Top articles
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How to familiarize kids with hospitals?
Chloé and her class went to the Teddy Bear hospital to check if their Teddy bears weren't sick. And dear oh dear, Nounours had a broken arm. Luckily Chloé could help him out and after the X Ray, Nounours got a nice big cast and a big cuddle curtosy of...
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When will it stop snowing?
Monday morning 1st february 2010, 6:30am: departure from Loosdrecht to go to Groningen, 180 kms further north 7:39am: am about 50 kms further and with about as many kilometers of jam ahead of me on the A6 motorway only. Total standstill 8:30am: they closed...
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Winter beach fun
The girls went on the beach to fly a kite (read 20 cm pink kite for kids...worth mentioning since I had no idea I had bought such a tiny little thing!!!). Maman won the contest. She observed and then just did it. Chloé stayed interested approximately...
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Our new commercial is live on TV!
After this: I am proud to present the new commercial for Nationalevacaturebank.nl (you know the company I run) We are live on TV since April 6th. The concept is based on "Holland's most wanted" as in "Nationalevacaturebank.nl has the candidate that employers...
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Wall-E
Today Chloe and I went to see Wall-E. You are probably thinking, is that film still playing? Didn't it come out in the summer? The answer is yes and amazingly it was playing in Hilversum at 1pm this afternoon, which gave Chloe and I something nice to...
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First time ever on skate
Loosdrecht I have lived for 7 years in the Netherlands and had never experienced what seems to be a far away memory and yet a tradition for many Dutch people: skating on natural water (and God knows there is a lot of water here!) in the winter. But it's...
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Les vacances d'été #1, part 3: l'anse Méjean
A day at l'Anse Méjean, a little paradise capped by a pine forest, an hour away from la Londe and worth every second of the drive for the view. It gave me the impression of finding myself in a Griek village with its small bay, the few white houses with...
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Bella mia
I was playing with the digital camera whilst Chloe was bathing when suddenly I discovered basic but very well hidden functions that I immediately tested. 16/9 format in black and white and voila, 2 portraits of my angel. Looking at those pictures I realize...
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Avec les mains mais sans les roues
After litterally pretending to not like cycling and not wanting to let go of the side wheels on the rare occasions she actually got on a bike, Chloe turned 5 and just went for it. She actually went from the house to the other side of Loosdrecht on her...
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Pacha's home!
4th September, 3:30pm, after waiting for 6 weeks, Pacha finally comes home! Marina, the breeder, brought him together with the official paperwork. Buying a pedigree cat, apart from creating a big hole in my wallet, also opened up a whole new world to...
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Girls...
Wednesday 12 o'clock, time to pick up Chloe from school. Inevitably, weather I, the hard working Mum, need to go to the supermarket, get some ironing done or sort whatever else, Chloe wants to take a girlfriend home to play. Inevitably, I say yes because...
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Green & Purple
I hadn't scrapped for a while but I am back in the swing of it. I found loads of freebies through site trails and I am delighted with the new stuff I can pick and choose from. All these scraps around Chloe also feed the album I made digitally every year...
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Chloé's birthday list
Chloé has been counting the number of nights to her 5th birthday and with 8 nights to go, I thought I would finally reveal her birthday wish list. Since we moved from the flat to Erik's house, we thougth it would be nice for her to finally have a real...
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Sharm El Sheik, 34 degrees every day
Erik and I went on a very needed holiday to Egypt. Location: Sharm El Sheik Hotel: Four Seasons Temperature: 34 degrees Sea temperature: 28 degrees Pool temperature: 30 degrees Mojito temperature: chilled and deliciously minty Daylight: till 5pm Surroundings:...
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New rule
Yesterday I introduced a new rule, which Nico and Manue implemented succesfully some years ago with George and Louise. Chloé got a very nice alarm clock (well, if you like Barbie and pink) and from now on, she is only allowed to come and wake me up in...
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L'école est finie
Chloé's final school report made me proud. Chloé enjoyed a first year at school and made a lot of new friends...and mentioned Samuel a couple of times as her favorite boyfriend...(red T-Shirt, top row in the middle). To be continued from mid Augustus...
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Scubadoobadoo
No such thing as resting on holidays. No, no, no, instead I studied a 150 page book and had to do very unpleasant exercises in the pool and in the sea to get my Padi...and no, no, no I didn't get to pick my Swedish instructor, I just got assigned to him....and...
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Val Thorens 2009
Just got back from Val Thorens. The weather was the worst I have ever had on a ski holiday, our hotel was not worth the money we paid for it (see our review on Trip Advisor) and I hardly slept due to the altitude but but but it was really lovely to spend...
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Birthday marathon
6:30 am: wake up, wake up, it's my birthday! Look, look, there are presents everywhere! Are they for me maman? Thank you Erik, Paddy and Kinou! 8:30 am: Chloe celebrates her birthday at school: a whole ritual: Serge and I get to stay in the class for...
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Rome
I have always wanted to visit Rome so it was something very special to me to be able to do so. Even though Rome isn't funky or trendy, Rome is special. Even though Rome isn't as well preserved as you could expect, Rome is special. Even though Rome isn't...
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Merry Christmas
There was a ton of presents again this year but what really really impressed Chloé is how " le pere Noel" knew that she so wanted that princess outfit! A big big thank you to my Papa et Maman who took care of me non stop in the last days and totally spoilt...
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Reverend Al Green
Last night, I was lucky enough to attend Al Green's concert in Amsterdam, Paradiso, and it was simply amazing. Forget electronic music, this was the real thing: 12 musicians on stage, 2 chorists and Al Green. His voice was fantastic and his personality...
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Sinterklaas
Saint Nicholas came and visit the kids of our company's employees today. The whole Saint Nicholas thing is very exciting for kids in the Netherlands. It's actually bigger than Christmas. Chloe was still a big young last year to get it but this year she...
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Terschelling
Remember when I said I went off site with my management team to work on our plans and strategy for 2009? These are a couple of shots I made during a bike ride we took on our last day to get a bit of fresh air after our intensive brainstorms. And remember...
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Chloé in Knokke (Belgium)
Chloé got invited to spend a long week end away in Knokke with her two best girlfriends from school: Quirine (long brown hair) and Amber (long blond hair). Their mums are really good friends and become good mates of Serge, who, being unemployed, had had...