Emma's birthday and more

Emma's birthday invitations using her own art work

On Wednesday, Emma had her kids birthday party. It was our first Dutch kids birthday party and it was a big success. I think I was more nervous about it then Emma was, but fortunately I had my sister and mom to assist me. First, Emma handed out birthday treats in school. Usually, those treats are packaged in some fun or decorative way. So that's what I did. It took me a bit longer then I anticipated, but the result (especially Emma's face when she saw it the next morning) was worth it.
Tree of treats (takes about 4 hours to complete)

Detail of Emma's birthday treat

After school, we took all six invitees home for a pancake lunch (thanks Pieter!), some creative activity and some games. That afternoon, I experienced something all mothers (apparently) experience when organizing a kids birthday party; despite all your careful preparations, things never go the way you planned them. For me, it was a surprise how quickly the kids went through the planned activities and games! Lunch was over after about twenty minutes (iso 45 min), the DIY photo frames took only half an hour (iso 1 hour) to finish etc. Fortunately, they were okay just playing with our toys in between the organized parts ... Unwrapping the gifts and eating the cake provided the much needed quiet moments of the afternoon. I was quite happy to see the mothers come at 3.30 pm sharp to pick them all up :-) But, hearing Emma say that this was her BEST birthday EVER, definitely made up for all the hard work.
Birthday girl and her guests

On Thursday, Emma and Janne had an early Christmas dinner at school. Each classroom was festively decorated and from 5 until 6.30 pm, the kids were having (tomato) soup and sausage rolls. You could tell that some teachers really put a lot of effort in preparing and decorating their classroom. Janne's classroom for example looked really nice and special.
A very festive Christmas table in Janne's classroom

Janne with one of her teachers

Both Emma and Janne really enjoyed having this 'formal' Christmas dinner without their parents. Pieter and me used this free time to go out for dinner ourselves. We all had a good time :-)
Emma with one of her teachers