Another Christmas dinner table

This year, our Christmas dinner table was a bit more traditional then the years before, when it was lilac. This year is was green and as usual, mom was pretty happy with the result and proud to share :-)
Traditional in green
In more detail

PointWood performing

Last Saturday, Pieter had a performance with PointWood, the big band he is playing in since a few months. They played three sessions, including Christmas and typical big band songs.
PointWood performing Big Spender. Vocals by Meryl Foreman.

Emma 9 years old!

Today, Emma turned 9; happy birthday, dearest Emma! Even though it was a school day, Emma had breakfast in bed and gifts at the breakfast table. She said the breakfast made her day :-)

Three seconds after we turned on the light and barely awake

Fully awake, enjoying her breakfast in bed moment

Unwrapping her gifts, with her birthday-treats-tree at her side

VVV fans spotted

Pieter and his brother Gerben have seasonal ticket to their hometown soccer club, VVV Venlo. A few weeks ago, they were spotted along the line by television camera's and they had their 15 minutes of fame! Actually, more like 15 seconds, but still ...

You can see the two brothers 19.30 minutes into the broadcast.
Commentary in Dutch: Outside the field, people were feasting, on the field a bit less so ... (VVV played a lousy game, they lost 2-1)

Stay over

This fall break was stay-over week. Emma stayed over at Janne's and Janne at Emma's, the three of us stayed over at Oma's, the girls stayed over in our room and they stayed over in our guest room. Lots of lugging mattresses around and lots of fun. Simple and very effective way to make it a special week.
We could just fit the two of them into our wardrobe room
In the guestroom

Fall painting

This week is the girls have fall break and I have a week off from work. Excellent time to do some serious organizing and cleaning. Result: multiple boxes filled with clothes, to be taken to Poland and to the second-hand shop, several boxes with household items for the second-hand shop, one run to the recycle area and lots of empty storage space! All ready to be filled again ...
Pieter started a project he wanted to do for a while already; he made a painting together with the girls. It ended up being a very colorful, modern art type painting. Now all we need to do is find the right spot to hang it.

And ... I started running again! Goal is the half marathon next year October in Eindhoven, together with three co-workers at FEI. I'm not sure if I my body can still do it, with my back injury, but I'm going to give it a serious try. Starting real slow and gradually build up the work-out, that's the plan. Will keep you informed :-)

World Champion

Last night, the Dutch team beat Cuba 2-1 and they are now World Champion Baseball 2011! View the last minute of the game on YouTube (commentary in Dutch)

Spring is in the air ...

The last week of September and the first days of October, the weather was exceptional. Temperatures of up to 26 degrees C early October are pretty remarkable. Even Mother Nature was confused, as could be seen on the front page of the local newspaper. It was great though, to be able to go outside in T-shirts and shorts, after a rather dreary summer.
Spring in October

Pieter 65!

Yesterday, Pieter turned 65. I thought this was a milestone to be proud of, so I made sure the whole neighborhood knew. I posted signs on our windows for all to see. Pieter did receive some unexpected birthday cards after that, as well as some surprised comments about his age.
Happy 65th birthday!

FEI Family Day and much more

Saturday was a busy, but great day. It started at 7 am with walking Boelie, followed by Janne's swim class at 9 and grocery shopping at 10. Hairdresser appointed for me at 11.15, lunch at 12.30 and local community bicycle tour start at 2 pm. We didn't finish the tour, but left early to rush to the FEI Family Day, where we arrived around 5.45 pm. When that closed at 7, we drove back home, changed clothes and walked to the neighborhood BBQ. By 10 pm, we were all exhausted, after so much fun packed in one day. But, the weather was glorious and we had a wonderful day. Needless to say, we didn't do much at all today :-) The FEI Family Day was extremely well organized and we felt sorry we could only enjoy the food and activities for just one hour. The girls both had their faces painted and they looked beautiful.

Painter

Besides playing the piano, Pieter also likes to paint. Making paintings, that is. His next project is not an artistic one though, but a very practical one; he started painting the woodwork on the house. Climbing on a 6 meter (almost 20 feet) scaffolding is pretty impressive for a guy suffering from vertigo!
On the scaffolding, not at its highest point yet

Pretty picture of Boelie - August 2011, 2 years old

Jeugd Wandel 3-daagse 2011

End of summer holiday, so time to walk again. In the Jeugd Wandel 3-daagse. Both Emma and Janne participated again and weather wise they were very fortunate. It was very sunny and very warm all three afternoons. Pretty much for the very first time this summer. Today is the last day of summer holiday and tomorrow it's back to school!
The team, all in pink, blue and white. The hard work of the team captains paid off; the team won first prize! Proudly presenting their medals and first prize!

Drenthe

This last week of summer holiday, we spent a few days in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Emma did a paper on Drenthe and we decided to go look for ourselves at the topics she researched for her paper. So we walked through the peat moor (hoogveen) landscape, admired the many sheep there and we looked at the 'ja-knikkers' (oil drills; yes, we have oil in the Netherlands). We also visited Drenthe's capital of Assen and drove around to see some 'hunebedden' (dolmens). We stayed at a very pretty B&B, Annapart and we enjoy our stay there very much. Recommendable to anyone who plans to visit the area!

For the girls, the highlight of our stay at B&B Annapart were the two kittens Timmy and Tommy
Pieter and I enjoyed the breakfast at our B&B very much

Peat moor and sheep; very Drenthe like

One of the prettiest (and most complete) dolmens in the area (Dolmen #D50).

Another famous Dolmen, 'De Papeloze Kerk' (the Pope-less church)

Emma eye to eye with Queen mother Emma

France

While I had to work, Pieter took the girls to France, to visit his sister and her family. For the first time in weeks, the weather was nice, so they were able to go to the beach, to visit some museums and the Zoo of Jurques.

Little fox with big ears at Jurque Zoo
Cowboy legs

Up close with a lion

Monkeying around at Jurque Zoo

Building castles in the sand

Janne turns 7!

On Thursday, Janne turned 7! The birthday girl requested breakfast in bed, a fun day and for dinner a visit to the pancake house. So that's what we did. For the fun part of the day, we went to Toverland. Tomorrow will be the family birthday party. So, as always, Janne had a three-episodes birthday.
Breakfast-in-bed for the birtyday girl

Birthday presents; she was very excited about the big 'step'

Janne's birthday party

As usual, Janne's birthday is in the middle of summer break. So, as usual, we had her kids birthday party several weeks early. On July 6th to be precise (Happy Birthday Henri!). This time, we opted for a stress free, no-preparations-needed event. After cake and gifts, we took the kids to a nearby animal park and we closed the afternoon by decorating and eating pancakes. The kids loved it!

Happy Birthday to Janne

The decorated pancakes looked great but must have caused the enamel on the kids' teeth to crack!

Fun in the Zoo

Ultimate Dance Experience Dance Show

Janne started dancing about a year ago. Before summer break, they gave a performance to show off all they learned in the past year. It was great to see how much fun all the girls had in dancing, both talented and less talented ones :-)

Dancing in black and red to 'Hello' by Martin Solveig & Drogonette

Jumping around to 'Wij gaan lekker springen' bij Kids DJ

Big sis watching the show at leisure

Swim certificate C and Survival

Another quarter has passed and both girls were ready to test for the next swim certificate. Janne received the C certificate, Emma her Survival certificate. Both passed and both move on to the next level or certificate. Janne will now start practicing for Advanced Swimming level 1 and Emma for diving.

The test for Certificate C starts by somersaulting fully dressed (including rain coat) into the pool

She did it; congratulations!

Pushing a 'raft' across the pool as part of the Survival Swim test

Waiting in line for the next test item

Roefelen

Today, the girls went Roefelen. On Roefel-day, local businesses open their doors to the elementary school kids, so they can experience what it is these companies do. Emma got to go to a small theater, a florist and a camping site. Janne and her group visited city hall, the police and a sporting goods store. All visits are free of charge and the organization is run by volunteers. It's a great way for kids to get a feel for the grown-up world of local businesses.

Listening to the police officer in the holding cell

Weighing a bullet proof vest

Klein Zwitserland

Today, the teachers at Emma and Janne's school had a study day, so the kids had a day off. We went to speelpark Klein Zwitserland (play park little Switserland) in Tegelen, Limburg. There were challenging adventure climbs, great play equipment, a nature learning trail, some really high swings and a fantastic minigolf course. The park is situated in the forested hills of Limburg, which makes it even more fun. It really was a fun and active day out for the girls and we can recommend the park to anyone with active elementary school children :-)

Pirate climbing tower

Lots of climbing was done today ...

... and great fun they had!

Showing off

25 years Op Dreef

At Emma and Janne's school, this week was celebration week, because elementary school Op Dreef was founded 25 years ago. There were school trips, a funny day, a sports day and an evening celebration, including performances by all groups. Emma couldn't join the performance of her group, but Janne fortunately could. They did a great job, especially taken into account the limited prep time they had. It was so much fun to see all the groups perform the different dances and acts they had prepared!

Presenting group 3a!

No news ...

...is not always good news. Ever since we had Boelie, our plan was to have a litter of puppies. So, almost five weeks ago, when Boelie was in heat, we put her together with Spatz, the dog of Pieter's son. Boelie and Spatz had a fun filled afternoon and we were filled with hope.

Today, after an ultrasound, the vet told us that Boelie is not expecting ... Quite disappointing, especially since we were sure we noticed all all the signs of pregnancy. Advantage is that we'll be free this summer to do whatever we want, instead of looking after a litter of puppies. Still, disappointing. Emma and Janne were really looking forward to having a house full of puppies. Well, maybe next summer ...
Spatz and Boelie, not mom and dad (yet)

Boelie's belly needed to be shaven for the ultrasound. Janne and her friend were very interested.

The ultrasound, no puppies found

Water fun at Oma's

Earlier this week, Oma returned home after an eight week stay at the home for the elderly. Her arm has healed nicely and she is out of the cast now. Physical therapy will start this week and if she feels up to it, she is even allowed to go swimming. No cleaning or washing windows yet, though! Fortunately, Oma decided to get a cleaning lady, so she doesn't need to go stand on chairs, step-stools and ladders anymore herself.

Yesterday, we visited her and as it was very hot, Emma and Janne got some water to play in.
The zinc tub Emma is sitting in, is actually the tub I was washed in until I was about Emma's age. First in front of the stove, later in the bathroom.

Janne enjoying the cold water as well