Project 365: Week Forty-Six

The forty-sixth week of 2013, which marked our second week in the Netherlands, began with the celebrated arrival of our air shipment carrying clothes, toiletries, books, food, and toys.  Although I quickly appreciated just how easy it had been to clean our house before its arrival, the shipment brought us some of the comforts and joys from home that had been so badly missed.  

As if the receipt of our shipment wasn't exciting enough, we have been anxiously preparing for the impending arrival of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet, who have already visited nearby towns.  Sinterklaas and his helper are scheduled to arrive via boat here in Delden on Sunday afternoon. We will be there to greet them with Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet hats on our heads and Sinterklaas flags in our hands!

316/365:  Reunited and It Feels So Good

It took Maddie and Will less than 30 minutes to empty every toy box onto the floor after our air shipment arrived on Tuesday morning.  Normally, I would enforce "Clean Up Time" long before every toy was on the floor, but I made an exception that day.  It had been at least a month since Maddie and Will had last seen and played with some of their favorite toys; I couldn't find it in me to demand that they be put away so quickly after they had come!

317/365:  I Have a Feeling We're Being Watched

We often take walks around the nearby hotel golf course.  The walking path runs alongside the course is lined with giant birch trees, and those trees are marked with eyes.  When I first noticed what looked like a human eye on the side of one tree trunk, I thought that it surely must be a carving.  Upon further inspection, though, I noted that all of the birches are decorated with eyes.  I have noticed eyes on birch trees before, but I suppose that I've never seen any quite this big before!

318/365:  In Her Eyes

It was on the golf course path that we caught the sun in its "golden hour" one day last week.  The light shining on Maddie's face and reflected in her eyes was just so warm, soft, and beautiful.  She was less impressed; she may look content int he photo above, but she was not too happy that I had stopped pushing the stroller for the few minutes that it took for me to take some pictures.

319/365:  Make Way for Sinterklaas

We have been hearing about Sinterklaas' arrival since WE arrived in the Netherlands a few weeks ago.  When our settle service guide told us that he would be coming to Delden on November 24th, she mentioned that many children greet Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet wearing special hats.  I have been on the hunt for such hats ever since.  It was on the search for these hats that I found Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet hand puppets as well as Sinterklaas flags late last week.  Will took an immediate liking to the Sinterklaas hand puppet, even ditching George to instead carry Sinterklaas on a walk around the neighborhood.  

320/365:  All the Blocks

After awaking early from her nap, Maddie teamed up with Daddy to build a tower using ALL of the blocks that we own.  Maddie may have been happy to her Daddy all to herself, but I'm pretty sure Daddy was just as happy to spend precious time with his baby girl.

321/365:  Patterned Pathway

On Sunday, I took a photo walk of Delden Centrum.  This patterned pathway was found underfoot in the courtyard of the old church at the center of town.  It made for a beautiful picture, but the old brick path sure wasn't easy to navigate in heeled boots!

322/365:  Sausage Head

On Sunday evening, we were. invited to the home of one of Jim's co-workers for a traditional Dutch dinner.  I couldn't tell you now what it was called, but one of the ingredients of the meal was Unox sausage.  Jim's co-worker told us that the winter hat seen on Will's head in the photo above came with the purchase of a package of the sausage.  Both Maddie and Will were given a hat to wear, and both of them immediately loved them.  On Monday, the twins wore their hats on our short walk to the mailboxes.