Valentines Day 2010

Valentines Day weekend was great. It started out with a wonderful snow storm on Friday. We have not had snow like this in years. So as you can imagine I was very excited about it. Then Saturday night Terry and I got to go out on a date. Yes, you read that correct- we went out on a date without kids:) We went on a double date with our friends Jody & Melia. We went to this authentic Japanese restaurant "Inakaya". Terry & I stuck to a pretty basic meal while Jody & Melia chose the BOAT which came with all kinds of fish (including Sushi). Terry & I have never had any kind of Sushi so we had to try some. I stuck to the basic: Crab & avocado and rice and some kind of seaweed. I did NOT like it. I guess it was he seaweed or something but it just didn't taste good. YUK! Well, Terry was a little more adventurouse because he actually tried the RAW fish. As you can tell from the picture below he did NOT like it. So, needless to say...I don't think we will be going back to Inakaya soon. I was really hoping I would like Sushi but I do not. Oh well, we did have a good time. After dinner we went to Barnes & Noble and had some coffee and just talked. It was really nice. I hope to do it again soon. But I think we are going to chose the restaurant next. Anyone know of a good Indian restaurant around here???



As for the picture of the boxes, those were the kids Valentines gifts to their class mates. Since I have 3 kids in school this year I had to make...60+ boxes. I had so much fun. My niece even helped me (Thanks Emily- I had fun). The kids loved them too.










Then on Sunday we had ou Family Valentines Day Dinner. I really got into it. A few weeks ago I was in World Market and found this past in shapes of hearts. So we had spaghetti with RED sauce and those noodles. For dessert I made brownies cut with heart shaped cookie cutters. I had a lot of fun preparing it. Joel on the other hand... He said, "Mom, you get more into this holiday then you do for Christmas". Hey, I love my family and had fun with the theme. I even made him eat off a pink plate. But he got me- he turned it over so it was white. AHHHH!!! But it was a very nice dinner:)

The 2010 Snow Storm

So Friday night was the night the BIG storm of 2010 hit in South Carolina!!! I know for you Northerners 8.6" is nothing. But down here in the south it is a VERY big thing. The kids got out of school an hour early (it wasn't even snowing yet) but we Southerners have to prepare!!! So around 3:30pm (I believe) it started snowing and it didn't stop until about midnight. As you an imagine we had LOTS of fun Saturdy morning/afternoon. The kids (and adults) ate a quick breakfast and went outside. We all had a BLAST-including Nellie:)

I WON!!!

I can't believe it. I never win anything. But a couple of weeks ago I found this blog called "Free Pretty things for you"
(http://www.freeprettythingsforyou.com/) and she was having a giveaway. The giveaway was the Martha Stewart Noah's Ark Cookie Cutter Set!! So yesterday I noticed that she had picked a winner and I went to go check and it was ME!!! I am so excited.
Thank you Keren!! I can't wait to start using them.

History.

So, this past weekend my sister Marjolein (who still lives in NL) stopped by our old neighborhood where we used to live in Holland. I have to say, I am so jelouse. Looking at these pictures makes me want to go visit Holland so badly and show my kids and my husband where I grew up and what life is/was like in Holland. While she was there, she took lots of pictures of our old house and also my Oma's old house. The lady that lives in our old house actually came outside to talk to Marjolein and she invited her in (but didn't take any pictures of the inside) and also let her take pictures of the back yard and some of our neighbors house. Enjoy the pictures.


View of our back yard from our neighbor's upstairs.





De Zuiker Fabriek (The Sugar Factory)


Neighbor's houses


Back yard of our house.










Front of the house (still has the ladder on the roof that I used to climb back into my room)


Street name


Oma's house





Church across from our neighborhood

Back to work!

Now that things have gone back to normal-kids are back at school, huband is back at work and all extended family is back home, I started watching Alina again. Yesterday was her first day back. She was a bit shy at first just kind of sat in the living room and played with some toys. Then it was nap time and she took a wondrful nap. After nap, was the BIG test. I had to feed her her bottle. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about is...she has a BIG problem taking a bottle from people other then her mom or dad. So I prayed HARD before I gave it to her. And guess what....she took her bottle:)I was so excited. After she was done eating she started exploring and moving around. She is so much fun to watch. She scoots her bottom across the floor if she wants to go somewhere. Very cute. So, of course I had to take pictures of Josiah and "Lila" together. Josiah feels like he is such a big boy-he wanted to hold her in his lap. He would be a GREAT big brother...but that is not going to happen:) Here are some pictures of the day!ENJOY!

Chile for dinner is GREAT when it is cold outside and your kids make it for you!

Yesterday we were at Oma's house and we decided to make Chile for dinner. The kids wanted to help and since they are getting pretty good with chopping the peppers and onions I decided to let them. They had a lot of fun and I guess it is true...when you let them cook with you they are more likely to eat it:) We all enjoyed it very much. Thanks Joel and Riley for making a wonderful dinner!