Fall Break

We had a week off from school, and it was much needed! Naomi ended up being busier than usual; at least the rest of us got some down time. She got her new bike, visited her sick friend (sat in traffic for an extra hour), and went to a funeral. She also took Abigail to Amsterdam while Amélie and I got some time together in Apeldoorn.

On Monday we got to go skiing together, and that was a blast! The girls did incredibly well. They can ski down the bunny hill with no help at all, and without falling! After that we went to visit our friends who live in the area. That was a lot of fun, and Abigail said on the way home that she would be friends forever with that little boy.

I started submitting a short story I wrote to some publications. We shall see if anyone picks it up. The weather is starting to get colder, finally. We had a bit of a frost last night. First one of the year. The sun is shining though, so we will have fun at the Bosrand this morning. In the afternoon it is time to carve some pumpkins!

Abigail in Amsterdam.

Strange sleepers.

Reading together in the morning.

Visiting Germany.

Zutphen

I went into the city a couple times this week. The first was for a nice dinner with some friends from school. We went to this place where there is no menu, the guy just cooks what he likes and shares some with you for dinner. There are only a few tables. He lives above the place and uses mostly plant based ingredients. It turned out to be less than 15 euro/pp. Cool old building too!

The next morning I was back for a study day. We saw a documentary about High Tech High in San Diego in an old theater downtown. Depressing how a lot of the teachers really missed the point. The system here is so rigid that it will be quite a challenge to change how we are doing things at school. Nice to be a part of it though.

We have started our fall break. Tomorrow we will take the girls skiing again. I could definitely use some rest, but those girls make that difficult. Hopefully I will get a chance to do a bit of writing. I have been making a lot of progress with that lately. I want to try to submit my short story this week. The novel definitely still needs some work though...

Dinnertime.

Zutphen in the morning.

Naptime on the way to get groceries.

Moving Up

This week I had a couple talks with the management at work about what I have been doing and they were really happy about it. I mentioned that the work is more in line with the higher pay scale, and they agreed. Looks like I will be starting on a promotion. Would be nice to get a bit more money, and I enjoy the tasks, so that is good news. Definitely will be a lot of work though...tough to fit it into the little time that I have.

Yesterday we took a trip to Amsterdam to visit Ron and Edith. Ron cooked us a really nice dinner, but our stomachs definitely aren't used to meat and oil. Amélie peed in the bed last night, probably because of the change in routine, so nobody slept well.

The weather has been strangely beautiful this week. 70s and sunny. Yesterday was around 80. Had to use the air condition in the car all the way home last night - and we didn't get home until 9! Good morning for the Bosrand.

Naomi took the girls to the windmill for a special treat on Friday.

Too Tired

This past week I felt pretty drained. Yesterday it was hard to get off the couch. I expected to have more energy this time of year, but school seems to be taking up more than it should. I have a bit too much going on there.

Naomi has been making lots of progress going through her mom's stuff. Tomorrow she will take a carload away to someone who will put it in an auction for her. Lots of work, but she is also feeling really relieved and happy to have the free space.

Amélie got to go swimming yesterday and she had a blast. Abigail took a nap and then we did the groceries together. Important to have some one on one time especially as Amélie is getting pretty nasty toward Naomi at times.

The finished stack of sawdust bricks.

A rare flower that popped up in our front yard.

These popped up too...strange to see in the fall!

Sharing a pillow.