Neglect

Yes dear blog, I have neglected you...

and I'm feeling so guilt-ridden about not visiting my favorite blogs. So, I offer you all my apologies.

But now, enough with the "feeling guilty" post. Nobody's interested in reading that, right?

So I thought I'd start with a picture:

I made this drawstring bag for Caitlin's swimgear and she said that she loves it! Yay! I also made one for Robin. He requested two little dolphins (sorry, I haven't taken any pictures of it yet).

There are 4 more weeks of summer holiday and then school starts again on September 1. It'll be the first year that Caitlin goes swimming with her class. As a mom who only learned how to swim when she was 10 I'm a bit worried about my kids swimming adventures. So she had lessons in July and she can now officially swim all by herself! And I feel a little less worried :-)

So, I guess I'm off to a good start for August. One blogpost and two bags. I feel less guilty already ;-)

Our holiday in pictures

The first 5 days of July we went on holiday to The Netherlands where we rented a small bungalow on a camping site.

A picture of the kids in the backseat, just minutes after we left.

All over the camping site there were little playgrounds. This one was just opposite our bungalow.

She finally got the hang of it: she can swing all by herself now. No more pushing necessary! Thanks to her big brother who taught her...

Always remember...how to breathe :)

Strike a pose.

I ♥ this picture

Pretending not to like having your picture taken.


And last but not least... a little bit of me.

Still more news...

I think I mentioned once before that I'm an (active) member of the parent committee and that we entered a contest. Well,... turns out that our school was one of the 50 lucky winners!!!

This is the picture that appeared in our local newspaper today. We won 5,000 Euro! And we'll use it to build ....

THIS!

Well, actually we persuaded the high school to build it for us :-). The project has to be realised during the coming schoolyear, so there's plenty of work ahead of us.

The idea is that it would be placed on the playground and that the children could use it as a place to read/recite poetry, watch a movie or perform a play (the doors would open out onto a stage).

More things...

Here's the picture of the candy buffet that I promised

I got the idea for the huge pom-pom from Martha Stewart. You have to be careful not to tear the paper when you unfold it, but you only need a few to make a great impact. I had another one up above the bar.

How do you like my DIY cupcake tower?

These labels were also an idea I picked up from Martha.

There was chocolate mousse, tiramisu, fresh strawberries, homemade cupcakes, brown and white maltesers, chocolate biscuits and lots of candy! We thought it looked pretty good (and we're still eating candy!) We chose everything in function of the "black, white & red" theme we had going. Lucky for us, all the best things appear to come in those colours!

We also made "fruitspiesjes" (which basically means fruit on a stick - had to have some healthy choices too;-). They were made from strawberries, fresh pineapple and grapes. And yes, I glued a little heart to every stick... It's all about the finishing touches, isn't it? :-)

Since we really wanted a party that included the kids, we made sure that they had some corners in the room that were just meant for them: there was a reading corner, a colouring/dressing up corner and there was a tiny playground outside.

And last but not least I made a picture display, covering the highlights of the last 15 years...

Even though we did not renew our vows that day, I still know that Kenneth is there, for better, for worse, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.

Here's to the next 15 years.

Cheers!

Things to tell

I have been keeping secrets from you...

Remember the party that we were planning to celebrate our 15 - 10 - 5 anniversary (first kiss 15 years ago, wedding 10 years ago and you know the other one from 5 years ago)? Well, we celebrated on June 1st!

It changed over time from a 50's themed party where we would renew our vows to having a party with our close friends and family where the children would not be left out. We asked everyone to come dressed in black and we were very happy to see that almost everybody obliged!

Here's the invitation I made:

The words in the background read:

"To love is nothing. To be loved is something. To love and be loved is everything."

I got the quote of the internet but I don't remember who wrote it.

Here are the seating cards (handmade, of course :)

And here's some of the decoration I made (the children helped with the flowers).

The paper ribbons at the bottom flow gently in the wind.

And here we are...

5 Years ago Kenneth gave me a livestrong bracelet and I have worn it night and day ever since, so I didn't want to take it off now. But since it stands out due to its yellow colour I tried to come up with a way that I could still wear it. I was inspired by the corsages girls wear at the proms in the States. We don't have them around here, so I made my own. Inside the satin ribbon is my yellow bracelet. I think it looked very nice (especially considering that I spent nearly two hours on it!).

We danced to Bryan Adams, our wedding song : "When you really love a woman".

And then we hit the dessert buffet (picture to follow later)!

♥♥♥

To my love

"I hope you don't mind that I put down in words,

How wonderful life is now you're in the world."

I love you.

Tania

Back in da house

The boy is back! A little bit smelly and with a trolley full of muddy clothes (I swear it weighed 5 kilos more than before!) but happy and content. He did say he missed us but after some hugs and a little bit of storytelling, he asked if he could turn on the TV... I guess he missed that too ;).

The homemade bread turned out ok, but the vegetable burger that went with the french fries was gross (so the boy says). They stayed up late and the boys slept on the first floor so he complained about the girls not having to run up and down any stairs. I didn't get much more out of him, so I can't give you any more info. I suppose I will find out more during the coming weeks.

Today is mother's day. I woke up to some lovely presents from my lovely family:

From my son: my very own personalized tote bag!
Handsewn and please pay attention to the tiny blue dolphin he added :)

From my daughter: a 'liefdesbord' (or love boardgame)

Roll the dice and find out what chores your child will help you with (I'm going to write a thank you note to the teachers, I think this is the best mother's day gift ever!)

And from my dear husband: another book by Stephenie Meyer.
More sleepless nights are ahead ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

MOO!

Robin will be leaving on a three day farm holiday with his classmates tomorrow! They'll be sleeping in bunkbeds, taking care of the animals, doing nature walks and bake their own bread (which they'll have to eat for dinner, so they'd better pay attention!).

I have Wednesdays off which means I'll be able to go and wave him goodbye.

Yikes. This means he'll be gone for two whole nights. He's only ever been away for two nights in his life, and now he'll be gone for two nights in a row! But... I know he's going to have the time of his life there (despite the gloomy weather forecast) and that makes it OK for me too (see how I'm trying not to sound like the overprotective mother? I don't think I'm doing a good job though ;). I think I'm gonna go and put some bandaids in his bag. You know. Just in case ;)