Inhumane?

We've had a mouse problem in our attic off and on since moving here. They disappeared for several months and now they are back. A few nights ago Jarom went upstairs to collect his kill. I gladly stayed downstairs.

I heard loud moans coming from upstairs and then a disgusted yell! I called up to Jarom, curious what was going on, but not wanting to see it with my own eyes.

The mouse had flown off the mousetrap and was dead on the carpet. Jarom picked it up by the tail and the tail fell off! That was the cause of the moan I heard. Then he proceeded to pick up the mouse by the squishy dead body only to find it was stuck to the carpet! That was the cause of the disgusted yell!

Let's just say I'm thankful for a husband who takes care of the little vermins so I don't have to. Are we inhumane to use the snap traps? I don't want a live trap because honestly, I'm sure as I release them they will laugh at me and return again the next night. I don't want the sticky traps because then I have to listen to the mice suffer. Only other thing I can think of is a cat. The boys would love one, but they are getting a sister instead!

My New Record

This is now officially my longest pregnancy ever! 16 days until my due date. So any guesses as to when she's coming? If you're right I'll name her after you. Okay, probably not!

Movie Night

We just finished watching "Monsters vs. Aliens" with the boys. They were so excited to have a movie night...especially on a school night! Jimmy brought down everyone's pillows and blankets and I made popcorn.

Glade stayed awake for the whole movie. The second the movie ended he closed his eyes. He wouldn't let go of that popcorn bowl though! What a fun night! And the boys were still in bed by 8:45 (not too bad). I look forward to more nights like tonight.

Surprise!

Jarom and I took a test drive to the hospital so we would know how to drive there once I'm in labor. Good idea, eh? He had never driven here in Holland and it was in a stick shift (like pretty much all cars here) that he had never driven before. He did a great job and actually would've done much better without me in the car. I gave him bad directions several times, even with good old Tom Tom helping! He finally said, "You're not helping you know!" But we finally got there and next time should be much smoother.

The Pecks let us borrow their car and even watched our kids while we drove to the hospital. They also invited us over for dinner afterwards, which was very nice and kind of funny since I had just finished telling Jarom I was too exhausted to make dinner that night! We stopped by their house to pick up our kids and chatted in the entryway for a few minutes.

As I walked into their family room I noticed a whole bunch of people and thought, "Hmm, I wonder what Kristal is doing. Some kind of meeting or something." And I felt bad because she had to watch my kids during her "meeting." It wasn't until everyone yelled, "SURPRISE!" that I actually got it. This was all for me! The ladies in the Relief Society threw me a baby shower. I was pretty shocked!

We had such a good time playing games, chatting, eating, and opening gifts. I am still so amazed at everyone's generosity...in their gifts, planning of the party, the food, and just in coming that night to show their love. I have such great friends here!

Sorry, no pictures of the shower, although many were taken...just not any with my camera. I will be 37 weeks along on Sunday!

Calling All Superheroes

Here are some shots from Jimmy's Superhero Birthday Party! We had a great turn out. It was so much fun for Jimmy to have his friends come to our house. We had 14 kids here!
They got to decorate masks and capes, play a few games, test their superhero trivia knowledge, and eat cake and ice cream.

Before the party started a few boys (including Jimmy) were spinning each other in our recliner chair. As a result Jimmy threw up twice. Poor kid! He was a sad little boy until present time rolled around. Then he cheered right up! He now tells anyone who tries to even slightly turn him in the chair, "Don't do that. It will make me sick!" Guess he learned his lesson...the hard way!
Overall, Jimmy had a great time!

My amazing artistic skills!

And cake decorating skills!

Cute!

On his actual birthday, Jimmy's teacher made him a cool birthday hat. They made him a cake at school out of clay and he got to blow out a real candle. He thought that was so neat. Then on the way home from school I took him to pick out whatever cake he wanted from Albert Heijn. It was a win-win situation because Jimmy was ecstatic about picking out a cake and I didn't have to bake another one. Oh and he picked the exact one I wanted him to...chocolate of course!

When Jarom got home from work we ate Jimmy's favorites for dinner: chicken nuggets, french fries, macaroni and cheese, and bananas. Yummy!

Then he opened gifts and we all had cake.

Happy Birthday once again Jimmy!

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...