Sunday, October 12, 2014

Benjamin's first Mini Marathon (And Bobby's too)


This morning Benjamin ran his first Marathon. His first Mini Marathon (2.5 km) in the Eindhoven Marathon.

He trained with his football team  for the past few weeks. Bobby also trained with him. there were just 3 other children from his football team. But he was excited and motivated to do it.

Among the thousands of people that ran just the Mini Marathon , Benjamina and Bobby ran , after a fun kids oriented warm up session with music and dance.

In 14 mins and 45 secs they completed the 2.5 km Mini Marathon.

Perhaps , next year they will train for the 5 km.

Proud you Benjamin.... and Bobby too!

Watch the video to the beginning of the Marathon.

http://bjd.smugmug.com/Family/2014/i-K7mZwTM/0/O/IMG_6708.jpg

The numbers and the name

Just before the race
The Football team


The rush
Key supporter
Getting ready for the start










The runners with their medal

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Day 6: Managing mountain of clothes

Kids grow up so fast, sometimes I end up having clothes of different sizes in a drawer. Up in the attic I have boxes designated for different sizes.



Whatever fits in a box , stays for that size. Whatever is faded, frayed, worn enough and not worth it to pass on to the next boys, is put in a bag for the charity, or dumping clothes in the cloth bin. Same goes for shoes too.








To keep in check, for those small clothes that go back in the drawers, it's

 a good idea to sort them out in the wash itself. Once washed and ready for folding, its a good idea to check them for size and separate them immediately.


It is a constant process of sorting clothes and having just the right size, and the ones that kids will wear. This helps kids to also independently choose their own clothes without you telling them its too small, or hearing them say they don't like a particular one.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Day 5: Organizing Kids memorable school papers

A borrowed idea when my folders of the kids school papers were bulging and couldn't fit further that Group 1.

I borrowed this idea with free printables from Its always Autumn.
This is how the kids folders looked like.Already full and crowded.










And this is how its probably going to end like. I downloaded the cover printables to stick on the front cover of the folder.



I will select a few drawings, kids class diplomas, and reports to add to the file.












Hopefully, I can get these kind of  folder boxes here in the Netherlands or improvise with regular boxes and carton folders.









I find it really hard to throw away pictures, so I keep the best pictures (select few) in the folder and click a picture of the other pictures and save it in an App called Artkive. This gives me a chance to keep them, label them, date them and even have the option of making a photobook of all the pictures later on. Less bulky, all priced treasures available.
Who says we have to let go of every scrap of paper?

Day 4: Separating Library books

Living in the Netherlands, with kids attending the local Dutch school using the Dutch library and the International School library, means a lot of books lying around. How do I make keep my sanity and library fines in check?

By keeping them separate. I have separate baskets in the playroom for the library books with a list of books borrowed on my phone. Easier, most libraries have their own app where you can log into your account. This means you get to see the books you borrowed and  the due date. And also sends you a reminder of the date approaching. This means even if you can't get the books to the library before the date , or need more time with the books, you can extend them.

Currently, we have only books from the International School library, so I have a basket for each of the boys to have their selection in. The list lets me know how many and which books I need to return when the day arrives. (In case the books end up in different rooms). 

Monday, October 6, 2014

Day 3: An extra box in the freezer will save you one day

My boxes of doubles in the freezer
When you are making a dish , such as chicken curry or anything for that, it doesn't matter if you make one family of four portion or double it. I do this very often with beef, chicken, fish and veggies too. I make double portion and divide it into two or three (as per the quantity). We have one portion for dinner and I freeze the other.

So one day when I busy or lazy, and haven't got a chance to do grocery, or haven't had the time to cook, I can just defrost one of these boxes and tada a wonderful meal ready. Most of the time the sauces to the curry thicken and the flavors go deep into the meat. Yummy!

Day 2: Circle of Life: Laundry

Laundry is one thing I detest doing. There is no point to doing them especially when you have boys. By the time its washed, occasionally ironed and put in its drawers, its back in the laundry hamper in no time. Why bother?

For a while I used have four baskets and the most work I would do is separate them after wash into each family member and pick out clothes for each day from there. So I skipped the part of folding and putting it into drawers. It worked for a while. Then it got all mixed up with dirty and clean clothes and the boys looked and smelled wonderful (sarcasm).

When we bought our first home last year we had space for a proper system. I wanted the washing machine and dryer to be downstairs in the kitchen extension room we had(The Dutch call it "bijkeuken" , a room next to the kitchen). That gave me the opportunity to hang laundry out when the weather was good. Typical Dutch homes, usually have the provision for the laundry department in the attic room or corridor outside the attic. Many times I would be in denial, since I never saw the laundry. There were those smelly days when I would forget to take the wet clothes out and hang it to dry or use the dryer. Thankfully, I remember a week later. On wash cycle once again! With loads of nice perfumed softener to take the moldy smell out.




So, with the washing machine in the bijkeuken and the dryer on top of it, these two machines were nicely tucked away in the corner hiding behind the door to the playroom. We also placed a stand cum pull out shelf (the entire length and width of the machines) in between them. This gave me the opportunity to place the basket of wet clothes on the pull out shelf and load them into the dryer at the height of the dryer. And fold clothes immediately out of the dryer into the basket.No bending down.

We also bought a Trofast Ikea shelf with a single bucket in each section (three in total). This was going to be our solution to the laundry flow. One of the buckets would be used as dirty laundry, the second when the clothes are dry and I haven't had a chance to fold them and the third as and when I fold and iron them. This way I wouldn't have baskets of clothes on top of my breakfast nook table and that room looking like a mess. I have enough space to set up my ironing board and iron when I have time.


My breakfast nook

The laundry system on the bottom. The top boxes are for paper waste, plastic and bottles for recycling.
Also fixing a laundry day and folding/ironing day helps. So you know those are your days and you are not dealing with piled up laundry from two weeks at some point.

Now, this is a system that is now working. It might all go wrong later, perhaps. But for now, my family has clean clothes and the bijkeuken doesn't look like a outlet store disaster.


Saturday, October 4, 2014

Day 1: No day like today

Ok.. I am severely late to start the 31 days, due to my birthday, a wedding and last day of work before yahoo ! maternity holidays. Those are all good reasons to state and make use of. I guess.Nevertheless, here is........

 Day 1: No day like today

You know all the post and great advertisements that pile up on the table by the hall, or the kitchen counter, or even the dining table?

The best way that has helped me, is to tackle it the day it arrives. If you have 2 minutes to stare at that pile, you have the time to deal with it. I usually separate them into two piles. "A discard immediately pile" and an "action pile". Those advertisements, junk mail, I immediately put in the discard pile. And hide the toy store advertisements away from the kids and for me to scan later on.

I open up the rest and scan through its content. Those that deserve to be in the "action pile", gets there. The envelopes are in the "discard pile", unless there is a sender address sticker that I want to save. All those in the "action pile" get transferred to the office room , to the various file trays marked  "to pay" , "to file" , "to read and act upon". Okay, this might take a minute more than 2 minutes. But its sorted and the kitchen counter/dining table/ hallway table stays clean everyday.


At the end of the week, or when I get a chance to go through my file tray(ideally in the same week itself), bills are paid, documents are filed in the right files, action is taken to those you need to do something about. My husband tends to scan them(even bills we wish to keep) too and maintain a digital record. I haven't reached that phase yet.


Another new thing we have started is have a shared family calendar synced on our devices. Those things that require both my husband and my attention , such as a football game, a doctors appointment, a dinner party etc... get tagged with the "Daniel family" color coded tag. So we are both aware of something that requires both our attention. This helps us not to make another appointment when we can't call or reach the other person at that moment.



Also, the usage of Evernotes has helped in me not nagging him to do certain things around the house. I just add it to his action points and tag them urgent. Like " hang curtains in baby room" . "Fix leaky faucet". It has also helped us individually to put a tag on things we need to do at various urgency levels, make lists, clip internet links we want to use later on and aid in our purchase. I even put " one day project" ideas in a folder to think about later when I have time. So, its documented and not forgotten and gives me the freedom to take it up when I want.




Clearing the mind as much as possible with the "things to do" is the purpose. And of course changing the action tag to "action completed" brings me so much of pleasure. No more paper bits, different places on the phone. I am only doing doable items for this day and not staring at an entire list and missing them everyday.Peace and calm.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

31 days : A writing challenge every October, every year

31 Days is an online writing challenge started by home blogger, Myquillyn Smith (The Nester) where bloggers pick one topic and write a post on that topic every day in October. We all link up just once on day one (linky opens on the evening of October 1st) so that we can see all the topics and read the ones that most interest us. The linky will stay open through October 5th for late comers but will be closed after that.
As a writer, 31 Days challenges you to go deeper into one topic.
As a reader, 31 Days will most likely have a few topics that you are curious about, it’s a great time to get to know some new bloggers.
To read the 31 Days Topics starting in October simply click back to the home page scroll down and pick any category from the black squares and click on it, you’ll be taken to a plethora of wonderful ideas, enjoy! To see past 31 Days topics, click here.
To join in writing for 31 Days (#write31Days) simply sign up here or on the sidebar. Then link up once between October 1 and October 5th and write a post every day in October.
So this is what "31 days of " is all about. I will pre write a few days worth of posts and post one each day. Especially with less than a month to the arrival of baby number 3. Nothing is predictable. But I still wanted to do it this year. I did one in 2012. So here goes!
Oops! Before I forget. Here is what I will be writing on for the next 31 days.
31 days to organizing the home.

Monday, September 22, 2014

A wonderful visit from my brother

Since my brother joined his new work in Palo Alto, California after his Phd, we knew there were chances of him coming here since he was required to visit the Bosch companies in Germany. A quick visit was planned this weekend, initially an attempt was made to make it a surprise one. But many other factors came into play, so he had to let us know he was coming to Stuttgart.  We didn't tell the kids who were coming. But somebody really close.

He was scheduled to arrive in Eindhoven Saturday morning around 11. Around 8 am he called saying he overslept and thought it might be good to cancel, since driving 5 hours after a late start would be pointless, since he would leave Sunday evening.

It was his way of trying to squeeze in another mini surprise. He was right outside the door....
When the kids heard me talk to him in Malayalam on the phone just before he appeared in our drive way, Benjamin deduced from other clues that this is a "Malayalam Guy"! The kids jumped on top of him when they saw him.Like a pair of monkeys!

Even though it was such a short visit, it was so nice to see him , 9 months after his wedding. Cooked his favorite food, like cutlets, kachimor with rice. He sure was tired of eating all the potatoes and meat in Germany.
The spread and him

Focussed on his lunch



Wine, cheese, olives and sausages



Sunday lunch at Happy Italy, Eindhoven Centre

Goofy Kids


The boys


He ate his ice- cream and ate mine while I went into a shop

one more last one

Goodbye

Expecting more visits from him in the near future.
Bye, Tutu mama!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Five minute Friday : Hold on

Joining in with  Kate Motaung and hundreds of women across the globe, writing on a single prompt for 5 minutes. Unedited. Fluid. Here goes.

HOLD

GO
It's so human that we hold on to past hurts, and things that didn't work rather than to those that did, and the answered prayers.

We listened to Max Lucado's "Fearless " Sermon in our cell group last night.  He said," Fear numbs our memories, creates a form of Spiritual Alzeimer's . We unknowingly hold on to the fear rather than to Him. He asked "Why are you afraid?"to the disciples when the storm shook them and their boat. Without an answer or further questioning he calmed the lake. They were so fresh from the miracle Makers wonders. The healing, driving out demons, raising from the dead and yet they held on to their fear:"Why don't you care , Lord?"

As we progress in our journey, we learn and relearn lessons. He waits patiently for us , every step of the way as we play this game of holding and leaving his Hands. He waits for our firm grip, never leaving grip, lasting until the end of our journey.

STOP

Friday, September 5, 2014

Five Minute Friday : Whisper

Joining in with  Kate Motaung and hundreds of women across the globe, writing on a single prompt for 5 minutes. Unedited. Fluid. Here goes.

Whisper

GO

The last stretch, and the OOO's and Ah's for everyone have subsided. The kids and husband have an attention span of a few seconds when I rush them to see the baby kick and move around. The kids need reminding that there's a baby and I am not going to jump with them, or pick up toys a million times. Especially those tiny Lego's.

But, for me , little one, every movement , after all these weeks, are precious. Its as if it's the first kick I can see and feel. It's though you are whispering to me through every movement. I am here. I am awake. I hear you and my brothers. It's feels like the first time.

I imagine how you would look, and images of a little Benjamin or little Elijah pop. Who would you look like? You know O Lord! This little one will be just how You designed him to be. Exactly what the Maker has planned.

STOP

Friday, August 29, 2014

Reaching out to remember things of the past and things to come

It' s been 6 months and 5 days since I posted on this blog. And there is a good reason for that. Lots of good reasons. We went on holidays to Rothenburg and Koblenz , Germany during the carnival holidays late February. We had a lovely time exploring different place, and taking long walks across streams.

By the time we came back, I was tired. Really tired and sleepy. All the time. To backtrack a bit, we have been planning to have number 3 added to our family of 4. So, that could be the link to all the sleeping and tiredness. On March 7th , I did multiple tests and found out, sure enough we were going to have that number 3. Happy and blessed to get pregnant easily and quickly was added to my list of "things to be grateful for".

After that time just flew. I slept wherever I sat. Mornings were battle sessions with evil nausea. And I was wiped out taking take of the boys and the house.Thankfully, I had great friends who cooked dinners and helped in many ways.

Very soon, it was time for the two week break in May, and we decided to go to Kuwait for the holiday, as I just received my Dutch passport. That meant, I didn't have to get visas and could just go immediately. And I could eat all the food I was craving for. 2 weeks at my parents was lovely. We stayed home most days and went out to malls in the evening. Other evening we were invited for dinner at houses of old friends. My dad had sudden work in Germany and that meant they could come back with us. And they stayed two weeks with us. Since I left home for university at 18 and after getting married, this is the first time I have stayed for an extended time of 1 month with my parents in a long time. And it felt good. Like old times.




After they left, it was fast forward to winding up work at my school and with kids before the start of the summer. Need I say more about the summer? It was just fun, relaxation, playdates, and more fun and more relaxation. Bobby was away in Shanghai for two weeks for work. And after he came, we went to the Rijks Museum and Nemo, the science centre
My parents went to the US to be part of my brothers Phd graduation ceremony.And also to celebrate my dads 60th birthday. I was meant to go too! They sure did celebrate in style.




The last week of summer, was our Bible club at church run by our friends and loads of volunteers. Space Academy(story of Daniel in Babylon) was fabulous. I worked with the 4-5 year olds. Even though the program was from 9:30- 12:00, we stayed for lunch, helped clean up and plan for the next day. It was around 4:30 most days before we got home. It was fun just to be with friends and get to know other people more. The kids of course loved it, as they got to have a whole day of playing with their friends for 5 days. The funny thing was as we would leave for home, they would ask if they could have a play date. What was the whole day then?Waking up early for Space Academy prepared us for the school week which started Monday. Though Elijah did prefer to go to Space Academy rather than school.

As we come to the end of the first week of school after summer, things have settled into a routine. We continue to prepare for the baby's arrival in November. And look forward to things in store for us. Exciting!









Monday, February 24, 2014

Elijah not small anymore


 Elijah our youngest , turned 4 a few weeks ago. And here in the Netherlands, that means he starts school and many other things. He was ready for school since he was 3. Not just pre school, but real school. Every other day or so , when we went to drop Benjamin at school, he would ask ," Am I going to school today?". And I would reply, "not today, but soon". And finally that day arrived, 3 days before his birthday.

But a few weeks before, we received a card from the school welcoming us to his new class. So we decided to go and have look at the new class and the new teacher. He was'nt as excited as I thought he would be. He was whinny and cranky. Said he didnt want any birthday cake or any superheroes on it. He wanted a dog. So I told him he already had a toy doggy and hadnt played with it for so long.
Actually, he wanted a real dog. A big brown dog with no spots and a little bark.I am not a fan of animals and definitely not having one as a pet. And especially a big one with a little bark. Too many specifications. He was nervous now that he was actually going to see his class.
He wouldnt get out of the car, and when I could finally get him out , we made the slowest walk from the car to the school.
We stayed outside the class and watched all the children enter as the bell rang. He had a glimpse of his teacher. He began to loosen up and wasnt all cheerful, but at least not tense.I spoke to the teacher while he clung to me. And in 5 minutes we were back in the car and on our way home.

A week before his birthday he also started his first swimming lesson. Not swimming lessons with Bobby in the pool with him, but he alone and me sitting in the gallery. Of course,
2 years old


  I could sit on the bench next to the pool for the first day. He absolutely loved it. He did everything that the teacher asked him to and was practicing so hard.

The following Monday, his first day at school, he woke up crying and complaining that his foot hurt. I had to carry him dowstairs and feed him porridge.But after a while, after he ate and I spoke to him, he got better and started jumping and hopping around. Bobby was almost ready to not send him to school.... There was a pattern here, so I knew. He was excited so much, he kept singing and hopping all the way to school. It was a sight to see him all grown up, with his new spiderman bag across his shoulder. He even told me what he wanted  for lunch. Seeing him like this I was too shocked to cry.

He was in his element and his moment had come.


And I realized, there goes my son...... I wont have him with me like I used to before. But I was quickly reminded that he had every other Friday off. Phew..... Another 2 years of that. I can hold on a little longer.


May our sons love God and seek Him dilligently. (Inspired from Proverbs 8:17 )



Batman Cake

Spiderman Cake