May showers bring June sun?...maybe

The month of May has been full of clear droplets falling from the sky.  Here in Belgium, and Western Europe for that matter, we know this type of weather quite well.  Too well, maybe!  On our blog, we often paint the picture of living in Europe as quite rosy.  And IT IS, for the most part.  Sometimes though, the weeks of rain can dampen your mood...literally.   I think I can count the number of sunny days this month on one hand.  I suppose living here is similar to Seattle or England.  Whatever England has one day, we get soon thereafter.   And yesterday after a full day of rain, Mr. Sun ironically made his appearance at 9pm.  It was as bright as day right as the kids were trying to fall asleep.  Ha, yeah right. 

Ex-pats living here often complain day-in and day-out about the rain or the cloudy days.  Some people who come from warm countries like Spain or Greece often have difficulties with the adjustment.  I just ran into an American friend of ours who said he had to start taking a Vitamin D supplement.   Sometimes after hearing complaints from other people, I find myself also complaining about it.  BUT, I have to stop myself or more likely, Mike will give me a good wake-up call.   He'll say, "look at how beautiful the countryside is even when it is raining"or "Jess, we are in Europe!"  or most importantly, he will tell me there are worse things to complain about.  So true!  I am thankful for the blessings we have.  So I have to turn around my thoughts about the weather and think positively.

All this rain means that the flowers are blooming like crazy and the grass is always green (even in the winter).  Yesterday, I was at the store buying a hose for our new garden.  I was kind of laughing to myself thinking, "Am I really going to need this."  In St. Louis, we often had to water our garden twice a day in the mid summer heat.  Here, I may only have to do it once a week!  Bonus.  :)

As for the boys, what kid doesn't like to go puddle jumping and get messy? Thankfully, we bought the boys good rain jackets and wellies last Fall.  They are getting good use, and the boys have fun outside even when it rains. 

And best of all, when we do get to see that fiery, yellow ball in the sky, everyone drops what they NEED to do, and do what they WANT to do.  Because those special days become quite possibly, PERFECT!