A Premier: Nina in school!

Here we are now, exactly a week after Nina’s first day in school but the excitement I felt that first day hasn’t subsided yet. Every day is still “Nina’s First-Day-in-School” for me at least.

15 April 2013

As already long planned and has been a yearly tradition that Nico and I bring the kids to their first day in School, this time its only me cause Nico had a duty-call ;-) And I witnessed my kids’ first day in school after a 5 week vacation…and for Nina its HER First time to go to School.

Big brother Niels was so proud that his baby sister is now going to his school as well.  The excitement was so high for them, and not forgetting…FOR ME TOO!

When we got to school, I took their picture together.  And as always, Nina copied exactly how Niels posed…from tongue to foot position!

 

 

Then we proceeded to Nina’s class.  We placed her bag where it should be, she took her jacket out and hang it on her piggy icon where she should hang it every single day.

 

A few seconds after, her smile got smaller and smaller. She probably realized that Mama and Niels will not be staying with her in that room the whole day.  She started staring at me while her eyes talk to me and said…”Mama don’t leave me here alone…”   I didn’t look long at her any longer because I might cry (haha) and just quickly said “See you later” But then she opened her cute little mouth and words came out saying, “Mama, jij ook hier blijven!  Mama you stay here too!”  The teacher heard it, picked her up, asked her to give Mama 1 last kiss, and Niels and I went away…otherwise I will be tempted to bring Nina back home (hahaha).

Outside, I also said “See you later”’ to Niels, gave him a kiss and said, “Take care of your little sister!”  And he strongly answered “YES!”

Good I had some work to do at home otherwise waiting for 3pm will be the longest 6 hours ever!

At 3:15pm I left and rushed back to school to pick my sweethearts up.  It got there too early but its ok, it’s the excitement-to-see-them-again’s fault ;-) 

First Niels’ class was done and we went together to pick Nina up from her class.  Oh and then I saw my little princess, readily waiting for me, with her jacket on and her bag on her back…hair still nicely pushed back after those hours of playing…I called her, “Ninatje!”  She looked at me with a big smile and said “Hey Mama….waar is Niels? Where is Niels?”  Then Niels showed up and that gave an even bigger smile on her face!  She was more excited to see Niels than me! Hahahaha

I talked a bit with the teacher to ask how she was on her first day.  The teacher said that she was a very good girl, she ate her sandwich and fruit good and she played good. Well, what did I expect? Before I could even say BYE to her teacher, my 2 ragdolls were already on the way outside to the playground.

Niels was shouting that I have to follow because he wants to show me how he helped Nina climb on the slide earlier during playtime.  And so I watched them.

It melted my heart seeing and knowing that my 2 sweethearts are playing and looking for each other especially when Nico nor I are around.

Niels was so proud to have his sister with him in school, and Nina looooved the attention ;-)

Then we went home, Nina showed her smiley stamp, rested a bit and 15 mins later Nina was ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.

 

Niels, officially a big boy!

Hello Everyone,

Its been a while, was busy in between but have some blogs written travelling with the train, I just didnt have the time to post them yet.

Anyways...Niels has just came this morning from his annual medical (CLB) check up with his class.  And here are the results:

Growth: Length: 114.30 cm (higher than normal for his age) - Weight: 21.10 kg

Vision: Normal

Hearing: Normal

I was reading the doctor's report out loud while everyone was listening...and Niels was listening very intensely.  I read growth, vision, and when it came to hearing I said: THE DOCTOR FOUND A BANANA IN YOUR EARS!

First he thought hmmmm...and then he said NO!  The doctor didnt write that! Hahaha.

Then I confessed that it was just a joke but added that I think the doctor really wrote a joke...that his hearing is normal.

I kept on teasing him about his hearing cause the last few days, I have to call his name about 5 times before he replies.  So I told him that I will send an sms to his teacher to ask the doctor to check his ears. Hehe

Oral Health: Continue to visit the dentist at least once a year, that's very good to have started visiting the dentist at his age.

Vaccinations: In order

Final Report: Niels cooperated very good during the check up.  He is a very healthy and good boy!

Niels, my big boy!

Judge for yourself...

Neri

The Excitement...

Excitement to something that will happen is always greater than the thing itself you are waiting for.  Hopes are high and the feeling is so indescribable.

We are flying to the Philippines soon for our yearly family visit.  With 2 kids to drag we tried our best to explain to them what will happen, when it will happen and how we will go there. With the help of the memories (and the photos) from our previous trip, its not difficult to explain that we are going to Lolo and Lola (my parents) by plane.  What we will do there is simply explained as seeing Lolo, Lola, Makayla (my sister’s daughter), Ninang Geli, Ninong Danny, Tita Joy and Tito JM.  Niels knows that it’s warm in the Philippines so he also expected Beach and Swimming pools!

But the difficult subject to explain is the WHEN.  There were already a couple of incidents that Niels was sooooo excited thinking it is already THE DAY!  And one of them was when he dressed up one morning to go to school, while he thought we were already on the way to the airport. 

He said “Spannend he Mama?” 

So I asked, “Whats exciting about today?”
and he answered “Wij gaan toch naar de Filippijnen vliegen vandaag?”

Oh and I have to disappoint him “Its not today Niels. Today we are just going to school and in 5 weeks we will go fly to the Philippines”

And seeing how sad his face became…damn it!  Why didn’t I explain it better to him in the first place when we are leaving!

And Nina, since we told her we were going to the Philippines, she kept on saying…”Kom, wij gaan naar Filippijnen! Kom Mama!”

After a week or 2, she stopped.  I think she gave up the idea that she is going there (just because she doesn’t have any sense of time yet).

Soon, we can excitingly countdown with them.  And hopefully they don’t count 2 times in 1 day to hasten everything up!

It will be a very fast 3 weeks in the Philippines I bet, our agenda is already full and we still want to do lots of things!

Anyways, there is always a next year…

LoboCat

LoboCat is our superhero disguised as a cat.

He sees to it that children are always safe especially when they are playing, studying, travelling or sleeping. 

He can fly by jettisoning balloons hidden in his backpack that automatically wrap around his arms. If he fights in mid-air he repositions the balloons on his back to free his arms. Needless to say, he can also put them wherever he wants to perform various acrobatic maneuvers:


- on his feet to dive or descend very fast,
- on his left arm to fight with his right hand,
- on his right arm to wave to his fans with his left hand after  performing some heroic deeds,
- on his hips to hover around like a helicopter when  performing some delicate rescue mission,
- on his head when ascending rapidly on a steep and limited  space but never on his neck for obvious reasons.

Being a cat, he can see in total darkness, leap above tall obstacles, jump down from great heights landing perfectly safe on his padded feet, hear the slightest sound from miles away and detect his enemy's location by flicking his tongue.

His strength is amazing but he has his Achilles' heels, WATER. Water drains him of his strength and superpowers just like Superman's  kryptonite. He becomes an ordinary cat. He must find ways to dry himself up to become once more LOBOCAT.

To avoid this dilemma, he never takes a bath but just wipes himself clean with a wet hand towel. He sustains his powers by regularly drinking milk, occasionally eating dried mangoes, exercising diligently and sleeping at least 8 hours a day.

He purrs when sated.

THE END...or TO BE CONTINUED?


Created and drawn by Niels Janssens
Story Written by Lolo Ben
Blog by Mama

Het Eerste Gekste Verjaardagsfeest van 2013!

The Birthday Boy Niels!

Well, that title earns its place.  It was the first craziest birthday party of the year!

We found that Niels' birthday party can perfectly be at the same venue as Nina's birthday.  It wasnt too big so we were able to supervise where the kids are.  It was clean and the service was perfect!  No too long waiting time for the food, timing was very good and all our wishes were granted!

The table was decorated with banderitas, a souvenier for every kid, and a Superman cape that the kids thought first as the napkin to put around their neck when their eating, so I started explaining that its the cape of Superman!  Then they all wanted to have it on! (Thanks Ninang Geli! It was a hit!)

It was not only fun but also quite useful cause we can recognize the kids that are with us from AFAR!

So as soon as the first kid came in...I mean even before the first kid came in, Niels and Nina were already unstoppable!  They were already ALL OVER the playground!

Kids from school, Nina, Celeste, Fee and Stig were the kids that composed our group.

Niels blew his cake first.  When it was time to eat the cake, it was a total flop!  Some kids doesnt want cream, the others doesnt want the fruits on it, and some doesnt want anything at all...THEY ALL JUST WANT TO GO BACK PLAYING!  So the cake that was supposed to be for 20 people was only about 60% consumed.

They all opened their souvenirs as well...the wrapping, the origami and the glueing that kept me awake until 3 o'clock in the morning just to finish making it, took about 2 seconds to tear the wrapper open.  They liked it but didnt have time to look longer what it actually was, they went back off playing!

After dinner, Niels opened his gifts and everyone was so proud to give Niels their gift so he can open it next.  The gifts were all so nice!  And he remembers good which gift came from who...

Anyways, the most important thing was that they had fun, I had fun and was happy that everything went good.

Im not gonna bore you any longer with my nagging, see the pictures below!

Electric Cars Toothbrush from Mama and Papa

Niels' Birthday table

The party poopers!

Supermen and Supergirl Farah

His birthday cake

The Super Duo

 And the gift opening:

There you go!