hoe oud is de Sint?

... and HOW can he manage to do SO MUCH on his birthday?!!!!! First, he travels by steamboat all the way from Spain with a boatful of zwarte Pieten. Then he travels by horse around the lowlands (Holland + Belgium), visiting primary schools (we estimated ~ 10,000 in both countries). And finally, he visits each home and makes deliveries if the children have behaved "well enough". But what happens to the kids who don't behave?

... spy the critical element in this equation? leffe + radieuze = een blije Sint


whew - the kids passed again .... and were rewarded with an XL speculoos cookie, plus choco letters - lekker:)


later that night, as we listened to Sinterklas liedjes (songs), played games, and sang loudly (of course, so the Sint can hear us), there came a loud knock on the door .... bang, bang, bang. But when we opened the door, only a sack of cadeaus was to be found ---- and in it, a marble game for Thijs ..... a stuffed horse and horse-drawing book for Phoebe .... and a knitting set for Alex.

But again, mommy's desire to be stuffed in the sack and shipped back to Spain (w scope, binoculars, bird books) went unfulfilled. Guess I'll have to behave really, REALLY badly in 2009:)

thanksgiving

yes, we did it again - we stuffed a turkey bird! Seems traditions are there for a reason ... they remind us of the comforts of home that we're accustomed to celebrating on a seasonal basis ... and on Thanksgiving day, nothing takes our family "home" more than stuffing a turkey and preparing MOUNTAINS of yummy food!

This 7.4 kg (18 lb) bird came from England --- plenty big enough for our dinner of 12, plus leftovers.

Lulu was treated to a nibble of cucumber here, a carrot there, and by the look on her face she was very grateful, indeed.

The kids toasted with a bottle of bubbly too (kidibuhl - which tastes a bit like sprite, but comes in a corked bottle) and sat down to a candlelight dinner.

We celebrated with our American friends Carolyn, Frank and their 3 kids, as well as our French-speaking friends Mario and Nadine, who are also avid bird lovers. But this time, we weren't studying the bird .... just enjoying it:) ... and being grateful we didn't overcook it!