The girls at "daycare"/ Kinderopvang foto's

Esmee trakteert en viert haar verjaardag of de kinderopvang:

Spelen met schuim

LES MISERABLES

This past Sunday was my birthday. And the reason I'm blogging about it is that I was in suspense for 2 weeks, ....
About two weeks before my 33rd birthday I received an anonymous letter, letting me know that a surprise was up my alley for the 29th. Too busy to plan a party due to the girls' birthdays was a bad excuse according to the letter, and this was going to be changed: the message was that I would be picked up in the morning and be brought back sometime after midnight. The 10 days befor my surprise day out were "normal" work days, in which I (of course) tried to extract information about the surprise from my husband and a few close friends. But ... no such luck! The mystery planner was still a mystery!
On the morning of the 29th I was picked up by four girlfriends for a high-tea brunch in Middelburg. Is Holland we say "gezellig", a very enjoyable, relaxing, and filling morning! After 12.00 3 of the 4 friends went home, and my "mystery planner" revealed the rest of the day's itinerary: Shopping in Rotterdam (without kids!!!!!), out to eat and in the evening the HUGE and wonderful surprise of going to see the musical "Les Miserables". Amazing! Beautiful! Voices, orchestra, set, costumes, moving....an evening to remember forever! For more that one reason - Thank you dear friend, for this spectacular present! Words couldn't say more!!!

Esmee's birthday November 12th

what's under the ribon-sheet?


AAHH!!! A new kitchen!! Yeah!


The birthday beauty, Esmee!


The penguin cake!


Mommy and Zoey being crazy!

Pictures of our time with opa at "mini walrus"

Water pumps, mini bumper-scooters, a huge shoe to sit on,
lots of miniature buildings, a mini-train, and a real fries...All
within a few minutes from our house, and a beautiful autumn
day made for a lot of fun with opa!

Surprise visit

"opa Afrika" came for a surprise visit, and believe it or not as far as the girls are concerned the the first to recognize him was Esmee! The last few weeks Zoey and Esmee have been playing with photo's from last year, and Zoey explained who was on which picture. So when my dad came into the house, Esmee yelled "opa", and Zoey looked confused.... I guess Esmee thought, well he's in a picture, so why is it strange he's in the house. Zoey thought "what is opa doing here all of a sudden?"
My dad came as a surprise for his best friend's 70th birthday, and gave him a good excuse to see us. We had a great time seeing him. Did things like make our own pizza, order and eat chinese, opa read the girls books, helped them make puzzles, Zoey showed off how well she could ride her bike, and we went to Miniatuur Walcheren (a park full of the minature schale models of the well known buildings and events in our part of holland). We even took a ride on a mini train!! And took some great pictures! Unfortunately, though, we forgot to upload the pictures onto my laptop, so dad has them back in Sierra Leone.
It was a lot of fun though, and we loved having you here dad/opa! Come again soon!! And you too, oma!

uitslapen?

Heerlijk, ik heb nu al een paar dagen tot 7.30 uit kunnen slapen. Nooit gedacht (vroeger) dat ik dat een luxe zou vinden! De dames beginnen het te leren dat papa en mama hun bedje ook wel lekker vinden, en dat slapen goed voor je is :) Het zijn nooit lange slapers geweest, eerder vroege vogels...die heel blij aan hun dag beginnen. Gezellig, maar toch vroeg! Soms begint de dag bij ons echt al wel om 6.00uur, en als je er dan zelf pas om na elven in ligt is de nacht net iets te kort na alle dagelijkse activiteiten van werk, huishouden, schoonmaken, muziek, hobby's, sociale contacten enz. Maar ja, het hoort er allemaal bij! We blijven lachen!!

Zoey- steppesteppestep!

Steppen is op zijn tijd ook ontzettend leuk, vooral op zo'n echte roze meidenstep!

Esmee- een heel lief boefje

Ha...ha..ha...choo! I love blowing my nose! Even when it isn't necessary!
This is Esmee's Wild woman hair-do.


Isn't she beautiful and photogenic, even with her untamed hair?

the promised pictures of Zoey's vaccination bandaid:
never thought a kid could be so proud of one!

SHOTS

2 weeks ago Zoey accompanied me to the health care center tot get my yellow fever shot. Is this a suitable activity for a 3 year old? In our case it was! Zoey is fascinated by anything medical, especially doctors (lucky me!-) The outing had a double function, as Zoey was due te receive her 4-year vaccinations a week later, I figured I'd show her that "big girls don't have to be scared of shots".
Mission accomplished! Mommy didn't cry :-), Zoey got to help the nurse give me a bandaid and a week later my brave daughter waited for her check up patiently, and got her shot without so much as a peep! I was one proud mommy!! And Zoey was one proud pre-schooler, with a huge Pooh bandaid on her arm....(check her expression in the picture above- post to follow!!)
She did well, the doctor was pleased, everything fine, EXCEPT that she has to redo the eye exam, because her left eye wasn't up to the minimum standard. The big question is, is that due to tiredness or is it her vision....we'll find out in november, when she redoes her eye exam...!
Official "consultatie bureau" years are over, further follow up continues at a lesser frequency through school....!
Wow, do (almost) 4 years fly!

Play dough fun!!

Sometimes playing is a hard work (for mommies that is, with all the rolling, mashing,and opening and filling of appliances with play dough) And sometimes cleaning up afterwards is even harder work!

Zelfs kleine meisjes worden groot!

Een mijlpaal bereikt, een nieuwe en grotere wereld opent haar armen om onze dochter daar in op te nemen....Want Zoey kan sinds een paar weken zonder zijwieltjes fietsen! Voor de zomer geoefend, maar te eng bevonden door het keur-meestertje, terwijl ze het hartstikke goed deed, maar ineens heeft ze de smaak te pakken! en gaat er geen dag overheen voor ze op haar prachtige en inmiddels met slingertjes versierde 12-inch fiets op het pleintje rondrijdt! En snel dat ze gaat!
Esmee vindt het ook prachtig, en heeft bedacht dat ze dat zelf ook al wel kan, hoewel we haar dan wel op het kleinere fietsje ondersteund rechtop moeten houden en vooruit moeten duwen....."Meetje, jou tijd komt nog wel!"
Foto's van Zoey's fiets avonturen (op het pleintje, naar de eendjes, naar de kinderopvang en naar de aldi) moeten we nog maken en plaatsen. Maar we wilde jullie deze geweldige prestatie niet onthouden :)


Zoey expanded her horizons a couple of weeks ago when she suddenly decided she could ride her two-wheeler without support from extra wheels or parents! And, WOW, can she go fast!! She races around the grass in our neighborhood, and begs to ride her bike to the nearby Aldi (store) or the ducks like it's the greatest thing in the world! It amazes me how fast kids learn, and how quickly our little girl is growing up, almost ready to start school, chatting away like a preschooler, and sometimes so wise for her age! To be honest, I'm glad she doesn't start school till January, that seems soon enough!

A weekend out with friends

A last-minute trip to an old farm house with good friends was the perfect way to spend the first weekend of august! And last-minute it was! Jacco called me at work thursday to see if I had plans that weekend, and called around 6pm to say we could pack! So up I went, to get things organized. After work on Friday, at around 6pm again, we packed the car and headed to a small town about 45 minutes drive away...which in Holland can get you to a totally different town and area! :)
Relaxing, chatting, swimming, eating Subways....it was great fun!
For some impressions of our kids and theirs....

Kabouter Esmee (summer party Daycare)

more vacation pictures (june 2008)

VAKANTIE JUNI 2008

Samen spelen in de kids-club
Geschminkt als vlinder
Esmee als tijger
Buiten spelen. Wat wordt Esmee toch wijs.

Kind zijn

Heerlijk om kind te zijn, toch? Genieten, plezier maken, lachen, spelen, zonder facades of blokkades.....gewoon jezelf zijn, omdat je als kind niet anders kan dan eerlijk zijn!!

April Fool's Day

So....she (whoever that is!!) threw her in the basket, capsized it, and did a victory dance!!

(just kidding)

But they did play in the big pink basket, and roll around in it, and dance and enjoy themselves
with their visiting aunt Sandra (knuffel monster)