The most viewed Video of 2009

Those were some of the most viewed video of 2009... Some are really fun!!

Playing For Change Song Around the World – Stand By Me



Surprised kitty


Dancing Baby futur Beyonce's Fan


The Piano Stair in Sweden


The wedding march


And Voila this is my last post of video in 2009. you might see some more in 2010, since it is in about 30mn for me! LOL!! no I am off to bed. Enjoy your 2010 and best of everything.
Peace and Humor for the world

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Best Advertisment of 2009

And now to the best advirtisment of 2009. I just love those, I had to share with the world! Hope you dig those too!

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Best Music of 2009 (for my taste)

I love watching video from the past year every so often, and since it is still 2009 in a few minutes for me it will be 2010, here are some of my favorite music from 2009. Hope you enjoy it and that you don't get "Shocked" over some of my choice!

I loved this video, I thought it was amazing that someone came with the concept of it, and actually turned out this good! Beside I love that song too! Very upbeat!

Another one of my favorite. I just love his music. I think he is one of my favorite artist of the year! I also love his video with Colbie

"Lucky" Official Video With Colbie Caillat

Jason Mraz MySpace Musikvideos

I really like this group too, I love the fact that they mix rock and storyline!

And Follow your dream always!

Nickelback is one of my favorite group. Beside they are great to look at too! So who can complain, good view, good music!! Gotta love them! LOL

I really like this video, I think it is a cute song and the fact that the person use simple graphics make it more powerful!

I really like Colbie Caillat, I think she is a sweet girl that has a great sense of humor and an accomplish artist. I sure hope she keep song coming our way, cause I really dig her! LOL

I also really like Rihanna, weird about the title though? Disterbia?

Matt and I have followed Green Day since the 90th. They still rock and are awesome!!

No insult intended, but I really like this song. You need to know that Lily Allen wrote it after some politic party in the UK made some homophobe comments. Her answer was that song, which I think is perfect. I rarely use that word, but I still think that in some case you can't say anything else but...!

I listened to Paramore once in the States, and didn't really think much, except that they were kinda nice. My kind of music, and Morgane's too! And every so often I find a new song and really like it more and more. My favorite of the year!

I just love this video. Amazing concept and amazing production of it! Just can't stop watching it!

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Peace on Earth!

Greetings to all,

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Best wishes for this coming year to you and your love one!
As I am typing this letter, I am trying to keep myself from sneezing away on the keyboard. We had a great busy year and if you follow my blog entry you certainly know about it. So I will keep it simple and fast. (Not because I don’t want to brag about my year, but because my head is in the fog, therefore my memories are too!) ;-)
Spring went so fast I don’t even remember much, except the anticipation of waiting to know if and when Matt would be send anywhere with the Army. By late may, Matt called me and told me that his order were here. Station: Heidelberg Germany. Report date: Mid June!! My answer, great, I am going to move on my own again! ;-) so off we go to get all the stuff that needed to be done before moving. Rafael’s passport. Schedule moving day. Get information about where we were going. By the time Matt was gone, I was overwhelmed and thanks God, my mother took pity on me, and came all the way from France to help me pack/clean/keep my sanity (or what was left at the time). For those of you who haven’t followed what happen you’ll need to go back and read my past blog entry, cause it is WAY too long to try to explain now! Anyway!
We are now trying to settle into our Small apartment (very very small) and it isn’t easy. We are enjoying the fact that we are in Europe and try to do something fun every so often with the kids. Again follow the blog and you’ll see! ;-)
Matt is trying to get extension on his order so that we can stay here for another year or two, I wish we will know already what and where and when we are going/staying and everything in between. I guess it is part of the military life that I really don’t enjoy. But you will know as soon as we know for sure! I’ll blog about it! ;-) he he!!
The kids are now a year older.
Damien turned 14 (he could have his learner permit back in IA) and is doing much better at school; he is working hard on becoming a good student and a good Guitar Player. He went with Matt to one of his favorite Band concert in Wisconsin and really enjoyed it! The band: Dragon Force, you don’t know them, check them out. They are the kind of band that are amazing guitarists, super fast, but after 10mn of listening you know you are heading to bed with a migraine! LOL (Or at least it is my case) ;-)
Morgane turned 11, she is a sweet girl with a big temper (like her mama) her dad’s favorite girl and love being close to him now that we are all together again. She is a good student, great Artist and reader, love love to read, and sing and chat online with her friends. (Not necessarily in that order) She is still playing piano and like it (we do need to find someone to get her to play here) She has been diagnost with ADD in Iowa and we tested her again when we arrived here. So 2 different test and tones of discussion later she is now on some mild dose of medication that helps her focus her attention to the right task at hand.
Rafael turned 7, he was still my little shrimpee boy but had a growth spurt over the summer. He is always outside, love playing with all the boys in the neighborhood. He love his Dart Guns and you can listen to all of those boys giggling in the basement and the addict of our new apartment. He like the fact that he can see lots of cool castles. Doesn’t really understand why people don’t speak the same language all over the planet. Ask tones of question about the war and the army and the rules. He is my sweet baby boy and just need to be reminded that he need to be sweet to other as well!
Matt like his job here and really enjoy having us every day with him. He works about 20mn away from home, try to ride his bike as often as he can (except when it is too nasty to take it)
I, for myself, like it here so far. It is way different from a civilian type of life, but it is fun and you meet lots of different people with different background and culture. I am enjoying that a lot. I am a USO volunteer. I have escorted tour to Paris (just once, I was supposed to do the New Year Eve tour and since I am sick as a dog, Matt is taking my place) I have open a little store page for my photos, I haven’t had a lot of time to load too much, but I am planning to concentrate on that over the 2010 year.
We spend our Christmas with my family in France. It was lots of fun and it is always so nice to see everyone again. I was surprise to see some lost friends contact me via email, so we enjoyed a nice evening with them when we were at my mother. It is always so nice to know what peoples are up too over the years. ;-) Matt and I are on Facebook for those of you who are too! Check us out.
Well this is all I can think of. I will leave you with lots of Hugs and Kisses from all of us to all of you.
Wishing you the best for 2010, Health, Wisdom, Peace, and Freedom for all!

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December Title & Background

So thank you for all of you who voted, I have now change the blog title/pictures, I now am looking for a background that I can live with. The one I have now, isn't the perfect that I am looking for, I might have to do one on my own. Don't want to start that on top of my so many project!!

Runner-up was the 3rd title picture!! I'll try to change this every month if not every so often. but not too often, cause I don't have the time. I mean you probably saw that I haven't been blogging too much lately!! And I am sorry about that. Just a little too much in my head to get it out I guess! LOL!

Hope you all enjoy your holiday season, I don't know if I will have the time to write anything this week if not I will try over the Christmas break and keep you inform on what is going on!

TTFN

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New Title for my blog

So!! I need your help, I have done a few title for my blog that I want to change for the season and I can't chose! SO!! You are to help me chose!! Please, just comment below and let me know which one you like the best! Thank you in advance!

I will obviously need to change the entire page, because it will just look weird red with pink or light blue/green etc... SO let me know ASAP! I'll appreciate!

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Battle of the Bulge

Matt took the boys to a reenactement in the coutryside of the Battle of the Bulge location and I thought I would give my readers a little more info about it, since I knew a little about it but not too much, here is one article that I found interesting, fromt he Stars and Stripes (follow the link to see the entire article, or just read below the major part of it)
I will also put a little more tomorrow, as Matt and Damien took pictures of what they saw, I was going to ask them to do a little article to post and join the pictures. So more later!

From the article: 60 years later, Europe recalls the brutal Battle of the Bulge Stars and Stripes

60 years later, Europe recalls the brutal Battle of the Bulge
By Leah Larkin, Special to Stars and Stripes
Stripes European Travel, Thursday, November 18, 2004

When you initially attacked for seven days and nights without halting for rest, you met and defeated twice your own number. Your advance required the enemy to turn fresh divisions against you, and you in turn hacked them to pieces as you ruthlessly cut your way deep into the flank of the “bulge.” Your feats of daring and endurance in the sub-freezing weather and snow-clad mountains and gorges of Luxembourg are legion; your contribution to the relief of Bastogne was immeasurable. It was particularly fitting that the elimination of the “bulge” should find the Yankee Division seizing and holding firmly on the same line held by our own forces prior to the breakthrough. I am proud of this feat by you as well as those you performed earlier. We shall advance on Berlin together.

— Feb. 1, 1945, Headquarters 26th Infantry Division, W. S. Paul, Major General, U.S. Army Commanding

Mary Ellen Sullivan carried a yellowed copy of this commendation awarded to her father, 1st Sgt. Edward J. Sullivan, as well as a commendation letter signed by Gen. George S. Patton Jr., when she traveled to visit battle sites, military museums and cemeteries in Belgium and Luxembourg this summer.

Edward Sullivan, who died in 1977, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, also called the Battle of the Ardennes, one of the largest land battles of World War II and the worst battle in terms of losses to the American forces in that war.

“He never talked about war,” Sullivan recalled. Her father was one of three brothers who fought in the war, and all survived.

“My father always said he was in Patton’s Army and he was very proud to be a veteran and to have served his country, yet he never went into specifics about the war,” she said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the great battle that was fought between Dec. 16, 1944, and Jan. 25, 1945. Mary Ellen Sullivan, who works in marketing for American Airlines, was on a press trip sponsored by the Belgian National Tourist Office this spring. The group attended Memorial Day ceremonies in Bastogne, a Belgian town that served a pivotal role in the battle.

“I didn’t realize how emotional this would be. I just feel I’m here for him,” she said. “I was thinking to myself that it’s so wonderful that the people in Bastogne never forgot. They still know how much the Americans did for them.

“I saw a movie yesterday [on the battle] and realized how cold it was. My father suffered from frostbite to his feet all his life … When we got to the cemetery and saw all those crosses, it was overwhelming.”

The Battle of the Bulge actually was a series of battles scattered over several hundred miles and involving more than 1 million combatants, including 500,000 U.S. troops, 500,000 Germans and about 55,000 British. Americans suffered 76,890 casualties, including 19,000 killed and 23,554 captured. Germans suffered about 100,000 casualties — killed, wounded or captured.

On that wintry mid-December day in 1944, the calm that Belgium and Luxembourg had enjoyed since they had been liberated the previous September was shattered. Three powerful German armies plunged into the semi-mountainous, heavily forested region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. A heavy artillery barrage pounded American forward positions, followed by the infantry onslaught and the breakthrough by the armored columns.

The Germans’ objective was to reverse the course of events by striking through the Ardennes, crossing the river Meuse and retaking the port of Antwerp, which had been reopened to shipping. They hoped this would isolate the British army from U.S. forces and result in a separate peace on the western front.

They caught the Allies by surprise as American commanders thought the Ardennes the least likely spot for a German offensive. The U.S. kept the line thin, concentrating manpower on offensives north and south of the Ardennes. The poor weather — snow, bitter cold and impenetrable fog — grounded Allied aircraft and greatly aided the German advance.

Those first few days, many U.S. troops were overrun or surrendered. Yet the Americans put up strong resistance in many areas, and within three days powerful reinforcements arrived.

In the snow and with temperatures below freezing, the Germans failed to reach the Meuse. Their tactical objective was no longer Antwerp, but Bastogne.

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, Europe, dispatched Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division (from Patton’s Third Army), to the town. They arrived on Dec. 18 and immediately split into three combat teams, which established blockades on the most dangerous roads leading to Bastogne. Two were overrun, yet their actions were significant in the successful defense of Bastogne.

The Germans attacked with three divisions, but the Americans held them back. Yet by Dec. 21, Adolf Hitler's German troops had encircled the town. They sent envoys to the American camp, presenting the commanding officer, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, a demand to surrender. His reply — “Nuts” — has become legend.

Over the next five days the Germans launched a series of 17 vicious assaults on the town, supported by massive bombing. Facing overwhelming odds, McAuliffe stood firm. The bombing continued on Christmas night, but by the next day relief forces from the 4th Armored Division of Patton’s Third Army arrived. On Jan. 3, Allied forces launched a counter-attack and within days Hitler’s soldiers began to withdraw, although fighting continued until Jan. 15.

A week later, the Allied forces had linked north to south and began the push back. By Jan. 28, Allied troops had forced Hitler's troops back to original positions behind the Siegfried Line, and the Battle of the Bulge came to an end.

All the Germans had accomplished was to create a “bulge” in the American line. In the process they expended irreplaceable men, tanks and materiel. After weeks of grim fighting and heavy losses on both sides, the bulge ceased to exist.

Leah Larkin, a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, is a journalist who lives in France.

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Bastogne Part I

This is what the weather is supposed to be for the “Bastogne Walk” that Matt is taking the boys to this weekend. He is leaving this afternoon with MY babies and coming back tomorrow. Mind you, I am NOT complaining about the fact that I will not be walking in the cold all day, I am just worried about them getting a cold over it. BUT it will be a nice Father/sons time I am sure and I will take my daughter to the upstairs and get her to do some stuff with me tomorrow! LOL!!
For those of you who don’t know what BASTOGNE is and where it is here is a little knowledge that came out of my hat (thanks Wikipedia!) ;-)
"Liberated by the Allies in late 1944, Bastogne was attacked by German forces shortly after. Hitler was, again, looking for control of the Ardennes. The goal was to advance to Antwerp, to cut off supply and separate British from American troops. On December 16, taking advantage of the cold and the fog, the German artillery started the so-called Battle of the Bulge by attacking the sparsely deployed American troops around Bastogne. A few days later, Brigadier General McAuliffe and the 101st Airborne Division along with elements of the 10th Armored Division arrived to counter-attack but, after heavy fighting, got encircled in the city. On December 22, German emissaries asked for the American surrender, to which the General answered quite briefly, “Nuts!” The next day, the weather cleared up, allowing air retaliation and the parachuting of much needed food, medicine, and weaponry. On December 26, the troops of General Patton broke the deadlock. The official end of the Battle of Bastogne only occurred three weeks later, when all fighting finally stopped."
For whatever reason the image that I have of the “Battle of the Bulge” is from a movie (which I don’t have any idea if it is actually true or not) where the German and American come upon each other on Christmas Eve and decide to have a “cease-fire” for the night and actually celebrate together! If this happen or not, I don’t know. I have seem multiple movies that depict this scene (you will remember that I am married to a military man who LOVES war movies and therefore will excuse me for that!) ;-)
Anyway, (coming back to the reason of this post/blog entry). Matt is taking the boys and I should be able to put some pictures about this on a later blog! So enjoy this part and a few pictures!

More later!!

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KIDS are the SWEETEST!!!!

ANNOYING kids of mine.
First Damien doesn't like his curly hair, so because he HAS 3 concert today(and HAS to look good you know), had me flatten them for 1 hour! Do you think he said THANK YOU mom, I LOVE YOU?? HELLO??? Of course not (well not withouth me sayind, Oh jeeeee maman, thank you, you are the bestest ever!!, he then looked at me funny and said: Thanks Mom!!)
Morgane who broke her finger yesterday! UNWRAPPED it over night and said it came lose! AND left without waiting for me to fix the damage done! So I HAD to call the school for the nurse to do it (she is just trying the be sneakeee, she just doesn't know I was the sneakest and did it all before she even thought of it!)
Rafael who decide to have Gel to have SPIKES (hairs way too long for that one) after 30mn with the gel decided he didn't like it and wanted to clean his hair again! Ran to the bathroom and did that, and since it is kinda cold in the morning, had to blow dry them.
RRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!JUST Leave me ALONE!!!!UNGREATFUL BRATS!!!!
Love them, so happy to have them, wish I could just be for 1 week without them! LOL!!

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Pumpkin au Gratin

For Thanksgiving, I tried a recipe that I saw my mother make when I was a little girl. I used to love it so I thought, “can’t go wrong right?”
So I went to the commissary and bought a bag of potatoes, 1 bag of carrots (long one) 2 butter squash and 2 smaller pumpkin (green one, no clue what it was called) but I am sure that ANY will do!

Anyway, so I peeled all the skin of, Potatoes, Carrots and Squash/Pumpkins. And cut them all in little cube! When it was done, I separated all in 2, Put half of the cut in a pot full of water (with salt) and the other half in a big freezer/zip lock bag and stick it in the freezer!





When the cubes were soft, the one in the pot (remember!) I took out of the water and put them into a container to mash them together. I used the water that I used to cook it for the mashed mix not too be so hard. Salt and Pepper it! Then, I spray the mix on a plate (deep pie plate) and cover it with Swiss cheese (Emental). Put it in the over on broil and let it broil for about 10mn or until golden brown (the cheese melts and it is just YUMMY!!)
Anyway, this is what I did for Thanksgiving, however I had some extra frozen ready to pop in the water and do veggies, and I made it one day that my friend Gerri came from Stuttgart, she requested that I give her the recipe so I thought, hmmm, I’ll share the love!
This is a great dish to accompany any meat, but also great for Vegetarian! (Diane, you’ll have to try this one!)

OH and for those of you who enjoy soups, you can also keep some of the mix and put it back in the cooking water, mix it, and VOILA you have a soup and a grattin to serve! LOVE IT!

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