Play dates

On Wednesdays the girls have a short day at school, and this is an ideal day for play dates. This week they had Cathlynn over for a play date. She is Dutch as well, so the girls speak Dutch with a mix of English to each other... so funny to hear!

All 3 of them are really into art, so they enjoyed this for a while, but this time they spend so much time going outside and playing in the park... I was so surprised! Because my girls normally are not the outdoorsy types... unfortunately. They are more the kind of reading books and staying inside, but here in SA we have almost always nice weather, so I was hoping that they would enjoy more of the outdoors... but reading is not bad either!!



Cathlynn also stayed over for dinner, but after school I first made a real Dutch treat: poffertjes. Since all 3 girls are Dutch I knew they would appreciate this treat, another kid from another country will maybe not have the taste for it, although it is sweet and like a small pancake.. who doesn't like pancakes?? You need a special pan for it, with small holes where the filling fits right in. And then you sprinkle it with powdered sugar... lots of it!



For dinner I made home made fries, and home made apple sauce because in Holland that goes together! And chicken wings marinated in yogurt overnight... yum yum. I am thinking when I was a child I would get home made fries all the time when I would go to my aunties house...

Maybe I should make Wednesdays the home made fries day. Start a new tradition, what do you think? Do you have certain foods on certain days?? So far I cook almost every week something different but from a kids point of view it is maybe nice to have some traditions?... I am not such a traditional person, but I might change my mind on this one....

Have a good day y'all!
Mireille

Star of the week!

Every child in Jasmine's class is the Star of the week once. This week it is Jasmine's turn. And she feels so proud! Normally she doesn't like it to be in the limelight or to be the center of attention, but in this form she can handle it because it is done in such a nice way that even the shyest kids are enjoying it!

So what they do is:
On Monday she brought 10 items from home that have some sort of meaning and talk with their classmates about it. She brought some items from Thailand, Holland and the US. So she had the opportunity to talk a bit about all the countries she has lived in. Then she brought some of her favorite toys as well.
Also she brought a collection of photographs from birth to now and she told the class what's happening in each picture.



On Tuesday she brought her favorite book (Jock of the bushveld) and the teacher read it to the class.

On Wednesday the teacher read a letter to the children that I wrote about Jasmine. Why she is so special to us. And that she is our star always!!

Today, Dirk and me went to her school and I made a special lunch for her, JJ and her friends (Pad Thai & Chicken Satay) and we shared this lunch in the cafeteria. So we were her lunch buddies!

But we also brought the 2 baby bunnies that we have and the class found this the greatest idea! They had so much fun touching and cuddling with the 2 bunnies. We also invited JJ to her class, since she doesn't have this Star of the Week thing, so she felt special as well :-)

Jasmine with Amarula.



Juliet with Lucky.



Tomorrow is the last day of her special week and she will be presented with a friendship poster created by her classmates. The poster will include the Star's picture, surrounded by compliments written by her classmates.

This is such a cute idea! I love this Star of the Week project, it will bring so much self esteem to all the children and they feel so special for a whole week!

I hope you have a special week too, tell me about it!!
Love, Mireille

Twilight

Jasmine is totally hooked on the movie Twilight, she has seen it at least 15 times! When we were in NYC in July, that same weekend Robert Pattinson was there, and she was hoping that we would run into him.

Of course... we didn't.

But then later when we saw news clips from him in the City and he was mopped by people, Jezz told me, that he doesn't like that because Edward is really sensible mama!..... she means sensitive, because that is what she heard in another interview where Bella talked about her co-star being sensitive!!

How cute is that! She is really concerned about him!! I guess you can talk about the first celebrity crush here... :-)



Soon New Moon is coming out here, and Jasmine can't wait to see it!! Of course I need to see it first to check if it is OK for her to see it, that's what I did with Twilight... I don't mind... not a bad job, he is rather easy on the eye! LOL

How about you? Do you have a crush on Edward??

Have a great day y'all!
Mireille

I ♥ Faces, week 17: Hats

This week finally time to enter the I ♥ Faces contest again. This week's theme is HATS. And I have to happen such a cute picture of Jasmine with a hat that is handmade of scraps of fabric. She was 2,5 years old here and standing between the black-eyed-susans in our yard in Ridgefield, CT.

Check out all the other entries at the I ♥ Faces website! Great for inspiration!

Happy Monday!
Mireille

Wacky Wednesday #5

Jasmine is almost 3 here and she is with interest reading in this little book..... no pictures in it, just jokes and other tips ;-)



It is wacky that she just picks out THIS book. We will be in trouble with this girl, she has a very flirtatious vibe in her. And the boys already are noticing... OH MY OH MY when this girl turns into a teenager. Dirk will be busy keeping the flocks away! LOL

Have a Wacky Wednesday!
Mireille

I ♥ Faces, Theme week 8; messy

My twin girls don't like mess, so it was hard to find a messy picture. They don't like the feeling of mud or dirt on their face or hands for that matter, so I had to look for one with messy hair. Here's a picture of my daughter Jasmine dressed up as a geisha with messy hair. I love the look on her face; so melancholic. She was not allowed to laugh, otherwise we couldn't see the heart shape on her lips...

Check out all the other great entries at I ♥ Faces, there are so many talented photographers!

Have a good week,

I ♥ Faces ~ Week 7 Theme - “B&W”

This week the theme at I ♥ Faces is Black and White. I have many B&W pictures of the girls, since I LOVE B&W. But I wanted to show you one that you haven't seen yet. And this is an older photograph of Jasmine, when she was 3 years old. (Click on image to see a larger version)



Her expression is so cute and precious, and I just love the lighting on her hair, you see even the individual strands....

Look at the I ♥ Faces for more great shots of all the other participants, you will be amazed by them!

And if you have a great photograph of your child add it to the list and see what happens :-) There is a kid and adult entry.

Monday and the beginning of the week, let's have a good one!
Mireille