Rein's Cookumentaries and other Stuff

It’s that time of the year again – where my daughters go abroad for a few weeks to visit their dad and I’m left at home with the cat, feeling empty-nested…
This time I have had instructions on how to fill my days constructively though, so no wasting time behind the pc playing games of facebooking or any such trivia Only allowed to check mails and chat with them when they’re online – and knowing their dad it will be far, far less then what they’re used to

So what’s on the agenda today?  Making a start with my bedroom – that’s the main project of these weeks and well overdue, really, I hope I will be able to finish it – putting the fish tank back in order, even if we’ve only got the one clown fish now (Ziggy has been returned to the shop as he had outgrown the tank and kept jumping up out of the water and bumping his head on the light O.o) and baking bread.  For a Sunday that will be plenty.

So girls, enjoy your holidays and we will see each other on the web

Well, the holidays have officially started with a celebratory dinner, lots of icecream with fresh pineapple and strawberries (and a very apologetic waiter as my steak was bien cuit instead of saignant, so I got a new one and now I’m stuffed as I had one and a half steak and a double portion of croquettes and I still had to finish half of youngest strawberry coupe) and a rented movie (The curious case of Benjamin Button – very good indeed!). We invited the neighbours over and had a cosy evening. Ooh – we forgot the extra tub of Ben & Jerry’s we bought at the movie renting shop! That’s for next time then

And yes,  youngest (the left one) went through with flying colours, no fails all Bs and Cs and an A for english of course Eldest (you guessed it, the right one ) scraped through with an E for maths now but an overall 50%, so she can go to the next year and nope, no holiday work but a sterling promise she will try hard from day one next school year. Oh, but she did have an A for english too

So woohooh and tralaa and we’re off for 9 weeks of sleeping in and eating whenever we like

Mother’s pride and joy – still

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

The girls are growing up fast – I can’t look over their heads any more, certainly not when they’re sitting on my lap (which they still like to do ) Sometimes they’re fighting – like all sisters do – and sometimes they are just too cute for words – like teenagers can be, still Don’t tell them I said so though

This afternoon they will get their final report and I’m sitting here fingers and toes crossed they will pass – maths can be a demon so any good karma sent their way will be gratefully accepted

Or so they say

I’ve been busy playing around, creating a new blog, one I will be sharing with a good friend, what do I say, almost family

But as we both want to be sure everything is to both our liking – and as she’s in the US and I’m in Europe we have to coordinate time zones to find some overlapping – usually when she’s having breakfast, I’m already thinking about dinner, or when she’s ready to go to bed, I’m just drinking my first cup of coffee

So you guys and girls will have to wait a while to see what we’ve come up with – probably somewhere beginning next year

It’s the big day again. Even when my girls are already well in their teens, they still want to keep the tradition upheld (ha – of course, they’re the ones getting the presents!). But even Sinterklaas feels the pinch of the recession. So less sweets (we still have leftovers from last year, so that was a no-brainer really ) and only a few toys. Only problem is, the bigger the kid, the smaller the toy but also the more expensive :p  But well, I get to play with them too, so it’s not too bad

They’ve got 2 games for the Wii – Monopoly and Rayman Raving Rabbids TV party – and one for the PC, the first extension for Spore . Today they can play, tomorrow it gets locked away. They’ve got exams, so some studying needs to be done. When we had their reports for daily work, they shared a first place, they have to keep up standards after all.

And I’m off building a few monsters now

after dinner tea

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

The nephews are staying over for a week – it’s never easy finding child care for the full 9 weeks of summer holidays, so ‘Tante Rein’ takes over for a week. Midweek mum and dad came for a check and took us out for a slap-up meal – but we had dessert and tea at home afterwards, otherwise the bill gets too enormous
I could have finished all the apple cake, but I restrained myself
Yup, new IKEA catalogue checked for useful stuff, newest DVD we watched yesterday, shown to my brother – I thought he would take it home with him, but he probably forgot.

Now it’s almost midnight and I need to clear the table for breakfast for tomorrow morning – better switch on the dishwasher too, or we haven’t got any breakfast plates – we were down to odds and ends already.

Why I made this pic? Because I thought special photo domino number 11 could use a boost – and I can use it still as my daily pic, which has fallen quiet again with the kids being home

In dutch we have an expression “Beter een goede buur dan een verre vriend” (It’s better to have a good neighbour than a far friend) but it’s only by standing by your friends – even if you only know them virtually – that the world will be a better place.

Wes and Niki in happier days

Only a few nights ago I was chatting with Niki, she told me she needed to go to hospital for check-ups. Now, only by chance, I see at another friend’s blog that things are far more serious. I would like to draw your attention to this, those who know Niki and Wes will surely help, others who don’t know them, please read the post and follow your heart. Just a good thought towards them will help already.

Thank you.

01-zoo

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

The kids are at their dad’s for the coming 3 weeks – I miss them *sniff*

That’s why I’m going to post a daily pic – so they stay in the know on what happens at home too

Miss you girls…

What’s a birthday party without a sleepover?

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.
Since we’ve got the new sofa, the kids always want it in the extended version – which means they grab all the space! Oki is lucky, she got a sheepskin basket for her birthday (first of October) and yes, some more goodies on the 4th for St Francis too

I told the kids they’re not allowed to lift her out of there, so she has at least one place she can call her safe spot

I must admit, it is rather cosy, all four of us, huddled under spare quilts and duvets (during the daytime they go inside the sofa – handy!) watching tv – although they have to be careful when drinking or eating, as I said I would personally chew the face off of anyone who made the first stain on the new sofa – it has to stay pristine – at least until Christmas!

Although, sometimes the fun can get too far – or they crowd into each other’s private space and then you get faces like this:

Ah, and tomorrow youngest is officially a teenager too – wooh – I can’t wait for the fun and tantrums (not!)

I’ve done this many steps today – yes, my feet are sore and I’ve got 1 blister, even when wearing crocs…

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

We went on the FNAC Fotomarathon and we walked for hours and hours – 29722 steps – I can hardly believe it – certainly when you know that on a ‘normal’ day I barely get above 2000 steps
I bought this stepmeter because I wanted to know if I was turning into a sloth lately – well, if I get my daily steps up a bit more, maybe the equatorial circumference goes down a bit – which was the whole point buying the meter really