one of THOSE days!

have you every had one of THOSE days where nothing seems to go right? i HAD one of those days on thursday.

my day started out at 3am with a mosquito buzzing in my ear - i'm not sure how long it was "buzzing" in my ear but as i think back to the moment i remember dreaming of something that had a "buzzing" sound. so after swatting at my ear several times while laying in bed - i decided that i could not take it anymore - so i got up and turned on the light. i stood still and waited for the mosquito to make an appearance. i knew it would not take long because mosquitos LOVE my blood! i found him right on the wall by our bed - so i carefully took a swat! but i didn't have my glasses on so it wasn't the best swat. i'm not sure if i got him.... but i didn't see him flying around anymore. ... keep in mind that ross is fast asleep in the bed while all of this is going on. i was afraid he might wake up to see me staring at him with the light on :)

then i dropped the kids off at school - we took the car because it was raining so hard. yes - i'm not a dedicated bike rider when it comes to rain :) we parked near the school and i had to lift each of the kids over a huge puddle so their shoes didn't get wet.... well unfortunately mine got wet - and my pants up to about mid-calf. ugh! then jillian and i drove into town to do some shopping while helen was in school.

keep in mind this shopping mall in hilversum is NOT THAT BIG. i have been to bigger malls (like the mall of america!).... well somehow when it was time for me to leave to pick up helen - I COULD NOT FIND the entrance to the parking garage.... i took the escalator up - i took the escalator down - i took another excalater up and down .... i walked across the street - and back up the escalator again..... then circled around the inside of the mall trying to figure out what floor the parking garage was on - i was SO disoriented! ugh! and in a hurry! and i surely didn't want to ask anyone for directions to the parking garage. i tried following the signs and as more time passed - i became more and more panicked ... i was going to be late to get helen at school. well, i finally found the parking garage and my van- and even managed to get to helen's school on-time!

later that afternoon - the boys had swimming lessons and since i knew the rain and roads were bad (due to the large amount of rain we had the entire afternoon) we left the house earlier than normal to get to the pool. well - after spending almost 2 hours in the car trying to get through the city - getting nowhere near the swimming pool - we ended up parking the car near our home and ross picked us all up with the bicycle. the rain had caused flooding throughout the city and cars were not able to navigate around. (our town is designed with a couple of "ring-roads" that are mostly one-way so when traffic backs up there is no where to go)

... and just when i thought my luck couldn't get any worse - the next afternoon i dropped a box of groceries right in front of our house! (yes - i forgot my grocery bags and used a box from the store to bring the groceries home.)

.... but i think my luck has turned around.... when i dropped all the groceries on the ground only 1 of the 6 eggs actually broke!

great and powerful OZ

i don't really know why this phrase came to mind... perhaps it was the red sparkle slippers sitting in the closet next to me a few nights ago.....or maybe it was the red cover on the serger.

.... but i got a new TOY! well - not really a TOY - but i bought a new serger.... and best of all - i got a really good deal on it too! i have wanted one of these for a long time.... and with 2 girls to sew for now... and lots of rainy days here in the netherlands - i'm super excited to see what i can create!

but before i can create anything - i must tell you that threading a serger is NO SMALL TASK! the first time i threaded it - i took me almost 45 minutes! - i even watched a few youtube vidoes (isn't the internet great!)

now that i consider myself a professional threader (ha!) - i still needed to adjust the tension - and talk about tension!!!! after almost 2 hours of trying to fiddle with the adjustments - i still couldn't get it right. i read on the internet - to select 4 different color threads (what a great idea!) to help with the tension adjustments.... but i decided that a skype call to my mom was necessary to get this figured out. i was finally able to get the tension adjusted with my mom's help!

my first project - i am going to make some fabric flags for helen's birthday - i better hurry - since i only have a week to complete them! stay tuned!

oh and a trip to IKEA is in my future to get a better table for the serger ... on the ironing board is probably not the best place!

mrs. h.m.moberg

my great-grandmother meets graham for the first time.... this picture was taken in july 2004 and she passed away in september

during this visit - graham kept "pinching" her arm - she kept saying "pinch..pinch... pinch... pinch"

my beautiful floor!

....that is how i used to address my thank you letters and birthday cards to my great-grandmother - mrs. helen martha moberg.

about a week ago - i had one of those moments where i really missed my great-grandmother.... i think of her often since she was such a special lady to me as a child. she used to babysit me on occasion and i can vividly remember going to mcdonald's with her and also playing at her house. she ALWAYS had pepermints and butterscotch candies in her living room. she also kept a stash of rubberbands on her pantry door.... she lived 102.5 years!! - and her quote in the last few years of her life was "i have lived a wonderful life!" in the last 5 months that we have lived here in the netherlands - we have toured many museums and i can't help but think of all the history that even my great-grandmother witnessed in her 102.5 years of life! amazing!!

i was running through the forest and i spotted a wildflower out of the corner of my eye... it immediately took me back to the days as a child wondering through the forest with my great-grandmother at my parent's cabin in minnesota - looking at all the wildflowers and wildberries. it seemed like she knew EVERY flower, tree, bird, and animal. and she LOVED to walk! even into her mid-80's she would walk everywhere.

while we were on our house-hunting trip to the netherlands last fall - my first impression of the house we are living in right now - is that my great-grandmother would have loved our checkered floor! she had one exactly like it in her basement. i can remember "going fishing" as a child on this checkered floor. she would tie a string to an old broom handle and we (my siblings and i) would cast it out onto the floor - my great-grandmother would then place a tinker toy on the string and we would reel it in!

really there are thousands of stories that i could sit her and write about - but physical reminders like these 2 (my floor and the flowers) reassure me that my great-grandmother is smiling down on me from heaven.

more back to school...

i painted helen's toes after we got home from dropping the boys off at school

school's back in session!

jayden in his classroom..... my big kindergartener

graham waiting in line to start first grade!!

Back To School!

biking to school!

funny picture of jillian!

Helen started at her Dutch preschool (same one she attended last spring) yesterday and the boys started school today!

Jayden started Kindergarten (here it is called Group 2) today and Graham started 1st grade (here it is called Group 3) - wow time goes by fast!

We had a good summer together - but I think we are all glad to be back in our "routine". Well, everyone except Jillian..... so far she's napped for 20 minutes in the bike seat and is now fighting her nap ..... we're off to soccer practice this afternoon so a nap in her bed is not going to happen - sigh.

Bad Hair Day?

ever have one of those days where your hair is not looking the best?

ever wonder why you can't make your hair look the same as when it's "styled" right after a hair cut?

NO the wind is NOT blowing his hair :) .... oh and this is NOT Sneijder from the Holland team either :) ....he has no hair!

Hup Ross Hup

cool shot of the bikes

finish line!

here's where the "waiting" takes place... picture in front of the sign....

.... helen takes a picture of jillian in the air :)

.... lots of chalk drawings at the finish

On Saturday, Ross participated in a bike race between the 2 Abbott sites here in the Netherlands. He and approximately 60 co-workers biked from Breda to Zwolle - about 200 kilometers. This biking event takes place about every 2 years and they raise money for a local charity.

The kids and I drove to the finish in Zwolle to meet Ross and we also helped with a few of the finish line preparations... blowing up balloons - setting up food and then waiting..... waiting.... waiting ..... for the bikers to arrive..... nearly 3 hours of waiting with 4 kids can get a bit interesting :)

Way to go, Ross! no sitting for you for a while!

More SAIL pictures

a pool, showers, and locker room on a boat!

who does the housekeeping for this ship?

if i remember correctly - this is a Dutch ship.

crewmembers were in "character".... i think :)

SAIL Amsterdam

look closely at the top mast- there are actually guys standing up there!!

On Friday afternoon - we took the train (along with what seemed like everyone else in Holland!) to Amsterdam to see the ships taking part in the SAIL Amsterdam 2010.

There were boats cruising around in the harbor - people enjoying a warm, sunny afternoon. In fact one boat had a guy playing Elton John songs on the piano while the other people on his boat sang... (yep - I bet you have that song "Piano Man" in your head now too!)

I googled SAIL Amsterdam and this is some of the background information that I found:

The first SAIL Amsterdam took place in 1975 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Amsterdam. During these preparations, it was proposed to organize a nautical event in Amsterdam harbour, which would be centered on the harbor and the city of Amsterdam. For the ‘Sail Amsterdam 700’ event, sailing ships from all over the world were invited and the event was a huge success. Following the big success of SAIL Amsterdam 700 - it was decided that the sailing events would take place every 5 years.

During SAIL Amsterdam 2010, approximately 20 Tall Ships as well as 500 historic sailing boats and motorboats are expected in the harbor. As in previous SAIL events, this event attracts Tall Ships from around the world. In addition to a number of Dutch Tall Ships - ships from Norway, Romania, Russia and Ukraine will be on display.

more pictures from Delft

outdoor market

town square

a view of the downtown square through the inside of a church

Delft, Netherlands

in the background of this picture you can see the girl on the right making the famous dutch stroopwafels. she is kneading the dough in her hands and the bottoms/tops of the stroopwafels are on the griddle. the middle of the stroopwafel contains stroop which is like a think syrup. it's a yummy sweet treat! oh and the ice cream cones we purchased from this stand were really yummy!!

view from downtown Delft - Delft is a small town on the west coast of the Netherlands

a chair made from Delft pottery pieces

the entire time we were walking towards this church we couldn't help but wonder - is it leaning towards the right? hmmmmm.

one false parallel parking move and you'll be in the water!

tomboy princess?

she put her soccer shoes on with her dress to play with her brothers

making helicopter noises with her mouth

spinning the blade

is it possible to use these 2 words together? i think these 2 words describe helen very well. the other day i found her playing with this helicopter outside.

running buddy

i have a new running buddy - jayden! he has really taken an interest in running with me. the other night he ran 2 miles with me. he wanted to run more - but i thought it would be best to start off small.... the next morning he woke up and asked me "mom - are you ready for another run today?"

there is a kids run associated with my half-marathon in amsterdam and he is going to try to run that in october.

food face!

jillian has food all over her face and it doesn't even bother her :) gotta love the life of a baby!

but i just have to wonder - is it a natural instinct for a child to turn away when you try to wipe their face? or their nose for that matter? seems that even at 6 months - they can see the kleenex coming and starting turning their head!

my jilly

with each of the kids around 6 months of age - i try to get a picture of them chewing on their foot. i have taken each kid's image and made into an 8x10 black and white photo - i had them all displayed in my bathroom at home.... the other day i was trying to capture my image if jillian with her foot in her mouth to complete my set!

happy girl in her crib

wow - i can't believe my baby jillian is 6 months old already. we have been through so much as a family over the last few months - but everyday jillian wakes up with a smile and i'm so thankful that she is such a good baby! she loves to watch her brothers and sister. she weighs 14 pounds... my little peanut! still has those baby blue eyes and blonde hair....but i still wonder if the blue eyes will stick around :)