DWZI - Oudegracht

One of the things I love about the Netherlands is the beautiful canals you find in most cities.

I cycled into town yesterday morning and all of a sudden the sun came out. Lately I carry my camera with me everywhere so I stopped and took a few photos of the the Oudegracht, thrilled to be there and to enjoy the moment.

A little further on I stopped at Sector3 for a delicious latte.

Wish all mornings could be like this!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Not Exactly Summer

It is officially summer.

Really.

I assure you.

Wearing my winter clothes and actually being cold isn't exactly what I had hoped for.

But I'm positive that sunshine and warm weather will be here soon.

Mostly we played indoors this week because I didn't feel like going outside in the rain with the kids.  Hey, they didn't seem to mind... as you can see they both love painting and being creative (just like me!).

Have a great, and hopefully warm, weekend!!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - 1 TB

This little photography hobby of mine took its toll on my MacBook.

I just had no space left and copying to an external drive daily seemed excessive, right?

So I took a leap of faith and walked into the Amac store, handed over my baby (aka little white MacBook) for an upgrade. 1 TB hard drive.

I felt lost without it and so happy when I picked it up again.

As I'm typing this I'm trying to stay calm.

Almost everything works perfectly, except for iPhoto and iMovie which apparently expects a different user / account.

Bummer.

I've been googling the error and apparently it is a common error with a long list of possible solutions.

Great. So I'll be trying them out... I might have worked in IT for many years but that does not make me a techie. Maybe the husband has some time this evening to help me - he is very clever with this kind of thing and most importantly will probably stay calm.

Wish me luck!

Here are the girls earlier this week, when the sun was still shining.

Playing in the tiny splash pool on our tiny terrace.

Have a great weekend!!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Cake

I was very determined to be good this week.

But yesterday afternoon I cracked and gave into my craving for chocolate.

I baked a cake.

A wonderfully rich buttercream covered chocolate cake.

I baked this cake while I was suppose to make dinner.

Next week I will be good again...

Heidi was an avid helper, both with the baking and eating of the cake.

How can anyone resist her blue eyes.

Have a great weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Sun!

The sun finally made an appearance.

Wonderful.

Yesterday I went to town with Stella.

We were pretty early so we stopped at the Hema for their €1 breakfast. 

It really is a bargain and I'm all about bargains these days.

Stella had a lot of fun playing shopkeeper in their kids corner with me as her main customer of course.

Then we strolled around town, browsing and enjoying being outside.

I tried to convince Stella to smile for a few photos but as you can see she was pretty reluctant.

Have a lovely sunny weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Paint Job

It is pretty amazing what a new lick of paint can do to a room.

A children's room turned into the new study / guest room as if by magic.

Well let's be honest. 

My husband worked very hard.

And he is my hero.

Now all I need to do is find something nice to put up on the wall!

Have a great weekend everyone!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Stella in the Kitchen

Any week with a public holiday on a weekday is bound to be a good week, don't you agree?

I decided to bake some rhubarb muffins and Stella insisted on helping me.

She was very sweet and very funny.

Until she knocked over my crumble mix and it became not so funny.

In the end the muffins turned out well and Stella kept on smiling.

I'm on a diet so I had to resist the muffin temptation and it was incredibly hard for me to do. But the good times with my parents and our holiday in France certainly added to my weight so I'm determined to be healthy.

Here's wishing you a lovely weekend with lots of healthy treats!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Clouds

This week we came back from our holiday in France.

Talk about reality check.

We left behind the sun.

Literally.

In the Netherlands it was a week of clouds, rain and layering up.

But at least I can look at the photos. like this one of Stella and the ice lolly.

This week I also stopped by at the Pottery Tree and picked up a plate that I painted a few weeks ago. I'm quite happy with the results but I need a lot more practise!
Definitely something I recommend to anyone who feels like being creative :-)

Hope you have a great weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Cupcake Time

I really love baking cupcakes with the kids.

I also really love eating the cupcakes.

Dilemma.

Note to self: stop eating the cupcakes!!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead :-)

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Fancy Dinners!

It was a busy week at work and home.

I cannot believe how time flies...

My parents are leaving soon and I don't want to think about it.

I'm very good at denial.

We had some excellent meals this week though.

I went to Vis & Meer in Utrecht with my parents and it was great.

Plus I so love Utrecht at night.

Last night my husband and I joined some good friends for an 8 course dinner in Eindhoven.

Yes, 8 plates of food... beautiful, fancy and delicious food!

Good thing I had my camera with me this week (even though it weighs a ton).

Have a great weekend everyone!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Tea Parties

My parents are visiting for the next two weeks.

They provide me with support which I dearly appreciate and need.

We've had a few tea parties in our house lately.

Isn't that what grandparents are for?

Have a great weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Falling

It feels like I am falling.

And I cannot seem to get back up.

But I've made my decision to stop work and all I have to do is survive the next two weeks.

Unfortunately it will be a very tough two weeks.

Two weeks of hand overs and finger pointing.

I can handle it.

What I love most of all is the idea of being there for my children one of these days, sharing the ordinary moments.

My parents arrive today for a visit - I cannot wait to meet them at the airport.

Have a great weekend!

DWZI

I recovered from the throat infection and then ended up getting a cold.

How does that work???

Tissues, lots of tissues is what I saw this week.

And more major decisions about my career or soon to be lack there of.

And of course my lovely girls, being as sweet as ever.

Have a great weekend!!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Not Much other than my Bed

Yes, you guessed it.

I got ill again.

I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that it is spring but it still feels like winter since it is so cold and the sun is in hiding.

Bit of a wasted week since mostly I spent it in bed, with pain and fever.

This time I have a crazy throat infection and am now on a strong dose of antibiotics so I am positive that by tomorrow I will be feeling much better. Plus I am not a good patient and my husband is running out of patience.

I ordered a book which arrived this week:

Yes, clearly I have some issues with getting stuff done and making decisions so on the recommendation of a blogpost by  Kim Welling I ordered it.

Due to my blinding headaches I've not yet managed to read it but I'm quite intrigued... 

Here's wishing you a very healthy and happy Easter weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Friday!

A sigh of relief.
It is Friday.

I'm kind of wishing it could be the weekend forever...

I love this child.
Here she is in the kitchen helping me bake muffins.

Have a great weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Easter Decorations

It was cold this week, wasn't it?

I'm not sure how it happened that winter arrived in March...

Let me tell you, I am soooooo ready for spring!

My husband and Heidi went to buy groceries and showed up with cute Easter decorations from the jumbo. While I went ahead with cooking dinner, they started setting it all up.

It turned out very cute indeed and finally we have a bit of an Easter feeling in the house :-)

Wishing you all a warm weekend ahead!

DWZI - Sky

When you are stuck in traffic there is usually nothing much to do.

Listen to the radio.

Look at the sky.

And most of all you wait.

Tuesday was that day.

The rest of the week was mostly about Stella who has a terrible cold and after a big dose of antibiotics finally seems to be feeling much better. Let's hope it stays that way.

Unfortunately I have her cold now... but that's life.

Wishing you all a healthy weekend ahead!

DWZI - Rule number one

Rule number one is show up.

And breathe.

On a lighter side... I finally made something out of my new Jamie Oliver recipe book this week!

Of course it did not take me 15 minutes. 

In fact, it took all of 30 minutes!

Not bad for my first attempt at 'speed' cooking.

And you should know that I was pretty disorganised when I started with the recipe, running around looking for pots and pans, grabbing the ingredients randomly and making a bit of a mess.

I did not actually manage to take a photo of my finished results because it was dark and I was distracted and hungry. But I am happy to report that this is one tasty and easy weeknight dinner.

Here is the link to the recipe on Jamie's website.

Have a fabulous weekend!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.

DWZI - Hof van Saksen

The good news is that Stella seems to have recovered and is finally sleeping through the night again.

The bad news is that I will probably never catch up on my sleep... but that's to be expected when you have kids!

We managed to get away for a few days and went to Hof van Saksen in Drenthe. It was great!!!

Luxury accommodation, lots of indoor activities for the kids and good food. What more could we want?

Well, a little sunshine would have been nice :-)

I really was pleasantly surprised by this holiday park. We stayed in a kids friendly chalet and it really was kids friendly. A gate at the stairs, toys for the kids and even a night light in Heidi's room.

There is a big indoor kids entertainment centre where they even have little academies for kids with edutainment activities. Then there is the indoor swimmingpool where we spent most of our time.

Now it is not exactly cheap. But I found us a last minute deal with a big discount. They have a lot of restaurants in the park as well as a little supermarket but I would suggest taking your own groceries because it was  expensive to eat there.

I'm definitely going to try and go to Hof van Saksen again in a warmer season so we can enjoy more of the outdoors in Drenthe.

Have a lovely weekend!!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week. 

DWZI - Enough already

I'm trying very hard to stay in control of my life.

Really, really, really hard.

Stella has not slept well for one whole week now.

She cries uncontrollably and is generally unhappy.

It is mentally and physically exhausting.

In the meantime I drive to work every day and once I get there I try to focus.

But I am so tired.

And work is, well, not easy.

Right now I need to be mentally alert to solve some big problems.

Do I sound mentally alert to you?

No?

Am I going to survive this craziness?

Will Stella get better and let me sleep?

Does anyone have any ideas on how not to lose my mind???

Here's wishing you a restful weekend.

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Deze week zag ik is iedere vrijdag een blik op de afgelopen week.