What Time Is It? Summertime

June 2008 from tsechief on Vimeo.





Summer officially arrived on Saturday. We spent the entire day and into the evening with "Daddy's work" as Hannah says. The entire day was planned in part by Daddy himself and all in all it was a success. We experienced a detailed account of how a chocolate factory works (it was all in German, but we were the only ones who didn't understand it), had traditional Belgian cuisine in Brussels, played for a bit in a park, toured the dinosaur exhibit at the Brussels Science Museum and then finished up with dinner in another Brussels restaurant. A lot of fun, but exhausting. We brought home three very tired children.


Sunday was the Farewell BBQ at our church. Being the fellowship chair and co-chair, we also had a part in planning this little fiesta. Everything was wonderful, but all praise goes to God. We fell short in almost every way possible.


School ended last Thursday. I did make it to the assembly and so glad I did. Though my video is very shaky (trying to video while keeping one eye on our littlest one doesn't work) and our children like to hide in the back row where they cannot be seen, you'll see a sample of the cute performances I got to see. I had tears in my eyes watching the children who are moving this year get their hugs and stuffed lions from the principal. They were so cute. "Where are you moving?" To a new house. "Where is your new house?" Finland. "Where are you moving?"


Bostom. That's in America. Those are our special friends moving to Bostom and we are really going to miss them. I have been working on making them a memory DVD and photo book these last few weeks and I have realized why I blog and don't scrapbook. I don't like having to be finished with something. I am not completely happy with the memory book or the DVD, but they have to be finished because they are MOVING. I like that the blog is always a work in progress. (Could be that I really don't want them to leave? I think so.)

I had the privilege of helping out with Nathan's class party. They are adorable. I love kindergarten. I think if I could choose one place to stay forever, it would be kindergarten. I loved his teacher this year and I can't imagine anyone topping her. The party was fun and the kids were so good. I sneaked over to Hannah's party in Pre K. Totally different story. Lots of crying and whining. What a difference! I sneaked back pretty quickly.


I loved watching Nathan's class interact. They are great kids. The girls went nuts over the High School Musical 2 CD they were playing. They jumped up and started lip syncing and dancing. The boys (and those of us moms who only have boys or boys are our oldest) just sat there blankly staring. I had no idea 5 and 6 year old girls were so into this. It was a glimpse into our future--though with my incredibly shy children, possibly far, far into the future.


Speaking of shy. I spared the viewers Hannah's relays at Sports Day and her Grand Show at Little Gym. Sports Day was loud and busy and admittedly overwhelming to more than just Hannah. But Little Gym? There were only 4 girls there for the Grand Spectacle and Hannah didn't want to perform at all. She finally did a few things if I stood next to her, but so, so shy. She doesn't seem interested in continuing in the fall. She is super excited about ballet. She saw a picture of some friends dressed for a dance recital back in Michigan and she said, "Where are those princesses? I want to be there. Why can't I be there?"


We have been enjoying warm, sunny days. Enjoying the little pool and the slip n slide the last couple of days even though by Texas standards, it is not really hot. Nathan is attending tennis camp this week and loved his first day. He feels like an expert because he has his own racket and plays with his Daddy often. Hannah is really becoming a young lady. She isn't dressing up as much now as she is coloring, drawing and playing with play dough. Sarah is into whatever Hannah is into which makes quite a lot of work for Mommy. From the video, you can see the daily state of our house. Stuff EVERYWHERE and it gets worse than that. Sarah had her first haircut on Friday. Hannah had hers cut as well. She requested that her hair be cut like Daddy's, but we compromised. Sarah has gotten very quick and very agile. She is finally getting into everything she shouldn't be. Hey, we had a nice run. Almost 17 months. For once I am thankful for the play by play her siblings give. I can almost stay a step ahead of her.


We leave for the South of France soon. We are all looking forward to a nice relaxing holiday. In less than 2 months we'll be back in Texas. We can't wait!