Opposites

This one loves ice cream.



This one doesn't. (Not on her forehead anyway.)

And we've now left here:


To go here:


To hop on this:


And happily arrive here:


I've been feeling completely unChristmassy with the lack of decorations/carols/presents but having our December filled with beautiful, beautiful friends and family has more than made up for it. And now we've got Oma's tree to decorate, yay!

Still here

Our stay in Amsterdam has been unexpectedly prolonged. It's been great spending more time with our beautiful Amsterdam friends but also a little frustrating because all our plans have been messed up and now we're not sure what's happening.


(on the train back from Haarlem with some toys that have been live savers, thanks Fl!)
Andrew has been going to work everyday and I've been meeting up with friends and trying to de-jetlag Langy G and Liefie.


(all rugged up ready to hit the town)


(our house is just around the corner in the background)


(playing in the wet, cold sand because this little boy is an outdoor one

Hopefully we'll know what's happening by the end of today. So, I'm going to enjoy my hotel breakfast and freshly made bed while it lasts!

Right now

After a hard day in Amsterdam.

Film Review

Miraculously I managed to watch 3 films on the plane. On the 14 hour flight I watched 15 minutes of The Odd Life of Timothy Green just before we landed and then on the shorter flight I watched the rest as well Moonrise Kingdom and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.


Moonrise Kingdom was bizarre. Yup. I'm not sure I've made my mind up about it yet. And the other 2 were just plain awesome.


I cried and laughed and was reminded of Connor throughout the whimsically beautiful The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Trinny, I think you will especially love this one but make sure you have a box of tissues handy. No more explanations, just watch it.


The same goes for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. It's a bizarre name for a film, I wasn't sure that it wouldn't be some dodgy foreign film with subtitles and men in nightgowns running around rushing around with fishing rods in the desert. There were men in nightgowns, fishing rods and desert but not in a dodgy foreign film kind of way. I love Ewan McGregor in most things (as diverse as Big Fish and The Long Way Round) so the fact that he's in it got me interested. Anyways, I watched it, I loved it.

Anyone else got any film recommendations? Good or bad? I always feel like a deer in the headlights when I have to choose the film for movie night!

Right now

Langy-Lou and I are munching down on some Dutch groceries (goats cheese, krenten bollen, smoked sausage) before we hit the sack in our hotel room. Andrew's at work (which we can see from our room) and Lief is already snoring on the bed. It's nice to be back...

Christmas Decorating

With all the packing happening in these parts I think our house has mostly forgotten that it's December, although there has been a little decorating going on.




I grabbed Langlan's paints last night and gave the mirror a quick Christmas makeover.


I also used my best backward writing skills on the front window.

Not the most exciting decorations ever but at least it feels a little bit more like Christmas now.





Langlan also helped by decorating Lief.

I have a newfound love

Freshly baked bread rolls with Brie and honeycomb.


And I think this little man agrees. "That was nice. Bread and honey" was his comment

Thanks Daddy for bringing home not only the bacon but honeycomb as well. We are SO spoilt.

Forgot this gem

Combing Liefie's hair with a fork.

These Parts

We've been...






Hanging out with awesome people.


Sleeping.


Eating food dropped off by our amazing church small group (2weeks of dinners!).


Sleeping.


Walking around Australia with Opa.


Sleeping.


Painting.



Sleeping.






Moustaching.


Sleeping.


Cuddling.


Sleeping.



Putting up book shelves.


Kinda sleeping.


Riding.





Eating.

And possibly a little more sleeping in there too.

On the Fly

As well as working full time at the moment I have lots of smaller projects that I am working on.






Presents for small group kids.

Sixties rock and roll skirts for the Christmas concert.

Fabric strips for making fabulous fabric wreaths in the MAKE SPACE tent at our Christmas Fair.

Busy, Busy, Busy....and very good reasons for my house to look like a bomb has hit it, in case you drop in! Just sayin'.

Saturday=Christmas Craft with Friends

We baked, we sewed, we chatted, we laughed.

One little person went home with a lovely basket of crafty loot she had made herself and the other little person went to bed cuddling into the crafty loot that she made today. 

And me..well I am one very tired crafty mummy, but deeply satisfied that today 2 special little girls will go to bed happy and terribly pleased that they made all the things they did today. Special beyond words.