Ha ha ha

As a family we have lots of fun together. More and more it is Anna who makes us laugh. Every day she brings a smile to our face.
Yesterday she pointed to the flowers in the living room and said, "Mummy, I know what those flowers are called." Quite surprised, Rebecca asked Anna what type of flowers they are. "Dead!" said Anna.

Slowly but surely...

We only have 12 weeks to go until our baby is due. Rebecca has been getting Anna's room and the baby room ready. Fortunately we haven't had to make major changes; just a couple of pieces of new furniture, some shuffling around and lots of sorting out! It's so much easier to get things ready before the tummy gets too big! 

Anna is excited about the baby and regularly kisses Rebecca's tummy. She is looking forward to helping out with her new brother/sister and is a delight around the home. She puts all her own clothes away and even switches the dishwasher on. Nice to have extra hands to help around the house!

Confession time: Kebab

Since last week two Mediterranean guys are parking their kebab/burger van on the corner of our street. How tempting! For Aad it's been a daily struggle for Aad resist. After the weekly youth meeting some of the lads were getting chips and Aad felt he had to spend some quality time with the guys outside the walls of church - and finally had an excuse to get his doner kebab. It was nice....

Rebecca likes kebabs too, but not the doggy meat (Doner) ones. Once a month, mostly after pay day, we order chicken shish (Boo) and lamb shish with extra saus and extra salad. We love the shish meat flavour to mix with the fresh salad and bread. Speaking for myself (Aad) it beats fish and chips. What do you think?

Welcome Ester

We have another niece: Ester. She is the beautiful new daugther of Aads brother Luuk (see pic) and his wife Caroline. We are so chuffed for them because they had two boys (Joel & Boaz) and so a girl must be extra special for them.

Honouring the parents.....

I know it's not Mothers Day or Fathers Day but I read in the bible how important it is to honor your parents. It actually says in Ephesians 6:1-3 that honoring your parents will give you a long and good life (I'll have that as a bonus). I am taking this serious and because our parents our the most faithful readers of this blog, I hope this post will honour you Pa en Ma :-)

Ma - thanks for the cups of tea coming home from school. Thanks for the warm hugs. Thanks for praying for me all those years. And for listening to God and obeying Him years ago, while I was in my first year at Uni: you said that God told you He would help me out with first year exams. You did not know I was on the edge of failing that year. I felt so peaceful going into those final exams even though I wasn't a Christian yet . Thanks for being a sweet Oma to Anna. And for being an easy target for jokes :-) I love you to bits. I am so honoured being your son. And being a spiritual mother to me as well. I have forgiven you for attacking me that summer in Vienna when I was stung by a wasp on my lip. Although you could have warned me before jumping on my lips to suck the poison out of my mouth.

Pa - thanks for your kindness. I love your optimism. Thank you for always putting me and the kids first. And for your support in setting up Parachute Media - so sorry it wasn't the best investment ever. Thanks for being a fun and lovely Opa to Anna. And for always giving your car keys to me because gas is cheaper to drive on. I see Jesus in you. I couldn't wish for a better Dad. We respect both of you so much for being such good parents to eight kids!

And then for Phil & Avril: it feels like having a second Mum and Dad. I feel really loved and accepted by you two. You would do anything for me and Boo. You even took us in for 6 months when we moved to England. I have good memories of that time - watching football with fish and chips on the sofa. Thanks Phil for so many delicious meals and Avril for introducing me to coffee cake (in abundance). You two are amazing people and I respect you very much. Thanks for being so generous.

If this has been cringey - sorry. You know blogs are great for sharing news, photos and videos on your child/cat/political preference. But it also is a great way of making the world know what you love. So here we go: I love you Pa en Ma.

Four minutes please...

It's funny how kids suddenly have a saying that they keep repeating. For months and months Anna kept saying 'on Tuesday'. When she did not get crisps in the supermarket. Or when she wanted to watch a TV program. Our 'now now' was religiously followed by Anna accepting this and saying 'but i can watch this/eat this/go to this on Tuesday'.

Currently it's '4 minutes'. When Aad tells her it's time to get out of the bath, Anna says 'can i stay in for four minutes please'. Or when we leave Nanna and Gramps to go home for dinner, Anna asks us if she can stay up for 'four minutes'. Most of the time we give in ... four minutes is not very long, and Anna can't read time yet, which makes life easier :-)

Meeting Esther in Manchester

The New Year started brilliantly with the arrival of Esther at the Blakes house. Leonore (Aads sister) and Chris invited us to come to Manchester and meet the new girl. So we are now enjoying a few days with the Blakes and with visiters from the east, Aads parents :-)
Oma is helping out practically with cleaning and washing and Opa is reading a book to Naomi and Anna. The girls are now of the age that they can play together and apart from the odd cry and scream goes well. We are trying to do what we can, like going grocery shopping and then helping to finish all the food. Aad helped Chris making a picture for Esther's passport.
Esther is extremely sweet and holding a newborn makes us long for our baby even more. Only 16 weeks to go and we can't wait...

The Joker ?!