I only had to teach one hour this week! The kids were having their test week, and I don't give any of those, so I just had to fill in for another teacher. More time for the business. Got to crank out a few surf sets for some stores that are interested in displaying them.
We also had our house painted. The poor guys had to work through some really hot days, but it is done! Still have to clean up some of the drips and the debris that blew into the wet paint, but other than that, one more thing out of the way. The house is looking much better now! In about ten days our second new front door should come, then the exterior will be up to speed.
Abigail and Amélie had a cute exchange as they were falling asleep last night (in Dutch of course):
Abigail: "Amélie, say pitty potty."
Amélie: "Pitty potty, pitty potty, pitty potty, pitty potty. Now you say pitty potty."
Abigail: "Hmmmm. But I am so very tired."
Amélie: "I am tired too."
Then they slept.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Sunday, June 18, 2017
K + J
We had a really nice visit with Kalia and Joshua this week. Their trip was delayed for a day as Kalia's passport needed to be renewed. Could have been much longer. Wednesday we hung around town and Thursday we went to Zutphen. Cool spot. I had a meeting with the school where I will work, got the final paperwork signed. Met with my direct boss. Still have a positive impression!
Naomi wasn't around much as she had to work Thursday and Friday. Saturday we were able to go to the donkey farm and eat lunch in the windmill. The top was open as well, so we got to see the spinning blades up close and the machinery they turn on the inside. They even have a mechanism where the gears can power a lift. Every floor has a trap door that can be opened. The grinding wheel weighs about 1200 kilos.
I got another cold, so I am feeling pretty frustrated and discouraged. I was expecting to have my energy back by now. Guess not. I wonder how long it will take. We visited the doctor to get some blood tests done, so we shall see if that tells us anything new. At least this coming week should be pretty light at work. I only need to go in for an hour, so I can catch up on the business a bit.
Naomi wasn't around much as she had to work Thursday and Friday. Saturday we were able to go to the donkey farm and eat lunch in the windmill. The top was open as well, so we got to see the spinning blades up close and the machinery they turn on the inside. They even have a mechanism where the gears can power a lift. Every floor has a trap door that can be opened. The grinding wheel weighs about 1200 kilos.
I got another cold, so I am feeling pretty frustrated and discouraged. I was expecting to have my energy back by now. Guess not. I wonder how long it will take. We visited the doctor to get some blood tests done, so we shall see if that tells us anything new. At least this coming week should be pretty light at work. I only need to go in for an hour, so I can catch up on the business a bit.
 |
| Lunch in the windmill. |
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Nathan
We had a child whisperer come visit us this week to help out with Abigail's hair pulling habit. She was recommended by a colleague who has a son with a behavior problem that was magically cured. Her name is Alies (same as Naomi's mom) and she stayed for two or three hours. She had a lot of fun with the girls.
To give a little bit of background here, Naomi had a very difficult pregnancy. There were a few times where we thought she had miscarried. I always suspected that one of these times was a partial miscarriage - that there were once three instead of just two.
We had picked out names for boys and for girls because we wanted to be surprised when they came out. Nathan was the name we had chosen for a boy. After the girls were born, Naomi kept noticing the name Nathan. It would jump out at her. She got to thinking that we would have another baby, and it would be a boy. That hasn't happened yet, obviously, but the name hadn't stopped jumping out at her.
It didn't take Alies long to diagnose the problems with Abigail. She said that a lot of nasty fighting had taken place in the house (something our neighbors and the previous owners had already confirmed) and there remained plenty of negative energy that was really affecting Abigail. She said it was also affecting us from feeling like the house was our home. We do feel that way. She said she could take care of that problem. Whatever she did seems to have made a difference as I have been sleeping better; Naomi feels like the air is lighter and she can move more freely through the house.
The second problem was a bit more interesting. She described some details about the birth, how Amélie came out and couldn't breathe, what the doctor in the room looked like. She said Naomi never came back completely from the experience. She went back a bit further explaining that we did have triplets, and one was lost. It was a boy, and he was bullying Abigail. Nathan.
When Naomi heard this she started crying as it made a lot of sense to her, and she was able to say goodbye to Nathan. That reaction made sense. Abigail's reaction was very interesting. She went to sit with her mommy, which was not strange, but the odd bit was that she was beaming. Instead of her typical, empathetic, comforting expressions and gestures that tend to surface in such a situation, she was smiling broadly in such a way that said, finally, mommy understands! There was a lot of relief in her face.
A few minutes after that, I took Amélie to the bathroom with me and Abigail was still sitting happily on Naomi's lap, drawing a picture. Alies said, "OK, now its time for her to get angry." We have no idea why, but as soon as the bathroom door closed Abigail was having a tantrum on the floor.
Time will tell if the hair pulling stops, but Alies had a lot of insights in addition to the ones I mentioned here that we found rather amazing. She said she was interested in my business as well. Maybe she will order some cutting boards or something. Speaking of which, I have been working too hard lately. My scheduled 12 hour weeks have turned into 20 hour weeks. Getting crabby and burned out. Time for a relaxing Sunday!
To give a little bit of background here, Naomi had a very difficult pregnancy. There were a few times where we thought she had miscarried. I always suspected that one of these times was a partial miscarriage - that there were once three instead of just two.
We had picked out names for boys and for girls because we wanted to be surprised when they came out. Nathan was the name we had chosen for a boy. After the girls were born, Naomi kept noticing the name Nathan. It would jump out at her. She got to thinking that we would have another baby, and it would be a boy. That hasn't happened yet, obviously, but the name hadn't stopped jumping out at her.
It didn't take Alies long to diagnose the problems with Abigail. She said that a lot of nasty fighting had taken place in the house (something our neighbors and the previous owners had already confirmed) and there remained plenty of negative energy that was really affecting Abigail. She said it was also affecting us from feeling like the house was our home. We do feel that way. She said she could take care of that problem. Whatever she did seems to have made a difference as I have been sleeping better; Naomi feels like the air is lighter and she can move more freely through the house.
The second problem was a bit more interesting. She described some details about the birth, how Amélie came out and couldn't breathe, what the doctor in the room looked like. She said Naomi never came back completely from the experience. She went back a bit further explaining that we did have triplets, and one was lost. It was a boy, and he was bullying Abigail. Nathan.
When Naomi heard this she started crying as it made a lot of sense to her, and she was able to say goodbye to Nathan. That reaction made sense. Abigail's reaction was very interesting. She went to sit with her mommy, which was not strange, but the odd bit was that she was beaming. Instead of her typical, empathetic, comforting expressions and gestures that tend to surface in such a situation, she was smiling broadly in such a way that said, finally, mommy understands! There was a lot of relief in her face.
A few minutes after that, I took Amélie to the bathroom with me and Abigail was still sitting happily on Naomi's lap, drawing a picture. Alies said, "OK, now its time for her to get angry." We have no idea why, but as soon as the bathroom door closed Abigail was having a tantrum on the floor.
Time will tell if the hair pulling stops, but Alies had a lot of insights in addition to the ones I mentioned here that we found rather amazing. She said she was interested in my business as well. Maybe she will order some cutting boards or something. Speaking of which, I have been working too hard lately. My scheduled 12 hour weeks have turned into 20 hour weeks. Getting crabby and burned out. Time for a relaxing Sunday!
Sunday, June 4, 2017
New Stuff
This week I finished up a project and was able to start a new one. I also got a new passport - a Dutch one. The girls went with me to pick it up in Epe on Friday. They had fun playing in the city.
I also got a new phone. Having some trouble setting it up, but the old one was really becoming a problem. The battery got so hot that it popped the back off and it would just die when doing a video chat or something. It only lasted a few hours when unplugged and there were a few other issues, so it was time. The new one is really nice. I decided that getting used ones cost probably about the same, so why not get what I actually wanted?
The weather has been beautiful, but I still haven't taken the mountain bike out of storage. That really needs to happen soon! We have another busy weekend though, so it probably won't be that soon...
I also got a new phone. Having some trouble setting it up, but the old one was really becoming a problem. The battery got so hot that it popped the back off and it would just die when doing a video chat or something. It only lasted a few hours when unplugged and there were a few other issues, so it was time. The new one is really nice. I decided that getting used ones cost probably about the same, so why not get what I actually wanted?
The weather has been beautiful, but I still haven't taken the mountain bike out of storage. That really needs to happen soon! We have another busy weekend though, so it probably won't be that soon...
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