KissKus

Summer party

Busy times here with the end of the schoolyear near. Lots of events happening and parties to attend. Yesterday we held our own party for Amber.

The day was a success.
Some highlights were:

Unwrapping presents

Off for an adventure

A water fight (it was warm!)

Birthday treats for the children to take home

And grandma made another party dress.

Another reason to celebrate is that this is my 400th post! I would love to do a give-away, but I just wouldn't manage it right now. Perhaps a bit later on when life isn't so hectic.
Still I would like to thank everyone who has been reading some or many of those 400 posts. Blogging has definitely enriched my life and I still enjoy it very much!

Happy weekend everyone!

Paint job

So how do you like my freshly painted walls here on my blog? And how about the new banner? A beautiful job done by my Photoshop talented husband. One subtle hint of me was enough to get him in action... thanks baby!

Back to the real world...I loved this little scene this afternoon. It doesn't happen very often that I have all three children at home after school due to their busy social lives and sports etc. This was such a cosy scene. Simon and Amber had a cookie and Linus some raisins. I had never put Linus in that (much loved) Ikea chair yet, but even though it is still too big for him, he was very comfortable in it. And when he was done he let me know by making hgmrhmgr-sounds that he wanted to get on the floor. That's my boy!

And I even got a little sewing done. Yay, a good day!

Highlight

My highlight of today (it was one of those days!) was discovering the macro-button on my camera... I've used this camera for more than four years, nearly every day! And in fact I didn't even discover it myself... Michel did. (yep, the flower-icon, Kirsten!)

I'm not a photographer. By which I mean that I don't understand the technique and I've never cared to find out. But I like taking nice photos and I'm certain that with my macro-function I'm going to like it even more. Practice!

Now off to bed, let's get this day over with... it's not even "today" anymore!

Luscious link love

I was thinking of putting up a few links today when I read seemownay's post. She came up with the idea of luscious link love and so today I will join her.

I wanted to tell you about the swaps that I signed up for. I haven't done a swap in ages, because other things needed my attention (like a baby...), but I discovered two that I just couldn't pass up.

The first one is a Babyshower Swap hosted by Hey Bubbles. I never had a babyshower and in fact the whole concept of a babyshower doesn't even exist in Holland, so this will be the perfect opportunity for me to enjoy it a little.

The second one is the Sheet Square Swap hosted by SeeKatieSew. Sounds like so much and a perfect way to refresh my stash! You can still sign up for both swaps, so head on over if you're interested!

Recently I transported all my blog subscriptions over from Bloglines to GoogleReader and I must say that I love it so much! I find it more organised and better layed out. However, for me the best feature is the blog recommendations that they make for me based on the feeds that I'm subscriped to. I've discovered so many lovely, new-to-me blogs already!
Here are a few:

Elsie Marley
My Spare Time
Wink Designs
Thompson Family Life

Today's images were brought to you by my garden.

Baby doll

Do other people take silly photos of their baby and then publish them to the world? Oh shameless!!
(Michel was my partner in crime... in fact he was the one who made him look funny and all I did was take a photo of it. Really, I wash my hands in innocence!)

Look at my biceps!

So what if I have a burp cloth on my head?! I'm cool!

In da hood... OK, not funny!

He was fine after this, I promise! Look!

(hmm, he still looks a bit p*ssed off...)

Anyway, on to something more serious: I let my lovely assistant draw the winners' names of the 300th post give-away:

She was a little confused about this strange name:

It was:

Congratulations, Nicolette and Thimbleanna! Send me an e-mail and we'll work out the details of your prize :)

Back very soon

Sorry for my absence here recently, but real life has temporarily gotten in the way of blog life.
I think that in couple of days time I will be back on track and normal blogging will resume.
I hope you're all well... I can't wait to catch up on you all!

Humpf...

While I was at work my family went swimming!

Do you realise what this means though... the weather was good enough to go swimming! Outside! Michel even got sunburnt! Could it possibly be that summer has come at last?!? Let's hope so... we all could do with a bit of sunshine on our faces.

I've had a bit of a blog block these past days, which is mainly due to the fact that I haven't been sewing for a while. We've also been spending some time with my sister who was back from England for a short visit. Amber and Simon we're happy to see her again.

I'm hoping to relax a little more. Even though Amber doesn't have to go to school, we still seem to be running around a lot. Tomorrow I'll just enjoy the lovely weather and perhaps I might even get some sewing done.

Oh, I finally finished Harry Potter! I promise I won't spoil anything, but mail me if you'd like to talk about it ;)

::200::

I've decided that this 200th is my official housewarming post.
It feels good here on Typepad... I'm staying!

I had plans to host a tea party... set a pretty table and serve some nice food. But I must be realistic... organising it would stress me out and chances are it will never happen.
So I'm afraid you're going to have to bring along your own food and drink... it's what we here call an "American party" ;)

Blogging is still providing me with lots of joy and a great sense of satisfaction. I've been keeping diaries ever since I was able to write, but I think that this is the most regular that I've ever been writing. It makes me proud that I'm keeping it up, although it isn't hard. I love documenting our lives and it's wonderful to know that in this way I'm preserving  memories for myself and the children.

Of course, I also truly love the interaction with anyone who visits here. I'm still amazed that there are people from America, Australia and everywhere else coming here to read about my life. I love comments :)
As a thank-you I would like to give away two packages (*) to two people who leave a comment. I'll draw names on Friday. Lurkers, de-lurk!
Thank you all for making my blog feel like a place where friends can drop in whenever they want!

(*) The first package will contain a lovely handmade (not by me) apron and one of my patchwork pouches, the other will contain the cheery flowery bag and also one of my patchwork pouches. If you prefer one or the other, please say so.

Plunge

 

Well, here I am in my new virtual home!

I'm excited to be continuing my weblog here on TypePad.
Still lots to explore & change. I managed to put up my own banner already, although it doesn't completely fit yet. The biggest challenge will be trying to move my archives from Blogger to here, but I'm sure I'll figure it out!
Ok, back to fiddling :)

Need help picking out my birthday present!

People, I need you for advice! My lovely hubby (or hush puppy as my colleague said yesterday) wants to give me a Typepad-account for my birthday. I've been wanting to make the switch for quite some time and now he's made the decision for me... isn't he the sweetest?!

So just now I've been checking out the website and what I really want to know is whether Basic will be good enough, or do I really need to get Plus? What do you have and are you happy with it? Is Typepad the best choice anyway? Please, share your experiences with me! I'm so excited at the prospect of switching that I really want to do it NOW!

This photo does it no justice at all, but the sunrise was amazing this morning. A huge bright red ball of fire.