Fun with the Fam

Often times unplanned events turn out to be the greatest fun. Last Thursday on Ascension Day most of us were off from work. I called my sister and brother in the morning to ask if they wanted to hang out. I got a positive reply. We got together at Claus Bowling in Hoofddorp. We reserved two lanes, one for the adults and one for the kids. 

It was the first time for Jahdie to go bowling. I thought she would be a bit too young, but to my surprise they have bowling shoes in her size and even smaller. On the bowling lanes they have special bumper gates at the sides which will pop out every time it's a kid's turn to throw. You just have to add that setting after having typed the names of the players on that bowling computer thingy. Jahdie enjoyed it very much. She found it a bit annoying though that she had to wait for her turn every time and that she couldn't throw non-stop:)

Time goes by when you're having fun, so we extended a lane for an hour mainly for the kids. Good thing we did that coz the next hour turned out to be a Cosmic Bowling hour, or also known as Disco Bowling. Bright lights went off, disco lights turned on and much louder music was playing. It was so much fun! Here is a video of us:)





A nice thing at the venue is that you can request songs. My twin nieces kept on handing request cards with their fave songs to the staff.  Jahdie also had a few requests, including a mega Mindy song:)

Thereafter we decided to go to my sis' place with the whole gang. My sister said she would just order some food as she didn't do groceries yet. However, my brother had a better idea: BBQ. There was enough meat and with rice and some veggies, a yummy dinner was prepared in no time.

with sis & kids (her husband and their eldest son were away that day), cousin, brother & his fam

We ended up having a great unprepared day.

I highly recommend Claus Bowling in Hoofddorp. Their staff are very friendly. Service was great!

(btw sorry for the bad quality pics, only used my mobile)




                              *** Sher ***

The almost movie, coffee & birthday party

I haven't watched a movie in the movie theaters for a while. I can't even remember what my last movie was. On a Saturday my hubby wanted to watch The Avengers in 3D in an Imax theatre. We had a birthday to attend to that evening so we decided to buy tickets online for the after noon show. We asked my nephew Aaron and the sister of my bro-in-law Sarah (who is here on vacation right now) to join us. We got ready and headed to my sister's house to pick them up and leave Jahdie there to play with her other cousins.

Fast forward to the cinemas: Here we are posing before the big poster of The Avengers.

When we got in we printed out the tickets we bought online in one of the ticket fetching booths. I only had to scan the barcode which I received on my Iphone through the App of Pathe (cinema chain) and the tickets came out.

When I passed through the guy who was checking the tickets, I heard him and my nephew talk behind me. Oh no! He couldn't get in! The minimum age to watch the movie is 12. We didn't think of that! Honestly, I really thought he was old enough to watch a comic action heroes movie! Aaron is 11 but will turn 12 in two months, but even so they wouldn't let him in. My hubby doesn't stop until he tried everything, so he asked for the manager (I was kinda embarrassed). He explained that my nephew will almost turn 12 and that we travelled all the way to Amsterdam to watch the movie. Rules are rules, the manager said. Hubby said if they are that strict he demanded that they check the ID of every kid, because for sure there are kids who only say that they are twelve. At least my nephew was honest. 

If we were aware of the age limit, maybe we too would have instructed my nephew to tell he was 12, I know really bad! However, that didn't happen coz if we knew beforehand we wouldn't have brought him along in the first place. We knew the staff was right of course, but nothing wrong with trying right;) We comforted my nephew and told him that the first thing we would do when he turns 12 is watch that stinking movie! 

We didn't feel like watching another movie instead, so to kill time we went to the mega stores (electronics & sports) nearby and Starbucks to hang out before going to the birthday party of my cousin. 

Yup, I had my way too long hair chopped;)

Coffee & pastries eased the pain:)

At the birthday party: 

Bday gal in yellow:)

Us:)

It was a fun evening with the family. It made us forget about the movie ordeal....for the evening that was. I told my nephew recently that I can score him some VIP basketball tickets from the no. 1 basket ball team in the Netherlands (ZZ Leiden). I thought he would be thrilled, but the first thing he asked was if there is an age limit for watching the game. Oops, I didn't think of that!

Queen's Day 2012

Last Monday (April 30) was Queens Day, a national holiday. It's officially the birthday of our former Queen Juliana. On her birthday in 1980 the coronation of her daughter, our present Queen Beatrix, took place. Beatrix didn't change the date of Queens Day celebration to her own birthday (January 31) anymore to honor her mother and it was after all the day she was crowned Queen as well. She also had a practical reason: in January it is far too cold to party outside:)

Orange is the color of the day. Why do Dutch wear orange on that day or any special occasion for the Dutch you may wonder?

Orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family. The lineage of the current dynasty -- the House of Oranje-Nassau -- dates back to Willem van Oranje (William of Orange). But while the color orange has royal roots in the Netherlands, today it symbolizes a broader pride in the country and in being Dutch. (Answers.com)

Lots of tourists come over especially for this day and mainly in Amsterdam. 

Here we are with two of our church mates we bumped into. It's the first time they experience Queens Day. One is an American living in Nigeria and the other a British living in Tanzania. They are from The Wycliffe Bible translators and are here to study Linguistic. The organization aims to translate the bible and make it accesible to all people in the language they understand best. So blessed to have met them. They were having fun:)

It is indeed fun on that day, especially when the weather is good, coz all activities like concerts, games, flea market happen outside. The most typical is the "Vrijmarkt" (flea market). Garbage or more nicely put unused stuff for one can be a treasure for another. 

The three of us stayed in our city Leiden. In less than five minutes that we arrived at the city centre Jahdie already found her first treasure: a small (real) wooden scooter for 5 Euro. 

It happened to be a practical find as she could go scootering through the crowd.

We had to make a stop of course when she saw something interesting:) 

From all that scootering around she needed a pit stop: a bun with hotdog and lemonade for 1 Euro. 

Then there were the kid musicians, some talented and some slightly less, hehe. Nevertheless, it's all about having fun on that day. I gave Jahdie some coins to give to these children.

But once she started giving, she kept asking coins for every kid artist she saw (see her little hand). Which is a miracle because she doesn't like to hold coins or any coppery thing in her hand. She just doesn't like the smell of it. She kept smelling her hand afterwards and rubbing it off, hehe. 

For 50 cents she played a can toss game. She could pick a price from the basket in front. She picked a small "Ernie" stuffed toy from Sesame Street. She also saw "Bert" in there, so to make the set complete I gave her another 50 cents:)

Good thing my hubby brought the stroller, because Jahdie got tired and fell asleep. That was a chance to find me some treasures. When the crowd was getting bigger, it was time to go. 

Jahdie and I stayed home, but hubby went back to find him some good deals. He didn't really had time to do that with his two ladies around, hehe.

It was a simply happy Queen's day this year with a big fat lovely weather bonus:)

                             *** Sher ***

Flip the Bear Sleep Over

Flip the Bear is the Class Bear. On the weekend he can stay over at one of the student's house. The kids have to take care of him. The whole idea is for the children to learn about responsibility. At the end of the weekend the kid who took care of Flip together with mom or dad have to write about Flip's happenings in his little notebook. On Monday the story will be read before the class.

Here is Flip's story of the time he stayed over at our place:

"It was finally time for me to have a sleep over at Jahdie's house. After being picked up from school we played a bit at home. Then it was time for dinner. We ate chicken Adobo and rice, which is Jahdie's favorite food. Therafter, Jahdie and her dad helped me to put on my pajamas and to brush my teeth. (Flip has a bag with extra clothes and a tooth brush, so cute!) We fell asleep soon after.

On Saturday we woke up very early. The sun was already shining, so we decided to go out early to enjoy the lovely weather (in the Netherlands you have to make most out of a weather opportunity like that). We went to the city by bike to have break fast and do a little shopping.

We decided to try out the 1 Euro breakfast at Hema (a Dutch department store), which is available between 9:00 to 10:00 am. Wow, you get a lot for only 1 Euro: a sandwich with egg and bacon, a croissant and coffee or tea:)

When Jahdie got a bit tired, it was her dad who carried me around.

After eating and shopping we headed back home to rest for awhile. We took a nap.

When we woke up it was time to go to the swimming pool. Jahdie and I were all excited. 

The most fun Jahdie had was going off the pool slide with her dad. I also went off the slide with her, not in the pool, but outside at the playground. We played there a bit before going home.

At home we ate and watched Chipmunks 3. It was really funny. Then it was time to sleep. It was a great but tiring day.  

On Sunday we got ready for church. At church Jahdie and I sat with the children. She told them about me. We read a story from the bible about David & Jonathan. They were really good friends, just like Jahdie and I have become. Then we made some crafts and played till her parents picked us up from the children’s room again.

Because it was my last day, I got spoiled. We went to the McDonalds. They have a big & fun children’s corner there. 

Back at home we played some more. After dinner we washed up. Jahdie’s mom read a story and we fell asleep. I had a very nice weekend at Jahdie’s place. They told me that I can come back anytime!:)"

Sweet bear hugs from me,
Flip the Bear

Getting together again

Most of our friends live in Amsterdam. Since we’ve been living in another city we don’t get to see each other much. It’s not only because of the distance, you can live near a friend but don't see each other that often as well. It's mainly because we have our own families now and thus a whole different lifestyle. On weekends you want to rest from a week’s work, but you also want to do fun stuff with your family. Sometimes things have to be done that you weren't able to do on the weekdays. Then there are groceries to do and shopping for other stuff. Next to all this you also want to spare some time to get together with friends. As much as you want all this to happen on a weekend, it's impossible. 

So as much as you want to see your friends more often, it’s not that easy anymore. With true friends however, it doesn't matter if you see each other once a year or so, because when you’re together again it’s like as if you saw each other yesterday.

Last Saturday there was a once in a year event when we see a group of very dear friends together again. It was the birthday of our friends’ son. 

Here is the handsome birthday boy in his Star Wars Jedi costume.

Guests

Yummy food was prepared by our kumpare Allan, Jahdie's Godfather (somewhere in the back with a blue shirt and black t-shirt, hehe).

Jahdie busy playing with her other Godfather Beejay:)

These four went through a lot of drama in the past, haha. Now we are all settled and enjoying our adult stage in life:p

The birthday boy with other celebrants, including his dad Rene (with shades).

The gorgeous mom of the birthday boy, who is also Jahdie's Godmother, even had a present for Jahdie: a cute Snow White outfit. Thank you very much Ninang:)

We had fun and it was so nice seeing them again and make kwentuhan, especially talking bout our past happenings;) I hope it will take less than a year to see them together again. Love you guys!

         *** Sher ***

Jahdie's big bang birthday

It has almost been three weeks ago since Jahdie's birthday. We have a lots of pictures so I'll be doing some posts about her 4th birthday happenings:) 

We plan her birthdays to be simple, special and fun. We both took the day off. Like last year we decorated our living room the night before. I got help from my cousin Carla. She was such a big help. The theme this year was "As long as it is Pink". Needless to say pink is Jahdie's favorite colour. I stayed up till very late or should I say early (it was already past 3am). I was busy making some treats. I will post about that later.

When Jahdie woke up she first was bombarded with kisses from us. When she was all dolled up, it was time to go downstairs. She opened the door and "SURPRISE!":) Aww, she loved it!

Then it was time for her presents. At the moment she is hooked on Lazytown and I knew she really wanted a Stephanie (lead character) outfit. Lazytown is not popular here in Holland and I can't remember that it was ever aired on Dutch television, so it was hard to find the outfit here. I eventually bought one via Amazon.uk. Although the shipping costs from the United Kingdom was the same price as the costume itself, I had to buy it. I was happy I found it. I knew she wasn’t expecting the Stephanie outfit, coz I told her that they don't sell it here. She was super surprised and super happy when she opened the gift. I love seeing her reaction like that, truly priceless!

Our only goal for the day was to make her feel happy and special on her birthday. But sadly something unfortunate happened….

After opening her gifts we went to the daycare where she had been going since she was a year old. We planned to drop by to bring some treats and to officially say goodbye to her daycare teachers and playmates as she started school already. When we got there we were all in a good mood, but before they could even sing for her it happened: Jahdie lost her balance and fell quite hard on the edge of a chair. When I picked her up I saw that her lips were swollen and blood was coming out of her mouth. On that moment I could hurt myself…how could I let this happen!!! She was just sitting behind me! I blamed myself! I tried to be calm, but inside I was raging. My poor little girl!

Blood came out of the area around her front teeth. We thought her teeth would fall of. We wiped off the blood and comforted her. When she was calmed down they sung birthday songs for her and gave her a gift. We did our best to make her farewell at daycare still fun. She literally said goodbye with a big bang! When we left hubby rushed to the store to buy ice drops and ice cream and let her eat a lot, which really helped to stop the swelling of her lips. We were still worried about her teeth and she was still bleeding. So we went to the dentist. The dentist saw immediately what happened. The piece of tissue connecting the upper lip to the gum was deeply torn. It was nothing to worry about, coz it happens often when children have an accident like that. The many blood made it seem worse than it was. Her front teeth seemed to be ok. At some time the front teeth may become bluish. After three weeks that have passed I can say that this didn't happen:)

After the dentist appointment we saw Jahdie bloom up and being her old self again, making jokes. We asked her if she was ok. She answered that she was, didn’t we hear the dentist said so? Wow, people whom children admire surely do have a big impact on them. Maybe I can use that sometimes;)

I’ve learned not to question God. Instead of saying God why did you let this happen, I just thanked him that nothing worse happened and I just prayed that He would bring back the joy in Jahdie and help us make her day a fun one.  

Back at home Jahdie had a little nap. Last year I discovered how fun it was to have a photo booth for Jahdie’s birthday. This year we planned a real photo shoot. We used lots of pink balloons and a real girly girl setting. We would let nothing spoil her day anymore. Her swollen lips couldn’t stop the photo shoot. She was after all the star of the day! My hubby fondly called her Angelina Jahdie:)

Before & After

More stories and pictures in my next post. 

                              *** Sher ***

First day at school

February 8, 2012 was the big day.

For months we tried to prepare Jahdie for school. We often mentioned about school and the changes to come and at daycare they did as well. We borrowed lots of books from the library about school/ kindergarten. She was getting excited, but sometimes she would say that she will miss daycare or she would realize that I will leave her at school with strangers. I told her that she will get used to it soon enough, but as the big day was approaching her excitement grew more and more.

At school: We went to her classroom and she was greeted by her teacher.

Jahdie has a small class. The school started a new grade one batch this year. The class will eventually grow to around twenty kids. They sat in a circle and she joined the class immediately. She didn’t had an eye for us anymore.

The teacher asked Jahdie if she wanted to give her mama and daddy a goodbye kiss. Only then she realized that we were still in the room.

She gave us a kiss and a hug and off she went again. I didn’t even had time to cry, coz everything went so fast. I just had a big smile on my face and in my heart. I was SIMPLY HAPPY!

When we picked her up again, I saw that she was checking her little back pack...so cute! She had fun on her first day:)

"Heel veel plezier op school poppie! Ik weet zeker dat je er hele leuke tijd zal beleven. Er zullen waarschijnlijk ook tijden zijn waarin je school niet zo leuk vindt, maar dat hoort er soms bij en daar kom je wel doorheen. 

Onthoud dat Jezus er altijd voor ons is om dagelijks over ons te waken, ons te leiden en beschermen! We zijn trots op je en houden ontzettend veel van je! Liefs, Mama & Daddy"

*** Sher ***