Lazy Last Days

Today's the last day of 2014. Tonight we'll go to a party, but today (and well, every day since Christmas) has been pretty quiet. Things at work have been quiet, and the kids have been off from school. That could be torturous, but luckily we have the blessed thing called Christmas toys. The kids have been glued to their new Wii games, Jack loves his circuitry kit and chemistry kit, and Ellie has been craft-tastic, finger-knitting scarves and belts for everyone and making lip balm (note to parents - VERY messy). And there's been plenty of laziness. Tomorrow we'll head to Brussels for a little Near Year's Fun, then it's back to the Real World. But for now, a bit more laziness....



Some sugary love from home - and they were even fresh when they got here!

Add this to the list of "Things Mom Doesn't Understand" - circuitry - luckily, Jack takes after his dad, and understands it all

And ... voila! Let there be light! (He also made a fan, a little helicopter, and some other really noisy things - as he said, "I'm basically Thomas Edison")

Meanwhile, Ellie has been finger-knitting up a storm - which means yarn, yarn, everywhere

Lazy days also means dates with Mom to get ice cream and hot chocolate at Georges

And pizza and bowling at the Pizza Bowl

We like to keep it classy

And after the outings, naps

More naps

And again, some more naps

Happy 2015!

Christmas

So. Christmas. It happened. It's over now. And I can't say I'm all that disappointed that it's over. Am I allowed to say that? Well, I am, so sue me.

It actually started out quite nicely, and ended quite nicely, but there was quite a bit of "would it be inappropriate for me to run away on Christmas Day" in the middle.

It started off very sweetly with our church congregation's Christmas party. They did a little play of the Christmas story, and sang some very lovely songs. Jack played one of the wise men (which he would say is appropriate), and Ellie was an angel (I'll remain silent on the appropriateness of Ellie as an angel). Then, on Christmas Eve, we went to the chapel on the NATO base for a lovely Christmas Eve service. We came home, watched "It's a Wonderful Life," read the Christmas story and "Night Before Christmas," and hit the sack so that Santa could come.

Now here comes the "Mom wants to run away" part. Because Ellie decided to wake up early. Really early. Which is fine (hey, we all go through years where the kids wake up crazy-early on Christmas morning). But one thing you need to know about Ellie is that she needs a good amount of sleep, and she does NOT do well when she doesn't get enough sleep. But she was excited about Santa, so she woke up early. And we started to open presents. And she started to FALL APART. We're talking fits. And tantrums. And screaming, crying, big hot mess. Because she didn't like a present. Or she had trouble playing with a particular toy. Or, I don't know, she dropped her brand-new iPad Mini on the floor and cracked the screen. On the VERY FIRST DAY she got it. Before we even turned it on. So you add a Hot-Mess-Ellie to a Must-Provoke-the-Hot-Mess-Elllie-Jack, sprinkle in a Do-You-Know-What-We-Spent-On-That-iPad-Mini-and-I-Would-Have-Been-Happy-With-an-Orange-and-a-Hearty-Handshake-When-I-Was-Your-Age-Dad, and then stir in one After-All-The-Work-I-Did-For-This-Bleepin'-Christmas-and-Did-I-Tell-You-How-Many-Hours-I-Was-In-Labor-With-You-You-Stinkin'-Ingrate-Mom, and what do you get?

Christmas At the Sorensons

But now it's done.

And we're all still alive.

And that is good enough.

Merry Christmas.

Creeptastic

How in the WORLD could I forget about the bone church? How, I say?!?

What, you say, is the bone church?

Well, it's this creepy but kind of fantastic (creeptastic, if you will) church in Rome. It's a series of tiny little chapels below a church near Piazza Barberini in Rome. And it contains the remains of approximately 3,700 Capuchin monks. Well, Lydia, you might say, that's not that unusual - ok, 3,700 skeletons is a lot, but there are dead monks buried all over Rome, right? Sure, but not THIS way.

Because in these chapels, the bones are ARTISTICALLY DISPLAYED - nailed to the walls in intricate designs and patterns, piled and piled on top of each other, and even hung from the ceiling as light fixtures. Light fixtures MADE OF PEOPLE. You don't see that every day, do you.

We went there on our second day in Rome - after seeing the crypt below St. Peter's, Ellie and I were feeling a bit macabre and decided to check it out. I wouldn't say it's ENJOYABLE. But I will say that I can guarantee you won't ever see anything like it again. It's DEFINITELY creepy. It's kinda sorta fantastic. It, my friends, is creeptastic.



You weren't allowed to take pictures there, so I grabbed a couple of photos off the Internet. When you look at these, just keep in mind that EVERYTHING you see is human bones - not just a few interspersed among other decorative items - every single thing you see is part of a human body.

My apologies if you're eating while you read this. Or if, you know, you plan on sleeping tonight.

Rome, Baby!

Because of my dad's deep love for homemade spaghetti sauce, Godfather movies, and a good firm meatball, I had always suspected (despite my almost all-English-all-the-time genealogical charts) that I was really Italian. Well, suspect no more, it's official. I am Italian, baby. We just returned from a quick trip to Rome, and mamma mia, I'm in love.

We arrived Sunday afternoon - we started with food, of course (OF COURSE) and had a yummy pasta meal. Then we wandered around Vatican City before hitting one of the approximately 85,000 million gelato shops (and don't take that as a bad thing - it's awesome that they have 85,000 million zillion gelato shops). The next morning, we did a guided tour of the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. They were AWESOME and so, so beautiful - although the Sistene Chapel was so crowded it was hard to really appreciate it. In the afternoon, we wandered through some of the piazzas, including Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori, and did some shopping near Piazza Popolo. Mostly window shopping, but Ellie and I did get some super-cute purses, thank you Santa. The third day we started off with a Colosseum/Forum/Pallatin tour. It was really cool to walk through the Colosseum, although we thought the tour was a bit long - and the kids were definitely bored by the time we walked through the Forum and Pallatin. Luckily we had a yummy lunch break before doing our final tour in the afternoon - a city tour that took us through several piazzas and cultural areas - the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and again to Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori. Then some hot chocolate and pastries for dinner (why not!) before hitting the sack, because we had a 6am flight the next morning. A short trip but a very, very awesome one. 'Til next time, Roma!




Outside the Vatican Museum - our hotel was just steps away from here, which was very convenient for our next morning's tour

Yeah, you totally can't see them. But you get the idea, right?

Our kids really liked climbing on ancient ruins, which PROBABLY isn't a good idea, right?

Jared insists that we'll eventually perfect the selfie. I think it's time to accept that we're just too dang old to do that.

This is when most of the Vatican is closed - PACKED when it's open.

The next morning was our Vatican tour - first the Vatican Museum (impressive), then the Sistene Chapel (beautiful), and finally St. Peter's (amazing). Just when the kids were getting bored, our tour guide pulled out the dead bodies (old popes buried under St. Peter's), and he had our kids' attention once again.

Thankfully we gave up on the selfie and just asked a nice lady to take a picture of us outside of St. Peter's.

It's totally appropriate to sucker-punch your sister at the Vatican, right? (And don't feel too bad for Ellie - she elbowed Jack below the belt shortly before - and had a smile on her face the whole time

Our favorite thing was to just stroll around the piazzas

In the shopping district

There were lots of cool artists along the way (not to mention begging gypsies, but hey...)

Each evening ended with some thick, rich, to-die-for hot chocolate

Exploring the little corners and nooks and crannies

And don't forget the gelato - who could forget the gelato! The best we had was nearby the Pantheon

And how about some "pizza for walking"? The first time we were out walking, we stopped by one of the many, many pizza places and ordered a couple slices - the man asked if we wanted "pizza for walking" - so they fold it up wrap some paper around it, and voila, ready for a stroll

We passed this shop every day, and each time, I'd think of my sister Jeanene when we saw this tee shirt

Merry Christmas to Lydia! This photo doesn't show it well, but Jared got me this super-cute purse (and a little one for Ellie) in a leather shop along our street travels

At the beginning of our tour of the Colosseum

Clearly, Jack and Ellie have a real appreciation for the Colosseum's historical significance

The place is HUGE, it really is

After the Colosseum, it was off to the Forum and the Pallatin ruins

And yeah, the kids were not impressed

But luckily they enjoyed our city tour - here they are at the Spanish Steps

They have these cool water fountains all around - but careful, they can make quite the mess

Unfortunately, Trevi Fountain was being renovated - but they let you walk on a bridge over the fountain and throw your coin in - if you throw a coin in, you are assured that you will return to Rome - so we're all set!

Underneath the city streets are, well, city streets - the ruins of the old Rome - here, you can see where the Roman street used to be

One of our final spots to visit was the Pantheon - we had just learned about the artist Rafael the day before, so it was cool for the kids to see where his remains are

One last pasty and hot chocolate before we hit the road! 'Til next time, Rome!

So Proud

Indeed, my children are a true testament to my most excellent parenting skills. Just take a look....

That Jack, he is so loving and kind toward his sister, just the ultimate big brother. Here's a great example - he lovingly drew and presented to Ellie this wonderful portrait of his little sister. This, he says, is "Ellie the Beast." Please note her "clown nose," her "rat's nest like hair," and the body of a wild tiger. Ah yes, a beautiful portrait. That Jack, he sure knows how to fill others' buckets. Makes a Mama proud.

And then there's Ellie. Learning from my example, she is becoming quite the sweet, lovely, appropriate young lady. She even sings! Heck, she even composes original songs! In fact, yesterday she presented to me her newest composition. The title of her lovely song?

"Testicle Storm"

Could a mother BE more proud?

Yes, that Mother of the Year Award should arrive in the mail any day now.

Bastogne

This weekend was a memorial walk in Bastogne, marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. That battle took place back in 1944, and was a huge battle where the Americans helped the Belgians hold back the Germans. It ended up going our way, but only after more than 80,000 dead/injured/missing. So obviously, a really big deal. And given that it was the 70th anniversary, they made a really big deal about it. There were a lot of people there for the march, then a big parade through town and the 'nut ceremony,' where people (in this case, the king and queen of Belgium) throw nuts into the crowd. That sounds weird, I know - it goes back to when Germany (in the thick of everything) asked the U.S. to surrender - and the commanding U.S. general replied "Nuts!"

This was a really cool thing to do - and I'm really glad we did it. But man, was it MISERABLE. It was cold. About 35 degrees, tops. And it was wet. So very, very wet. And we trudged most of the hike through snowy mud. Except when there was muddy snow. And 13km (you also had a choice of a 21km hike but come on, really?) doesn't sound like a lot, except for when you're really, really cold and really, really wet, and you have two kids with you who are really, really cold and really, really wet. Then 13km felt really, really long. But we did it. And I'm glad we did it. But let me tell you how we'll do Bastogne next year - watching the parade from the inside of a cozy, cozy cafe, while sipping hot cocoa and saying "man, it looks cold out there."



This is where we spent the night before the hike. It was actually over the border into Luxembourg at an international scout cabin. Ellie and I were the only females in a cabin of about 50 men and boys. Perhaps there was a time where that would have appealed to me, but let me assure you, this was not that time.

We all met in the middle of Bastogne, and headed off on the hike.

Let me introduce you to the snowy mud and the muddy snow. We got to know these two very, very well. I don't like them. They're not my friends.

This sign actually means that you're LEAVING Bastogne. The march went through and around the town.

Some reenactment soldiers, enjoying a little vin chaud along the walk. They promised me hot cocoa, but had none at either checkpoint. OK, sure, soldiers 70 years ago would not have had hot cocoa, so I shouldn't complain, but man, was I looking forward to that hot cocoa.

The reenactment soldiers marched along with everyone else, and periodically you'd walk through a reenactment demonstration. It was pretty cool. Later, in the parade, they had veterans from the Battle of the Bulge. Bet they didn't complain about lack of hot cocoa.

Time lost all meaning after a while - I think the time-telling part of my brain froze - but it took roughly 4 hours by the time we got back to our car. Our warm, dry, cozy car. And yes, soldiers 70 years ago didn't have a warm, cozy car to return to. But I'm very, very glad we did.