Big girl, small shoes

Amber has achieved something that took many months (years?), tears and a whole lot of courage.
For that she deserved a reward...




















Tiny shoes that are impossible to walk on!
She was like Cinderella's step-sister trying to wriggle into these, but you should see how happy she looks when she has them on :))

Now what was the big project that we finally managed to tackle? She now sleeps without a nappy (diaper for you Americans) and that's a BIG deal!
It's been a long road for her, but apparently the time was right now. It's been more of a mental struggle than a physical one; she was just scared to go to sleep without a nappy.















However, on Monday morning -after another dry night- she earned her final sticker and that was that.




















We're so proud of you, little big girl!!




















Simon fell out of the tree... does he care? No way!




















And how do you like my new sunglasses? These were the only remotely normal ones that I could find!! Michel now calls me Queen Bee Bling Bling. Well, this will be the summer of the bee then :)

I *heart* England!

And that's why I've just booked our flight to London!

I'm so excited that it's definite now after lots of thinking and planning... and I'm so looking forward to it :))

I don't know what I like best of everything:

• spending time with my sister (and my youngest sister might join us too)
• going away with Michel
• stay out late, go on long walks, do lots of shopping --> do everything you can't do with kids around
• embrace EVERYthing English

Oh and do you know what more? I might even meet up with a very lovely fellow blogger! Anyone else wants to meet up somewhere in the vicinity of London/Oxford between 4 and 8 April?! It'll be fun!















These hearts were designed and cut out by Amber. She also did a bit of sewing until she grew tired of it.

Old and expensive

Bit of a dubious title ;)




















Today we went here.
Michel heard about this place that sells old building materials that are saved from demolition.
It was quite a magical place. Old treasures stacked up everywhere. You simply didn't know where to look first. Very expensive stuff though (I held on to Simon tightly!).

Staircases.




















Lots of beautiful tiles.




















Amazing doors.




















The main reason why we went there was to look for a dining table that they make from different kinds of wood. We loved the tables: simple, old, solid. Prices varied from € 700-€1400. Something to think about.















Here I am on the road:















And we haven't booked yet, but we're definitely going to England in April :))

A bright day

This was today:















And this was last week:

Nothing changes like the weather, right?!















When I came home from work, I received this wonderfully sweet present from Amy. Amber complained: 'Oh no, not ANOTHER package for mum!' Such a lovely Valentines gift, thank you so much Amy!! You and your stash are just the best! And I can assure you that the fabric will be put to good use. Like the other fabrics you sent me:


I made this little princess tote for Amber last week.

It really was a bright day today, filled with sunshine and signs of spring approaching. I just had to take some garden photos...what will the garden look like in a couple of months time?!















This tree was filled with ladybirds. A little get-together to discuss their plans for the summer (we did just that today and will hopefully be going to France in August)?!

Moo's the best!

Today my mini-cards arrived!!!
They are so cute, I love them :)))















I picked out 12 different photos. Some turned out a little better than others, but I still think they're all wonderful.















I'm already brainstorming of what I can do with them other than using them as a tag on a gift or something.. oh the possibilities!

Other great mail: 50 bundles of bias tape scored on Ebay. I can't help it, but this makes me happy! I'd better think of a good way to use up all that bias tape though ;)















And and and, I made a new bib today. I finally managed to sort out enough space in my craftroom to put the sewing machine back in its place... I'm definitely on right path here!




















Oh AND! I've now lost 7 kilos!!

A day of fun and inspiration

Yesterday we went to Deventer, a town that we love to visit.
Michel in fact loves it so much that he always shouts that he wants to live there.



We had lunch (a healthy salad!) in a wonderful cafe that serves delicious high teas and real English food like crumpets.

We then went shopping in the little streets off the main shopping area. We came across such delightful shops selling such cute things!



I thought these lights looked wonderful so I took a photo. Later I saw that they were Tord Boontje...check out the website because this Dutch designer makes the most beautiful things.

I bought a couple of metres of oilcloth from Kitsch Kitchen and even managed to find some new shoes (not my favourite thing to do)!



We then had dinner at oma & oma's. They're leaving for Australia today to visit Michel's sister who lives there. I am worried about their flight though, because we're experiencing some very bad wheather here today (storm). Hopefully they won't be delayed too long.



And I've been tagged to share six weird things about myself, but since I think I'm the most normal person in the world, I need tonight to sleep on it ;))

This 'n that

The past three days have been filled with cleaning, sorting, biking, sewing and not thinking about chocolate. To begin with the last, the diet is going very well... -4,5 kilos already! I'm proud to say that I've been very strict, not even licking my fingers when I made sandwiches for the children.

Ofcourse I've been trying out my bike lots. On Sunday we went for a proper tour. I started out with Simon in front and Amber behind, later Amber switched to Michel's bike. Man, it feels good to be cycling again... I even used it to do the weekend shopping!




















And I can't tell you how much fun it is to have Simon so close to me. I never had that with Amber, she was always sitting in the backseat.
The only thing was that when we got home the children were very cold... luckily they defrosted over a cup of hot chocolate. Sorry babes, we'll put on more clothes next time!















The bit of sewing that I did was a new blanket. We needed another one, because Michel and I kept fighting over the one we had.




















I haven't been able to take decent photos of it, because there was hardly any light and the blanket was already wrinkled from use. I love the colours though, nice and bright and hardly any orange or yellow in it ;)) I will add it to my collection.
I wished it were this easy to transform my sofa!



And last but not least, have you heard of MOO yet? They make mini-cards that I think are supercute! I just ordered 100 using my Flickr-photos and I can't wait to get them!

Ready for Christmas

Our tree was bought and decorated as planned yesterday... Christmas may come now!!
I love how a christmas tree gives your house an instant extra cozy glow.

We put in all decorations that we collected over the years, a wonderful mix of handmade, storebought and given things.
















New to our home is this nativity set by Dick Bruna. None of us are religious, but we all (and by that I probably mean everyone in Holland) love the Dick Bruna design, which for us justifies having baby Jesus in the house :)




















Here is a photo of Simon reading his book this morning. We had to move the furniture around a bit to make room for the tree, which is why this sofa is now at the other side of the room. I really like it this way; it's nice to have a change now and then!

















These are last years' stars that I used in a different way now.
All I have to do now is start making Christmas presents!

Sentimental journey

Everytime we go to Weesp (with almost always a stop at the ice-cream salon) we go on a sentimental journey.
At almost every buiding, shop, bridge etc. we stop and say:"Do you remember when...?" The place turns us into right geriatrics, but we just love it :)

We lived in Weesp from December 1998 to January 2001. It was our first little apartment together. It was tiny and our stuff hardly fitted in there (we've always been hoarders) but we loved it.
The view from our kitchenwindow was delightful: two windmills.


We spent two very happy years there. I studied in Amsterdam, Michel in Utrecht. Michel quit his studies and started a job, I began my dissertation. We got married. Then I was pregnant, and unfortunately that was the end of Weesp. There was NO WAY we could have fitted another human being in that little house, even if it were a baby. Luckily we were able to find a bigger apartment quickly.


Still, that little town along the river will always have a special place in our hearts. I hope we'll keep coming back there for a long time to come! And of course bore the children with all our sentimental talk :))


Click on the photos to see the descriptions and notes!

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*The result of the big hat drawing... Mijk & LittleSnoring will also receive a surprise from me!*

Grand dessert

First of all let me say thank you for the warm welcome-back you all gave me! Now I'm really in the mood for blogging again :)))
I'm going to draw the other two names for the presents tomorrow, so if you want to be included in the drawing then tell me!

Today I fancied going to my favourite ice-cream salon. Luckily for me it wasn't difficult to persuade the rest of the family to go.


We all enjoyed our ice-creams and finished every last bit of it!!


Some more photos here.

8 days a week

Shame on me... 8 days without blogging!!
I'm so behind with everything... reading blogs, commenting, replying to e-mail. But also: housekeeping, paying bills, cooking proper meals, spending time with the children. I suppose this is what it's like when you work full-time :)
I'm not complaining though, I know this is only temporarily and I'm still very happy about the new job.

Anyway, back to bussiness! Let me introduce to you Pandior, the beautiful BT3-softie that came in the mail last week all the way from Australia.



Isn't she gorgeous?! The detail is stunning, which is especially clever when you know that it really is a very small softie. She arrived carrying her own handbag with a tiny bunny in it... so very cute!

There were also lovely presents for me (I believe I'm now the proud owner of three wonderful pieces of Japanese fabric, yay!).

And even some for the kids. This was particularly sweet, since the package arrived on Amber's birthday. Again, look at the detail... it's absolutely stunning!

Thank you so very much for this wonderful package, Amber!! I'm so happy to have had you as my BT-partner :)) And I know you're bit worried about your little Pandior... but I can assure you that she's already feeling quite at home in her new country. Here she is cheering on the Dutch team in the football World Cup!


My own BT-package is still in the mail, but hopefully Jack will arrive very soon at his new home!