Supervising My Kids

I, Bryan, thought it would be a good idea to trust my children. They were playing sweetly together in the dining room, so I thought I would help Celesta clean the kitchen. Normally after dinner, one of us cleans while the other ensures Kaeli and Avery don't kill each other over a crayon (or piece of paper or flower...) On Thursday evening, the girls were playing together sweetly. Kaeli was helping Avery color and was being the most wonderful big sister. Besides, what trouble could they possibly find?

"Uh Oh!!" Kaeli's words, not mine. "Avery is about to make a mess!" In all her help, Kaeli was demonstrating to Avery the appropriate way to make handprints. That's right, handprints with paint! Kaeli had gotten out her watercolors, painted Avery's hands purple, and shown Avery how to make handprints on a piece of paper. The art was beautiful. However, Avery's hands were a mess and Kaeli had not considered this aspect of the operation. Hence her "Uh Oh!" For some reason Celesta blamed me for the purple water puddles in the dining room. Maybe it was for my supervision? So much for trusting my one- and three-year old.

Some random thoughts...

I've had alot on my mind lately. Haven't really had time to write it down, so I'm going to put some of it down now.

Shell

If you hadn't heard, Shell is undergoing a major reorg and over 75% of staff will be reapplying for jobs in the next month or two. We are being told that 20-30% of jobs will be cut! The Executive-level folks have already gone through their round of job cuts and it was right about 30% for them. We're expecting it to be lower on our end of the totem poll, but not much. Bryan does not have to apply for his job, but I must reapply for mine. I'm sure I will have a job, but I have no idea whether we'll get to stay in the Netherlands or have to move back early. I wouldn't mind moving back, but am not looking forward to uprooting the family again so soon. Don't feel like packing/unpacking 5 times in 3 months again either! Oh well, we'll see how things go. Keep us in your prayers as there is a lot of uncertainty these days.

New Schools

The last week has been very crazy. We are moving Avery to a new day care which is closer to our home and my work (though with the reorg, I will most likely have to move to Rijswijk - 20 minutes driving, 40 minutes by public transport). We could only get her in 4 days/week, so the 5th day she is still at her old day care. Kaeli also started the British School last week, sort of. They have this 'induction period' that is excruciatingly painful for 2 full-time working parents. She went for 1-hour two Fridays ago, then last week, she went Tues & Thurs 9-12. This week is 5 days, but only 9-12. Next week, she goes until 12:30 on Mon & Tues, then until 1:30 the rest of the week (I think). So, one of us takes Avery in, another waits around until its time to take Kaeli, then one of us picks Kaeli up and takes her to her current day care for the afternoon, finally, someone goes to pick up one or both girls. It's a nightmare and I've been working nights and weekends just to try to get my 40 hours in. The good news, and the thing that keeps us going, is that the girls love their new schools! We will be glad when we can finally get into a new routine when Kaeli goes full-time starting in October. There's a bus that will pick her up and take her to after-school care, so minimal back-and-forths in any given day. After-school is closer to home (at least 3 days a week), so it will be nice though I must admit I will probably miss my 'commute' on the bike.

Out of Touch

Found out today that one of my good friends from grad school had a baby 5 weeks ago. I didn't even know she was pregnant! She even works for Shell, so it's not like I have an excuse for not keeping in touch... We have internal IM! I also found out that my best friend and maid of honor has to cancel her trip to Europe. I was going to get to see her for the first time in almost 6 years and now I don't know when I'll see her again. This really got me down today and made me miss my friends and family even more than I usually do. I am so out of touch. I've tried to get video chat up and working, but don't have time to sit down and really get it working (guess I could be doing that now, but then you'd complain cause I never update my blog!). So, if you haven't heard from me in a while it's not that I don't think of you, it's just I can't seem to find time to keep in touch. Maybe when I don't have to work nights and weekends...

Avery Talks - but we need translation

This has been a pretty depressing post, so I'll end on a funny note. Avery has been babbling for months now and lately has become quite the communicator. She does more signs every day and can definitely point and grunt to tell you EXACTLY what she wants. She can say, and we can understand, the basics: Mama, Dada, Thank You, Please, but I've been wondering if she's saying more words and we just don't understand her because she is saying them in Dutch.

Well, this past weekend, my fears were confirmed! We went over to a Dutch friends house and Avery was babbling along, then said "Die" and "deze" while pointing out a variety of things. Well, come to find out, she's saying 'this' and 'this one'! Guess we need to practice our Dutch more. I feel pretty bad that we don't even have the vocabulary of our 17-month old!

Oh, and to make things worse, Kaeli is fluent. When we have play dates with her Dutch friends from day care, she'll only speak Dutch. Her friend's mom has to translate for us! We are sooooo sad!! Oh well, we're taking lessons and getting better every week. We'll be able to understand them both soon (I hope).

More adventures

So, these trips actually took place several weeks ago, but better late than never...

Our boat trip in Amsterdam:

Bryan's friend, Frances, keeps a boat in Amsterdam. He likes to toodle around the canals, meet perfect strangers while waiting to go through the loch, etc. He invited the fam to come for a ride. It was supposed to be a couple of hours, which turned into about 5! 5 hours on a boat with a 3 and a 1 year old! The first 2.5 hours were fantastic. The last 2.5 were a struggle, but it was a gorgeous day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as you can see from the pics. Kaeli got to help drive the boat and got attacked by a BIG kissy fish (read: Frances giving her lots of kisses).

My trip to India:

OK, so it's not an Adventure 'Together', but it was an adventure. I had to go to Bangalore, India, for work and left Bryan home with the girls for a week. Luckily, Bryan's Mom ('Grandma') was able to fly over and help him out. Good thing, as Avery got sick the day after I left! I had a very good time. Got lots of sleep. Work was very productive. I didn't get to see much of India, unfortunately, but did enjoy some delicious food, good shopping, and a beautiful hotel! It reminded me alot of Mexico with a gorgeous 5-star hotel next door to a field full of cardboard homes. Traffic was awful! I had a driver all week and I just fastened my seat belt and closed my eyes!! Got home safe and sound. The girls missed me a lot! I think Bryan did too!! Here are some pictures of my hotel.

We found our new DiGiorno!

We've been struggling to find good pizza here in the Netherlands. Sure, there is a Domino's (but you actually have to pay a toll to call them to deliver) and a Pizza Hut (good pizza but no delivery), but we've had to settle for New York Pizza, which happens to have pizza that tastes good, but the crust is a little too chewy and tough.

We've also tried frozen pizzas (very convenient!), but have not been lucky enough to find one that even remotely meets our expectations (even Kaeli won't eat more than 1 piece), until last weekend. Kaeli and I went to a new grocery store by the Little Gym while Bryan and Avery had their Daddy/Daughter time. I thought we'd try another new pizza, especially since it was called "Texas Pepperoni". Got it home, waited until Friday night, family movie night, then baked the two pizzas in the oven. They were delicious! Kaeli ate 3 pieces, Avery had two, and Bryan and I had our fair share. Now, granted, these pizzas are significantly smaller then typical frozen pizzas in the US, but we ate all but one small piece! Almost as good as DiGiorno!

Avery's First Haircut

Wow! Has it really been over a month since my last post? I really can't believe it. Things have been a little hectic, but I'm not exactly sure what I've been doing. Oh yeah, two weekends were spent either in India or recovering from my trip (I'll have to post about that another time).

Anyway, we took Avery for her first haircut this weekend. Kaeli was quite a bit older when she got hers. Below are the pictures. Oh, as you can see, Kaeli got a haircut too! Enjoy!