Sinterklaas-Christmas

Wse did lots of fun things at the holidays; first the big Sinterklaas party with the Dutch School; we welcomed Sinterklaas arriving on a boat at the Long Beach harbor with 5 of his Zwarte Pieten (SUPER!), and Felix danced and sang with gusto at his pre-school holiday show. Of course we had to go for evening walks and see the light displays at our neighbors' houses, and eat candy canes. Ella helped Felix write a letter to Santa, explaining about the "Big Buzz Lightyear" he wanted (he got it, thank goodness!). We played on our new Wii Guitar Hero, even Felix got into the act - lucky for him, the Theme From Spider-Man was one of the selections.

Birthday #3, Part 2

I'm finally -- sort of -- getting used to saying I'm forty; I don't think I'll ever feel forty though (whatever that's supposed to feel like) although sometimes when I have to get up, I feel eleventy, especially this week after turning the clocks forward. So, many apologies for the tardiness of finishing up posting the rest of my birthday photos. I got the BEST present, Julie and Céline coming to visit us for a week.

(photo by Ella)

It was so awesome to see the kids playing and laughing together; even though Felix is closer in age to Céline, really it was Ella & Céline together mostly. Ella has been bugging us for a little sister for ages, so this is the closest she's going to get.

The week went by SO fast! We went to the park, went out to dinner at Crazy Tokyo Sushi, had a birthday party for me, visited the Getty and had a farewell ice cream at McDonalds! Mostly it was all about just being together. Julie's blog has already shown many highlights of their visit so I'll include just a few more (it was hard to choose!).

♥♥♥♥♥ Please come back soon!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Birthday #3, Part 1

The end of October is of course Halloween, which means lots and lots of parties, including my own birthday. The week before the big day, the 4 of us went to a big party at a classmate of Ella's. Felix wore one of his costumes, Thomas the Tank Engine; Ella was Super-Girl; Jim was a cowboy and I was a "green neverland fairy". The kids decorated cookies, painted masks, decorated miniature pumpkins, got lots of temporary tattoos and went on a treasure hunt around the garden, and we all enjoyed a very vegetarian-friendly potluck (including a delicious kamut salad).

I took the day off work the Friday before Halloween to attend Felix's preschool costume parade. This time, he was dressed as a pirate. Here he is with his friends "Dorothy" and "Spider-Man" (1 of 2 at the school that day).

Then off to Ella's costume parade, after which there was a carnival with game booths, baked goods and face painting.

The kids had another chance to wear their costumes on Saturday morning, to Dutch School, and finally on Sunday, the day itself arrived! My friend Jen and her daughter M (same age as Ella) came trick-or-treating with us while Jim had door duty. After one hour around the neighborhood, Felix's little legs got tired, so he and I stayed home to hand out the candy, and Jim went around with the others. Ella and M hauled in quite the collection of candy - this is just what Ella got!

After about a week letting them gorge themselves, I was able to convince them to sort through it all, keep a small box for themselves each and donate the rest to the soldiers and the children overseas via Operation Gratitude which is run from the National Guard depot near our house. Seeing as candy is dearly beloved and coveted by our two, I was very proud of them for making the sacrifice.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011

We had fun making these. Enjoy!
(especially for Emile & Celine)

Hula-hooping Ella

Ella after Dutch school today...

Birthday #2

The second birthday to celebrate in October was FDVD's 4th Birthday! How old are you now Felix? "First I'm 4, then I'm going to be 5!" (shows fingers). Now that Felix is 4, he is in Pre-K (pre-kindergarten). He even gets homework: practicing tracing letters and numbers, and writing his name.

 He has also just started drawing people. This is his teacher, Ms. Jona "under the ocean":

 

On the morning of Felix's birthday, he couldn't wait to open his presents. His favorite things were his Spider-Man umbrella (from Ella) and the "huge car-truck" (from his Oma). 

 

We went to ride the trains at Travel Town in Griffith Park and to have a picnic together with his best friend Liam and his mum & dad. Lucky for Felix, it was a bit drizzly, so he was able to use his brand new Spider-Man umbrella right away. There was a band playing; Felix and Liam danced along with gusto. The fire department was there too, and the kids were all allowed to climb in.

 All aboard!

 Dinner at our favorite restaurant, Crazy Tokyo Sushi, rounded out the weekend. 

(happy face)

Fall and Birthday #1

Fall is always a busy time of year. Here is the first installment of some long-awaited updates... September always means a First Day of School. Not only did Ella start 2nd grade with Mrs. Shusett, and Felix start learning to write letters & numbers with Ms. Jona, Ella is now in Groep 3 with Juf Janneke at Dutch School, and Felix has started Groep 1 with Juf Iris. Here they are on their first day:

Fall is also Harvest Time. When we bought our house, the tree right in the middle of our front yard was an ugly Q-tip shaped thing, which we allowed to grow out and become more tree-like. After a number of years, it started producing fruit and now, 8 years later, we decided to harvest those olives, soak and brine them, to hopefully have our very own supply. It's a tedious process and results are not instant. First the picking and the sorting...

It was a family affair, everyone pitched in and helped out! Now we've sliced them all on one side, are soaking them in water to cure them and changing the water daily.
 
On October 3, our little Ella turned 7 years old! Here she is the night before her birthday:

Ella at 6 yrs + 363 days

While Jim took Ella to see a beautifully restored screening of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, complete with in-person appearance of Belle herself, Felix and I made a cake.

 Then Emma (left) and Wil (not pictured) came over to help us celebrate and enjoy the pink-pink cake.

Last but not least, Felix and I drove out to Palm Desert to Tante Lynnie's house to visit with her and OmaLala! Felix was eager to show off his new drawing skills...

Felix draws OmaLala

Tada! Looks just like her right?

This is Tante Lynnie! Also a perfect resemblance.