While Robbert got his phone stolen in Barcelona, Spain, the boys were at the water polo clubhouse for a night of pizza and movies and Caroline and I drank a cup of tea. This morning i got her all geared up for next week's hockey training, after that she got a High School Musical pyama, so needless to say, today was a good day for Caroline.

Puck, Sam & Tara just wanted to say hi

The dentist

This is what you get when we all have a dentist check up. Caroline is almost IN your mouth.

Just some things i wanted to share

One of Morten's friends did a class presentation today.
Guess bout what
bear in mind we are talking Dutch 10 yr olds.

Barack Obama!

O yes.

Caroline has a confusing way of counting.
Just one more week before it is March 30th she said.
Yeah.... i said, wondering where this was leading.
And then just 2 more days before it's April.
Yeah...
and then just a couple more days before it's April 4 and 5: Easter!

Of course.

Timo had his first after school waveboard lesson today and showed me tonight he could get on the board and even ride for about 10 mtrs and make a turn.
Huge improvements which promise a lot for the 9 lessons ahead.
Morten, who has some mysterious (but none the less real) leg injury and walked like a drunken chicken these last days, said; pfff, i can get on the board too. Piece of cake.
O yeah, o yeah, Timo challenged him; go ahead then.

He fell.
Stood up immediately and said;
i am usually very good at it but thats because of my stiff leg now.

spring has sprung.
not making any promises about the weeks to come, coz it's true, rain is never far away, but with 16 C life is good.

we took the kitchen builder up on his offer so will basically have a huge mess in the house from end of May till half June.
Also the 6 people living in this house will all use Ally's small shower for about 2 weeks because the week after easter the bathroom gets done.
I foresee STRESS and chaos and for once am glad i have a job-less husband at home to organise things.

Breaking news

Florien came by this afternoon and when Robbert opened the door, asked if Timo would come play outside.
Timo! Robbert shouted upstairs, someone at the door asking you to come play.
Nahh, Timo replied, i am watching tv.
It's Florien, Robbert shouted.

*flash* Timo almost jumps down the staircase.

They have been out all afternoon and when Robbert went to get him for dinner, Timo confessed that Florien had asked whether she could come play (inside) the coming days.

Oooohhhhh, love is in the air everywhere you look around!

Valentine follow up

O yes, there is a follow up!
a couple of days after Timo had sent his card, i asked him whether Florien had given ANY sign of knowing it was him.
she hadnot. (which i knew coz i checked with her mom)

you know, she might think it's from someone else i said (again, from the mom). dont you think you ought to come out and let her know? now Marius (the suspect valentine) might take the credit.

Timo saw my point.
Damn that Marius. no way José he was going to let him get away with that!

So.
Timo wrote an entire letter in rhym!
Saying, she might wonder who the card was from.
well it wasn't from someone she expected.
and he hoped she would feel the same
coz he looked like a bloody fool otherwise.
but still,
even if he looked like a fool, he did it for her, so she could be proud.
and if she wanted to write her valentine back this is the address...
and then he revealed his name (stuck a piece of paper over it that she had to lift first)

Last but not least he made hearts out of all the dots on the i's.

it took him almost an hour coz he made spelling mistakes all the time and then had to do the whole thing over again.

it was an impressive letter to say the least.

you know Timo if i were to get such a letter, i said, i would be very flattered.
but maybe also a little scared coz i wouldnt know what to do.
Now it seems as if you are totally in love with this girl.
are you sure you want to give her that impression?
again Timo saw my point.
nahhh. i like her, but not that much he said and i just wanted to make sure Marius wasnt taking the credits.

maybe you just have a good night sleep over this and then see how you feel in the morning i said.
and so he did.
next morning at the breakfast table he declared he had given it a good thought and decided he would still write her that letter, but leave out the hearts.
Wise move i thought.
he re-wrote his letter and put it into her closet at school.

when i asked him later how things went, he told me that very day Florien had gotten a new desk, had swapped out all her stuff from the old one and never gave a hint she had even seen the envelope.

i asked the mom a couple of days later but according to her Florien hadnot received anything else.

Holy cow.
all this and then no effort at all?
and the rotten thing was; whenever we got mail, timo would rush up to the hall to 'just check if there was anything addressed to me'.

Last week though, her mother came up to me and whispered Florien had cleared up her stuff and found the letter. She was a bit overwhelmed by it (who wouldnt be to be honest) but did like it.

after a heartbreaking weekend again where timo sighed he didnt receive any letters i told him some girls are just a bit frightenend by expressions of love and they simply do not know how to respond.
but i told her, he said. i told her she could write me, with the address and everything in the letter.

I tried to tell him not everyone is as courageous as he is.
I told him i was 19 the first time i told a boy i actually liked him, so it might take florien another 10 yrs to pluck up the courage too.

In a couple of years when morten is 16, timo is 15 and their 13 yr old sister is making out with their friends i will probably talk otherwise, but for now i think this boy girl action they are growing into is too cute for words.

my manipulative 7 yr old

The after school programs for the second period are almost done.
Caroline did cooking this time and mosaic.
This thursday she has some sort of an exhibition about the mosaic work and she asked me to come see it at 4.
i can't honey, i work at that time i told her, but daddy will be there.
while we were eating about 10,000 paaseitjes, she then spoke the unforgettable words:

so you think your job is more important than your child?

did i hear that correctly Ally asked.

Of course i do I said,
that's why you definitely slept for the last time in my bed last night when you had a nightmare.
and that's why i am never helping your brothers out again when they have a school presentation and i am about powerpointing and photoshopping and whatever for them.
And why are you going over to play at emma's tomorrow afternoon when i am at home then?
do you favour playing at emma's over your own flesh and blood?
o and something else.
my job paid for those clothes you are wearing and those paaseitjes (chocolate easter eggs) you are eating.

i think she finally got the point but hey, with these manipulative powers at the age of 7,i see a great future in PR, politics or soap scriptwriting within easy reach.

google streetview

Drag the mouse and there is our house!

The naked dishwasher

Dont ask, None of us have any idea why.