Sinterklaas Surprise

I loved this time of year when I was younger.  I was always right into the Christmas mood - yes I was the kid wearing the lighted up Santa hat to school with matching mitts, earrings and socks! I may have toned it down over the years (I know my husband is grateful for that) but that doesn't mean I love Christmas any less. One thing I always looked forward to was secret Santa at school (or any other after school organization I was in).  For anybody who has never heard of a "secret Santa": everybody draws a name and doesn't tell anybody who that name is.  You discretely try to find out what your victim  chosen secret Santa's interests are and you buy a little gift for them and wrap it nicely and give it to them on the arranged day. 
For the Dutch children that are a little old to believe in Sinterklaas (about age 10 plus), they also have a "secret Santa" but they call it "Sinterklaas surprise" (surprise is pronounced sup-reese). Children write their name on a piece of paper and make the quest a little easier by adding what their interests and hobbies are ex. soccer, spider-man, and swimming. Just like a secret Santa, the idea is that the name you have chosen is kept top secret.  The children then buy a small gift (usually no more than a few euros) and then they decorate the gift to one of the chosen childs interests. 
Last night I found my self once again making Breanna's Sinterklaas surprise at the last minute!  I love this child dearly but she did not inherit my creativity (and she knows it - or she is just smart enough to act like she doesn't have any creativity so mom will do it all for her). Her friends are all on msn together and they all figured out who chose who, so there really is no more surprise.  The girl Breanna chose is into field hockey - we couldn't make a stick thick enough to fit the gifts and Breanna didn't want to make the field (thats boring mom). So I made her look on her Facebook to find out more about her - found out she likes to ski too.  So here was her  my late night last minute creation.

Here are a few from previous years:

Getting into the Christmas spirit

I always find it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit early in the Netherlands.  The majority of people will not decorate until Sinterklaas leaves for Spain on the 5th of December.  Even my husband has set the rule (maybe the ONLY rule he has been successful in enforcing in our house) that no Christmas decorations go up until Sinterklaas goes out. But let me tell you as soon as that Dutch Christmas party pooper is out... I am decking the halls with boughs of holly!
One way I can always count on to get into the Christmas mood is by going to Intratuin (our largest garden centre chains).  They always have this garden centre so beautifully decorated that scrooge would even be inspired to decorate. This one is in Duiven, when it opened up it was the largest indoor garden centre in Europe.

Notice how big this display is!  This is just one of many.

With beautiful Dickensville displays like this it makes me almost want to start another space consuming pricey collection...... Almost.

I really got some superb idea's and some great inspiration.  I can't wait to decorate.  I even hope it snows (really snows not just sprinkles) to add to the Christmas feeling (the snow can leave in January).

And, la piece de la resistance, radioactive animals!

Another great way to get into the Christmas feeling around here is by going to the markets, particularly the German ones. My good friend Sonya went to one in Osnabruck, Germany this weekend (I´m so jealous), she has some beautiful pictures you can see her blog at Home Cooking with Sonya

Report card time

My oldest daughter Breanna came home from high school (middelbare school in Dutch) with her report card and a big smile on her face.  I knew it had to be good, she was just so excited to show us.  I remember report card time as a time of grief, guilt and wondering how I can hide it from my parents.  We will expect to see about three or four report cards from Breanna each year.  This one wasn't perfect but it was one to be very proud of.  Marks here are graded out of 10 and not A,B,C... The value is pretty much the same though.
After looking at her marks and telling her how proud we were of her she was very quick to ask, "well, what do I get?" hmmm don't get me wrong I am extremely proud of her but maybe it's just me but I never got anything for report cards except my end report card.  Apparently offering a hug and a pat on her back wasn't what she was looking for.  That offer sent me on the "worst mommy of the year list".  To put myself back on the best mommy of the year list, my husband and I offered to bring her to the Harry Potter movie this weekend.  BINGO that worked. 
Supper time was at Oma and Opa's today and Breanna as proud as she had every right to be brought her report card with her.  Oma and Opa were also very proud of their granddaughters grades and like second nature had their wallets out and they were emptying it out into Breanna's hand.  Ok I barely bat a lash, I'm used to this by now - Oma and Opa spoil their grandgirls. Then uncle came and right away Breanna had her report card out again and she was hinting telling him how much she just got from Oma and Opa.  I gasped and turned to my husband and asked him under my breath if she is asking for money.  "No this is normal" he reassured me.  Normal?  are you kidding me?  My husband continued to tell me how he would make his rounds with each and every report card robbing his poor aunts of their hard earned money (and anybody else he could sucker out of their money).  I think something happens to these Dutch people when they see a teenager with puppy dog eyes holding onto a fresh report card, it just makes them want to pop their wallets out.  I swear I grew up in the wrong country cause I know for sure I could have made a killing with my large family!

That time again... Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piete

I know I have been M.I.A. lately.  There has been a lot of personal stuff with my parents visiting and my first niece/ God daughter being born.  My mind has just been else where lately.
I know in the past I have made this blog more about what you will expect to see in the Netherlands but now I am running our of idea's here.  I have decided to turn this into just plane and simple my life and what we as a family experience in the Netherlands.  Some of it may or may not be Dutch living related.  If I do come across a "must see" tourist spot or something you "must try before you die" - I'll be the first to tell you.

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Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet has once again invaded the Netherlands with whipping pepernoten at children, leaving goodies in their shoes and making parent's wallets a little lighter.
Last week Kiana (my youngest daughter) starts off her school morning as normal as can be, being greeted by her Siamese twin  best friend.  This time her best friend had a pretty little gold box in hand with a glass angel in it, "See what Sinterklaas brought me?".  Kiana's jaw dropped.  Ever since she saw this glass angel in the pretty gold box she could not stop talking about it.  Every night she would put her shoe out and beg pray ask Sinterklaas for a gold box with a glass angel in it just like he gave to her best friend.  She even wrote a letter in the best writing a 5 year old can. What was I to do???  As a good mommy Sinterklaas, I went to every single store in town in search for this golden box with the glass angel in it.  Four hours later I was tired, still empty handed and about to give up.  I started to head back to my bike and noticed one last gift store, "Pour Toi". Deep breath, fingers crossed... oh who am I kidding?  I went in, started to look around and finally in a ray of golden heavenly light... there she was ... HALLELUJAH!! Ok she wasn't in a gold box but at this point I did not care! Pink is pretty, my daughter is a girly girl so ya pink is good!  I had her wrapped up [yes this is one luxury of the Netherlands - almost every store will ask if your purchase is a gift and they will wrap it for you] and I biked home as fast as my tired legs could.  While waiting to pick Kiana up from school I decided to share my scavenger hunt story with Kiana's friends father.  Before I could finish the story he stopped me to inform me that they bought that gold box and angel in.... BELGIUM! If I would have known that in the first place, I would have saved my self a whole morning in the cold searching for my child's happiness! Since when do children want golden boxes with glass angels anyways?  At that age I was more than happy with toys... real toys! Anyways, I almost couldn't wait to give it to her, just to see her happy little face but I did at least wait to put it in her shoe that night.
The next morning I really did want to sleep in but around Sinterklaas time.... that is just not going to happen.  Kiana came running into my room "mommy mommy mommy!  Sinterklaas brought me the glass angel!!" All of a sudden the excitement left her face so I asked her what was wrong "it's not a gold box".
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!

Medical emergency?

My youngest daughter woke up this morning with a bad tummy ache.  She didn't want to do anything just laid on the couch clenching her tummy the whole morning. Now this really gave me a flash back, if I still lived in Canada,   I would have bundled her up thrown her in the car and taken her to the emergency and put up with the ten hours of waiting in the waiting room, like the over-protective mother I am.  This is just how it is in North America.  Only if we have a small complaint that (we feel) can wait will we call our general practitioner and make an appointment. 

In the Netherlands it is much different and probably much more efficient.  You are only granted entry into the emergency with permission from your general practitioner or if you have been brought in by an ambulance.  Otherwise you must call your doctor and he will decide if he needs to see you right away. There is an after hours clinic that also requires you to call them first.  The secretary or doctors assistant will decide if your medical emergency needs immediate attention or can wait until your own general practitioner sees you in the morning. Personally I do like this method, this frees up the emergency room for REAL emergencies. 

So anyways, I called my own family doctor this morning and he was on vacation.  I swear this man goes on vacation at least 3 times a year (or only when ever I need to make an appointment).  I don't think my Canadian family doctor ever went on vacation or even had a sick day for that matter.  So I get the doctor answering machine telling me to call the "doktersdienst" Doctors service who will then direct me to the doctor who is taking my doctors patients.  I called the suggested doctor and they requested we wait to see if the pain gets worse.  I can imagine they are getting double the amount of patients today.  After a visit to the bathroom, my daughter is already feeling much better, is now dancing and singing to the Backyardigans and will probably go back to school before the day is out.. 

This is the new hospital about to be opened in my city.  It's been really neat watching it being built over the last year or so and in a few weeks it will be in full working order.  

Slagharen Theme Park

As the weather gets noticeably cooler and we seem to have more rain clouds than sunny days, I decided to take advantage of what possibly could be the last "warm," sunny weekend of the summer.  I packed up my big knapzak (backpack) with sandwiches, fruit, drinks and sultana crackers and we headed off to Slagharen Theme Park.  This country and western themed park has the right mix for young and old children.

My children being almost 5 and almost 13 were both able to find attraction that suited each other well.  

My oldest daughter is brave and will go on almost any ride.  

My youngest is still at a very unsure age and takes the easy safe looking rides.  

Whether you are in North America or Europe, theme parks seem to be relatively the same.  The same type of rides, the same overly priced fried tasteless foods, the useless knick knack souvenirs, large crowds and long lineups.  There was still a few differences I noticed from the theme parks I have visited in North America and here in the Netherlands namely, Slagharen:
-Height requirements weren't as strictly controlled as I have seen in N.A. theme parks.  I was seeing children that were too big getting on kiddy rides and children that were too small getting on big rides.

-Safety precautions are not as strict as they are in North America.  On many children rides the parents would stand at the inside of the exit gate (inside being where the ride is).  I remember in theme parks in Ontario the yell at you with there policing type voice "stand back behind the yellow line ma'm".  There was a small merry-go round ride at Slagharen where parents were throwing their kids on the ride and taking them off while it was still in motion. Other older children were jumping on and off the ride and running around it while it was in motion.  The operator didn't say anything about it. 

-All theme parks I have visited in North America frowned on bringing food in the park.  You would then have to fill a cooler box with ice and your picnic and leave it in your car, exit the park and re-enter after you eat your lunch.  The parks in the Netherlands seem to know that they will not be able to pry a cold botterham (sandwich) out of a Dutch persons hands so they don't even bother trying, instead they set up picnic areas all through out the park.  Whats even better? If you forgot something, they have a supermarket in Slagharen!  Ok I must add they also have cabins and tepee's so you can stay over night but the super market is in the theme park and not where the cabins are. Nifty!  Mind you the prices are probably doubled!

-I have mentioned before the Dutch love their dogs and they bring them every where... shopping... into restaurants etc.  You can also bring them into the theme park.  Mind you I can imagine there would be an even stricter poop and scoop rule in a park then there is in most cities (at least I would hope so).

- And only found in the Netherlands... Bong shaped slushy and drink cups... I kid you not! Kinda eerie watching a kid sip from one of these!

All in all we really enjoyed our sunny day out at Slagharen and would recommend this theme park to any one else. 

Holland DOES have talent!

I admit, I watched the first few seasons of Dutch Idols but after awhile it got to be the same ol same ol boring stuff.  To me it was as if they found all the talent they were going to find in this small country.  Shortly after Dutch Idol seemed to also fizz out for the Dutch audience (maybe it hasn't and I am still speaking on personal opinion), Hollands Got Talent seemed to be the next reality talent show to make your big debut on.  I started watching the first season not finding myself impressed and quickly zapping the channel.  This year I entertained my oldest daughter, Breanna,  and decided to sit along side her while she watched Hollands got Talent. Was I ever in for a big surprise... it was as if they found a whole new group of REALLY talented people, especially children.



These amazing little guys are only 9,11 and 14 and making moves that hurt my bones just looking at them.



This is another great duo.  I love how they work in synchronized with one another.




This is the cutest little girl.  She went up and auditioned on her own.  At the end of her perfect audition, the judges asked where her mother is and asked if she would come on stage.  They then found out it was her mother who taught her how to dance so well.  They all decided that the young girl can come back IF she was accompanied by her mother (because that would make such a nice show... and it does).



Not too bad for a 9 year old. Ok it wasn't perfect but HE IS NINE!! Can you just imagine how he will sound at 16? Hopefully he will bump Bieber off the charts! {I kid Breanna I kid.... or not ;-)~ }