Happy Birthday Aiden!

When you are pregnant with your second child, you have a hard time fathoming them being any different than your first child. I distinctly remember thinking this, even when Aiden was a little baby. And slowly, he began to show his own unique traits. Six years later, I think that I may have him pegged, but I'm guessing that I might be wrong. This shy, introverted little boy with a huge ability to love, as well as a huge ability to stand his ground, still surprises me every day.

And when it came to his birthday, Aiden was pretty true to form. I asked him what he wanted and his response was, "I guess legos or something, but really whatever you want to get me." And when I asked about a birthday cake it was, "Just a cake with yellow and orange stirpes cause it's my favorite color and Jacobs." There was glimmer of some decisiveness with his party when he named off about 8 people that he wanted there and said no to anymore cause "those are the people I really like." These are just a few examples of how unique Aiden is. To know him is to love him.

So, when his birthday rolled around, we headed to Chuckee Cheese. The kids loved playing the games and Aiden was so happy just to be there. We had pizza with Chuckee and at the end Aiden had enough tickets to get a heap of junkie toys. It was good to see him interacting with his friends. While he is shy on the outside, he certainly can joke around with his buddies. He blends in, but he has a good time doing so.

At the end of the day, after opening his presents, we sat in Aiden's room - redone that day with new bedding and a new world map on the wall. Aiden looked up at us, suddenly looking older, and told us what a fun day he had. His sweetness shined through. Better yet, his uniqueness shined through. He's not like his older brother - extroverted and social. He's not like his little brother - also extroverted, but extremely cuddly. No, Aiden is quiet, he's a thinker, he HATES kissing almost as much as he hates being the center of attention. And the newest trait to show in his sixth year of life is loyalty. He stands up for what he believes in and he loves unconditionally. Pretty good qualities to have at the young age of six. I'm so proud.

Happy Birthday Baby.

We convinced him to go with a snake cake and celebrated a bit early with Grandma and Papa

All the kids at Chuck E. Cheese!

So excited about this map!

Journey Back With The Girls!

I'm often unlucky with timing. The line I go into at the grocery store suddenly slows and I end up waiting, I choose to take the highway and it's longer than the side streets...this is the story of my life. But, the biggest timing mishap for me is leaving England too early. I was bummed that we'd miss the Olympics, but then the royals had to go and one up it by announcing a Royal Wedding! Not that I would be sitting with prime seats at Westminster Abbey, but it would have been nice to say I lived there at the time. Good thing my former ex-pat friends thought the same!

Shortly after the announcement of Will and Kate, an email came into my inbox - "How about a Royal reunion of expats in Beaconsfield?" Umm...easy answer to that! Of course! But then we began to think details - busyness of London and overpriced flights. Well, we could celebrate early, right? And so we did!

I boarded the plane leaving behind three sad boys - one saying it was unfair, one wanting to fly on the plane, and one not wanting me to go. I have to admit, I felt guilty for only about 2 seconds! And as my plane touched down at Heathrow, I felt myself let out a huge sigh of relief. Have I been holding my breath for 9 months? The skies were dreary and the rain lingered, but I was ecstatic to be 'home.'

I moved through customs and baggage in record time - 12 minutes, which could only be a sign of good things to come for the weekend. I was met by my good friend Marcy, who swept me off to Beaconsfield where we sat at the Old Tea House for a traditional cream tea and a good chat. Not much had changed and my mind felt as if it were playing tricks on me - had I really left at all? Three hours past quickly and I was on to the next visit - The Clarks.

This, honestly, was my toughest visit and where I did feel guilty that the boys weren't with me. We spent so much time at the Clark household where they too had three boys our age plus a little brother. It felt like old times as we prepared for the school run. It was great to be back on the school field and saying hello to everyone. I may have even reached celebrity status, if just for that 5 minutes!

Thursday night passed too quickly and suddenly I was back on the school field saying goodbye to Fraser and Rory, hoping it wouldn't be too long before we'd see eachother again. Then I was off to the next destination and the people who made the weekend happen - Friday Morning Playgroup. These ex-pat women from the States and Canada sat with me on a weekly basis as we watched our babies grow before our eyes. It was so great to see these ladies and for once we could sit and have a conversation without being interrupted! I don't think that has ever happened before!

Carrying on with the theme of the weekend, this too had a short lived life cause we had to move on to the next task at hand - shopping. We were all feeling a bit drowsy. Good thing that Chantal, our gracious host, has some Red Bull on hand. Wow, does that work! We were off! We cruised through the mall, purchasing UK items that we had to have and some that we didn't need. Anna, my Jersey Girl, made me buy a new jumper. Hmm...Whistles brand. Really? Never heard of it. Turns out that young Kate Middleton loves the store - check out her engagement pic and her lovely Whistles blouse. You were right Anna!

And then we looked at our watches! Yikes, we were late. Something I hate to be. We needed to get to Carrie's for a curry and I needed to get to Waitrose for my fish pie and sticky toffee pudding. We flew back, and made it fashionably late. Again, a night of lounging and filling in details from our past year. Anna, Sheena and I returned home and stayed up til 3:30 talking. We really didn't worry about our alarms going off at 8:00...there was Red Bull in the house!

Sheena and I made it up, but I just didn't have the heart to wake our Jewish princess. We waited and when she finally emerged, I told her we'd help move her along by making her bed. I've never seen anyone look so surprised. Apparently, Jewish women don't make beds - at least that is what this JAP said to me. My reply, Dutch women do. And I did. And then we had a Red Bull before being swept away to Central London for more shopping.

I think we all got our list taken care of. Never have I spent so much time in Designal looking at handbags! My reward was a Mexican dinner with Sheena, Chantal and Kym at our favorite Mexican place in London (ok, the only one we've ever been to!). After a very interesting conversation on religion (which we will have to finish next year!), we looked at our watches. Oh no! We are going to miss the show! The other girls had gone to tea and we were meant to meet at 7:00 at the theatre to see Jersey Boys. It was 7:15! We sprinted and made it just in time. Just. And the show was, well, meant for an older audience. And at the end we wondered why Frankie Vallie was still alive - didn't he die in a plane crash? Oh no, that was Frankie VallEN. Opps. Thank goodness for the quickness of iphones or we would have wondered all night.

Since some of us didn't have families to get home to, we went clubbing. I know, what were we thinking? But, it was actually a lot of fun. China White - a top club, known for hosting celebrities. We cut the line thanks to Chantal's connections and were in, sitting at a £500 a night table. Until we were kicked off it. Oh well. It was an experience for sure...especially the walk there! And when we got home, we talked again until 3:30.

Sunday was the day to say goodbye to these lovely friends and head to see my Brit friends. Jane was waiting for me, serving me a bacon sandwich when I got there. I knew Tom would be so jealous. We walked my favorite foot path and had a cuppa at Costa before walking home. I miss that so much. The night was spent at the White Hart with my British buddies. Even though the pub had run out of most food, we had a lovely evening. And, thanks to Jane, I got two lovely tea cups out of it. Hmmm....customer service in England, it hasn't changed.

Monday came too soon and evener sooner than what I expected thanks to American Airlines canceling my flight in order to save money. I had to leave 5 hours earlier than expected. This meant a very short coffee morning with school mums. But, at least I had it.

I later sat on the plane, next to a man who would change into pjs under a blanket while next to me, on a cell phone no less. And to make it even more entertaining for me, the man behind me was extremely drunk, which didn't matter much to the flight attendant, who continued to serve him beer whilst spraying me with the smelly stuff when opening it for him. No apologies. I guess customer service on America's end is changing too. But at the end of the ride, I had 4 lovely men waiting for me. I was so excited that I punched Jacob while trying to hug Aiden. Sorry buddy, but, well, mommy's home!

As the plane took off, I felt myself take a deep breath and wondered when I would breathe that sigh of relief again. 9 months can fly by and for the most part, we love it in America. But, I miss Friday mornings. I miss the friends that I sat with to complain about silly things, ask advice on how to parent, and talk with at points when I needed them most. I miss standing outside the school gates, chatting about nothing in particular. I miss helping my dear friends with their children as they helped me with mine. I miss these people that became my family for 3 years and who carried me through my toughest times. A cup of tea may not mean much to most people, but it has become everything to me. In the 25 minutes it takes to drink that cup, you create a foundation for friendship. The more cups of tea, the stronger the foundation. I had a lot of tea, thank goodness for that.

Until we meet again my dear friends...cheers. Oh, and girls, if you are reading this, you'll see my small amount of pics below. Send me yours!!!! xoxo

Thanks for the free day off Wills and Kate!!

My Holstpur school pals at Costa Coffee.

Basketball...A Lesson For Us All

Way back in January, we stepped onto the basketball court with Jacob. He wanted to try it out with some of his buddies and we were really excited to see him play. We forgot one thing - Jacob has never seen a basketball game, let alone played!

So, it was a hard thing to watch on that first Saturday in January. Jacob wasn't alone in his basketball skills, but you could see the joy in his eyes as he rushed off the court to sit on the bench every other quarter. We still cheered the team on despite their inexperience. The score? 36 to 11. Yeah, we needed some work.

Coach Jim was the best. So patient and should be considered for sainthood. I could never do that job! There was a lot of improvement over the following 3 months. But, Jacob grew to hate it and it showed. Frustrating wasn't the word for it, but he was consistent on one thing - running back to the bench to sit and talk for the quarter he sat out! Urgh!

Finally a couple Fridays ago we had our last game. A night game, which was a first and it was to be followed by pizza. We finally found out what motivated Jacob! He played his best game and we left the gym smiling - for real this time! AND he is playing every night in our driveway. Sometimes it takes a real long journey to get where you want to go. Lesson learned.

Irish...If Only For A Day

After living in Elmhurst for nearly 9 months now, I have begun to pick up on a few things. Like, many people have grown up here and are now raising their children here...a good thing - shows it's a great place to live. The other thing is that there are a whole heck of a lot of Irish people here...another good thing. If you've ever met a true Irishmen, then you know they are a lot of fun! Because of the vast amount of Irish-Americans, Elmhurst holds a parade that just so happens to be the second largest in the state for St. Patty's Day.

But, as we found out, it's not just the parade, after all, we are dealing with fun Irish peeps here. It's an entire day of activites to celebrate this very special day. So, we started the day off with a brunch at a friends house before the parade.

Now, being Dutch (aka ultra conservative), I kind of expected a few breakfast casseroles, coffee cake and strong coffee. Nope, this was an Irish brunch. Lesly had the biggest spread ever, severly effecting peoples choices of what they gave up for Lent, which for me and most of the other women was sweets. Then I went for the coffee. We Dutch, take it black, but if you want to have a little fun, you add some cream. Wanna get crazy, make it hazelnut. But, next to this coffee pot here? You guessed it, Baileys. Which I first thought to be chocolate milk. Good thing my kids don't care for that cause I would have poured them a big stiff drink. Anyway, next to the Baileys were the mimosas, and across from the mimosas was the bloody mary bar. It was then that I felt the 2% of Irish in me coming through. Yes, parties can be more than ham on buns with potato salad!

Let's not get too carried away, we did have a parade to go to, so we had a bit of fun and sat on Spring Road. Then we started looking around. Hmmm, were we back in Europe? Is drinking on the street legal? Apparently if you are Irish and at the Elmhurst parade. Tom was a bit disspointed that all he had was coffee. The kids didn't seem to notice and we went home with a boat load of candy.

A breather and then on to the next party, where I have never seen so much corned beef and cabbage! A night of great fun trying to pack away all 30 pounds of meat! We rolled home just in time for bed. And as we laid there, we were thankful for our great Dutch heritage, but pretty impressed with being Irish... just for the day!

Pancake Day!

There are some English things that we just can't give up - tea, biscuits, curry, and our favorite British holiday - Pancake Day!! The boys decided that they wanted to celebrate just the same way that they did back in the UK and hold some pancake races. What this entails is running with a pancake in a frying pan. You must flip and run and if you drop it, you go back to the beginning. We wanted a good race, so we needed more people. Aka, we needed a pancake party.

So, we invited our friends the Arnetts and Kennedys. Both whom have never celebrated Pancake Day and had never heard of it. We had a total of 9 boys and 1 girl (poor Ella!). We headed out to the back garden and started the chaos, I mean races! The first couple went well, but after that everyone was running with metal pan and pancakes were flying everywhere. What can I say, I wasn't meant to be a teacher, so rallying 10 children didn't go so well. But, the kids thought it was great! And the best part was the pancake dinner after. I think we went through about 50 pancakes, 1 lb of bacon and 1 lb of sausage links. With that many boys I better double up next year!

It was so great to share a new tradition! Who knows, it may just catch on...watch out for a pancake race near you next year!

Jacob and Jack during the first race

Shea vs. Will

Boys on Skis!

Last weekend, the boys and I left poor Tom behind with his calculator and balance sheets and we headed to Michigan. Our overnight stop was at the Dupins, which was so much fun as the boys played with the girls...trading DS games! Whatever quiets them down so I could catch up with Chad and Sara! Early to bed for all since we had to leave at 6am to get to ski school on time. And the 6am wake up call was brutal, but we made it to Crystal just in time!

Ok, I'm not a skier and didn't realize how much time it takes to get everyone ready. I was sweating trying to get boots and skis for everyone. And, of course, as we crossed the parking lot to ski school you could spot us from a mile away. I was carrying Jeb, who's ski boots didn't fit, two pairs of skis, a backpack, and a bag full of winter boots. We didn't fit the mold of a "skiing family," but we finally got everyone where they needed to be before Sara and I met up in the lodge.

It's pretty wierd to sit and relax not knowing where your children are in the sea of skiers just outside the window of the lodge. In fact, I'm not sure if we ever relaxed. We ended up searching for our kids. Jeb, was pretty easy to find - surrounded by 2 instructors obeying his every command, even to be picked up. Some things don't change. I spotted Aiden by his huge smile as he snowplowed down the medium hill. He had managed to ski ahead of his class and had an instructor to himself (good value for money is what I thought!). But, I couldn't spot Jacob. So, I headed to the chairlift and as I looked up the big hill, I saw him coming down. It was like seeing him walk for the first time. Jacob doesn't always look too natural at sports, but he was so comfortable sking down the hill and even managed a wave as he passed me by. It was the highlight of the day.

Oh, not to worry, there were lowlights to. I will document them to ensure my boys will read this one day and know how terrible they were in the car. The dinner stop was at McDonalds - with Jeb saying the meal was disgusting and throwing it on the floor (really?! A Happy Meal?!). After answering a billion questions of Jeb and Aiden, I finally heard Jacob from the back - "I have to go to the bathroom soooo bad!" Really, after he told me he went at the end of ski school...clearly a lie. We were in the middle of downtown Grand Rapids, with no where to go. Out came the water bottle. Unfortunetely he was a first time user - we had laundry to do when we got home. And lastly, I decided to get a car wash only to be stuck in the car wash for a half hour after driving 2 hours. I wasn't too happy.

I'll take the good with the bad, cause it all adds up to fun. There is nothing like being Queen of my house and taking my princes out of their kingdom for a few days.

Blizzard of 2011!!!

It's now classified as the third worst blizzard in Chicago's history, but to us, it was the first real snow for our boys in three years.

Tom was in heaven, having to snow blow the drive twice at night and twice in the morning. But the real fun happened when we opened the kitchen door that leads to the side yard. Drifts that were taller than Jeb greeted us. In a flash, the boys were in their snow gear and out the door. Snowforts and snow tunnels were dug, snowangels were created and getting stuck was the common theme for Jeb whose legs were just to short to trudge through the snow. The highlight for the boys was daddy lifting them up to the rooftop (and breaking the picnic table while doing so) and then jumping off the roof into the huge drifts below. I was more than a bit worried, but it actually looked like fun and the boys loved it! I have made them promise NEVER to do it again. Especially in the summer!

It all reminded me of snowstorms when I was little. We had a lot of fun. And then we looked out to see the newspaper. Tom decided that if the paper could make it's way to our house, then he could make his way into work. Bummer. So I took over digging tunnels in addition to my normal duty of making hot cocoa. Here's to winter...and may it be over soon!

Building forts in the drifts

The surprise behind the door

Jacob's jump

Aiden's jump!