T14:53:53ZEurope Personal travelYesterday, we opted for "Fat Sunday" instead of "Fat Tuesday" to see the famous Binche, Carnival near Brussels. There are dozens of great carnivals that surround us, some great (Venice, Cologne), some small.. but one of the most famous is the centuries old tradition in Binche. The most famous of days is Tuesday, where the Gilles (men in costume) dance around the city in their traditional dress and masks and throw oranges into the crowd! I've heard it gets a little crazy on Tuesday, and Sunday was still great to see some of the action. There are little bands of men, usually accompanied by a drum and/or a music box and always in some outragous costume. They don't break out the masks and plumes until Tuesday, so this is their chance to show off their individual groups.

We first walked up and bought little bouquets of mimosas that adorned everyone in attendance. Loved them!

Next came the confetti tossing. I will be sweeping up confetti for days!! Here's a fun pic of when we first arrived, versus when we reached the main square.
"Aww.. how cute. Look at all the confetti on the cobblestone ", I was thinking.
after: where's the cobblestone?!
Our first group looked like a band of soldiers from the IRA or something.. A little serious in the front.. but then you saw the back! haha..
an array of the costumes we came across..
We were a little dissappointed that there was no special food at this ancient event. No  King cakes, cider, not even waffles!? Surrounding the party was a pretty spectactular Medieval town. I might have been the only un-inebriated one paying attention ;)
You might recognize our sweet friends, who are down to about 3 weeks before they leave to head east to Prague. :(  I can't wait to see what fun we have in future travels between here and there!

So that concludes our Binche tour. I'm still toying with jetting over there tomorrow just to see the traditional Gilles in all their glory. However, we're leaving for Barcelona bright and early Wednesday morning and I think I'll be packing and running last minute errands for that trip.

** Any last minute advice any of you have for our trip to Barcelona this week? Besides soak up the FULL SUN and 60' days!? ;)

Au Revior and thanks for reading. Come back for a little Battle of waterloo history lesson tomorrow!

]]>the Brussels comic mural walk: part 1http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/19/the-brussels-comic-mural-walk-part-1.htmlMackenzie2012-02-19T19:28:34ZEurope PersonalBelgium is known for it's comic book fame.. TinTin and the smurfs were created here, as well as many others. There's a museum (which we'll get to in Part 2), and murals painted on empty sides of buildings around the inside of the city. I'd read about this and even picked up a map on a previous trip to the center of Brussels. You'll see some of these murals here and there on sides of buildings, but to actually take a purposeful walk to see them all in one afternoon is quite the experience! I'm naming this Part 1 because we only saw about half, so I'll have to add the rest of our tour on another day. We walked to some of this, then hopped in the car for another 5-6. It was fun! We stopped for lunch at the Comic Cafe in the Sablon. I'd read that Stephen Spielburg had lunched here at the premier of TinTin and had a great burger, so we had to try it out! Sure enough.. it was a great burger for European standards ;) So, sit back and enjoy our little comic book mural tour around Brussels!

the photos  below are around the Marolles area. Place du Jeu de Balle has a great market on Saturdays (which was featured in the TinTin movie, where he bought the ship), but we got there just as they were shutting down on Saturday. We'll definiltey come back and browse on a future date.

Comic Cafe in the Sablon.
an art Neauvou building in the Marolles that I just couldn't resist!  I'll have to feature more on Horta and Art Neauvou in a future post.
The collage below is of the Sablon area and in particular Pierre Marcolini, a famous Belgian chocolatier. We snagged a box of goodies and it was indeed fantastic!

]]>to art or shop in Antwerp?? Why, let's do both!http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/18/to-art-or-shop-in-antwerp-why-lets-do-both.htmlMackenzie2012-02-18T22:18:31ZEurope PersonalThis week I was able to sneak over to Antwerp TWICE and it was fantastic! Antwerp is known for it's fashion industry, and with that carries a healthy vibe of all things indie and artistic.  yes, please.

The first day, the hubs and I met for lunch at The Horta Cafe , which is housed in an art nouveau masterpiece by Victor Horta. Champagne for lunch: check, architechtural gem: check, then 25 steps from early 17thc barouque painter Ruben's house and studio: check. He had to head back to work, kids were in school, so I took the opportunity to geek out at Ruben's house by myself. Ahh.... it reminded me of a previous trip to London before kids, where the hubs had to work, so I tagged along. It was January (aka, FLIPPIN COLD), but i had the most spectacular time geeking out in the British library over ancient illuminated manuscripts and taking guided literary walks until I could no longer feel my limbs. I was in English Lit/History major heaven! So, fast forward 14 years, and here I saunter, on a Wednesday afternoon.. just me and 450 years of history. Score!

Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish Baroque painter (1577-1640) that achieved success in his lifetime. He built this residence (one of several), in Antwerp and it still survives. There are some period furnishings, and a fair amount of art and sculptures. The perfect little spot for an hour of art and history on a drizzly Wednesday, kidless afternoon ;) I wasn't allowed to take photos inside (I realized that after I took the photo of his self-portrait).. so that's why you're seeing mostly outdoor shots.
Can you believe that I only had a few minutes to spare, and rushed out to the Meir to relish in the great shopping that surrounded me!

I stopped in a few shops and promised myself I'd come back soon.. Little did I know it would be in 2 days! Turns out, I had lunch with my personal cutie fabulous tour-guide, who lived in Antwerp for 4 years, on Thursday. She mentioned she needed to head there on Friday and don't you know that I weaseled myself into a personal tour! I saw so much more than I would have on my own, but it was really just the tip of the iceberg! I feel like there will be many 2-day-a-week-Antwerp visits in the horizon! More on my hostess with the mostess on a later post. I've yet to get her behind the camera, but that will have to change soon. Probably NOT at the Turkish hammam visit we're planning. lol ;)

]]>-6 celcius + medieval moat =http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/13/-6-celcius-medieval-moat.htmlMackenzie2012-02-13T15:25:23ZEurope Personal+ my crazy family=

Yep. that's how we roll. Or should I say, the other 3 members of my family. Someone had to stay dry and warm at the top of the hill in case other members went crashing thru, right?? ;)

This weekend we headed to northern France to visit our dear friend Marie. You'll meet her soon.. although she's born and raised in France, she's an island girl at heart and abhors the cold, so most of our visit was in her 18th c farmhouse snuggled by the fire. She bid us farewell Sunday morning and we headed to Quesnoy, which we'd actually visited on a previous trip many years ago. It's a walled city with a moat dating from the 1100's. I think a lot of it is reconstructed, but the town is charming and of course, would be a lot more fun to explore when the weather was warmer. As we were leaving, the frozen moat got the better of my crew and they ended up doing a little impromptu ice skating.

We then went to Mons, Belgium for the afternoon. It boasts a small "Grand Place" and we were surprised how empty it was on a Sunday afternoon. Apparantly, there weren't many people as crazy as us to be out in such cold weather! It was a cute little town, and I hope to go back in June for the famous Ducasse de Mons , a festival that has occured since the 1350s!
*We also snuck in a photo of me and my honey, as this day 18 years ago, was the day he proposed! What a fantastic 18 years it has been and I so look forward to the next decade and more.

So, introducing Mons, Belgium in the freezing cold!

]]>the grand finale ;)http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/12/the-grand-finale.htmlMackenzie2012-02-12T17:02:50ZEurope PersonalSo.. this mostly concludes the tour of La Porte Bleue. It's a little bittersweet to see all of our things in a new place. It's fun and new and exciting of course, but there's certainly a pang of sadness of all the memories that were made with our loved ones...the many people that we loved that sat in those chairs, shared movie nights on that sofa, spilt drinks on that rug when it was under my table.. haha.

The photos below are mostly of the living room. The ones just below of the photo collage of our fun trip last summer, is actually in our dining room.. but this is all you get to see of this room as of now. My fabulous sideboard was damaged in the move and is waiting repair and I sold my dining room table and chairs before I left in hopes of replacing it with a fantastic Belgian antique one.. but of course, that will take time, so all you get for now is the walls.  Oh, and I snuck in a photo as well. Figured my mom would like that ;)

]]>i wouldn't walk in here barefooted if I were you!http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/10/i-wouldnt-walk-in-here-barefooted-if-i-were-you.htmlMackenzie2012-02-10T15:21:06ZEurope Personalwe're almost through with the Porte Bleue tour. Just another room or 2 to share.. Today we have a room that you have been forewarned not to enter with your bare feet.. thanks to the insane amount of lego building that goes on here!

He just might have the biggest bed room in the house, and that's perfectly fine. He's enjoying it and loving his space to spread out. I'm loving that there's no carpet to hide little lego pieces!
Quick post for now.. more to come!

]]>where the magic happens...http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/8/where-the-magic-happens.htmlMackenzie2012-02-08T13:19:42ZEurope Personal
The kitchen. LOL. Seriously.. insert hysterical laughter!! I've been told I take beautiful pictures and I sure know how to raise beautiful children ;) but I can honestly say I've never been called a great cook. There was a fun time before kids, when we entertained a lot in our first Heights home (ahh.. the memories), where I tried new recipes and enjoyed cooking. I even belonged to a dinner club whose primary goal was to train us girls into being the next Marthas.. haha.. I love the friends from that group, but never really loved the cooking part. IN fact, I was the first one lobbying for ditching the cooking and meeting in restaurants!!

The last 8 years have been pretty consumed with Chubbyfoot and that was where my creative output was focused.. much to my foodie husband's dismay. He LOVES good food and it sure would make him happy if I spent more time in the kitchen. Well, it looks like that time has come!

Reasons I plan to start flexing my culinary muscles again:

1. it's dang expensive to eat out here. Houston is one of the cheapest places to eat out.. even for good food. When we were in France over the holiday, it was rare that we could eat out as a family of 4 for LUNCH for less than 80 euros (that's over $100). AND you hardly can eat a meal in less than 2 hours! Many times 3 hours! That's just not gonna happen on any given school night..

2. it's so easy to choose fresh.. markets, organic produce, seasonal veggies and fruits.. it inspires me to want to use these ingredients.

3. I have an excuse to NOT cook "light" ;)  You know how the French eat (as to the Belgians).. butter, cream, rich ingredients.. we're walking it off and eating less. It's a different way of looking at food and it's appealing to me. It's not greasy, cheesy Tex Mex with a quart of creamy jalapeno dip with a bucket of chips at a single serving (yes, I've consumed my fair share and will be the 2nd day I'm back in Houston!).. Here, it's a petite filet mignon, seared to perfection, that you can cut with your knife and just enough bearnaise or another pungeant French cheese sauce to melt in your mouth.

4. There's hardly any "fast food" here. Honestly we weren't fast foodies in the States, but I did grab my share of HEB Cafe on the run quick staples (hummus, isreali couscous, deli meats, etc..)  They do have prepared foods at the Markets and that will be our Sunday tradition to grab for dinner Sunday nights.. but there are 5 more nights of the week where i'm on my own!

5. Notice that my fridge is about 3/4 the size of a regular "old style" frige. Maybe 1/2 the size of a side-by-side? And we have ONE. No extra in the garage or laundry room. So there's no room to store a lot of food anyway..

So, here's hoping to many a "Bon Appetit" in our home over the next few years!
Here's where the magic will hopefully begin to happen ;)



** Notice:
1.TX/LA and Brussels time. We love knowing what time it is at "home".
2. that dang dog trash can. it's all about space here, folks and I needed a certain size trash can to fit right there and that's the only thing I could find!? (it's actually a dog food container). We call the main one Scrappy. I try not to pull it out too often bc Klein LOVES dogs (esp golden retriever) so it's like a dagger to his heart every time we pull that dang can out. LOL.
3. the recycle. This will involve another post. The time I spend on garbage here is insane. Stay tuned for more on that..
4. "Don't forget the way home". A note from a dear friend of mine. I keep it there and smile when I see it. Turns out she's a huge cooking inspiration , so maybe I'll make her proud and pick up some serious skillz on my European cooking adventure!

I guess now would be a good time to show you another room.. the laundry. It's actually bigger than my one back in Texas, so I've enjoyed having room to fold, lay out to dry, etc..
1. love my tile floor and old door in this room.
2. I still haven't quite figured out my washer and dryer. I do know that it holds about HALF of a load back home. Also, it ALWAYS turns off before they're completely dry. Not sure about that one. It's an act of congress to get it's smart self to dry those completely!
3. See the orange tube in the left hand corner? LAundry shoot from the bathroom! Kids love that one. I'm now trying to teach them that we don't have to throw everything they've worn for 2 hours down it!? (See #2 comment about load sizes!?)
4. Shoes on the back of the door, plastic bins of scarves (that we wear.. daily!), plastic drawers of sundries.. it's all about saving and utilizing all the space possible!


]]>mom, I have to tell you 3 things.http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/5/mom-i-have-to-tell-you-3-things.htmlMackenzie2012-02-05T20:25:20ZPersonala little back story -

I married into a swimming family. Not the Michael Phelps variety per se, but the swim-party-every-weekend-for-the-youth-group kind of family. Oh and my mother-in-law practically taught half of the people ages 10-40 to swim in Baton Rouge. Both my kids swam early and often.

So when neighborhood swim team came around, it happened that we lived on "THE" swim street in Sand Creek, Kingwood, Texas! ;) Lots of positive peer pressure ensued and despite the long Saturday meets often in sweltering heat, we were hooked. We have SO MANY great memories with the Sand Creek Sea Lions. It really is a family of sorts with so amazing coaches throughout the years.. most of which were long time Sea Lions themselves. There are many traditions: cheers that make you tear up and give you goosebumps, coaches skits and elaborate syncronized swims, silly pep rally themes and overall, an amazing camraderie based on excellent sportsmanship and fun. No one has made it to the Olymipcs from our team that I know of.. but thousands of kids have learned about being a good sport, discipline and teamwork. I love that and love that our kids were able to experience it.. especially my boy, who now LOVES the sport and carries on these character traits. In fact, the first time we told him about the big move, the first words out of his mouth was "so that means I won't be a Sea Lion anymore"?? (insert tissues for heartbroken kid AND mom)

A few pics of my sweet boy from his first season, to his last.
This July (before we even knew about the move), was K's 5th year as a Sea Lion. It was a pretty big deal and he was so excited to have reached this milestone. We attended the awards ceremony and don't you know there was a glitch and they called up every one on the list but him for the 5 year towel. He was crushed. But he put on a brave face and I promised him he'd get the towel.. but the big moment had passed and of all the kids for it to happen to. I emailed the coaches and asked if there was anything they could possibly do. Maybe write him a note or something just so he'd have a good memory in his mind of this occasion. They went above and beyond and while K was out of town, came over and "Sea Lioned" his room. I wish they could have stayed to see the reaction on his face! He was so touched! I took some pics of all the coaches on his bed, surrounded by his ribbons and posters and will have it framed soon here in Brussels.

So that brings you to today. They had room on the Swim Team at K's new school in Brussels. It was kind of crazy to be getting involved so quickly, but I thought it was worth it to get him meeting friends and allowing him to do what he loves. It's a different atmostphere for sure. International schools are so transient.. there aren't as many life timers as the neighborhood swim clubs in Texas. Also, the practices are much harder. In fact, they swim on a 33 meter pool. So not only is he not swimming 25's, he's swimming 50's this year and at practice he's swimming 66's!? But he loves it and I'm so thankful we were able to join so quickly.

He's had 3 meets so far and is doing very well. But what he did last week really shows his Super Sea Lion spirit.

Unless you're helping with the meet (which we usually are), the parents must sit in a cafe and only see thru large windows. (which is hard for this former-cheerleader mom! haha).. so last meet, we actually sat in the cafe most of the time and he didn't get to talk to us much. After the meet, as soon as I saw him, he pulled me aside and said (and in this order):
"Mom", I have 3 things to tell you..
First is that I started my team chanting and they all followed!
Second is that I helped pull the relay team from 3rd to 2nd.
And last, I came in first in the butterfly!"

I almost cried right then and there in front of God and everybody.

Of course that was the most important point of his day, that he quietly pulled me aside to tell me.
He was most excited about his team spirit.. then about his team's relay.. and last about the amazing accomplishment of coming in FIRST in his hardest stroke, the butterfly.

God bless this child of mine.
God bless that Sea Lion spirit ;)


]]>A snow day in Brussels ;)http://chubbyfoot.squarespace.com/blog/2012/2/4/a-snow-day-in-brussels.htmlMackenzie2012-02-04T11:55:23ZEurope PersonalWhat an eventful few hours we had last night! here's the timeline:

3pm - Hubby texts me from Antwerp where he's working saying it will get nasty for the commute home. Snowing big fluffly flakes there. Since we've not gotten a lot of snow in Brussels (and we hear it rarely does), I tell him I'll believe it when I see it!

4pm - K takes the bus to swim from school. It's really starting to come down. Texting with our dinner date asking if she's worried? Should I be?

4:30pm - really coming down now. Getting nervous about taking my little Twingo out in the snow (I've never driven in the snow and live on the top of a hill!). Watching a small car slide down said hill about now. Trying to call a couple of friends to see if they can bring home K from swim so I don't have to get out. Hubs has gone 5 miles in 55 min. He'll be REALLY late.

4:45pm - decide to get out and drive the 2.5 miles to the pool. It takes me about 30 min to get 1.5 miles. About a mile out, a guy is flagging down cars to tell them not to attempt to go up the hill I need to go up to get K. hmm..

5:20pm Turn car around, park, and take sick C (who's been home for an ENTIRE week bc of bronchitis) with me walking for about 15 min to the pool.

5:35pm Just a tad late, eveyone else is looking a little shell-shocked from their commutes to the pool. Stories are coming in of spouses being stranded.. crazy! NICE friend with snow tired offers us a ride home. THANK YOU LORD!

6:30pm Safe and back at home.. finally talk to our dinner date and neither of our hubs are home yet. Reschedule!

8:30pm Hubby safely arrives at home after 4.5 hours on the road! Thank goodness there's a long way around the hill to our house. Glad to have all my little chickies in La Porte Bleue  for the night ;)

7am awaken to a beautiful white Brussels. I check facebook, and my bff in Denver has like 10 times the amount of snow we had! .. Just when I thought our little snow cover was impressive... haha..

9:30am Hubby and I go retrieve our car. No problems. Take my camera and got a few shots.

11:30am Bundle everyone up and go for a short walk. We live on the edge of the woods, so we wanted to see how pretty the woods would be. Me and Miss C came back shortly, so we can keep her healthy for the next snow!

These are from Friday afternoon before we went to grab K.
This morning around the watermael - boitsfort. Included pics from the front of our school for our ISB peeps!

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