McLendon McBlog

we have moved to All the Gold Photography, The Woodlands Family Photographer

2015-02-25T09:15:00.002-06:00

This goes out to anyone who is still reading McLendons in Budapest! Anyone? Anyone? Well, faithful reader(s), I'm happy to guide you over to here to ALL THE GOLD. A lot has changed in the past year. New continent, new schools, new jobs, new friends, new happiness, new problems, new lives altogether. And with all this blessed/cursed change, I couldn't decide between "no blog" or "new blog." And in the end, it felt strangely sad to not write it all down and see where we've been. And so, and so, and so... I am blogging HERE. New blog, new style, same old typos.

Come see!

That's So Serbia

2014-05-18T14:06:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the best destinations are the ones you reach after a couple of hours driving in the car. This is particularly true when you have small children. We drove over to Belgrade, Serbia for the weekend (several, several, several weekends ago) and were charmed out of our socks. It's a great European city, without any fuss, and it's pocket-book and kid friendly. See for yourself...

I'll start with a little Serbian/former-Yugoslavian geography / history lesson. I know what excites you!

Our neighbors to the south share a somewhat tense relationship with Hungary. Google "official cause of World War I" or "the shot heard round the world" for some historical details. To this day, Hungary is still a bit hostile, as evidenced by the three hour wait time to get back into Hungary at the Serbian border. It took longer to cross the border into Hungary then it took to drive from Budapest to Belgrade.

Serbia itself was part of the former country/republic/former-kingdom of Yugoslavia, along with several other countries (including Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Vojvovina). After WWII, Yugoslavia became a communist state led by Josip Broz Tito (I'm still very much fascinated by Tito), whose pan-Slavic influence worked like glue to hold these diverse countries together for several decades until his death in 1980. After his death, great conflict, bloody wars and widespread ethnic cleansings resulted in the countries splintering apart. Serbia is now a stand alone country, not yet a part of the EU, but full of charm and beauty, just waiting to be explored!

Now, if you are still reading, on to the pictures...

We started by exploring the Kalemegdan Fortress and gardens, located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. It's a perfect spot to let kids run wild and a good spot to take in some nice views of the river.

There were countless tanks, canons and missile launchers on display. A not-so-subtle reminder that Serbia's path to independence was hard fought.

Paddy was delighted with the weaponry!

The fortress is positioned where the Danube and Sava Rivers converge. The Ottoman and Habsburg empires fought over Belgrade, for it's strategically advantageous location, countless times, resulting in the city being completely razed countless times.

Now, enough of the history. Let me tell you about the zoo. Ever been to a Eastern European zoo? Let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. Keep a close eye on your kids because the wild beasts of the zoo are doing the same.

And there is nothing separating you from the pack of the starved lions but a rusty chain link fence and a suspect padlock. No electrical wire, no moats. If you so please, you can literally stick your hand through the fence and pet a lion, cheetah or tiger. We saw several brave folks thrusting their camera phones through the chain links up into faces of the animals for some close up shots!

We chose to stick to the more fluffy and friendly fauna. Albino peacock? Yes, please!

The fortress grounds also had a great playground. We spent a good part of an afternoon playing there and visiting with several friendly locals.

Fellow Louisianans, you'll like this. There is a an ice cream shop, Moritz Eis, that was selling Tabasco flavoured ice cream. Russell tried it. Said it was nice n spicay.

We even managed to get in some museum time at the Josep Tito Museum.

Tito's star power still impresses me. His grave site, also at museum, still draws large crowds. When he wasn't vacationing with Liz Taylor and Sophia Loren, he was literally blazing a trail all over the world, meeting with every culturally significant diplomat of his time, all the while holding a considerably large and diverse country together.

We have been very pleased to have seen several pockets of the former Yugoslavian state, Serbia included.

Smooches from Belgrade!

A Particularly Prehistoric Party

2014-05-14T14:34:00.002-05:00

Turning five is an exciting thing. I've always considered five to be a bright line marker between baby and big kid, so I guess my sweet girl has made the leap to big kid. No turning back from here!

In the months leading up the big day, Claudia settled on a "pink and dinosaur" themed party. I made the cake at about 2 am the morning of the party. It looked a lot better in the dark, but it did taste pretty good!

To celebrate this milestone birthday, she requested a dinosaur dig. With some help I was able to turn our garden camp fire pit into a dino dig site. It took about twenty bags of sand and a bunch of "fossils" I ordered online. Weeks later, it is still keeping the kids entertained.

Claudia had a pretty great time celebrating with all her little gal pals.

I managed to get the "magic" candles that continuously relight themselves... which proved to be not so magical when I nearly set the kitchen trash can on fire.

They called themselves members of the "Five Year Old Girls Club Who Make Soap." They were turning flowers and hand soap into ... soap. :)

Claudia's dino pictures made a perfect birthday banner.

It was a most happy birthday for my dino-loving, soap-making, super big five year old girl!

Oh, Claudia, you light up my days, sweet angel!

Happy birthday to you, sweet C. I love you to pieces! xo, Mommy

There's No Place Like Home

2014-05-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

Well, hello! I have exciting news for anyone reading! First, pardon the interruption here. We've been getting ready for a big move... back home! America, here we come! In just a few weeks, the movers will pack everything up and away we go to Texas. We've been keeping busy here, soaking up all the goodness of Budapest while we still can, and getting ready for our return to Texas. Here's a recap for the past two months...

Well, this is what the end of winter looks like in Hungary. These, friends, are Busos, dressed up in the traditional costumes and armed with huge, wooden noisemakers, ready to scare away winter. If you travel down to Mohacs, Hungary, you can see them ride down the Danube River in canoes, carrying torches, and continue on their way throughout the city for a parade and a giant bonfire in the main city square.

These two weren't a bit scared of the Busos.

Paddy petted this one on the head and called him "kitty."

It was certainly a nice day in Mohacs to scare away winter.

And just like that, the weather warmed, the fields turned green and spring found its way to Hungary.

Daddyboy has been busy travelling back and forth between Budapest and Houston for the past month. He has been missed very, very much... especially by this little dude.

Hand painted Easter eggs are popular here. I found lots of pretty ones shopping at the Easter Market in Vorosmarty Ter. So far, they are all in one piece. Fingers crossed they make it back to Texas.

This little one did a great job dying her eggs again this year.

And the Easter bunny left lots of great treats.

For career day at school, Claudia chose to be a nurse. She spent the day vaccinating, bandaging and caring for her classmates.

C's school also had a teacher/student swap day. I wish I had pictures of all the kids in the class. They all showed up in shirts, ties and mustaches or little sweater sets with old lady glasses. She's wearing my old lady glasses, by the way.

And she turned FIVE! I have more pictures from her dinosaur party to share later.

We took refuge in an abandoned factory during a rainstorm... turned out to be a pretty great place to have fun and feel very small.

For Russell's last night in Budapest, we went up to the Citadel to get one last look at the city.

Little man likes to hop up the stairs.

So, that's all for now. And now that things are relatively under control around here, I can say with near certainty that I will not go another two months without posting. ;)

A Party for Paddy

2014-03-04T15:18:00.003-06:00

Somehow this sweet Paddy boy of mine managed to sneak in another year on me. Drawing up this post about Patrick's birthday (which happened a month ago), I am reminded just how important it is to memorialize the special times in our lives. The time it slips right through our fingers, but at least this way I can ink out my favorite bits and collect them here for memory's sake. So, this boy of mine. He is two! We celebrated with a special little party.

I made cupcakes the day before the party. He wasn't in the mood for napping that day, so he helped me get everything ready in the kitchen. He wanted to make sure everyone's cupcake was just right.

The sweet guy felt pretty special at the head of the table, especially when everyone started singing and smiling at him.

Sweet little man was giggling so hard he couldn't blow out his candles.

Birthday parties are pretty exhausting when you're two. He took a tiny cat nap after the party and was back up to see what was going to happen next. Sweet Patrick, I hope you always greet the world with your bright eyes and sweet smile!

Here's some pics of my sweet guy from this year. The wonderful Regina Koszta took these and I am so happy to have them. It's rare to have pictures WITH Patrick (and even pictures of Patrick that are not blurry), so I treasure these.

Sweet Paddy, we love you and love you and love you and love you.

Whether you are practicing your new favorite word ("no!"), drawing on the walls, running away from me in the post office, dancing wildly to Chaka Khan in the grocery store, throwing tantrums in the car, falling asleep in my arms, playfully squealing "No waaay!!" to old ladies in the grocery store who want to kiss you, nestling yourself in my lap for story time or giving us all kisses and slaps and kisses again, you are my one and only baby boy. And I love you.

Scandinavian Snow + Hungarian Snow

2014-02-15T08:28:00.003-06:00

This has certainly been a strange winter. North America has been beat down by epic snow storms, with snow even covering the ground in Texas. Here in Europe, it has been a fairly mild winter, with very little snow. So, I suspect half of the northern hemisphere is absolutely sick of the snow, while the other half maybe would like to see a bit more. Sick of it or missing it, maybe we can agree that it certainly makes everything look a little more beautiful. Here's my snow pics for the season. First some snow from beyond the Arctic Circle...

Russell and I recently had a parents-only weekend in Kakslauttanen, Finland. If you have ever wanted to hear the sound of complete and absolute silence, this is the place to go. Like music to my ears!

I was surprised, however, by how much there is to do in this Arctic wonderland. One day we ventured out with the huskies through the woods. These animals are absolutely amazing. They live to race through the woods and will go absolutely nuts when you put the breaks on the sled.

There's an order to arranging these Huskies too. You need the clever ones in the front. These are almost always female. They guide the sled. You need strong ones in the back. They will keep the sled moving right along. Green huskies go in the middle, where it is a good spot to learn from the front runners.

We spotted lots of reindeer plowing through the snow. Some of them looked like families, taking an afternoon walk. One night we rode snow mobiles around and came upon some reindeer crossing our path in the darkness. It was a bit like having a deer run in front of your car while driving at night.

We stayed in a cabin out in the woods. The lodge keeper gave us this handy sled to get our luggage out to the cabin. Best bellman ever right here.

We came across a couple of different igloos too. This was one carved out of a giant chunk of ice.

And this is a new one. A whole village of glass igloos for watching the aurora borealis.

And some snow igloos. I think you can stay in these, but there is a strong chance you will freeze to death in the night. Pass on that.

The high for the day. This place was just what we needed for two days of complete peace and quiet. But we sure did miss these guys, though...

Budapest got a touch of snow as well. It's been a strange winter because it hasn't been too cold and there has been almost no snow. Last year was pretty miserable, though, so I'm not complaining.

She is pretending to hug him. If you can zoom in, she is actually eating his marshmallow out of his hand. The marshmallow was the only way I could coax little man outside. ;)

Sadly, there's no more Hungarian snow. It all melted and it doesn't look like there will be any more this year. So, bring on Spring!! Bring on Spring everywhere!!

Life in Black and White

2014-02-06T07:30:00.001-06:00

We have hit that sweet spot where they really enjoy playing together and I don't have to keep a nervous eye on them the whole time. She still pushes him around and he still yanks on her hair, but it is still quality sibling time.

Their personalities couldn't be any different, though. She is super busy and bouncy. He is more reserved and thoughtful at his play.

Braids. They are (almost) the only thing standing between us and punctuality.

General reluctance to get out of bed. This also contributes to our perpetual tardiness.

Something amazing is happening here too... Patrick is sitting down and listening to books! He is a big fan of Miffy and Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Sight, but Claudia can practically read him the phone book and he is interested.

We went bowling. There were moments of pure joy when she knocked down pins, but also lots of these moments. I've always thought that bowling is largely a game of chance, but after watching my four year old beat me, I am absolutely certain about this now.

Cars. They absolutely love watching Cars.

We had some snow here. Finally! It came and went, but I have more pictures. With four months of heavy snow last year, I think Mother Nature is giving us a break this year. And that is fine with me!!

I bought Claudia a shadow puppet set from a booth at the Budapest Christmas Market. I can't tell you how much fun she has playing with this. I need to cut out some more puppets. It's such an easy thing to do and you can even just project them up on the wall with a flashlight. A perfect bedtime activity.

And that is that! Hope everyone is having a great week!

We Finally Left the House

2014-01-29T14:25:00.002-06:00

It just wouldn't be winter without a lot of coughing, runny noses, fevers and general feelings of yuck. We were going on about two weeks straight of not leaving the house when we finally decided to just leave the house. When we did leave the house, we discovered that the world had kept on going without us. So. We were happy to catch right back up with it. And we are germ free. Finally!

Poor little caged bird. She was never really sick, but she stayed home for a bit when I was just too miserable to get out and take her to school.

As for Patrick, you can't keep a good man down. Even with a high temperature, he was his usual sweet self.

I dont' know how he feels, but I love these crocheted Hungarian booties. Keeps his wee tootsies warm.

When we decided to leave the house, we made our way to the Hungarian Transportation Museum. Sounds pretty boring. But it was NOT. Not at all. It was filled with old planes, trains and automobiles, but had tons of cool exhibits including the evolution of bicycles, the evolution of boats (from Viking and Egyptian ships to modern luxury lines) and all kinds of interactive exhibits.

It was also nostalgic seeing parts of the original Budapest bridges, the ones that were blown to bits and recovered from the Danube River after the Nazis blew them up while retreating from the invading Soviets who liberated Budapest at the end of World War II.

If you live in Budapest and have a certain someone that is obsessed with anything with wheels... make some time for this place. Again, it is just great!

Patrick's love of transportation knows no bounds. He takes a "kuk" (truck) with him everywhere he goes. He learns his colors by identifying the colors of "kaas" (cars). He lives for that moment that the "big kuk, big kuk" (garbage truck) comes rumbling up our hill. He knows the garbage men by name, "Kuk Man, Kuk Man, Kuk Man!" (I don't know their real names, but they are so nice and greet Patrick every week).

With the big second birthday looming, I suspect we cannot go wrong if we get him a few more kaas and kuks. ;)

I hope everyone is surviving this winter with as little sniffles as possible!

4/52

2014-01-25T23:59:00.001-06:00

First, my favorites from last week. There were so many good ones this week. I loved this shot by Wendieland of her sweet girl looking into the mirror. Plus, both of these shots from The Monster and Me are wonderful. I love the contrast of a perfect, sleeping baby against the busy, but focused work of a toddler. And if you want to see two more beautiful captures of an adorable baby + toddler , go see Elk & Bloom. And just one more...from I Write This... such wonder in this little girl's eyes.

Around here, we have spent a lot of, really too much, time inside. Patrick and I were sick for about two weeks, so that was a good enough excuse. So, lots of pajama and house shoe days around here. This will change next week.

Things that make Claudia happy... pajamas, birdie blanket, Oatmeal (the teddy bear) and a cozy chair to cuddle in. The apple does not fall far from the tree. ;)

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Joining up with Jodi!

Petite Artiste

2014-01-22T06:28:00.000-06:00

Last month we posted several of Claudia's original works to both her great grandmothers in Louisiana and each piece was received with high praise. Claudia's reaction: "I've got to make more. Much, much more!" And so she did...

She painted until the sun when down. I'm pleased to report to all of Claudia's grandparents and great grandparents: more art is on the way!

3/52

2014-01-21T08:04:00.000-06:00

My favorites from last week came from It's the Little Things (teeny, tiny girl with some massive boulders!), Forever Lovely (those curls!) and Woven with Spirit (look at that sky!).

As for mine, here they are with their prized possessions.

Out of all her Barbies, Rock Star Barbie is her favorite and her best. And there's Paddy's little hand, creeping up to snatch that Barbie.

And, for Paddy, out of all his trucks, this is THE truck. Well, it actually is the replacement of THE truck. THE truck was actually left on an airplane a while back and we had to do a switcheroo on him. Luckily, I don't think he noticed. ;)

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Joining up with Jodi!

Lost in the Fog

2014-01-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

We need to get out more. We are going completely stir crazy in this house. It's just those daily waves of freezing fog, though. They make me want to stay inside and Patrick goes absolutely bananas every time I bundle him up to go out. We do capitalize on the sunny days, though. The sun gives us a reason to be silly.

This is what you get...

... when you do too much of this.

Patrick: "Dis kuck." ("This is the truck.")

I made him go out one day.

Miss Bojangles was dancing and singing on the street in front of the state Opera House, entertaining a gaggle of tourists on a Big Bus tour. We eventually had to scoop her up and take her home.

Her favorite indoor activity is creating lovely bracelets, necklaces and rings for the entire family.

See that girl in the bottom of the mirror there? She's got a critical eye for fashion. She said that (insanely expensive) purse is not pretty.

Good! :)

2/52

2014-01-12T15:44:00.003-06:00

First, my favorites from last week come from Emily's Three Things, the light, the reflections... they are both so peaceful and so perfect!

Claudia. Super excited to see the sun! Soggy, grey weather has kept us in too much this winter, but she's a happy camper playing in any weather.

Patrick. Perfectly content to stay inside all day, every day, so long as he has his trucks.

Both. I asked Claudia to indulge Patrick and play inside with the trucks for a bit before heading out. He was so happy to show her how they all work! She was less thrilled, but was a good sport!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Joining up with Jodi!

Dubai: the Desert and the Oasis

2014-01-09T15:20:00.006-06:00

This year we decided to do things a little differently for Christmas. Specifically, we decided not to go to Texas. This decision was fueled, in large part, by my growing anxiety of flying long haul flights with small, time zone resistant children. It was a little sad to celebrate Christmas away from our families back in the US, but it was pretty awesome to hop on a four and a half hour flight and find ourselves in the middle of a desert oasis.

In just a couple of decades, Dubai has gone from desert nothingness to one of the world's most opulent and efficient cities. Now pull up a map of the Middle East. Look at Dubai's neighbors along the Persian Gulf: Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq... not exactly tourist hot spots at the moment.

What they have done with the city (that didn't exactly exist 20+ years ago) is amazing. They world's biggest this, the world's fastest that... it's remarkable.

The hotel we stayed at was built on a man made island in the shape of a palm frond, aptly known as "The Palm." Sheikh Mohammed, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirate had quite the vision... there wasn't enough of a coastline along the Persian Gulf... so all these islands were created to make more coastal property. There is another chain that was built in the shape of a map of the world.

Here's everyone stepping lively on one of the man made islands.

look left for the chain of islands shaped like the world.

Paddy and Daddy and the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. It also holds the world's fastest elevator. We climbed over one hundred floors in 60 seconds the elevator. We never even realized we were moving.

Visiting our dear friend Karim and his horse was a big highlight for Claudia!

Sweet Karim also took us on a boat ride through the Marina. Patrick slept through the whole thing and Claudia refused to take off her backpack. Silly kids!

Saw a lot of these around the Marina. This one belongs to Sheikh Mohammed's son, but it used to be the property of one Mr. Saddam Hussein. I physically cringed just looking at something that belonged Saddam Hussein.

And this. In addition to ATM machines dispensing dirham, the local currency, they also had gold ATMs for when you just need a bar of gold. I still can't wrap my head around this one.

Just one of the many skylines of Dubai. Again, NONE OF THIS was here 20+ years ago. Nothing. Just desert.

And the desert. We spent a day in the Rub' Al Khali desert visiting a Bedouin camp, riding camels and touring the Dubai Conservation Reserve.

I asked one of the Bedouins about children of the camps and what they do for fun. He said that they often play hide and seek in the desert, following up with "sometimes you find them, sometimes you don't." We made sure not to let the kids wander off too far.

Not us, but I loved this picture of a sweet family from China that was at the camp with us that day.

Our main guide was exceptionally great with the kids. He toted this little monkey around quite a bit.

Claudia really took to the food at the camp, nearly eating her weight in chickpeas.

We observed several desert fauna on the Conservation Reserve, but I favored this sweet creature, the Oryx.

Now, here's a few (hundred) desert pictures. Sorry, it was just such a cool place to explore. It was disappointing to hear that the Bedouin culture is dwindling as more and more Bedouin families decide to leave the desert camps for a life in the city. But after seeing both worlds and the stark contrast between desert and city, I can understand why so many families are embracing modern living in Dubai.

And look how happy Patrick was that Santa and Rudolf came to the Middle East! Sweet Claudia explained to him that it wasn't the real Santa, but just a helper with a man in a reindeer costume. So practical, this girl! ;)

Dubai. Regardless of how you feel about downright opulence, one thing is certain, the vision it took to build this city is unparalleled. The infrastructure, the population boom the commercial surge... amazing. It was a perfect place to spend Christmas and wrap up 2013.
But, as always, I'm glad to be back in Budapest, even if everyday is just more freezing fog!

Out With the Old

2014-01-05T15:10:00.002-06:00

Christmas is over, but I had a few leftovers I wanted to preserve for my memory book here. I think just about everyone gets a little sentimental when they pack up all the Christmas decorations and take down the tree. Me, I start wondering what life will be like the next time the boxes are brought back out and unpacked. Who knows what this new year will bring.

Now, time to break out Sad Santa and get over Christmas being over. ;)

The last few pictures represent what generally happens when I try to take pictures of Claudia and Patrick dressed nicely. Specifically, Claudia called Patrick out on taking a smelly poop. Generally, its just a failed attempt at posed pictures. But these are more honest and, for me, more memorable. ;)

And now that Claudia's school reconvenes tomorrow (after a FOUR week break), I can finally get 2014 started properly... by clearing away the piles and splatters of new/old toys and trinkets that are littering everyone room of this house!

1/52

2014-01-04T15:27:00.002-06:00

Kicking off the first week of Jodi's 52 project...

Claudia had the time of her life riding a jeep through the Rub' Al Khali desert. It was at this moment I realized how different we are. Her: arms in the air, hooting, hollering. Me: white knuckle grip on the seat, saying prayers. I'm glad she's a happy bird because maybe she'll rub off on me.

Paddy, my kindred spirit, who understands the importance of good oral hygiene. Every week he impresses me with a new act of independence!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Inspired by Jodi.

Merry Christmas and the Market

2013-12-29T07:58:00.002-06:00

Well, I don't think anyone will be getting Christmas cards from us this December, due in large part to the fact that I still have not sent them. ;) I really love to send cards, though. I love addressing the envelope, sticking the stamps and physically dropping them into a post box. Maybe I'll send them out with some valentines in February, but in the mean time...

A few days before Christmas we headed over to the Vorosmarty Ter Christmas market. This was Claudia's fourth market... look how little she was at her first.

And Paddy and Daddy.

Claudia decorated her little Charlie Brown tree. She named it "Charlie Brown Tree" =)

Wishing you a joyful Christmas from Budapest!

Black and White Baking

2013-12-20T13:48:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure what we're going to do with all this gingerbread, but we certainly couldn't pass up the annual Christmas cookie making class with friends. Claudia managed to bake, glaze and decorate two dozen cookies and consume 500 grams of marzipan in two hours. A job well done in my book.

Admiring her pièce de résistance before heading off to bed. Night night!

A Tree to Love

2013-12-17T15:19:00.003-06:00

We have a Christmas to-do list: (1) buy pitiful, unwanted tree and give it the star treatment with various trimmings and trappings; (2) deck the halls with homemade Christmas crafts; (3) create candy gingerbread village; (4) learn some Christmas carols to sing to the next door neighbors (the American ones at least); (5) bake bread for all the sweet, elderly people on the street (there's quite a few and they are just the best); and the BIG ONE: (6) celebrate Jesus' birth!

The tree. Found it! Salt dough ornaments have been baked and mostly painted. We need to reload on glitter and sequins, then we can get this guy sparkling!

The sweet lady at the nursery asked us in broken Hungarian/English, about 3 times, "you sure? you SURE?" Claudia definitely answered "Yes. This is the one."

We have no snow. We had it. And it went away. Hope it comes back for Christmas, but I'm not hopeful. Instead we have freezing fog. Five days and counting of freezing fog. And nobody likes that. Nobody!

It's kind of fun to play in it though. For about five minutes.

After five minutes expires, then it's time to go back inside. And eat cookies. Patrick is obsessed with cookies. He just walks into the kitchen every few minutes of every single day and screams "cookies! cookies!" It was SO cute for the first few days, but now I'm scared he's kind of a crazy person. It's a kind of crazy I can relate too, though. =)

We were making a Christmas chain and Claudia had the idea to spell out "Christmas" with the extra links. Christmas was a little long, though, so we went French with it.

Watching Claudia decorate a gingerbread house has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It gets better every year. She gets more into it every year, sniffing and sampling the ingredients, then precisely affixing the candies in confusing little patterns.

house + trees... candy wonderland =)

Meanwhile, Patrick has figured out how to activate the phone, bypass the passcode, take and broadcast selfies, which is more than I know how to do, some days.

Sweet boy. I love him. I love, love, love him.

I'll post on update on our other Christmas items of importance and an "after" picture of our little tree. Hope everyone's days are bright in the last few weeks of 2013, whatever you may be celebrating. =)

50/52

2013-12-14T15:28:00.002-06:00

First my favorites from last week... coming from the Oyster and the Pearl. Perfectly real moments in black and white.

As for us, we have spent the week sick at home, but at least we have the tree and Christmas movies to enjoy!

Poor Claudia, who normally sets the pace for the house, was down and out for a couple of days with a fever and fatigue. Luckily, she is back to her sweet self.

This picture. So sad. Claudia is trying to rock Patrick like the baby he is not. With his eyes, he's asking "are you going to let her do this to me?" Bless his heart, he puts up with a lot of loving from her.

Now that school is out and we've all recovered from our respective colds and stomach flu bugs of the week, we are ready for a fresh and new week. Only two more weeks of the 2013... hope they're good to everybody!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Inspired by Jodi.

Three Year Hungarianniversary and Other Haps

2013-12-11T14:27:00.001-06:00

Another year has passed in Hungary. It's taken three years, but we now call Budapest our home, which naturally means we will probably be asked to move back to Texas at any given moment. When that time comes, I will be happy to return to friends and family, but very sad to say goodbye to this magical place. For the time being, I will just appreciate every moment we have here. And I'll share some pictures of our host city.

This pictures is about 6 months old, but I just found it and remembered how much fun we were having. We are at some hotel in Russia and Claudia was parachuting onto the bed. Patrick was resisting a diaper change. I could have and should have helped my husband out, but I elected to take pictures instead.

Her tree is UP!

Patrick immediately went after the tree and tried to slap off the ornaments. Claudia was very kind and sweetly extracted him from the room. Daddyboy gave sister a big hug for carefully removing Patrick and cautiously closing the door, so as not to crush his fingers.

Patrick. He is so busy! We were heading out to a holiday brunch with friends and Russell was asking him to be on his best behavior.

And this is what Patrick looks like at a brunch. Thank goodness there was a playroom. =)

Patrick's best girl left him for Fairfax. This is his second girlfriend to depart Budapest for Fairfax in the past year. He is taking it well. He gave her several (open mouth) kisses before she left.

my milk mustached man

So proud! He stacks like a pro!

Poor Claudia, who is never sick, got sick this week. My sweet girl, who never naps, napped for five hours on Monday, fighting off a nasty fever for most of the day.

After a day of not eating or drinking, she finally woke up on Tuesday and asked for oatmeal. What a relief to see her turn the corner.

I am thankful that this little girl is a healthy little girl and that when she is sick, her illnesses are mild and quickly kicked.

She even made a brief appearance at her school today to sing in the Winter Concert. She later confided to me that she was moving her lips but that she wasn't singing. Oh, Claudia.

I will get a recording of her singing a beautiful Hungarian Christmas carol this week. She knows the whole thing by heart and sings in the sweetest little voice. Now I just need to find the video recorder thing.

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. =)

49/52

2013-12-07T13:57:00.000-06:00

First, my favorite from last week, a magical walk in the woods. Look at that light, it's amazing. As for my guys...

Patrick is noticing all the trees going up for sale on the corners and is very interested in the little artificial one we have in the house. I've decided we will get a sad, little Charlie Brown-style live tree to let the kids decorate all on their own. Patrick has found these though. They are obviously too big. And they are in our garden, so they'll stay put.

And Claudia. Every year she trims her little pink tree. The tree is looking much smaller this year!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Inspired by Jodi.

Denmark! Nothing Rotten Here!

2013-12-04T15:05:00.000-06:00

What's the happiest place on earth? Disney? Nope. Copenhagen! So says Oprah. And I agree. It IS great! But you know, I've never been to Disney World. ;)

By far, Copenhagen is one of the best places to be a tourist. There is no problem with communicating... the chipper locals are happy to speak English and help you along in exploring the city. We did just that last August. Gah. Just five months late here.

Tivoli. By far, the coolest amusement park we've ever visited. It opened in 1843 and prides itself on not straying far from it's origins.

Patrick enjoyed his first carousel ride (for the most part).

All the rides and these two just wanted to dig in the rocks. That part was fun too, though.

I'm glad there is no video from the Panda ride, because I was squealing like a child the whole time. The next oldest rider (who was maybe 8?) looked at my like I was crazy, at first, but then she started hysterically laughing. It really was a fun ride, though. I couldn't help myself!

And you can't go wrong with a little of this stuff.

We skirted some rain and made it out to the Rosenborg Castle. For small children, the well manicured, but almost abandoned grounds provided a much needed running, jumping and duck feeding pit stop.

Guess who could care less about the castle, its furnishings and the crown jewels? Paddy! He was most happy in the armory, poking around at the canons and sitting atop giant (and hopefully empty) gun powder barrels.

The crown jewels. The Danish monarchy is the oldest in Europe, dating back to the Viking kings of the 10th century. The crown jewels are kept in a nearly pitch black room which is wired with all kinds of alarms, including one that is sound triggered. They kindly, but cautiously suggested Patrick take a quick look and be on his way. =)

The port was a nice place to check out all the boats and have some fish. Patrick looks a little grumpy, but he was actually enjoying this part of the trip. Maybe something with his socks. I don't know.

Proudly directly pedestrian traffic with her Danish flag.

Although initially disappointed that "The Little Mermaid" was of a bronzed nature (commemorating the timeless tale by Danish literary legend, Hans Christian Andersen) and not the Disney variety, Claudia eventually became fascinated with the statue.

Claudia insisted Daddy take her to the other side of the statue to see if she had a fin. After slip sliding over some partially submerged rocks, they made it... and she sure does have a fin, in case you were curious.

It's a shame this picture is from about 6 months ago... I can't remember what she was talking about. It looks important, though, right?! Maybe she was talking about the statue behind her...

That thing was intense.

The Postal Museum. We went there to kill time before our flight. It was free and it was fantastic! It has an entire kids' floor with lots of postal related activities (sorting, stamping, delivering mail), but it also has playhouse-style exhibits on the Danish outdoors and wildlife and commercial industries.

I'm so happy to finally share these pictures from beautiful Copenhagen. It was a truly magical city. Just something in the air there. I can't quite explain it, but I know I really loved it.

Slovakia and the Great Synagogue

2013-11-30T15:14:00.001-06:00

We are slowly recovering from a wonderful Thanksgiving and getting geared up for winter. The first snow fell last week here in Budapest and all the Christmas markets are just opening up in Europe. We drove to Bratislava last Saturday to try out the market there. It was good fun!

Here's Claudia standing in St. Michael's street (looking bored to tears), with St. Michael's Gate in the background. St. Michael's gate is the last remaining tower from when the city was fortified during the Medieval era. She looks utterly miserable because she was this close (tiny finger width) from falling asleep. She slept the whole way home to Budapest (2 hours).

And this guy! He had a blast. The Bratislava market is not overly crowded (we even went on the opening day), so he was able to freely run around and enjoy himself.

They had great entertainment for the kids... a crossbow game, a carousel and ice skating.

You'll find interesting statues all over the city. This is Schöner Náci, inspired by Ignác Lamár. Lamár lived in Bratislava until his passing in the 1960s. He was a colorful fellow that brought some entertainment to Bratislava during the dark Soviet days by wandering the streets, politely charming all the ladies ... in three different languages even!

Čumil ... he's been tripped over, stood on and even run over by a few trucks.

This is the Nowy Most bridge, a very Soviet-style construction, finished in 1972, during the communist rule of Slovakia. The locals were not big fans, but they made the most of it by recently turning it into a restaurant called "UFO." Bratislava is a great city. It's a manageable size and can be toured in a day. Since its a quick drive from Budapest, why not?

Back in Budapest, we visited the Great Synagogue. On our trip to Auschwitz, we learned more of Budapest's Jewish history. Before World War II, one out of every four Budapest citizens was Jewish. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was extremely progressive with respect to its Jewish citizens, so the community truly grew and flourished during that period. And within Budapest, Jewish citizens greatly wanted to assimilate into the Hungarian culture, learning the language, taking on the Hungarian spellings of their names and building this amazing synagogue in the city.

The synagogue was built in 1859 and the construction was loosely based on the biblical descriptions of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, with its two large towers.

The inside of the synagogue glows. It has Moorish design elements throughout, so it was easy to get lost in meticulously arranged tiles and gold details. The synagogue was spared destruction during the war, unlike so many other synagogues in Europe, as a result of the Nazi's use of the synagogue. They placed radio antennas in the two towers, kept horses in the nave and supposedly the Gestapo even used one of the upper balconies as a base.

After the war, the synagogue sat empty for about 40 years, until the fall of the Soviet empire, when individuals of Hungarian-Jewish decent began pouring money into a considerable renovation. One of the major contributors was Tony Curtis and his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.

After the war, there was a great diaspora of Hungarian-Jews. Many went to America. Here are a few individuals of Hungarian-Jewish descent that have become known to many ... Harry Houdini (born Eric Weisz) Elie Wiesel, Joseph Pulitzer, Estee Lauder, Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson, Peter Lorre, Eva and Zsa Zsa Gabor, Adrien Brody, Louis C.K. (original Hungarian spelling "Szekely"), and Jerry Seinfeld. There's actually a longer list, but these are just a few.

Behind the synagogue is a courtyard with the symbolic grave of Raoul Wallenberg. Here is Patrick attempting to put a really big stone on his grave (to show your respect, you may place pebbles and stones beside his grave). I recently finished a book on Wallenberg and his story is the most moving account of human compassion I've ever heard.

He sacrificed his life rescuing thousands of Jewish Hungarians. The modest estimate of those saved is in the tens of thousands and the upper estimate is up to 100 thousand. He holds the Guiness World Record for saving the greatest number of people from extinction.

Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, turned diplomat and humanitarian, recruited by the American OSS (predecessor of the CIA) and the Swedish government to rescue as many Jewish Hungarians as possible. And that he did, by issuing protective Swedish passports, setting up safe houses for Jewish Hungarians expelled from their homes, pulling people off trains bound for Auschwitz and even fishing victims out of the Danube. As the Soviet army got closer to Budapest, the Nazis resorted to lining up Jewish men, women and children and shooting them into the river. To save bullets, they often tied victims together, shot one and let the entire group drop into the Danube to drown. Wallenburg even went into the river to rescue these victims.

The man was a shining light of mercy and morality in an otherwise dark and hopeless period of history. The book I recently finished was His Name was Raoul Wallenberg, but there are several books about him on Amazon if you give it a search. His story is absolutely fascinating and inspiring, so it will be great reading.

There's a spot in the courtyard behind the Synagogue where you can put pebbles inside little boxes inscribed with names of Hungarian Jews that were killed in he Holocaust. Seeing people bringing flowers and pebbles to the boxes of loved ones reminded me, once again, that this all happened in our not-so-distant past.

Claudia asked lots of questions about the Tree of Life, a memorial in the courtyard, whose leaves are etched with names of Hungarian Jewish Holocaust victims.

The tree has four thousand etched leaves... but the number of Hungarian Jews killed in the Holocaust numbers at over half a million.

Another sobering sight at the Synagogue, a mass grave for the thousands who died in Budapest ghettos during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. You will see headstones and markers that loved ones and families have brought here to honor their departed.

During their occupation, the Nazis walled the Jewish Hungarians into the Jewish ghetto, which was directly behind the Great Synagogue. The Soviets destroyed the wall shortly after the liberation, in 1945. Here is what remains of a chunk of the barbed wire topped wall.

Above all, the beauty of the Great Synagogue is inspirational. Even after such devastation, even after the Jewish population of Budapest was utterly decimated, there is still a great desire to rebuild something that was nearly lost and to rebuild it with pride. Second to Temple Emanu-El in New York, it is the biggest synagogue in the world and every bit of it seems to glow.

It's a must see if you are in Budapest! And they are super sweet to small children who want to rove all over the place and touch everything. ;)

And I have to end with a happy picture of Claudia since I started with that really pitiful looking picture. She really enjoyed her Thanksgiving "feast" at school, and took great pride in telling all the kids in her class about this American tradition. And I have to share the items she came up with for her thankful turkey this year, in the order she named them:

Family (she actually named us all, but I suggested just writing "family" for short)
Ice Cream
Mommy ("because I really, really love you"... oh, I loved that)
Grayer (her sweet little school mate)
Home

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and that you have good things to be thankful for ... wherever you are and wherever you're from. =)

47/52

2013-11-23T14:17:00.000-06:00

First, my favorites from last week are from Baby Space, a big brother and little sister talking to the neighbor's dog. I also loved these fun shots from LittleRedViking.

As for us here in Budapest, it starts getting dark at 3 pm now. It's pitch black by 4:30 pm. If we want to play outside after school, we do it in the dark. It adds an extra degree of difficulty to hide and go seek. And my pictures wind up underexposed too. Still fun though!

Sweet, busy Patrick. He puts me through my paces and leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. My friends that are moms of boys keep telling me that although boys will physically wear you down, they are beautifully uncomplicated little beings that will love you with the same energy that they devote to games of chase. Sounds good to me!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Inspired by Jodi.