2e kerstdag - sleeën op de dijk bij Borgsweer!

Vandaag naar de dijk bij Borgsweer geweest om te sleeën. Zelfs opa deed mee, het was erg leuk!

Onze kerstboom

Opgetuigd door de kinderen, met een variatie aan spullen erin.

TF2 - screenshot :-)

Tja, Meta is ook met het game virus besmet. En vandaag, tussen de middag, stond ik heeeeeeel eventjes bovenaan in de rankings. Oh ja, het spelletje heet “Team Fortress 2”.

Diya

Today we had beautiful weather, and Mean, Shen and the Cairns and I went out for a walk. I took some pictures, and this one of Diya was really nice. So I had to make a layout of it!

Modellenwedstrijd - thema "dieren"

Dit is de foto van Mean voor de modellenwedstrijd van Modellicious voor de ronde met als thema “dieren”. De foto is afgelopen zomer gemaakt, op de boerderij waar we vakantie vierden (in het Zwarte Woud). Het paard heet Romeo, Rudy heeft vaak op hem gereden. Toen ik de foto gemaakt had dacht ik al dat hij erg geschikt zou zijn voor deze wedstrijd. Ik heb hem gecropt en daarna met filters bewerkt om hem deze dromerige uitstraling te geven. Ik vind hem erg geslaagd!

Mijn zoon

Deze foto van Shen is van afgelopen juni. Hij was op het terras aan het touwtjespringen met oma en zus Mean. Zijn glimlach op deze foto is typisch Shen. Als je hem vraagt te lachen voor een foto, dan gaat hij poseren. Deze foto is ongeposeerd, en ongegeneerd vrolijk.

Fotoshoot Mean

Mean doet mee aan een modellenwedstrijd. Ze is de eerste ronde doorgekomen,
daarvan was het thema "make-up". Het tweede thema is nu "liefde". We hebben
vanochtend een fotoshoot in de tuin gedaan, net voordat het ging regenen. De
foto in photoshop wat opgepimpt en opgestuurd naar de organisatie. Ik vond
hem erg geslaagd. Ze wordt al zo'n grote meid :-)

3e dag in Barcelona

Vannacht en vanochtend regende het in Barcelona, maar dat had ik op het  weerbericht al gezien. Vanmiddag zou het zonnig zijn. Na een ontbijtje aan de Ramblas te hebben genoten stapten we in de metro om naar de Sagrada Familia te gaan. De rij was lang, maar het liep toch nog wel aardig door, dus al met al viel het wachten wel mee. Zo nu en dan druppelde het nog wat. De kerk was prachtig. We hebben er nog aardig wat tijd doorgebracht, met name in de gewelven waar een expositie was ingericht was veel te zien. Toen we uit de kelder kwamen was de zon flink doorgebroken en konden we aan de overkant nog even een drankje drinken met uitzicht op de kerk. Heerlijk! Daarna gingen we per metro naar de Plaza Catalunya, om vanmiddag de rode route te doen met de bus. Het was heerlijk, wel fris, maar de zon maakte het alleszins goed. Bij Poble Espanol zijn we uitgestapt en hebben we wat rondgeslenterd en tapas gegeten. Toen we daarna weer op de bus stapten zagen we een dreigende donkere lucht. Op een gegeven moment ging het flitsen, en toen zijn we maar onderin de bus gegaan. Door de files duurde het erg lang voordat we bij onze halte waren, maar eigenlijk kwam dat wel goed uit, want het druppelde alleen nog maar wat na, na de onweersbui. Nu even een poosje met de beentjes omhoog, en straks maar weer eens zien wat we gaan eten. Oh, gisteren is het Indiaas geworden (het restaurant wat ik gevonden had op tripadvisor was gesloten). Het was erg lekker, kip korma en kip birjani! Mmmm!

2e dag in Barcelona

Vandaag na een ontbijtje in een cafeetje naar de Plaza de Catalunya gegaan om op de touristenbus te stappen. We hebben de blauwe route gereden, de huizen van Gaudi gezien, de Sagrada Familia, en uitgestapt bij het parc Güell. Ik vind dat het mooist van heel Barcelona. We hebben daar een tijdje gezeten. Het weer was lekker, in de loop van de dag werd het steeds zonniger en het was een lekkere temperatuur (hoewel het boven op de bus wel fris was bij  tijd en wijle!), Morgen gaan we de rode route doen. Op de Ramblad tapas gegeten bij Egipte. Het was lekker, maar de baas die er rondliep was wel een vervelend mannetje. Daarna nog wat rondgelopen, het plaza Reial, de Kathedraal van binnen bekeken, en nog een keer bij de Boqueria geweest (de etenswarenmarkt). Dat is een geweldige plek. De kleuren en geuren, zo vers zie je het nergens! Ze hadden er vruchtensappen voor 1 euro! Lekker kokosnoot - papayasap en kokosnoot - aardbei gehad (Rudy aardbei -sinaasappel en kokosnoot - pitahaya). Heerlijk! Nu zitten we in het hotel, even bij te komen. We hebben ook nog geen trek in avondeten :-) Even lekker lezen of computeren.

1ste dag in Barcelona

De reis naar Barcelona ging prima. Münster is een kleine maar fijne luchthaven, alles ging er erg relaxed. We hadden de mazzel dat we bij de nooduitgang zaten, dus extra beenruimte! Het was helder en we zagen de besneeuwde alpen prachtig. Het vliegtuig van Mallorca naar Barcelona vertrok iets te laat, reden was iets van een noodgeval met een passagier in de vlucht ervoor. In Barcelona zijn wij met de trein en metro naar het hotel gegaan. We zitten in hotel Inglés, een eenvoudig hotel midden in het oude centrum van Barcelona, vlakbij de Ramblas. Nadat we de spullen gedropt hadden en ik geconstateerd had dat de Wifi het prima deed :-) zijn we gaan slenteren door de smalle straatjes. Ik had op internet al een restaurantje uitgezocht (Taller de Tapas) en dat zat vlakbij. Maar eerst een wandeling gemaakt en bij de Cathedraal een buitendienst gezien met een groot beeld van een gekruisigde Jezus. Ook ging er een processie met een kruisbeeld heel langzaam door de oude wijk. Met allemaal trommelaars erbij. Het eten was heerlijk, maar wel een beetje teveel :-) We hebben de heerlijke droge ham mee naar het hotel genomen. Buiten speelt er een man op een gitaar nu, met zang, erg mooi. Onze kamer kijkt uit op de achterkant van het hotel, op een kerk. Niet verkeerd. Straks lekker slapen, en morgen verder Barcelona  verkennen!

Diya is zwanger! - Diya is pregnant!

Onze Diya is zwanger! Ik had er niet op gerekend, maar ze blijkt toch zwanger te zijn, we hebben in ieder geval 3 pupjes gezien op de echo. Ergens in april zal ze hopelijk bevallen van een mooi nestje Cairns!

Our Diya is pregnant! I hadn’t counted on it, but we did an echo yesterday, and she is pregnant. We saw at least 3 babies on the echo. The litter is due in april!

Weeds & Wildflowers challenge

The Weeds and Wildflowers blog had a new challenge this morning, where you have to show the first, last and favorite layouts you have created with Weeds and Wildflowers stuff.

http://weedsandwildflowersdesign.com/blog/

The first layout I could find was of the cover of Mean’s 2005 photo album. I don’t know if I ever made a W&W layout before, but this one was the first one I found in our private gallery. The last one is the 22 february layout of the project 365 that I finished on February 28^th. And my favorite one, because it’s so funny, is the one of Mean cleaning the toilet. She asked me to teach it to her, and I couldn’t resist to take some photos of the event. Now I have something in hand to tease her with later!

 

Please vote for me!

http://a380.lufthansa.com/TAKEPART/#/DE/DE/NAMING/gzut

 

Airplane name is Sky Festival

 

Lufthansa heeft een wedstrijd waarbij een vliegticket te winnen is, en natuurlijk wil ik dat ook wel graag! Nog een keer naar Shenzhen reizen zou fantastisch zijn! Bovenstaand de link, je mag iedere dag (tot 31 maart) op me stemmen zodat ik hopelijk op zoek kan gaan naar Shen’s geboorteouders!

 

The German airline company Lufthansa has a Competition where I could win a ticket. Would love to go back to Shenzhen to find out more about Shen’s birthparents! So please vote for me! Voting is possible every day until march 31^st.

 

Dank je wel! / Thanks very much!

22-29 february

The last week of my 365 project. I've finished my book and sent it off to
Artscow to have it printed. Looking forward to the book itself!

On Monday I picked up my Cairn Terrier Diya from the breeder where she was
to be bred by one of his males. Let's hope she'll have a litter in about 9
weeks! The Tuesday photo is of Shen's room, he is keeping it rather clean
after we decluttered the toys and all other stuff several weeks ago. The
Wednesday photo is of Shen and neighbor Sanne. The kids have their spring
break, and they are playing on the Wii together. The Thursday photo is of
Bumba, or big black cat. On Friday a niece got married, and as we visited
the marriage we also visited our friends near Arnhem. The kids had lots of
fun together as we had a fabulous meal at a Chinese restaurant in Velp! On
Saturday Shen swam for his last swimming diploma, we are all done with
swimming lessons now. And the last photo of the year is of our little
family. I have a remote control for my camera, which is very useful when you
want to take photos of yourself!

I don't know when I will update this blog again, I found out a way to post
videos from my mobile on my blog, so I think I will post some movies here in
the coming months.

Qik - C-diploma by metam

Qik - Mean aan het naaien by metam

8 - 14 february 2010

On Monday I had my last BHV course day. I’m a member of the BHV of my company for my building. When something happens, we are helping the people (in case of fire, exiting the building, in case of a person is hurt, doing first aid etc.). We have to do a course every year in fire extinguishing etc.. Tuesday’s photo is of Mean, Shen and Flip the bear. Flip is going home with all of the children of their classes, they have to take care of him and write a little about the day they had together in a logbook. On Wednesday the weather was really bad again. Already almost 2 months of real winter, not normal for us! The wind was blowing the snow across the road. I took the photo from the car while driving J
Thursday was a beautiful day. I took this photo of our home when I drove home. The days are already getting longer, and I even saw the sun when I arrived home at 5.30. The Friday photo is of Mean, making her bed. She had to take everything off first, and then make her bed again. Hard work for a little girl! On Saturday Mean, grandma and I went to the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks 2. Too many (and loud!) screatching voices. But she liked it. We had a quiet Valentines day on Sunday. The photo is of Shen reading to daddy. He has made good progress in his reading!

Lost but found!

A miracle has happened. When we married almost 25 years ago, a little film was made. Only 3 minutes. We thought we lost this film forever, we couldn't find it anywhere. But it turned up recently at our sister in law's house, and she converted it into an AVI file. How sweet of her! It brings back so many memories, people that are not with us anymore, we were all 25 years younger. Have fun watching this video!

1 - 7 february

On Monday I had my First Aid exam, and I passed! On Tuesday the weather was very bad again, I drove a while but turned around to get home safely. A colleague of mine faxed and e-mailed me some work. On Wednesday my EOL book arrived (Encyclopedia of an Ordinairy Life). It has turned out very nice. The Thursday photo is of our insects. On Friday I took this photo of Mean, it is for a photo competition of my employer. I can win a TV with it! The Saturday photo is of Mean and two friends on the couch, watching Mulan and eating chips. The Sunday photo is of Mean bringing me a breakfast on bed Sunday morning. She’s so sweet!

25 - 31 january

Monday’s photo is of a work meeting, it shows two of my colleagues. On Tuesday my colleague Jantje visited us at work with her little son Sven. He was so cute, smiling at us and playing! Happy boy! The Wednesday photo is the birthday announcement of Yara, the daughter of another colleague. On Thursday we had to work on our sink again, the water is not flowing nicely. On Friday morning it snowed so bad, the children could make a few snowmen in the afternoon. Saturday was a beautiful day. It was freezing, but the sun was warm and bright. I could make beautiful pictures of the children and the dogs. On Sunday Rudy had to go under the sink again to try to fix it. It’s a bad problem!

18 - 24 january 2010

On Monday I had my second first aid training. We had to practice all kinds of bandages, so I was a patient too! Monday’s photo is of our two cats on the couch, Ischa and Bumba. They are inside a lot now that it is soo cold. Wednesday’s photo is of my side of the bed. We bought this neckroll around Christmas at IKEA, and I’m very happy with it. Ischa was sitting really weird on the couch on Thursday. Friday’s photo is of Shen playing a game on the netbook. On Saturday we went to McDonalds with my mom. It was a celebration of Mean’s adoption day (which is in November, but we hadn’t had time to go before, mostly because of the bad weather, McDonalds is about 12 km away from us). On Sunday we went eating out and bowling with the trainers and the volunteers of the dog training school We had lots of really good food and fun, and Mean could play some bowling too!

11 - 17 january

It wasn't easy to take a picture every day this week. It seems I have
covered all the normal subjects and it's hard to think of new ones. Monday
evening I asked the kids if I could take a photo of the two of them. They
are not always into it, but this time they were, so that was a bonus. The
Tuesday photo is of the new rack we have in our kitchen. It's from Ikea and
I love it. It fits perfectly in our kitchen. The Wednesday photo is of Beef
Chimichurri, a dish from Argentina. It is sold here so you can make it
yourself with only adding a few things (beef strips, clotted cream, paprika
and beans. I love it, it's not a favorite by the children though. The
Thursday photo is of Diya, my little Cairn bitch, on the couch. She lies
there almost every evening. On Friday I visited Mean's horse riding lessons
again, and it was the first time she galloped. This was not intentioned
though, so Mean wasn't very happy and she said she didn't want to ride this
horse again. The Saturday photo I took for my EOL project (Encyclopedia of
an Ordinary Life). These are some of my favorite books. And on Sunday we had
a new years party at our dog training school. The activity committee
organized it, and they showed us their new outfit.

4 - 10 january 2010

It is still winter around us. Lots of snow this week. It looks beautiful, but is not nice to drive in. The Monday photo is of the TV corner in our living room. Last week we bought a few closets for the DVD’s and for other stuff (like from the Wii). It looks so much better now that there’s no clutter in that corner anymore! On Tuesday the kids started an ice-skating 3-days on the ice skating rank in Woldendorp. They had so much fun doing that, on the first evening Shen skated 20 rounds (of about 300 meters) and Mean 10, but the next three days they both did 20 rounds. It was great that the iceclub organized this event. The Wednesday photo is of my way back home from work. It started snowing in Groningen around 2 PM, and when I left it was very hard to drive. It took 2 hours to get home, which is normally about 40 minutes. I was really tired afterwards. On Thursday and Friday I had a Photoshop CS4 course, that was great! Inspirational and also great fun. The photo of Thursday has been taken at 7 in the morning at the train station of Appingedam. The Friday photo is of the medal and diploma Mean and Shen earned for the ice-skating 3-days. Saturday was a very cold day. The kids had a birthday party. The photo is of last Sunday, we drove in Rudy’s car to our fathers for a happy new year drink, and I took the photo in one of his many mirrors (he’s a driving instructor). The Sunday photo is of Mean playing her Cambodian Xylophone. She has lessons at the music school in Delfzijl, and learns to play the small xylophone, but the songs worked out on this big one also!

28 december - 3 january

A week off from work. On Monday we picked out new wallpaper for the kitchen. Rudy had already prepared the walls, so he could start with the work really soon. Mean and I visited IKEA in the afternoon. On Tuesday Mean, a friend from school and her mother and I went to a movie, Anubis and the revenge of Argus. It’s a Dutch movie, and Mean and I love the TV series of Anubis also very much (it’s a children’s TV series, but heck). On Wednesday we used our new BBQ pan for the first time. Don’t these baked breads look yummie? On old-years-day we went to IKEA again, and bought several cupboards so we can stow away some more stuff in our home. My mom came to celebrate new years eve with us. The picture is taken at midnight, we live a few kilometers from a village, and this photo is of the fireworks in that village. We had a quiet new years day, we had the grilled meat again, we all love that. It started snowing again on Saturday, and I took lots of photos of the coletits eating from my buffet. On Sunday we could skate again in our village, so we went there with our kids. The weather was really sunny, so lots of nice sunny snow and skate photos!