General update

Timo can go for a trial exam for his A-diploma.
Yahoo!
Saturday at 13.30

Caroline has a birthday party that day from 10-13.00

Robbert is biking in Italy as we speak and will not return home before Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon i am giving a presentation to my co-workers and do some sort of workshop that i need to prepare during the weekend.

Yes.
I am a bit worried about it all.

Piercings

Rachel has her tongue pierced.
I once had a vague wish too, but boy am I cured.

She can't eat, so lives on cup-a-soup.
Her tongue is practically filling her mouth (she has actual bitemarks from the night on them. Seriously!!) and you cannot understand one word she is saying.

Power to you girl!
But not to me.

Abigail & Joel

Several people asked me for (more) pictures of the wedding, but the thing is, I sent them a book i made with photo's in it and didn't want them to see the pictures on my site first and then receive the book later.
Still it's been over 2 weeks since i sent it though, so won't keep you waiting.
The first one is of the afternoon we arrived in Chicago, Caroline had not been sleeping at all during our 9 hr flight and simply ran around like crazy. About 2 hrs after this picture was taken, she collapsed, fell into a coma and had to be woken up to fit her dress. Not a success, but as you can see underneath, all ended well.

ps;

Joel/Abigail, i would like to send grandma Caroline a nice picture. Could you please give me her address?

Me, myself and I

I turned 41 last Sunday.

Thank you, thank you.

41.
Old isn't it.

Last year we celebrated, but really turning 41 is nothing to celebrate.

Still.
I got presents.
2 sets of lingerie. 1 pair of shoes, 1 book and a framed pictures set of the children from Rachel.
so i was looking at the pictures, lingering in my lingerie, wearing my gorgeous heels and reading my book.
For about half an hour.
Coz we also went to Hotel New York for breakfast.
Robbert took Timo for extra swimming lessons.
The kids wanted to watch Pietje Bell 2, my mother came over for dinner and it was father's day.
Meaning we had to admire several (a lot !) of formless paintings, something made of washpinchers (made that word up i suppose) and listen to a silly rhym.
All very sweet yes.
And they don't read (english) yet, so no fears.

But.
couple of days before electricity went down. First we figured it was the new boiler (again) but then -smoke coming out gave it away- we guessed the dishwasher was broke.
Now Toos happened to have one waiting for a good home in her cellar and Robbert picked that one up.
On the way home, took a bit of a steep turn, dishwasher fell over in the car and broke down.
I shit you not.

So, for the past week we've doing dishes by hand. Kids grumping and all but i bribed them with some extra pocket money.
Hope this one gets sorted out soon.

AND.
No internet at home anymore.
Hence the lack of posts recently.
Still.
The older, the wiser.
I fixed it tonight.
Filled in the appropriate mac address and all.
Told you, it's all about me, myself and I.

Yuk!

Yesterday i made cannelloni (pasta) filled with spinach and mozzarella.
Timo loves spinach, mozarella and pasta.
Morten loves pasta.
So does Caroline.

With a tomatoe sause.
They all eat tomatoes.

The dish was in the oven for 45 minutes so burning hot when it came out.

Morten started by saying his pasta was cold.
No really mom. Can i put it in the microwave.
And there is just no taste to it.
Really mine is very cold and simply tasteless.
Can i have the salt please?

Then Timo;
what is this?
It's spinach.
Yuk. I really hate this.
Timo, Rachel said, have you ever heard of Popeye?

Did not help.

Caroline;
what's the sauce?
Tomatoes Caroline. You know, what you eat all the time.
I really don't like this she said.

Well too bad, coz we have apple pie for desert.
(if they don't eat their plate, they don't get desert)

Morten:
isn't it amazing how a meal can improve after some salt?

Caroline starts to sob.
I warn her that i dont'want any theatre at the table and she can eat in the hallway if she continues.
She's starts puking.
And if you spit on your plate you're going to eat that too I tell her.

Timo is rubbing his hands with the foresight of this excitement.

Morten stands up from his chair and says.
Sorry for the apple pie but i really cannot eat this. It is the filthiest food i have ever eaten.

Off to the hallway i tell him.

By then Robbert comes home and finds Morten in the hallway.

What's going on here he says.

I'll tell you later.
And i call in Morten.
He apologizes and i tell him that if i were to give him poop he may say he doesn't like it, but there is nothing wrong with this food and you really cannot say this is the worst food ever.

No Timo says, all serious.
Because you never know what the future holds.

Did you know -the sequel

* The kids are having Judo exams for their next slips in 2 weeks time?

* Caroline July 7 and the boys July 14

* That i had just bought tickets for the Norts Sea Jazz festival for Robbert and I for July 14?

* That i have no idea whether we can combine the 2

* That Morten is also invited for a judo tournament June 16?

* The very same day I had just booked a lecture on Corbusier in the Architectural Institute?

* That Robbert bought Judo mattresses?

* The computerroom/study looks like this every night now?

Or from the other side:

* That we've been downtown today to De Bijenkorf coz they were celebrating the 50th anniversay of Lego, the kids got a present, Morten brought back the Lego book and crossed out all the Lego Exoforce he wants to have for his birthday?

* That there is hardly anything else he talks about nowadays but his birthday.

* In particular the presents.

* That we've got new neighbors.

* 1 man and 1 woman. In a 4 floor/10 rooms house. Yes. that's exactly my drift.

* That Galia (our very first au pair) called! Morten answered and she was stunned that he remembered her and spoke english to her (he was barely 4 when she left). She's got a 13 month old son and an almost 3 yr old girl. Slavi is working in the building industry and she's at home with the kids. Usually in Varna but now they are staying for some time in his home town. She told me the name, but my Bulgarian is no longer what it used to be. Somewhere in the mountains.

* That we've got a bat in the garden. No kidding.

* That there was thunder and lighting yesterday after a very hot day and we had all the windows open to air the house.

* That Caroline sat wrapped in a blanket during dinner coz she thought the bat would fly in and at least would not be able to touch her like this.

* That we've found (another) died frog behind the curtains with courtesy of the cats. So far i am counting 2 birds and 2 frogs and i saved one frog (i hope) in the garden.

* That the boys have taken an sudden interest into birds and during breakfast times we now discuss the differences between snow or stone owls, whether a condor would likely attack you and so on.

* That Caroline no longer wants to have Romeinen cheese on her sandwich (inside one)

* That we were discussing jailsentences and Morten wanted to know what a "linker" was (a "rechter" is a judge. Left is links. Told you, every now and then i throw in Dutch).

* That Dick is a proper Dutch surname. That Rachel came across that in her Dutch lesson.

* That bil (as in William, Bill) means buttock in Dutch.

* That Caroline was suspiciously quiet just while i was typing this and when i went over to see, she waterpainted her vensterbank and her belly.

Did I tell you

• We've found a new au pair ? Melissa from Canada.
  
• She asked for some recent pictures so underneath you see the whole family (including cats, excluding me. sorry) watching a mr. Bean dvd on our bed.

(see Caroline casually scratching her bum?)

• We (this time succesfully) booked a holiday? We're going camping and biking in Denmark
  
• My sister and her family are also ending their holiday in Denmark and we just might bump into each other at Legoland?

Toppers

Yesterday the girls and I went to Amsterdam for some serious shopping, eating and .... Toppers .
Toppers is the name of a singalong concert of 3 Dutch singers. 2 of them over the top gay and the other one, very err. Amsterdam-like.
As in, with a blond wife, a real-life soap series about them on TV. Wrong. Simply a wrong man.

Still the show was hilarious.
Don't start about the ridiculous bad sound system (we were in the Amsterdam Arena which hosts about 60,000 people. Amaaazing to see. A nightmare to listen to.), the fact that we crossed the Arena boulevard about 5 times, had to make as many u-turns in order to finally be in the right parking space AND the fact that after the concert we sat in the car for more than 1 hour.

Did you just hear me?
We sat in the car for more than 1 HOUR.
While in the parking.
Everything was blocked.
About 60,000 people trying to make it home.
Out of 3 parking's.
All onto the same highway.
Really.

I was home at 3 this morning.
's Been a long time since i came home at 3 am.

Oh.. and i bought uggs.
You know, the austrialian sheep boots.
I bought them in flipflops.
Cost me a bloody fortune, but they are sooo soft. Sooo nice.

Anyway, gottogo.
Rachel just called (she was working at the office). There's an ambulance a couple of doors down and a fire wagon.
Have to go check it out.