iPad update

Here are the last couple of months' iPad photo highlights.

the infirmary

Two cases of strep throat in the Koot home, and counting. Since they all shared a lollipop yesterday I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time before we get the next diagnosis. For now it's Julia (the instigatress) and Lara, who I'm pretty sure became sick from sheer willpower when she noticed Julia got to stay home from school, watch cartoons, and eat ice cream and yogurts all day.

So this is my life right now: warm little cuddly bodies draped on couches/beds/floors all over the place demanding more water, more ice cream, more Spongebob, more medicine, more blankets, and constant coughing and sniffling. Then there's the boys, one of which didn't get home until 11pm last night because of the basketball game, so you can imagine the mood he is in. And finally, because of icy roads and traffic jams all the way to work, Sander is staying home for now.

The part that makes me feel like a bad mom: I'm kind of enjoying this.

Gotta go, Julia is out of ice cream.

new year's eve

Just because we're three weeks into the new year, doesn't mean we can't still share pictures of new year's eve! Our new year's eve was a success because:
1. We shared it with family (oma Marianne and uncle Maarten) and friends (Jean, our sweet neighbor)
2. We played games.
3. We had a surplus of delicious things to eat. My favorite: the cream puffs!
4. We had some fireworks. Mind you, in comparison to the Dutch mayhem we're used to this was pretty lame, but it was still bright sparkly things in the middle of the night, so it put a smile on especially the kids' faces.
5. For the first time in our lives we watched the ball drop in New York City.
6. When we decided to call it a night, it was actually quiet enough outside to sleep!

going rogue with dad

random picture of some origami I did the other day

Last night was a good night. Last night didn't start out as a good night, but rather as a very average night. Like the ones when you were 14 and it was a Thursday night during the school year - not quite Monday night, but definitely no Friday night either. The kids had worn me down with their "I don't wanna eat thiiiiis" and "He's looking at me agaaaiiiin", I had an intense workout in the morning and basically I was just beat. I felt like being in the house was in fact prolonging that feeling and I decided I needed to get out of it to relax. After a quick check of movie times I found that Les Miserables was playing at 7:45pm. It was then 7:00pm - perfect. I called mom to see if she could be persuaded to join me but she was a 7 on the scale of 1-10 of tired, so that was a no-go. Her mind was still working quicker than mine though, and she quickly asked dad if he felt like going with me. "Sure!", was his immediate reply, and a smile appeared on my face.

Off we were, each with a secret can of soda stowed away, and the theater refill bucket for some popcorn. Dad kindly offered to pay for the tickets, and then we were walking into the darkened auditorium... where the movie was already playing. Wait, weren't we on time? Shouldn't these be previews? Did we step into the wrong auditorium?? Dad checked the tickets. Right auditorium... but.. showtime 9:45pm? I know I'm a spacer, but surely I didn't make a mistake THAT big!

Well, I did and I am officially an idiot. There we were, popcorn in hand, with 2 whole hours to spare. So we did what any self-respecting individual would do: we went rogue. We marched right into the next auditorium like it was nobody's business (it helped that there was nobody around) and sat down to pass the time... and whatever you do, never go see 'A Haunted House'. We walked out on that disaster after all of 5 minutes. We moved on to next door and ended up watching most of This is 40 (does a movie about parenting really need to feature THAT much bad language? Talk about dumbing down...) before sitting back down in the first auditorium, this time as the previews began to roll. Can I just make an official declaration right now that my dad is so much fun to hang out with. Add that to the list of 'things my 16-year-old self would never believe she'd be saying as an adult'! I come from a long line of airheads - all on my dad's side - so he understood my mistake, shrugged, and just went with it. Exactly what I needed.

And Les Mis? Amazing. The idea of Russell Crowe singing his way through a movie had me reaaaally hesitant, but it worked. And I was lucky I happened to have a pack of tissues in my bag, because it is officially the biggest tearjerker I have ever seen.

I even got to hear a new Ryan Adams song at the end of This is 40, which sealed the night with an official Mark of Awesome. Thanks dad :)

life lately

I have been busy collecting some favorite images to put on our bedroom wall. Now most of them are up and Sander and I love how much personality it adds to our space.
Being a mom you sure stumble across some interesting scenes...
Converse hi-tops: officially the only shoes that Elliot cannot take off his feet by himself. Totally worth paying a little more than I normally would on toddler shoes!

This week I decided to get a little more adventurous on the cooking front. I have eaten tofu a ton of times before, but never actually cooked with it. Garbanzo beans on the other hand, I had never even heard of. I knew chickpeas.... and the nice lady in the canned goods aisle at the supermarket kindly told me they are in fact one and the same. Learn something new every day. After some rearranging around the house I decided that since we had an extra queen bed, and the girls' room is so large, I may as well let the girls each have their own bed. So I found some of the extra bedding we were given when we moved into this place, found an extra little night stand, and made Lara a cosy little nook where she can keep all her own trinkets and things. The only problem is that now Julia is very jealous of the pinkness of that bedding.. something I suspect will have to be fixed around the time of her 8th Birthday this coming July. 

Sometimes we have a big breakfast and the stacks of pancakes start towering and .. well, we have an inappropriate sense of humor.