bridging ceremony

during the last week of school for the boys, their classes took part in a bridging ceremony. the ceremony was held at a local church (because the school does not have a big enough gymnasium). each class sang a special song and then lined up to walk across the "bridge". this ceremony is symbolic of crossing into the next group for the fall semester. similar to "graduating". in the boys school, the classes are divided by groups 1, 2, 3...etc. instead of kindergarten, first grade, second grade... as it is done in the united states.

here's where the euromom adventure comes in on this one..... i had to entertain a 2 year old and an almost 5 month old for 2.5 hours during the ceremony and i think it was at least 95 degrees inside the church :) good thing each group played different music and the music was played very LOUD! the picture of the girl's in the bike was taken before the ceremony started.... i had hoped that snacktime would tide the toddler over for 2.5 hours..... like i said... good thing the music was LOUD and helen likes to DANCE!

none of my pictures turned out of the boys inside the church (except the one of helen standing next to me dancing!) - it was pretty dark inside the church..... but perhaps it's time for a new camera.

the 2 videos show the boys walking across the bridge.

my tummy sleeper!

with all 4 of my children i have wondered many times - why do they sleep better on their tummies? i mean really ....sleeping on your back is not that comfortable! :) at least for me.

the other day, during one of jillian's rare naps in her crib (ok - the reason the naps in her crib are so rare is that we are never really home during the day) i snapped this picture of her sleeping on her tummy... since she has recently figured out how to roll over - she has also found the tummy sleeping position.

along with the tummy sleeping position comes about 8 hours of uninterruped sleep at night for me....ahhhhhhh!

don't you just love her little foot sticking out in this picture!!!

helen's party

helen's (dutch) preschool had an end-of-the-year party. she enjoyed making a cereal bracelet, "reaching for her snack", and getting her face painted. the lady that did her face painting was her teacher, ms. birgit. the theme for the party was "prince and princesses".

note : the first picture was taken inside her preschool classroom

on a roll

jillian is on the move.... or should i say roll. she is now rolling over from her back to her tummy. in fact when i lay her down - she rarely stays on her back for more than a few seconds. she has even rolled from her tummy to her back a few times (on accident, i think!)

she really enjoys this colorful quilt (hungry caterpillar) that my mom made... the quilt actually belongs to jayden... but one evening i was waiting upstairs to read a book to the boys and discovered that jillian enjoyed laying on the quilt.

schools out for summer.....

today is the last day of school for the boys. helen's last day was yesterday. we have about 5 weeks off for summer holiday. i thought it was really neat listening to the kids talk on the playground at school this morning - jayden said "i'm going to germany today" - another student replied "i'm going to spain and england" - another student replied "i'm going to france and then england".

today we are leaving for a long weekend in germany.... mudersbach to be exact. we will be staying at the home of Frau and Herr Mockenhaupt. ross met them when he was in junior high visiting europe with a music program. we will be staying in what is known as the "honeymoon suite" .... the Mockenhaupt's have a section of their home where people can stay for an extended period of time. ross and i stayed there when we backpacked through parts of europe on our honeymoon almost 9 years ago!

at the end of july we will spend a week in paris, france... and eurodisney. hopefully in august we will spend a few days along the coast of holland or possibly one of the islands in the north.

we plan to seek out local swimming pools to stay cool and the boys will be working on a summer reading program to earn some special rewards and helen .... welll - i'm hoping she can learn some more letters.... she has finally mastered her colors ... with the occasional response "mom, i'm not SURE what color that is.... will you just tell me"... but she will turn to daddy and say "oh, yeah that's blue!"... stinker!

here are a few pictures taken at helen's dutch preschool. she will return there in the fall 2 days a week. she loves her teacher and seems to enjoy the school.

invasion....

these furry worms are everywhere here in hilversum right now. the worms are of course - red, white, blue, and ORANGE!!! at the local grocery store, albert hein, you could "earn" these worms depending on how much money you spend each visit. well you can imagine feeding a family of 6 (ok - 5 since jillian doesn't eat table food yet) - we have accumulated A LOT of these worms. jayden decided it would be best to decorate my bike with the worms!

on the way to school the boys and helen like to play - "i spy" ... trying to see who can spot the worms on people's cars, cargo trucks, and other bikes first.

Look at ME!

The kids played at a park in Belgium while we waited for the Tour de France caravan to arrive.

When I saw the picture of Helen, the first thing that came to my mind was "Look at ME!".