randoms

big kids working on their workbooks while i fix dinner one night

jillian decided she wanted to color with the kids

then she decided my cabinet was her coloring book! ugh!

ross made jillain some nutella toast for breakfast last sunday -

i don't think she got any of it IN her mouth :)

jayden makes some leaf rubbings for his family tree school project

his simple family tree (assignment instructions did not want aunts/uncles/cousins included)

graham celebrated his birthday at school on friday

only 3 cupcakes left!

i haven't updated my blog for a while... here's some pictures of what we've been up to lately!

helen's swimming

when we first moved here - i noticed the tags on these strollers all said "BAD BUGGY" - i thought they were just broken.... turns out they are actually the only stroller allowed in the swimming area :)

helen enjoying some extra playtime after her swimming lesson

helen swimming under the noodle and counting to 10 with her fingers while she stays under water

helen has learned so much in her swimming lessons and is very brave when it comes to going underwater. i'm so proud of her and i think she will enjoy the swimming pool in our backyard in sturgis.

The Amazing Race - Hilversum

the boys race to find their first clue

they read the first clue to determine where they would go next to find another clue

Helen's Dutch preschool was the site of the next clue

on their way to the next clue (the french bakery)

helen opens the envelope

jayden reads the clue

the next clue takes them to the grocery store (Albert Heijn)

this clue is a little tricky - it contains 4 letters that they must arrange to figure out the next stop

HEMA was the 4 letters that they had to unscramble

jayden reads the final clue

the final stop in our amazing race- the butcher!

they didn't win a milion dollars - but they did get a 1 Euro ice cream cone from McDonald's!

Ross and I decided it would be fun to say goodbye to Hilversum by playing our own version of the Amazing Race. Ross came up with the clues and we took turns biking around with the kids to each of the clue locations. the kids told us how to get to each location all on their own! I was amazed that they knew all these places without our help or even the help of a TomTom! now that's better than I could do! :)

the perfect saturday

saturday fun... yes it's october first and we spent the afternoon at the beach! crazy warm weather... but i'm lovin' it!

football saturday!

helen picked out her own outfit today :)

jillian enjoying a snack at the football game

jayden JUST after he scored a goal! (the only goal for our team the entire game!)

graham running down the field

jillian is more interested in playing with her stroller than watching the boys play football

graham in goal

happy meal!

the kids did not have school on friday - so i mentioned going to mcdonald's for lunch - they loved the idea!

little did i know that the happy meal toy (a little box that contained a pencil, passport, and fake credit card) would provide an ENTIRE afternoon of entertainment!

they pretended they were going on an airplane with their passport and shopping with their credit cards

jilian and her famous "chipmunk" smile!

graham checking passports and taking credit card payments :)

it's been unseasonably warm here this past week - so we brought out the lemonde to keep us cool!

randoms from the week

the other morning i was brushing the older kid's teeth - jillian wandered off and i could not find her.... it was quiet and i knew that only meant trouble.... i found her reading the kid's books from school :)

taking the flower pot contents to the compost pile

the only way i could think of to transport the heavy pots

everybody takes a turn emptying the pots... can you guess how much black dirt was in jillian's white hair...... A LOT :) but she had fun!

the horses were out of their barn and the owners were feeding them so the kids got a chance to see the horses close up

i finally finished 2 jackets that i've been working on for the girls. they are reversible jackets (i folded up the left sleeve so the trim would show for the picture) i will not disclose the number of days it actually took me to finish these jackets... many days i only have a "spare" 20 minutes here and there to work on my projects :)