Day 138: Rituals

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I was driving today and inserted this cool little RITUALS air freshener into my air vent. Patti Beth gave it to me as a hostess gift and I just loved the whole idea of it. It made me think of my daily rituals and what your daily rituals might be like.

First, isn’t it such a nice gesture to bring a hostess a gift to thank her for inviting you to her home? Not that she needs a gift nor does it have to be something extravagant, but it’s such a nice little ritual, don’t you think? The Dutch are very good at bringing flowers when they come to your house for a visit. I love this ritual, don’t you?

Another ritual I am loving right now is playing cards with my mama. She just got back from a trip to Italy and I’ve missed playing cards with her. I’ve been buying her cards from the different cities we visit and this deck was from our Rome trip together. I love her hands and her charm bracelet. But her beating me all the time, that’s getting old!

What are some of your favorite rituals? Do you send out holiday cards – either before or after the new Year or not at all? I love this ritual and hope to get ours out this year. And I’m loving receiving your cards too! Thanks, my friends!!

9Dec2012

Day 137: Christmas at Keukenhof Castle

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Sometimes I think writing this blog helps me to not be lazy. For example, today would have been a good day to just stay inside. But that would be a boring way to spend the day, and even more boring to write about. Plus even when I think I want to be lazy at the house doing nothing, I’m always doing something so I might as well do something I want to do versus the nothing I think I want to do…if that makes any sense?!?

Jeff and I went for a 40 minute run in the rain. The snow has melted but the rain kept coming. Part of the trails and streets were covered in ice and frozen and other parts were slushy or dry.We had to slow down in a few spots so as not to fall. I am surprisingly enjoying running – it gives us another thing to do together, which is what I was wishing for back in January. Who knew we’d have to move to Holland to discover time to work out together? I’m not complaining!

Later in the day we took the kids to the Keukenhof Castle. The Keukenhof is known for their flower gardens in the spring. And at Christmas time, they have Christmas markets which is like a county fair along the little roads near the mansion.

Inside the mansion, you could pay extra for a walking tour of the first floor. Good thing is that they didn’t charge for kids to go in – just adults. Each room was decorated with grandiose floral arrangements and art.

It reminded me of the Mother’s Day tea party at Filoli Gardens that Marcia and I enjoyed this year.

Although Filoli would be like champagne and Keukenhof would be like apple juice. Night and day difference in the quality and detail of the exhibits.

Outside, there were tents set up with vendors selling their wares. There was a very childlike circus and miniature ponies.

I liked the Wiener trick slide and seeing Santa Claus.

I tried the Gluiwijn – or warm wine for the first time, which was interesting. They had fire pots burning along the walkways to keep people warm – something else you wouldn’t see back home!!

They were unprotected and crowds could easily run into them.

I was the only one who wanted to visit with Santa Claus!! Can you believe that? Luckily they were all good sports and joined me anyway. I told Santa that it might be just him and I, but soon the rest didn’t disappoint! Santa is a newer concept in Holland and he even asked us if we knew when he arrived. They had a Coca-Cola elf assisting Santa who would take our picture with our camera.

There wasn’t a professional photographer charging us 30euros for a 5×7 which was really nice.

At the end, we all enjoyed another Oliebollen, and this time they were still warm! What a treat!

Merry Christmas!!

8Dec2012

Day 136: What’s Good About All Day Basketball Tryouts?

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We had to set an alarm on a Saturday morning. Christian had to be at school by 7:45 am to catch the team bus to the Hague for a mini-basketball tournament. Juliana had to be at school by 9 am for her all day mini-tournament at her school. They have had try-outs for the last two weeks and after today, the coaches were supposed to make a decision. I felt it to be important that we were there to watch and cheer and support our kids, so Jeff and I split up to make this happen.

Since we have one car, Jeff came back after dropping off Christian to pick up Charlie, Juliana and I and to drop us off at school by 9 am, before he left for the day to watch Christian. Charlie and I stayed to watch Juliana play ALL DAY! Well, actually, Charlie got lucky as his friend’s dad came to pick him up for a play date around lunch time and kept him until after dinner. I was lucky too (I guess) to be able to make new friends and chat with “old” friends while we sat on hard, cold bleachers all day, cheering on our kids!!

I love kid sports for several reasons, but my favorite (selfish) part is probably the community feeling of being together and cheering on our kids, collectively. I get just excited for my friends’ kids as my own. I cheer loudly and get excited and feel the pain when someone gets hurt and want to jump up at the ref when a call is incorrect and cheer loudly when my kid scores or passes and assists. I feel passionately about the whole thing… except when I have to sit there for 6 hours! Today dragged on a little longer past my comfort zone, but I did have fun nevertheless.

I liked seeing my friends and familiar faces. I had fun chatting with the other parents and hearing the stay-at-home dad’s talk about their new crock pot purchase and plans to attend the Let’s Cook Indian food session next month. I haven’t spent too much time with stay at home dad’s and have such an admiration and appreciation for them and their wives and families and am so curious about their choices. I enjoyed hearing their wives talk about their careers and travels and having time to just all be gathered for the same purpose – to support our kids and our community. I think sports are a wonderful thing and am so glad my kids are choosing to play so I can hang out with my new friends!!

I had fun watching Charlie make friends with the younger siblings and sharing snacks and playing outside in the snow. The boys went out to the soccer field and had snow ball fights and played tag before coming back in to warm up.

I love that there is a booster club and that parents volunteer to donate and sell snacks and drinks and make a little extra money for the school.

I love all of it (except for 6 hours of it at once!) and I love that Cami gave my kids and I a ride home afterwards so we didn’t have to wait in the cold for a tram, even if the commute is short. It’s great to have friends!!

Life is Good.

p.s. Good news! Christian made the travel team, and next week we find out if Juliana made the travel team, as well! I hate waiting and hope she makes it too – Travel here we come! Congratulations Christian! I’m so proud of you!!

8Dec2012

Day 135: Snow Day = No School = Joy

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Last night at around 10 pm we received a text from the kids school saying school was cancelled due to the expected weather. I was excited!

I actually like a change in my routine and actually enjoy my kids (most of the time!!) and was hoping it would really snow so that we could all play in it. My wish came true.

We all slept in and awoke without alarm clocks. I made a yummy breakfast scramble with bacon and cheese and toast for all of us. And then we headed outside to play and build snowballs and Fred – our snowman.

We haven’t been to the snow in quite awhile and it was a real treat for us. We all were laughing and playing with it for quite awhile. There is something very calming about the snow that I love. None of us complained about being cold or wet either, which was a surprise. I guess we were having too much fun to think about those things.

Afterwards, Juliana and I baked cupcakes and I made a pot of chicken noodle soup for lunch. We had a lazy, indoor day which was perfect!!

I always have wanted to watch a movie in the middle of the day and I never do because I can’t sit still and usually have a to do list I can’t ignore. But today I finally chose the movie as my to do… What a treat! I watched The Holiday after some friends said they loved it. It was cute!

And then finally at 6pm I got dressed for the day so we could join some friends for dinner. Date night was really nice and I enjoyed the adult conversation, drinks and delicious food.

Life is good!! And the snow day was pretty awesome!

7Dec2012

Day 134: Snow and Ice and No School

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We woke up this morning to see blankets of snow. Cars were covered with it as well as the streets. Never having lived in the snow, the kids and I were excited and giddy. A few snowballs were thrown before school. Luckily Jeff grew up with snow and was prepared to scrape off the windshield and heat up the car for me. I, on the other hand, hate to be cold and wonder if I’ll ever get used to it?!? And I hear its not even that cold yet!!

Jeff drove the kids to school today because the roads were icy and he taught me what to expect and what to watch out for. Everyone was driving extra slowly.

The best part of today was actually getting out of the house and going for a 45 minute run together after dropping off the kids. I didn’t want to go because it was freezing out but I also didn’t want to be a wimp! It would have been really easy to make an excuse not to go, but I didn’t and was happy with my decision. The sun was out, the air was crisp and the snow makes everything feel quieter and more still.

I loved seeing the snow covered branches and animal tracks on the snow covered pathways.

I thought the ice covering the top layer of the canals was pretty cool, especially in a shallow part near a foot bridge where under the thin ice was a blanket of fall leaves, frozen still. I also loved the sound of my feet crunching the icy, snow covered paths with each step. I’ve never run in the snow before and I found it quite mesmerizing.

Tonight it’s supposed to freeze and snow again and they are expecting 10 cm of snow. Supposedly several flights are cancelled in the morning and the kids’ school is closed tomorrow. Our first snow day. I’m excited to sleep in and surprise the kids!

Good night!

Snow covered tennis courts late in the afternoon today. Luckily we have indoor courts as well!

5Dec2012

Day 133: Sinterklaas Arrived Today!

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Today was a full day of Sinterklaas Celebrations.

We started at 7:30 am this morning when we all left for the Sinterklaas breakfast that was being hosted by the Dutch community.

There were so many choices from biscuits, to chocolate croissants, rolls with ham and cheese, fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, and krentebollen. And of course, tea and coffee and chocomilk.

After the breakfast, Sinterklaas arrived at the school to greet all the children. The classes came outside to wave and sing to him as he addressed the crowds. The excitement in the air was catching!

Charlie was lucky enough to shake Sinterklaas’ hand when he walked by.

The weather cooperated and was sunny all afternoon until after school pickup time. Here is a picture from Amsterdam near Jeff’s office:

And here’s a couple pics from after the snow fell and fell:

After school, we were anxious for Sinterklaas to arrive and weren’t sure how or when we might see him as he is very busy, and we’re new to this tradition. We decided to try Chinese food for dinner tonight, as its been on Christian’s wish list since we moved here! The restaurant we chose is near our house and was very delicious. We’ll definitely come back!

While we were at dinner, the snow fell again and the kids had fun making tracks and snowballs. Driving home, some kids threw snowballs at our car and we thought that was very funny and teased them back.

We were out just long enough, because when we came home, we saw foot prints leading away from our front door in the snow. And when Charlie walked in, he was the first to notice that Sinterklaas had visited our house while we were at the restaurant and left each of the kids a big sack filled with treats, candy, pepper noten and a chocolate initial for each of them. He was so excited and jumped for joy. He said today was the best day!

The day was truly magical and I was excited by watching the snow fall and seeing how happy and surprised Charlie was by all his Sinterklaas treats.

Life is good.

Happy Sint!

Love, Adriana

4Dec2012

Day 132: Making Friends and Stealing Their Stuff

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This is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love any and all events that bring friends together – for cookie exchanges, dinner parties, brunches, holiday meals, ornament exchanges, white elephant exchanges, gift exchanges, you name it. I love the whole spirit of it all – even though we’re all busy and tired and have a ton to do! For some crazy reason, I find this fantastic.

I love bringing people together and celebrating our community, whether I’m hosting or attending, I’m always thankful and find the gathering of friends a true gift.

Last week I received an email reminder that one group of friends from back home were gathering for our annual gift exchange soon. I felt bummed that I was going to miss this fun gathering that I absolutely love. So I decided that I would host a gathering for some of my new Holland sisters, and hopefully bring the Christmas spirit here.

This morning about 30 of us gathered for some holiday cheer. We all brought a wrapped gift that cost under 10 Euros to exchange and several friends brought delicious sweet treats and drinks to share. Mom and I cleaned the house and rearranged the furniture for all of us to fit. We baked chocolate chip banana bread and served cookies, coffee, teas, and juices. Jeff took care of the kids in the morning and got them off to school for me. The house was decorated with flowers and plants that they brought as gifts and candles were lit everywhere.

The Christmas tree lights were twinkling and the buzz of our chatter filled the room (and even out onto the street, so they say!).

Each guest picked a numbered star ornament from a basket and then the gift exchange began. Several friends had never participated in something like this before. The way it worked is that the first person picked a wrapped gift and opened it in front of everyone. The person with the number 2 star could steal the gift from the first person, or pick a new gift from under the tree. If the first gift was stolen, then the first person would pick a new unwrapped gift from under the tree. A gift could be stolen a maximum of three times and then it was owned for good. If later in the game your gift was stolen, you could then steal from someone else, or a new gift until all the gifts were claimed. And the twist at the end was that the first person got a final chance to steal since they didn’t get a choice at the beginning.

The more a gift was stolen, the more laughter erupted. It was so much fun and everyone got a kick out of seeing all the presents and stealing from each other in a fun way.

I loved the party and that so many people came. I loved all the noise and that everyone was happy just being together.

Happy Sint! Merry Christmas!!

3Dec2012

Day 131: Snow Day!!

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It snowed today! And it stayed on the ground for more than 5 minutes. Everyone was excited as we’ve never lived where it snows before!

Enjoy the show…

2Dec2012

Day 130: My Mama’s Home Town – Deurne

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My mom was born in Deurne, a town In North Brabant. Today we went to visit Deurne with my mama, her cousin and her aunt. It was really cool to walk around and hear her stories and how she would walk from her house to church and back, and a little further across town to go to third grade.

We first visited the cemetery, attached to the Catholic Church where my great grandparents are buried. My great grandmother was named Adriana Maria. My mother’s real name
is Adriana Maria. My mom’s cousin is called Adriana Maria, and I’m called Adriana Maria. My great grandmother was known as Moeke. My mom is known as Jane, and her cousin is called Franca. I’m the only one without a nickname. Weird.

We stood outside her old house, just on the edge of town and she pointed up to the window of the room where she was born. How cool is that?

The front of the house is now a sewing shop, which we knew about. We still took pictures out front anyway. Literally across the street from the house is a Protestant church.

My mom said she never set foot in there because Catholics just didn’t do that. There was such a division between both Christian denominations. The Protestant kids played together and the Catholic kids played together and really didn’t mix, years ago. I was curious about this fact.

After taking pictures, we walked over to have a drink and a snack at a little restaurant in the town square. The kids saw Zwarte Pieten in the square and ran outside to greet them and to receive pepper noten and sweets and took pictures. They are really becoming Dutch!!

When we were getting ready to leave, Dorine noticed a car out front of my mom’s old house. She, my mom and I hurried over and Dorine asked questions of the man, and told him that my mom was born in that house. They shared conversation and eventually the owners invited us in to have a look around. This was such a cool moment and I felt such happiness for my mom. Her Oma lived in the house and there are pictures of my mom’s family in the kitchen and living area, which is now the back room of the store. I took a picture of my mom again standing in this nice woman’s kitchen.

As we were talking and my mom shared stories of her mom and Oma, the owner said she had something that belonged to her family, that was left behind when they bought the house. It was an old alarm clock that no longer worked, but belonged to my Great Oma. She gave it to my mama. How sweet is that?

I love this clock – time just stands still. We all need one of these!! Namaste.

1Dec2012

Day 129: I Love Christmas Time

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I was excited for today. We decided to get a tree on December 1st, when the Holland Homies said that Praxis would begin selling live trees.

Holland Homies is a Facebook Group for Expats to share best practices and inside knowledge like where to find stuff like tortillas and corn syrup and to share upcoming events and news.

Charlie woke up today to find a plastic stocking full of marshmallows in his shoe from Zwarte Piet. He wants to save them to make Rice Krispy treats.

He was excited to open the first window of his advent calendar. He says the chocolates here taste better!

After hanging out at the house all morning, we headed out to pick our tree. The guy at Praxis was very friendly and spoke English, but said he’d charge for that service. I love when people are friendly and funny. While we went in to pay for our tree and drove our car around to pick it up, the funny guy forgot and gave our tree to someone else. I can laugh about that, but isn’t that weird?? How does that happen?? I try to not make anything a big deal, and just flow with whatever happens. Luckily my family followed along and we just picked another “Dr. Seuss” tree from The Czech Republic. Juliana didn’t like any of them and the funny guy just told her these trees weren’t from Disneyland. I giggled.

Jeff and I tied the tree on top of the handy minivan, in the cold rain. I think today was the coldest day since we’ve been here! We then walked across the way to the carnival like booth selling the holiday hot item – Oliebollen.

These are really popular on New Year’s Eve and supposedly people line up to buy them. They are dough like pastries, sort of like donut rolls. Some are filled with raisins, cream, apples or just plain and topped with powdered sugar. We took ours home, and I bet these would be great fresh out of the hot oil! I love celebrating new traditions that others love.

Our tree is now home and waiting for Oma and Opa to come back tomorrow to help us decorate it. We didn’t ship any of our Christmas decorations, so we’ll need to buy a few new Dutch ones.

And finally, we had a wonderful dinner with some new friends who invited us over. What a great way to start December! Life is good.