Sinterklaas 2013 (just a tiny bit late)

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

There! Does that cover it? Two+ months without a blog. What can I say? I've been lazy busy. Now I have LOADS to catch up on. And yes, I deserve every 'this is such a colossal pain in the butt' moment I have to endure to get caught up. 'Nuff said. Let's get this party started......

Sinterklaas 2013

I posted earlier about the Sinterklaas party at Big Chief's work, so I'll just do the stuff from us at home now. This year was a little more laid back because, well, it seemed none of us really had the energy for some reason. The kids still put their shoes out a few times, Kitty Kat did some things at playgroup and began to 'get it' about Sint, Mr T got to experience his first 'Secret Sint' gift exchange at school, and we (sort of) did Pakjesavond. But there just didn't seem to be too much oomph behind it. Maybe it had something to do with my efforts being all wrapped up in dealing with the particular challenges of Christmas 2013 (more to be revealed in a later post) but the heart just wasn't there. Sigh! Never mind, the kids enjoyed themselves and were happy.

The Dutch do a thing called 'Surprise' (pronounced 'sur-PREEZ') for Sint gifts. You put the gift for the person inside something that you've made that relates to that person and/or their hobbies AND THEN you write a poem about the person. ?!?!?!?! I know!! For Mr T's class, they drew names. He got a child who is interested in art and DJ-ing, so bought some drawing supplies and put them inside this 'spinning deck'. The poem, you'll notice, is written in a spiral on the deck. Oh yeah, I totally passed this project off to Daddy! For father-and-son bonding purposes, of course. Nothing at all to do with me not being in the least bit interested/inclined to get creative.

Singing for Sint one evening as they set out their shoes. Adorable, but what the crap is up with Kitty Kat's shriek-singing?!

Sint's annual visit to their school (the kids aren't anywhere in this picture, so don't bother looking)

Pakjesavond. 'Did I miss anything?'

 Believe it or not, a talking Dora computer IS marginally less annoying in Dutch than English.

 Even in this wrapping, he HONESTLY didn't guess that he'd be getting......

 .... the three-and-a-half-foot long wooden sword he'd been blabbering on about for a month. ?!?!?

 It got put to good use.

 They all crash eventually. She went to bed with her Zwarte Piet hat and her Santa Clause duvet. We've sooooo got this multi-cultural thing nailed!