Apr 28, 2013

candles don't need a cake

The famous Beatles song asks 'Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?'. Fortunately for my mother, this is a question she no longer needs ask herself. What a weight must have fallen off her shoulders! It's not been long at all since she actually turned 64 and already she's been needed for her company, her smile, her shopping expertise, her blessing to buy cars, and kisses on little cheeks. As for the feeding, well, it's only been 24 hours and already she's dined at Goodwood's, Denny's (free Birthday breakfast!), and her personal favorite: the Timbermine. She has also been delivered donuts and had a sneaky snack of See's Candy. 
Sixty-four, needed, well-fed, and gorgeous - let's add that to the song, shall we?DSC_7694p This year we thought we'd try and surprise her with dinner and a girl's night out on the 26th, the eve of her actual Birthday. We got dad to play along and pretend to take her out to dinner. He wouldn't tell her where to, and for a few desperate seconds she actually thought they were headed to DelTaco. Or as we like to call it: DelCockroach. But that's another story for another time... Fortunately they passed her restaurant of nightmares and drove into the Goodwood parking lot, where dad drove her right up to the door and told her that since it was her Birthday he wanted to be a gentleman and let her out while he went to park the car. Nevermind that there was a parking spot three steps away. Mom thought it was a little weird/funny, but sincenthat basically describes her entire marriage to my father, she didn't argue. She stood in front of the restaurant entrance waiting for dad as he parked, which sent dad into a panic. She was supposed to go into the restaurant, where Marissa, Kate and I would surprise her and dad would drive right back home. So dad parked, got out of the car, and started waving furiously at mom to go into the restaurant already. Again mom just sighed, shrugged, and dutifully went inside where we were able to surprise her good, and dad was allowed to drive away in peace. All three of us got her matching presents to open after we placed our orders. First, a shawl, since she's been saying she'd like to start wearing more of them. Second, a book from the Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker. She and I had watched a couple of the Jesse Stone films on Netflix and every single time she would say 'these are so good, I'd really like to read the books they're based on!'.DSC_7691p DSC_7690p
After dinner we hit the mall, and then headed back to our place and watched Les Mis with Sander and Andrew. Andrew and Marissa & kids spent the night at our house, and the next morning Marissa and I headed over to Macey's to get all the donuts we'd need to feed a small army, stuck some candles in 'em, and headed over to mom's (after we collected the men & kids of course), where we sang Happy Birthday and mom got to blow out the candles on her donut platter.DSC_7679p DSC_7674p DSC_7684p DSC_7706p DSC_7708 DSC_7704p
I hope it was a Birthday to remember for our favorite mom, the best mom and grandma the world, and definitely one of the major reasons we wanted to move here. Love you mom!


Apr 12, 2013

rainbow bright

Here's another little something I knit recently. This silk/cotton yarn was the first yarn I ever bought that wasn't cheap acrylic from the Zeeman. I bought it at this delightful little shop in downtown Den Haag called Woool. I used it to make little baby booties for little baby Bidjai just before we emigrated, and then it emigrated right along with me to this house, where it has been sitting in my yarn cupboard just waiting to be turned into something fun. Well, it waits no more and is now worn by Lara and Julia when they are feeling like brightening up their outfit by a lot.
Rainbow Hat Rainbow Hat  


On a side note, I'd like to share something amazing with all you language nerds. Check out this list:
  1. Business of Ferrets
  2. Labor of Moles
  3. Mustering of Storks
  4. Shrewdness of Apes
  5. Gam of Whales
  6. Smack of Jellyfish
  7. Host of Angels
  8. Fusillade of Bullets
  9. A Baptism of Fire
  10. Quiver of Arrows
  11. Tissue of lies
  12. Murder of Crows
  13. Unkindness of Ravens
  14. Dule of Doves
  15. Clowder, Cluster, or Clutter of Cats
  16. Kindle of Kittens
  17. Mute of Hounds
  18. Pass of Asses
  19. Ostentation of Peacocks
  20. Team of Ducks (when flying)
  21. Paddling of Ducks (when on water)
  22. Trip of Goats
  23. Sloth, or Sleuth, of Bears
  24. Charm of Finches
  25. Hill of Beans
  26. String of Ponies
  27. Hand of Bananas
  28. College of Cardinals
  29. Shock of Corn
  30. Band of Men
  31. Knot of Toads
  32. Wedge of Swans (when flying)
  33. Parliament of Owls
  34. Superfluity of Nuns
  35. Abominable Sight of Monks
  36. Untruth of Summoners
  37. Doctrine of Doctors
  38. Damning of Jurors
  39. Sentence of Judges
  40. A Rascal of Boys
  41. A Gaggle of Women
  42. A Gaggle of Gossips
  43. An Impatience of Wives
  44. A Tabernacle of Bakers
  45. A Poverty of Pipers
  46. A Fighting of Beggars
  47. A Neverthriving of Jugglers
  48. A Herd of Harlots
  49. A Worship of Writers
  50. Hastiness of Cook 
I ask you, how great is that??? A business of ferrets? A tissue of lies? A SUPERFLUITY OF NUNS! I love it, and I'm keeping this handy right here for when I need to reference it.

Apr 11, 2013

thursdays

Thursdays are starting to be incredibly good days for me, for the following reason: Thursdays have become Sander's set day to work from home. Now I don't know if I've ever expressed this properly, but let me take this opportunity to tell you that I have the best husband in the world. You may think yours is great, but I tell you, mine is better! On these Thursdays he does things like sneak out of bed early because he knows I won't wake up unless an alarm goes off or I am otherwise violently awoken. He then proceeds to get all the kids out of bed, dressed, fed, and ready for school. By the time I wake up, which happened to be 8.30 this morning, the house is all quiet an peaceful because he's taken all four kids with him to drive the girls to school.
Another thing he does is take me out to lunch, or he'll go and pick up a yummy lunch for us from that place he knows I love. And sometimes, after lunch when we've put Elliot down for his nap, and Max is in his room for his daily 'quiet playtime', he'll tell me to go out and enjoy some time alone. Last week I went and saw a movie with my mom, and the week before I was able to go to the mall and window shop for what seemed like a blissful eternity (but what was in fact 90 minutes).
I think it's only fair that I let him know that when I am out like that, really I am just looking forward to coming back home to kiss my handsome husband. I can just see him reading that  last sentence - he giggles like a 13-year-old girl every time I call him handsome! And even though he was there when I recorded it (he's my camera man), I wanted to post this song here and dedicate it to him.

Sander, I just wanna hold your hand!

Apr 2, 2013

hippity hoppity, happy easter day

Because of the beautiful weather and the cuteness of the children and the brightness of the Easter colors, I couldn't help myself with the camera and took an obscene amount of pictures. I now present you with a 'small' selection. Seriously, this is like a fourth of what I actually have. Somebody stop me. The sequence of events was as follows: Hunting for the eggs - eating everything inside the eggs - running around on a sugar high and getting spun/thrown around by Andrew - dog piling on Sander. Enjoy (heaven knows we did!).
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