International Day

Curtis at school with two of his four teachers.
On the WAY out the door, he was up at 6:00am to get dressed! He thought he looked SO cool today! LOL

Curtis in the Parade at school. Do we have a future politician on our hands?
Had to take this picture of the principal from behind. So different from the USA. She is dressed up for International Day. Notice the Advertisement on the back of her outfit- Palm BEER! I was DYING!
The assembly.
Curtis and his friends from Ireland and Scotland!
Curtis and one of his favorite girls in the class!

Today was International Day at the British School. Curtis has been dying for this day to come. He was SO excited to wear American Flag shorts and an American shirt. (He is very proud to be from America.) All the kids dressed up from different countries. There was a parade, and an assembly with singing on the playground. Then, each child had to bring in a food from their home country to share with the class. I struggled with what to bring in from America. No peanut products were allowed, and many kids can't have beef, pork, or meat. (That leaves out PB&J, Ants on a Log, hot dogs, hamburgers, ect!) So, I just went the easy route, with something I knew the kids would eat- Rice Krispie Treats. They don't have them here in Holland. What a fun day with lots of memories for Curtis!

9th Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that nine years ago tomorrow, May 29th, Erik and I were married! We went out for dinner to celebrate a night early, since I couldn't line up a sitter for the actual night of. This is our third anniversary that we have celebrated in Holland. All at the same restaurant, in the same booth! Let me hear a ahhhhhhh!
Had to get a belly shot in Centrum by the Binnehof.
Erik waiting for the tram home. He's a natural now!
Not the best quality picture, but here we are at "our" favorite restaurant in Den Haag. In OUR "booth." (Ribs Place!)

WANTED...

It's official- we are now residents of Holland. We have the permits, and finally our driver licenses came. They are VERY strict in Holland about the photo you have taken for your license. NO SMILING, No FROWNING, and ears have to be a certain dimension away from the side of the photo. I had to have mine re-taken four times. The first time I smiled too much. The second time I had too much of a smirk on my face. The third time I had too much of a frown. We were dying looking at these pictures. It looks like we are wanted criminals! He he!
Boys in the tub- Just thought Johnny looked cute!
Addicted......TO NUKS! When Johnny gets up in the morning, we take his nuks and put them up high, until he goes back to sleep. Whenever he gets upset or angry, he runs to his room and ransacks it, looking for a stray Nuk! I had to capture it on camera. Here he is looking between the sheet and matress.
Here he is looking under the bed!
Finally, he concedes to not getting a nuk, and sets up shop on the ground!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY EVERYONE!

Belly Shot

A few people have asked me to post a picture of my growing tummy! So, here's the first of what I'm sure will be many! This is me after a little over four months pregnant! I go in for an ultrasound on June 9th and hopefully find out the sex of the baby then!

Cute Sign

How do you know when your kids are feeling better is a question I've been asking myself. Yesterday and today, I found the answer: When they drive you CRAZY and each other crazy! Then you know it's time to get back to our daily routine, and go back to school! Can't wait for next week! It's all a great sign!

Today, we went to the local Bagel Shop that opened this past year in town. When we were there, I noticed a sign that I thought was SO funny and had to share;

Unattended children will be given an Espresso, and a FREE puppy dog!

Let's just say, I didn't take my eyes off my kids the whole time there!

On the Mend...

It's been quite the roller coaster for me the past week and a half. Last I up-dated, Curtis and Johnny were sick with bronchitis. Well, last Friday, Curtis still had a 104 degree temp, and I took him in (AGAIN) and it developed into pneumonia. So, this weekend was a scary one for me, mostly because I'm in a foreign country. On Saturday night I had called my mom crying, and called Children's Hospital ER three times. I was pretty sure Curtis was dying! Finally, at midnight, Erik told me I needed to just get some sleep and go to the spare room and he'd wake me if Curtis needed me. Well, after a good night sleep, when morning rolled around, we all felt better. Since then, Curtis's fever has gotten lower. The past two days he hasn't had a fever at all and started picking fights again. So, he's doing MUCH better! Thank GOODNESS! Like I've said before, I didn't know when I became a mother, that you worry so much, when your kids are sick. Erik thinks I worry much more than the average person. Can YOU believe THAT?????

Now that we are recovering, hopefully we'll be able to get out of the house in a few more days. We are going STIR crazy in an apartment! Just a few more weeks until we visit the USA. I am looking SO forward to it! So are the boys!

(The pictures above, are of the boys with their bug vacuums. They have been wanting these things, and when Curtis wouldn't take his meds or inhalers, I had to bribe him! So, they got them and are LOVING them! Boys and bugs is something I'll never understand!)

Sick House

Two big babies- both want to lay in the crib and watch Dora. We have MANY places to lay in the house- Four beds, and two couches. Johnny claims he's waiting till the baby gets here to give it his "nukies!" He's going to be quite surprised when the "Nuk Fairy" visits in July and takes them away!


Not much to report here, except both boys got sick on Monday. They have both had a cold that they haven't been able to kick for a few weeks. But, on Monday, they both got high temperatures, and their coughs progressively worse. So, took them in to the doctor yesterday, after the temps were staying high, even on Tylenol. They both have bronchitis! So, they have been lying on the cough for a few days, drinking Gatorade, and watching movies. They are not themselves, but I see them getting better each day. When I became a mother, no one warned me about the worrying you do when your kids get sick. I'm up at midnight, looking up 105 degree temperatures, and what it could mean. Of course, with the help of the Internet and my personality, I had them diagnosed with everything from chicken pox to meningitis! Does that surprise anyone? (:

Happy Mother's Day!

Johnny and Emma
Curtis, my little "surfer dude!"
Johnny, Emma, and Curtis eating lunch.
Johnny never wants ANY help when he goes potty. I had to take this picture of him, as his swim trunks got all tangled up on top, and his butt was looking SO cute! But, he still wouldn't let me pull them down for him. He told me he "liked it" like that!

Lynne and I, celebrating Mother's Day on the beach!

The weather here has still be unbelievable! I don't think we've had rain or had a cloud in the sky in three weeks. Some of you know that ever since I've been young, I've been a bit consumed with the weather. So, yesterday, I woke up to the BEST Mother's Day present ever! I got a digital weather station! I think it was the best gift the boys have ever gotten me! It tells me the temperature inside and outside, the humidity, the wind, the trends, ect. So, yesterday, as the afternoon rolled around, and I was dying of heat again, I went over to the trusty weather station and had a peak. Here were the weather conditions as of 7:33pm last night- 93.5 degrees outside, and 100.7 degrees in our apartment! So, what's a family in a foreign country with NO air conditioning, not even in most public buildings, to do but-sit on the beach all weekend long! (Three day weekend, because of another Dutch Holiday!)

Here's a funny story I thought you'd all enjoy. The last two years, Curtis has never really noticed all the topless people on the beach. This year, he's much more observant. I know once he's out all the time, he won't even notice it anymore. But, on Saturday, Curtis and I were walking across the beach, back to our house. He stops me and whispers in my ear- "That girl has bigger 'belly buttons' than me, Daddy, and Johnny." I looked at him, and whispered, "Oh, Curtis, those are called breasts, and they are used to nurse babies." He gets a big smile and says, "Oh, ya ya ya, I forgot!"

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's and grandma's out there! Hope you all had a nice day!

Volcano's, Frogs, and Fun!

Johnny and Curtis LOVING the new sprinkler!
Johnny trying desperately to catch the frog he found. He was in his GLORY!
Here he is again- with Lynne on the left with the yard shears, following him and cutting down bushes to get to it! No wonder he loves her SO much!

Curtis and Emma in the sprinkler!

Today, we hung out at Lynne's house all day! It's great now, the kids play in her "garden" (backyard) and we sit and talk! I found this sprinkler at the local Toys R' Us, and had to snatch it up for the kids. It provided many hours of entertainment today! (Super Soaker makes it!) I don't think Curtis's arms stopped flying all afternoon long!

I also went to the doctor in the morning for my OB check-up. I really have had a nice, positive experience here in Holland so far with the doctor and my pregnancy. It is SO different here than in the States. For one thing, they don't weigh you when you go into an appointment! They consider the whole birthing process natural, and not medical. My doctor is very young, right out of school. She speaks very good English, and jokes around. She is very helpful about other items, that go with me being a foreigner. Such as, I was suppose to have booked a "Kramzorg" (the after-birth carer that comes into your house for eight days.) Every time I call, their answering machines answer and they are all in Dutch. So, Dr. De Boer, called someone up, and got me a name of a nurse that works with expats. I called yesterday afternoon, and it's all set up! She accepted me, and has been working with English speaking people in the Hague for eight years! She sounds like she has an Aussie accent! I'll meet her at the end of August for our first meeting! All my friends here say having this "Kramzorg" in your house after the birth is the best thing about giving birth in Holland. They say it is an amazing experience! We'll see!

Sunsets

It's that time of the year again- where the sunsets are beautiful and we can sit on the deck and watch them because it's warm out. Only problem is that it doesn't occur until after 9:30pm right now, and soon, won't set until 11:30pm. All the extra sunlight, makes it hard for a 4 year old, who is SO excited about picture day at school tomorrow, to fall asleep! So, I told him we'd have a Popsicle, watch the sunset, and then try going to bed again! He was LOVING it!

Summer's HERE!

We have really been lucky this year so far. Last year it was the WORST summer on record ever in Holland. So far, this year, the weather has been much nicer than last year's whole summer. We've had two straight weeks of 70's and sunny! This weekend it was 80 degree's and beautiful! We grilled out with friends, kids went swimming in their yard, and we hung out on the beach! I'm LOVING the weather. I also have started feeling better this past weekend! Let's hope this is the turn-around!