Grandparents' Day

Cirrus invited us to Grandparents' Day at her school. Opa predicted correctly. As soon as she saw us, she was out of her seat and running towards us, "Oma, Opa you came!" She was excited. She made us a card.

The teacher had everything all set up for making Christmas ornaments. The boy next to Cirrus was a fast worker and finished his early.

Opa and Cirrus hard at work pushing pins through sequins, then marshmallows, and then into the styrofoam ball.

Here is the finished product, one for us and one for Cirrus.

We had a lot of fun. Thank you for inviting us, Cirrus!

Winter Has Arrived

It started snowing in earnest, and being really cold. Brrrrrrr....

I saw these bird tracks on our front porch.

Somehow a nice bowl of Dutch soup seemed to be the right thing for dinner.

Sinter Klaas

We had Sinter Klaas on Saturday, Dec. 5th. It is a big deal for our family. We met at my Mom's place. If you own a pair of wooden shoes, you wear them there.

Sometimes the little shoes are passed down to the younger ones.

We have a slide show that my brother David and myself prepared. Our Mom narrates the little program. This year my brother added some words to songs for us to sing. One of our relatives in Holland, Jan Van Leer, sent Mom a CD with Sinter Klaas songs on it. It was a great addition.

After the slide show all the shoes are lined up, people "sleep and then wake up" to find what Sinter Klaas has brought them.

Mom makes her own chocolate letters, and the kids love them!

Thanks for all the hard work; the chocolate letters, the peppernotten, the little toys for the younger ones, and the fruits It is a fun time for us all.

Wow, Pretty Surprising

Mrs. Reed came into my room this afternoon to share a student's assignment with me.

Who would have thought that a ten year old girl would want to be a fifty something year old? Actually, I really am appreciative of the sincere compliment. It is delightful to have been able to read this, and thought I would share.