My Baby Girl is 8yrs. Old!

This weekend we celebrated Brooklyn’s 8th Birthday. It started on Friday when I took brownies into school for her Birthday treat. After sharing her treat with the class, the children sang “Happy Birthday” in both English and in Dutch. Then she was able to pick out a pencil, bookmark, and book from the class Birthday Box. We finished off the celebration by me reading a book to the class. It was very nice. Then on Saturday morning, Brooklyn woke up to a room full of balloons. This is a tradition in my family, one that I hope continues forever. I still hope that on the morning of my birthday each year I wake up to balloons! On Saturday night, Brooklyn had 4 friends over for a slumber party. We had pizza and cake, played Freeze Dance and Musical Chairs, the girls put on a talent show for us, and we ended the night with a movie and popcorn. They were up in Brooklyn’s room around 11:00pm and they finally fell asleep around 1:00am. The next morning they were all up by 7:30. I made them breakfast while they lounged around watching television. The last little girl was picked up by 10:00 am. All in all, they did very well. I survived my first slumber party as a mom.

Fun in the Snow

So, this is a little out of order... but needed to blog about it.
When we moved to the Netherlands, we were told that it rarely snows here. Well, that has not been the case. For the second winter in a row, we have had tons of snow. It is difficult to ride your bike to the grocery in it, but the kids LOVE playing in it. We had a few days of winter break in Holland before heading home to the States. So one afternoon, Jason took the kids out back to build a snow fort. Once they were done, our neighbors came over for a snowball fight. The kids (and Jason) had a great time.

Happy Holidays

We spent Christmas and New Years back in the States. It is always nice to be home with family and friends during the holidays. Our flight in was so much smoother than last winter. The kids have really gotten used to flying. We were home for a shorter time this trip so we were constantly on the go. It was difficult to fit in all the "visiting" we wanted to do. Coming home one evening, the kids asked why we had to go somewhere everyday. It's hard to keep a good balance so that everyone enjoys their time. Our flight back was also good, the kids slept almost the entire time. However, Jason and I are exhausted. Trying to get back on schedule is proving to be difficult. I am hoping that we won't have to do this to many more times.