Strep

I picked up a nasty case of strep throat. Barely came out of bed today. Thankfully nobody else has it yet. It has been a fairly miserable last few days. Hopefully I can teach a bit tomorrow...

This week we also backed out of negotiations on one house and started up with another. Hopefully this one will pan out - it is my favorite so far.

Also started making some cutting boards out of scrap wood. Kind of fun to do.

The girls have been switching roles again. Amélie is starting to listen to what we say, and Abigail is ignoring. This has to do with the chairs in their play area - now they both climb on them, whereas before it was only Amélie, but when we tell them to get down Abigail won't listen. Time to make a change with the chairs...

A Busy Week

In spite of the fact that we have done a lot this week, there has even been a bit of time for rest. We visited a house on Wednesday that has become my new favorite - hopefully it doesn't get bought out like the other ones. Monday I had to go to Zwolle to pick up my diploma saying that I passed all my Dutch tests. Now I can apply for citizenship - add it to the list. Thursday I had a work conference in Enschede. I have also been busy with writing up the website text for the business and translating a friend's website into English.

Naomi has had a huge pile of grading to get through. The girls are doing very well. New teeth coming through. Understanding more and more every day. Abigail is learning to follow directions. Cleaning things up, bringing this or that over here, today I even asked her to bring a piece of cake to Amélie and she did it! Imagine that, Abigail giving up a piece of cake.

I have started finishing Claire's table and it is looking quite nice. It takes a long time to dry in the guest room though, especially as it is a bit cooler there. Our winter has left us. The frost cleared up yesterday, ice melted, and rain returned. Probably won't be back for at least another year. Nice to see some white for a few days anyway...

Snow!

We woke up this morning to a dusting of snow on the ground! Hard to imagine as the Fall had already seemed to turn into Spring. Now there is a bit of winter mixed in. The pond even has a thin layer of ice over the top. I am sure it will all be gone by this afternoon, but a nice surprise nonetheless.

The house search continues to be a rocky road. The place we had settled on just got bought out before we could get the chance to put in an offer. So we move on to other options. The time really seems right to lock a place down although we don't have many other possibilities - a good and a bad thing at the same time.

Amélie is getting a couple new teeth - doubling her count. The boys at daycare seem to like her and even said her name correctly the last time I dropped her off! Abigail is learning new words quickly and Naomi was excited to have her first 'conversation' with her. 

I passed all my Dutch tests so on Monday I need to go pick up my diploma. With this diploma I should be able to apply for citizenship. More paperwork. Just what we need...

The Potty

This week was another milestone for the girls. We picked up a little toilet for them because they pee on the floor sometimes before getting in the shower. They like it so much that they have been not only peeing in it, but pooping too! It is now a part of their morning routine to sit on it and sometimes we get a result, sometimes not.

I have been looking into what I want to teach my new students as I start shadowing the old teacher tomorrow. Now they are working on some national challenge with practical assignments from real companies. It is a competition where they will have some sort of science-fairish conference at the end. Sounds interesting at first, but do I really expect 14 year olds to redesign the Dutch rail system over the course of 4 months? Or invent a new kind of printer? Not only do they lack the capabilities to make any meaningful contribution to these complex problems, but it must get really boring after a few months.

Kalia sent a book for Christmas with lots of good ideas and I have plenty of my own. Ditching the current plan might be a bit tricky, but the manager that I interviewed with said I could do what I wanted, so hopefully it will work out...

2015...

...was a crazy year for us. We started with a 'normal' life in Rotterdam with the luxurious addition of having a vacation home on the other side of the country. After a mountain of headaches and paperwork, we made the decision to pack up and leave Rotterdam just before our American summer vacation and put up with a separation in the fall. I had to continue working in the big city due to the immigration mess while Naomi started her new job in Apeldoorn.

As the commute is too much, we have been busy with getting this house up on the market and finding a new place to live along with starting up a woodworking business. We ended the year with a bid on the house where we would like to live. Hopefully it pans out.

Amid all the chaos and turmoil, we have had so much fun with the two little ones. Everyone said it would be a lot of work but not many people mentioned the pleasure we would have. Abigail and Amélie are a constant source of entertainment and joy. Well, almost constant.

Since our time at University, which wasn't exactly a restful experience, we have been in one transition phase after the other. We hope that 2016 will be the year where we settle into a more peaceful existence. Although we are not planning to live in the same place for the next 30 years, 5-10 seems like a relatively long term opportunity to settle down...

One year ago.