Carnaval parade in Mortsel

Roel took the boys to a parade here in Mortsel celebrating Carnaval.  They had SUCH a wonderful boys afternoon out, and returned home with mounds and mounds of candies, waffles and toys.  Lucky boys!

Sweet Jonas

I can't really begin to express how proud I am of Jonas. He has dealt with a multitude of crazy changes so gracefully. Jonas began his third grade year (one of the most challenging on the elementary level) and has succeeded in ways that have astounded me. Not only is he speaking beautiful Flemish, but he is so brave in speaking! He speaks Flemish with no fear whatsoever; something I have yet to tackle!

He has also conquered cursive handwriting; something that children here learn from the beginning. Although he has had a bit of difficulty in coordinating his hand movements, he has worked hard to do his best. Jonas gets incredible test scores, especially in Math. I'm just so proud of him. I can't imagine going through the changes he has at his age.

In his spare moments, you will usually find our big boy drawing creatures, something he is just so incredibly good at.

Jonas is really introspective and keeps his feelings locked up inside when he really should speak up. I've found that the main reason he does that is because he is so concerned about hurting my feelings and Roels, that he would prefer to keep his hurts to himself. He doesn't like to worry us. What a sweetheart! I've assured him that even though I appreciate him being so considerate, I really need him to talk about his feelings. I hope that he can learn to be more open with sharing his hurts...that's something a lot of us still need to learn!

I'm just so in love with Jonas...this little gift to me continues to bless our lives every day. He is always so quick to hug and love and praise. Jonas is a blessing to our family and we just appreciate him so much.