Getting there....

Well, the girls enjoyed trick-or-treating....













Our pumpkin 'scary kitty' carving













Visit with Sinter Klaas in Holland













Would you like to hear a Sinter Klaas song? Here's a nice link. Only piano, but lyrics are shown in both languages.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=777











Enjoying the snow- want some momma?










LOVE daddy's headphones!





























Boats?


















The girls got their PJ's a little early this year.







Hello All!





Six weeks post ankle surgery, and I finally have the boot off. The incisions have healed nicely. Now I am re-learning to walk properly and building back strength in my calf. It's such a slow process, and though my scheduling manager wants nothing less that 100% for my return, I will probably still be going back to work soon on some sort of restricted work schedule. I probably won't get to go right back to my usual department, but I am ready to get out of the house and earn my full wage! I'm glad to driving my car again too. Just getting to do this task myself truly simplifies our lives.

My last post was just before Halloween. Bad blogger, bad blogger! Oh, well. The girls had fun, despite the icy temperatures. I sat on our stoop handing out candy. At that point, I still had the gigantic cast on my foot. Mina helped after they had made their rounds of the neighborhood. She did an excellent job of saying 'Take one" and "Happy Halloween". Honestly, I think she may have had more fun doing that than running around gathering her haul. I'm sure everyone enjoyed getting a good laugh at me trying to 'butt climb' my way upstairs and search for methods of getting myself hauled back off the ground and onto the scooter.


We feel fortunate that so many friends and family have taken the time to help with rides, meals, housework, and playing with the girls while I couldn't drive or spend much time doing things around the house. We thank everyone, over and over again.


We had a quiet Thanksgiving with my parents. Now we prepare for Christmas. Mina and JoJo can't help but remind us every day of the things we should tell "Santa" that they want. For the first full week after we put up our tree, the girls would ask if tommorow is Christmas, and they get presents. We say no, but reassure them that it WILL come. We talk about why we celebrate Christmas, and they are old enough to begin to appreciate the birth of the baby Jesus. We want the girls to understand that we don't just give presents; that there is more of a meaning to it. I found a couple Golden books about the Christmas story, and we talk about the gifts brought by the Magi for the baby, and why Jesus' gift to the world is so important. Of course, the fun of letting them believe in Santa for a few Christmas seasons gives us some joy as well. It's been fun to share some of the Dutch traditions too. We spent some time on December 5 talking about Sinter Klaas, that he was once a real person, that the children in the Netherlands put out their wooden shoes instead of stockings, and they both actually tried hail and Tai-Tai for the first time.


I don't know if we will bring up Sinter Klaas every year, but we have started some traditions which we hope to continue, no matter how old they get. One is not putting up the tree until after Thanksgiving. No joke, our neighbor had one up the day after Halloween! We also get one new Delft ornament from the Dutch store to add to the tree. Each year, the girls will get one brand new pair of PJ's to have 'clean' for Christmas morning. This year, I took each of the girls (away from the other) to pick up something to give to their sister. The value was nominal, but the concept was to pick a present for someone beside themselves, and not just GET gifts (and to get them not to keep the present they picked out for themselves instead, I think they did pretty good, actually).


So, we look with our renewed, child-like joy, forward to watching our girls open their gifts in a couple weeks. We are glad we will be gathering with so many of our family soon, and we ache for those who won't be able to come home this year. Holding hope for reunions with the family we miss so much, sooner rather than later!

Love-
the Johnsons
@(( :^} )