Christmas in Neverland!

Of course they also celebrate Christmas in Neverland!  How else do you think could my Peter Pan and Tinkerbel receive and give gifts?!?

Look how big!  Santa Clause brought this very big package from North Pole to here in Neverland!

Voila!  A nice train station!  Yupeeee!

Fee was also present

Of course I've got to play with it immediately!

And guess what we had for dessert??? CHOCOLATE FONDUE!

Paskong Pasko Ito!

And of course Lolo and the gang also celebrated Christmas even if its just about 21°C cold in Philippines.  To that effect, they were celebrating Christmas at the terrace with short sleeves and short pants! KAINGGIT!

Here you go!

Eating at the terrace. Mira and family where also there

Tito Dan and Tita Joy

Lola and Tita Mira

Ninang and Tito JM

Here they are once again

Therese opening her gifts

And Lolo also of course!

Christmas from Belgium to Philippines!

Hi everyone,

All over the world, different families celebrate this wonderful day of Christmas.  Sharing gifts, warm greetings and wishes with their loved ones.  And of course we are one of them.  From our family in Belgium to our family in Las Pinas, we all enjoyed this marvelous day!

"Enough drama Mama! Its my turn to tell!!!"

OK, so kids, when I woke up that Chismasday, I immediately saw a big package lying under the Chismastee.  Well, after opening lots of gifts last night (Noche Buena) I already know where to look at for gifts.  "WOW! Kado! Mama kijk!" and when they asked me for who the gift is..of course I answered "NIELS!!!"  while already unwrapping the pack.

And what do I see? Oh WOW! A Piano!  Thank you Mama and Papa!!!...I mean Kersman!

In the afternoon, after my nice long nap we set of to Koersel to meet up with the family.  We were suppose to have a surprise walk planned but due to the bad weather we just stayed at Nonkel Romain's house.

But even if we just stayed there it was so much fun. The snow, the snow ball, the snow man, and my pistolet made my day!

And of course the older people (hehe) also got their treat! Yummy bbq from Nonkel Romain!

I played a lot with Lieke and a little bit with Celeste, she is starting to be a big girl now and I dont think she can tolerate the energy I vibe.  But when it comes to opening of gifts, we all 3 share the same enthousiasm!

After a while of playing inside, I decided, together with Papa, Nonkel Roger and Nonkel Romain, to stay outside for a while and play again in the snow...whew that was a good one!

And to bless the night....aaaaahhhhhh...LEKKER IJS! Ice cream yum!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Niels

Happy Holidays!

To everyone in Belgium, we wish you:

And to those in Philippines, Argentina, Poland, Hungary, and all over the world:

Noche Buena

Every year (for me just the 2nd time around), Oma and Opa celebrates Christmas eve with us.  Mama and Papa prepares some delicious food...this time its STONE GRILL time!  Less work but as delicious. 

But although the food was good, I was actually looking forward to the beter part...OPENING OF GIFTS!   And looking at how much gifts there are under our Christmast tree, I had looots of work.

But I love it and I was good at it, whether it be gift for Mama, Papa, Oma or Opa...I OPEN THEM ALL!

Tomorrow a lot more work to do! 

Thanks also to Lolo, Lola, Ninang, JM, Tito Dan, Tita Joy, and Family of Tita Virgie. 

Thanks for sending your gift!!!

Niels

Fotos kijken...

Last Sunday, all those who went to Philippines last 2006 for Mama and Papa's wedding gathered together to look at the compilation of photos and videos they took then.  They were having fun watching while I run after FLUFFY and played around with all the toys I brought and received from Nonkel Staf, Tante Mireille, Karolien and Ronald!

Opening my gift: Brandweer auto!

They watch I play!

He-he

And of course I play also with Celeste's toy (hihi) 

She didnt like it though, she cried when I took the cap of her mannekes out "Kap uit!"

Visit to baby Damian!

Hello everyone,

Yes there is a new baby in the Filipino family here in Belgium...Damian!  We took a peek of him last saturday with Mama and Papa...and you know what? Dylan was also there with his mama and papa!  Lots of fun!!!


Here are some of our photos:

With all the papas: My papa & me, David with Damian, Toby with Dyla

With the Mamas: Mama & me, Mai with Damian, Donna with Dylan

We can already put up an All-boy's club soon!

Nielske

Sinterklas en Zwarte Piet...

Of course not!  They didnt forget me!  I was a good boy too! Mama just didnt have time enough to post my pictures the last few days...I mean months.

Here I am taking some candies from Zwarte Piet's basket

Clapping with Mama together with the other children in the hall

And finally on Sinterklaas' lap (I can tell him what I want!!!)

The morning of Dec 6!  I got lots of cookies and chocolates again!

And looks like Sinterklaas also passed by in Balen!

Si Lola talaga...

Just recently my Lola Naty (grandma) passed away. Im not sad or in grief because I know she had enjoyed her life, she had seen all her sons and daughters (10 children in total) build their own families, she had witnessed her grandchildren grow up and have their own children, and has enjoyed the playful company of all her apo-sa-tuhod or great grandchildren. I will remember her as my-ever-wise-but-witty and incredibly-funny Lola.

Just last night Tatay sent me an email regarding yet another funny story that happened to Lola during the storm Ondoy...here it goes:

Sent: Wed, November 18, 2009 1:02:15 PM
Subject: NOVEMBER REVELATIONS

"The second half of November startled us with the passing away of Lola on friday the 13th. Jorge rushed her to the hospital but she could hang on for only 15 minutes. Now she has her much needed rest after 91 years of non-stop comings and goings. She was gallivanting in Angono on the very day typhoon Ondoy was wreaking havoc all over Metro Manila. On that day she left home early in the morning to buy newspapers as part of her daily ritual. She came back at 5pm sporting a new hairdo. The newspaper? She forgot. She was lucky. Ondoy managed only to leave mud on her aging feet.

Everyone was at her wake. From the tribe of Fe to Jean. Even Rey was present. There was not a trace of sadness or loss. We are sure she won't be lonely. She'll be meeting again those she missed for quite a time: the 2 Joels, Jasmin, Belen and of course Lolong Pilay. They'll be making up for lost time. And there's also Lolong Taba, Tia Soling, her Nanay Tinay and Tatay Damian, brothers, cousins... She'll be talking again, swapping stories, comparing notes. She will be too busy to come back and tickle her grandchildren. She's not the type to scare her loved ones.

She was buried tuesday Nov 17."

And with this email Lola had made us laugh once again just imagining how she acted and how she walked so slow going wherever she went that day. I will definitely miss her, her letters to me, her stories, her advises, and her cute smiles.

With that story being told, only thing I was able to say was..."Si Lola talaga..." with a big smile on my face.

Lola, you will be missed. We love you.

Neri, Nico and Niels

Boswandeling - De Ijzeren Man

Here is a short clip of our walk through the forest...

Halloween

Celebrating Halloween differs from one country to another. In Philippines, together with my brother, sister, and cousins we celebrate Halloween by watching a spooky documentary about ghosts-, underworld-, monster-, true-to-life-experiences till midnight, having chips and dip close-by, all lights off, and a blanket each to cover ourselves. And after the program we ask ourselves, Do you believe it or not? And then we start telling our own-heard-stories or own experiences.

Here in Belgium, Halloween is a commercial stunt for stores so they can sell all those pumpkins (hehe) but we made a fun night out of it with the neighbors, in the middle of the forest, between the candle lights, with a bonfire and lights hanging on the trees.

We ended up wet from the drizzle that night but it was a good night. Up for a repetition next year :-)

We prepared some snacks to help us win the cold night, some hot choco, pancakes, and bloody-finger food (literally a bloody finger! I forgot to take picture of it to show you.)

Well, anyway, here are some fotos we took:

Jenever Feest Hasselt

"There is Papa!" shouted Niels while riding the carousel in Grote Markt Hasselt. He wasn't afraid anymore unlike the first time. He enjoyed driving the "auto".

Oma, Niels and Mama
Enjoying our Jenever meal in Dai Cugini

Booh!

Hello everyone,

Today was a busy busy day. Visited baby Ines today in Leopoldsburg. Afterwards, we went to pick up Oma and Opa to go to Hasselt Kermis. And that kermis, wooh! what was that! So many lights, lots of rides going around, so much noise!!! But after a while I got used to it and started dancing with the music.

We also fished some ducks and I won a brand new red TRACTOR!

After looking around we decided its time to look for a spot to seat down and eat a pack of fries! Mmmm, lekker!

Goodnight!

Nielske

PS: Here is another film about me under the sheets!

Happy 5th Birthday Celeste!

Hello everyone,

Yes Im still alive and kicking. Didn't disappear...just been very busy. The last two months have been so freaking busy that Mama didnt have the time to post anything at all. Lots of stories to tell but lets start with the most recent one...Celeste's 5th birthday party!

On the way to Rosmeer last sunday I was practicing the names of people I will meet that day..."vichy, leste, nanny, oma, opa, moemoe"...hehe. Im trying my best and it feels good to be able to call them with their names.

Of course the icing on the cake that day is the blowing of the cake (hehe). I hope to be able to blow mine already on my own in January.

Moemoe and Celeste - about to blow her candle

After some playing and eating of cake Celeste had to open her gifts...and Im moooore than ready to help :-) I was tearing out some gift wrappers as well.

Celeste trying to open my gift

After all those cake-eating, gift-opening, barbecueing, is...PLAYING! Look at this!

And me trying out Celeste's new bike

It got late and everyone where tired so it was time to go home. But I definitely had a great time! I gave kisses to everyone and said Dada.

Niels

Dancing "De Kabouterdans"

Hey hey hey,

In Janssens residence in Paal, its Studio 100 every weekend! Plop, Kwebel, Lui, Klus, Mega Mindy, Nijntje, Amika, K3, Piet Piraat, all of them! But what's nice is that Mama and Papa watch and dance with me as well. In this film, you will see how I dance with Kabouter Plop to the tune of "De Kabouterdans"...you won't see Mama and Papa...they prefer to stay anonymous (hihihi).

Here we go HEEEE-HAAAAA!!!:

Uncle Lukasz!

Peter, Ninong or godparent, you call him whatever you want...but I call him LUKA!

Finally he was able to visit me again after that Babyborrel when I was just 2 months old. And here I was playing with him side to side, giving him hugs, kisses, and playing ball. I hope to see him back soon! It was a short visit but long enough to show him Im a big boy!

Thanks for your visit Uncle Lukasz!

Nielske