Sunshine

The past week has been beautiful, and the coming one even more so. Supposed to get into the 70s. I might need to dust off the mountain bike! The sunshine seems to recharge me, although it takes awhile to build up. I can feel a bit of power and some reserves coming online from time to time, but I still just had to push through this week.

The better part of the cold I had left me on Thursday, after three weeks, but now the girls are really sick. We had to bring Abigail to the hospital this morning because she has croup cough. Amélie is sick too. We were up in the night for awhile as well.

I had my second soccer game. Played for the whole second half. This is the team that supposedly cares more about drinking beer than the game, but they seemed pretty serious to me. I am a bit out of my depth not having played the game in 20 years...

Ripped off the damaged tongue and grooves.

Quite the mess.

Made fire starters out of the scraps.

The floor is cleaned up and ready to use - took all week though.

New Floor

I took a bit of a risk this week in picking up an oak floor that someone tore out of their house. It was glued, so all the tongue and groove got ripped out. She was happy for someone to take it away though - it only set me back 100 euros. Took two hours to drive it home though! It was for a project where they wanted a different kind of wood, but this is better, and I was able to convince them of this. Now I am more into the project.

I also started playing soccer this week. My legs are still pretty sore. We lost the game yesterday 0-8, so maybe I am bad luck. The guy who invited me to play are the friends in town that have twin boys half a year older than our girls, and I am making beds and cabinets for those boys out of the oak I found.

The frogs have appeared in our pond. More that 20. Their pile of eggs keeps growing. The girls like to monitor their progress. Soon we will have a pond full of tadpoles!

Lunch in the garden.

It all fit in the car, but the springs were totally gone.

Recovering the Routine

This week was some recovery time for the girls. Getting used to things going back to normal. They are waking up earlier now that Amélie's bed is open. Sometimes they fight. Other times they sing songs and read books. Abigail continues with her month+ stretch of fussiness. It is getting annoying.

I found another floor that I will pick up on Wednesday. It is oak, which usually goes for 4-500 euros. This one was glued, so the tongue and grooves are all torn out, but I got it for 100. Good thing I have a decent table saw. Hopefully I can use it to make the beds for the twin boys...

I have gotten more and more sick as the week progressed. Could barely get off the couch this weekend even though the weather was nice. We did take a long walk on Saturday and went to the Donkey Farm Sunday. Work will be a bit rough today. We shall see how it goes...

Volcano

The girls had a really rough week. Amélie got a major infection in her mouth made worse by the pacifier. So we ended up pulling the plug on the passie. She couldn't eat much, couldn't sleep well, and was still recovering from some chaos in the routine. It set Abigail off as well. Nobody around here has been sleeping much.

Thursday was a really nice day though. We ate lunch in the windmill and got to climb all the way to the very top! This is not allowed. Our guide was rather enthusiastic though. Apparently the whole top is designed to blow right off, blades and all, if the wind gets too strong. Better than tipping the entire thing over I suppose. We sure could feel the wind whistling through that thatched roof!

We have made so much progress around the house! Dad really helped to get the gardens in shape. Pruning the big trees flat, fixing the leaky stream, and reworking the front wall. Mom helped out a lot inside with sorting things out (we still have way too much stuff) and taking care of little odd jobs that had been left waiting.

Fun in the forest.

More Visitors

This week got off to a rather depressing start. I was told that I wouldn't have a teaching job next year. A different school in the district is shrinking, so we have to take on their teachers. Even though I am much better qualified and can offer a higher quality of education to the students, seniority is the trump card. Looks like I will get bumped.

Luckily my family came to visit this week, so that has been nice. Mom and Dad got here early on Wednesday morning, and Claire rumbled in after dinner. The first thing Amélie did was run to Grandma and give her a bit hug. We didn't expect that!

Thursday was a bit of a rainy, recovery day, but Friday the sun came out. The only time this week. We took the girls for a nice morning walk and went shopping in Apeldoorn that afternoon. The girls had a blast riding the escalators in the mall. This was the first time they can remember being in a city.

The business seems to be heading in the right direction. We stumbled across a store that wants to carry a few of my products on Friday. I am busy with some wedding gifts. Hopefully the place on the beach will pan out. Seems like cutting boards are the thing I will be busy with for awhile...

Surf Boards

I had an order this week for a set of those surf boards. So I made two. It helped to figure out how to cut down the time. Hopefully I will get more orders. There is a place on the beach in The Hague that has some interest...

Winter seems to be over, but it is still February as far as my seasonal depression goes. I don't have much motivation. On the upside, the vitamin D has helped with the short temper and I haven't been sick since before Christmas, so that is a big improvement.

Abigail has had a rough time for the last couple weeks. Crabby and difficult, lots of crying. The last couple night she cried in bed for 45 minutes or an hour, then we picked her up, and she didn't go to sleep until around 10. Way too late for her. Must be another growth spurt or something...maybe her English will start getting better.

Visitors

Claire drove up from Switzerland this week. She picked up Tung, an old family friend, in Germany on the way up. I haven't seen him in twenty years. It was a nice visit! We spent some time in Utrecht. He left Friday morning; Claire left Sunday afternoon.

This morning we woke up to around three inches of snow on the ground. That is the most I have seen in this country! We had a lot of fun making a snowman and taking a walk. Towards the end of our walk, we had a little snowball fight (Abigail even joined in) that ended rather poorly. I sent one zinging toward Naomi, who moved out of the way. Unfortunately, Amélie was about ten feet behind her, watching the action, and got hit right in the face. She was less than thrilled.

So it turns out two year olds don't have the best reflexes. I saw it in slow motion - she just kept staring straight at the incoming projectile until it turned her face white. Then red. Thankfully it was fresh snow, so no real damage. Just lots of tears.

Where do Grandma and Grandpa live?
Abigail: In the telephone.

Where does Aunt Claire live?
Abigail: In her car.

Where does Sinterklaas live?
Abigail and Amélie: IN SPAIN!!

Electric Amélie.

Working.

Watching.

Helping.

The finished product.

Taking a walk. 

Chocolate milk!

Tasty lunch in an old loading bay on the canal in Utrecht.

The picture spot.