Well, we had the party and it was a huge success! Everyone came and then some, as Kai and Katja had a friend over too, so at one point there were 21 kids! The magician was great, he really knew how to do crowd control, as especially one little boy kept getting up and trying to get things and all he needed to do was say "Will, sit down" and the boy would listen. The highlight of the show was when he pulled a live bunny out of a hat, which the kids could pet afterwards. Though many kids thought the goldfish Saskia got for a gift during one of the tricks was pretty cool too. Rick and I were less thrilled, it's not like we need another pet!
We had pizza and cake afterwards and after 2 hours everyone went home again. Saskia was very happy, she got great gifts (many crafts, yay!) and she loved the magician.
Yesterday I ran around all day. After my workout
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Saskia's birthday and an icestorm! Well, we won't forget her 7th birthday for sure. Yesterday the prediction was for some ice, but today of course it looks worse than they predicted, so now we have to determine whether we will have her party this afternoon, at 4, or will postpone it will Monday.
I'd prefer today, but I guess we'll make the call around noon.
The schools are closed and all my plans for today scratched. There shouldn't be too many more of these days before Christmas, or things will not be ready. On the other hand, sleeping in in the middle of the week is something I can easily get used to! And thankfully Rick's early morning meeting was canceled, as I was worried about him having to walk to the metro, not because of his walking, but because of crazy drivers.
Now let me wax poetically about my 7 year old! I can't believe she's 7! My baby! I'm so glad to see she's keeping her sunny personality. She has a smile for everyone and chats readily with kids and adults. She's overall a very happy child. Her smile went through a change recently though, when she lost both front teeth at the same time and now the adult teeth are growing in.
She is still petite, hasn't gone through a major growth spurt yet, like Katja at her age. She is in size 6X, which is usually still big on her.
She is 100% girlish, plays with Barbies and Fashion Polly's, loves beautiful clothes, make up and hair things. We just recently redecorated her room to a more "grown up" theme. She chose a blue to aqua pattern with little white flowers and natural wood for her furniture. I painted her window wall aqua. This also marked the first time in years that she's sleeping in her own bed and not in a sleeping bag next to my bed. In the beginning, I really missed that little body next to me.
Kai and she are like water and oil many times and then suddenly are the best of friends. We know several families who have kids of the same ages as the two of them, so frequently brothers and sisters are playing together.
She's an eager learner at school, reading quite well already and happily doing her homework every weekend. She is just a delight to have, very cuddly and quick to kiss her mommy and daddy. A true gift to us!
I'd prefer today, but I guess we'll make the call around noon.
The schools are closed and all my plans for today scratched. There shouldn't be too many more of these days before Christmas, or things will not be ready. On the other hand, sleeping in in the middle of the week is something I can easily get used to! And thankfully Rick's early morning meeting was canceled, as I was worried about him having to walk to the metro, not because of his walking, but because of crazy drivers.
Now let me wax poetically about my 7 year old! I can't believe she's 7! My baby! I'm so glad to see she's keeping her sunny personality. She has a smile for everyone and chats readily with kids and adults. She's overall a very happy child. Her smile went through a change recently though, when she lost both front teeth at the same time and now the adult teeth are growing in.
She is still petite, hasn't gone through a major growth spurt yet, like Katja at her age. She is in size 6X, which is usually still big on her.
She is 100% girlish, plays with Barbies and Fashion Polly's, loves beautiful clothes, make up and hair things. We just recently redecorated her room to a more "grown up" theme. She chose a blue to aqua pattern with little white flowers and natural wood for her furniture. I painted her window wall aqua. This also marked the first time in years that she's sleeping in her own bed and not in a sleeping bag next to my bed. In the beginning, I really missed that little body next to me.
Kai and she are like water and oil many times and then suddenly are the best of friends. We know several families who have kids of the same ages as the two of them, so frequently brothers and sisters are playing together.
She's an eager learner at school, reading quite well already and happily doing her homework every weekend. She is just a delight to have, very cuddly and quick to kiss her mommy and daddy. A true gift to us!
Monday, December 09, 2002
Well, it did snow! We got 6 inches and it stayed cold, so there is a lot left of it. The kids had 2 snowdays off from school and that was a lot of fun.
We had a little bit of an adventure with Saskia though, as she sledded down a hill into a deckpole with the back of her head. Afterwards, she got a huge bump and complained of a headache. When she was still complaining of a headache the next morning, we took her to the doctor. They didn't think it was anything to worry about, but I hate to think what could have happened! After Katja's hitting the wall sledding at the school with her head last year, the new rule in this house is sledding with a helmet on!
We had a superbusy weekend, on Saturday we celebrated Sinterklaas with Chuck, Christine, Mallory and my dad. We had postponed from Thursday because of the snow. On Thursday the five of us did a mini celebration, giving each other a small gift with a poem and eating some Sinterklaas candy. Saturday's celebration was great! The poems were very funny and everyone had a good time.
Yesterday, we first took Brynna, our dog, to the vet, as she was panting and trembling and wanting to lie in my lap and when we let her outside, she was lying in the snow. Clearly, something was wrong. The vet did bloodwork (to the tune of $$$$!), but couldn't really find anything wrong with her, except for what she always has: elevated liver enzymes. Today, she was still as bad, so we took her to our own vet, where she still is. She seems to have pain near her back, so now they're giving her pain medication, see if that helps.
The vet yesterday would keep her for a few hours, so in the meantime we went shopping for our Salvation Army tree angels at the mall. The kids each select an angel their age and we buy toys and clothes for them. I'm always happy to see how much effort the kids put into selecting something their "angel" would like.
After all this and picking Brynna up again, we went to the Santa Clause 2 movie. It was a cute movie, lots of loose ends at the end though, like, what was Mrs. Clause going to do with her life now?
Today I've been busy with mundane stuff such as childcare, laundry and tree decorating.
Funny things they say: Saskia and I were in the car together after dropping Katja off for basketball practice, when Saskia said: "Mammie, why are people people?" and then she went on to say "I always think that when I'm in the bathroom and sometimes when I'm not in the bathroom, but I don't know the answer" :). Needless to say, I don't know the answer either. If anyone has a good one, I'd like to hear it!
We had a little bit of an adventure with Saskia though, as she sledded down a hill into a deckpole with the back of her head. Afterwards, she got a huge bump and complained of a headache. When she was still complaining of a headache the next morning, we took her to the doctor. They didn't think it was anything to worry about, but I hate to think what could have happened! After Katja's hitting the wall sledding at the school with her head last year, the new rule in this house is sledding with a helmet on!
We had a superbusy weekend, on Saturday we celebrated Sinterklaas with Chuck, Christine, Mallory and my dad. We had postponed from Thursday because of the snow. On Thursday the five of us did a mini celebration, giving each other a small gift with a poem and eating some Sinterklaas candy. Saturday's celebration was great! The poems were very funny and everyone had a good time.
Yesterday, we first took Brynna, our dog, to the vet, as she was panting and trembling and wanting to lie in my lap and when we let her outside, she was lying in the snow. Clearly, something was wrong. The vet did bloodwork (to the tune of $$$$!), but couldn't really find anything wrong with her, except for what she always has: elevated liver enzymes. Today, she was still as bad, so we took her to our own vet, where she still is. She seems to have pain near her back, so now they're giving her pain medication, see if that helps.
The vet yesterday would keep her for a few hours, so in the meantime we went shopping for our Salvation Army tree angels at the mall. The kids each select an angel their age and we buy toys and clothes for them. I'm always happy to see how much effort the kids put into selecting something their "angel" would like.
After all this and picking Brynna up again, we went to the Santa Clause 2 movie. It was a cute movie, lots of loose ends at the end though, like, what was Mrs. Clause going to do with her life now?
Today I've been busy with mundane stuff such as childcare, laundry and tree decorating.
Funny things they say: Saskia and I were in the car together after dropping Katja off for basketball practice, when Saskia said: "Mammie, why are people people?" and then she went on to say "I always think that when I'm in the bathroom and sometimes when I'm not in the bathroom, but I don't know the answer" :). Needless to say, I don't know the answer either. If anyone has a good one, I'd like to hear it!
