Where Has My Baby Gone?

Jarom just emailed me this picture. This is my sweet Jimmy. Can you believe he's FOUR today?

How Kind

Jimmy saw me struggling to reach my toes while I painted them. He kindly offered to help!

What Did You Do?

Quick question...Did any of you get the H1N1 vaccine shot? It is now available here and I actually have to decide by Monday morning what to do. Did you get it? Did your kids? Why or why not? I am still undecided but kind of leaning towards not getting it.

Thanks in advance!

Btw, Jimmy's Superhero Birthday Party was today. It was a success! Pictures to come.

School Checklist

Today was a big day...Jimmy started school! In the Netherlands kids start school around their 4th birthday. Thus they have new kids starting all throughout the year.

Here are a few (okay, quite a few) pictures and video clips of our big day:

Breakfast Eaten...Check! (love this face)

Shoes Tied...Check! (almost)

"Mippens" On...Check!

Little Brother Excited...Check!

Backpack & Umbrella Ready...Check!

Walk Down Our Street...Check!

Spot His School...Check! (15 min later)

Arrive at the Doors...Check!

(He kept telling me, "Mom, we don't have time for this!")

Sitting With All the Big Kids...Check!

Mom Returns Home With Only ONE Child...Check! (sniff,sniff)

Glade Happy to Have Charge of the Umbrella...Check!

* * * * *

And Now For the Report After School...

How Did He Do?

Just Look at His Face!

Success!

Before & After Clip:

Happy Halloween!

As I mentioned last year, Halloween is not a holiday here in Holland, but more people are starting to celebrate it. This year our neighborhood had a party and arranged trick-or-treating. They asked beforehand which people would have treats for the kids and then made a list of the house numbers so the kids knew where they could knock. There were 27 houses on the list...so the kids got plenty of candy!

Sybren helped Jimmy decorate his Halloween bag. When Jimmy found Sybren, he grabbed his hand and yelled to me, "Mom, look, I found my best friend!"

Both boys love Maurits.

Yummy Cheesecake

The superheroes are ready to trick-or-treat!

And off they go...

The little pumpkin and I stayed home to pass out treats.

The boys returned and dumped out their treasures. I found it very interesting that some people gave out candy that was not wrapped. Jarom said one old man reached right in the bucket of gummies and pulled out a handful for each kid! Ha ha, people would be shocked if they saw someone do that in the states!

And we ended the fun day with a nice scrub in the tub!

We hope you all had a Wonderful Halloween!

and we leave you with 2 fun videos...

Thinking Ahead

If you're looking for adorable holiday printables, check out Kennalyn.com! Aren't these gift tags way cute?

So I've been thinking about our Christmas cards for this year. I'm trying to decide what to do about a family picture. I would love to get our pictures done now and start on our cards...however, that would mean baby girl would be in my belly for the pictures. If I wait for pictures until after she's born that might be crunching time depending on when she comes. Any better ideas...besides not sending them out at all! :)

Difference #4

I forgot I started doing these a few months ago. Here's another small difference between Holland and Utah...

#4. The Chips

The closest thing they have to BBQ chips here is Paprika flavored. They taste similar to BBQ, but are, in my opinion, not quite as good. Too bad because BBQ chips are my favorite. Paprika seems to be a popular flavor here. They also have Paprika Cheetos, which I think are absolutely disgusting! I have yet to see regular flavored Cheetos.

So if you're coming to visit me any time soon (hint, hint) bring me a bag of BBQ chips! Oh and a few packets of Kool-Aid, some cinnamon bears, a loaf of Granny Smith white bread, a box of Cheez-its, some fruit snacks, and a bag of tootsie rolls! And Jimmy requests Kraft Mac 'N Cheese and fishy crackers! It's really not fair that many of my cravings are things not available here. I swear that's why I am craving them...because I know I can't have them!

P.S. Here are links to Difference #1, Difference #2, & Difference #3.