Happy Dutch Christmas (With pictures!)

So after the boys got home from church this is what they found:

Happy Dutch Christmas!

In our family, Arnold is Dutch. So in turn we have adapted the "Dutch Christmas" for our family. Our goal is one day, when we have enough money/time off, we will fly out to Alberta for Dutch Christmas. It will be a blast! I know it!

Until then we celebrate at home.

Our "version" is to have Dutch Christmas on the first Sunday of December. This all started when Kyler was little. I had gotten him and his dad a chocolate letter. I believe it was our first Christmas in Toronto (2007). I had forgotten to put everything out the night before. So before we left for church I was all ready with the shoes. I put out K's and Arnold's and headed off to church. It was a busy morning and totally forgot to put out the gift so I bolted in the house before Arnold and the boys and made sure that Sinterklaas had arrived. Sure enough he had, and thus our tradition began.

Every year we have had a "Dutch Christmas" in our house, the same time, first Sunday of December. For one thing it's easier for me to remember so that's a big reason for it.

This year we are a bit early, but that's alright. The boys are excited to use Kyler's wooden shoes and place them by the Christmas Tree before heading off to church.

For your enjoyment I have been check out this person blog about Sinterklaas. It's just so funny to read. Here is a copy of the blog and a link. Enjoy:

Invading Holland Blog

The arrival of Sinterklaas can be a very confusing time for expats in Holland. It’s a tradition that raises a lot of questions for those who are unfamiliar with it. Who is Sinterklaas and why does he give out presents on December 5th? Why does Sinterklaas live in Spain? Who are his helpers the Zwarte Pieten?

However, over the years I have come to realize that there are certain questions that it is simply best not to ask when old Sinterklaas comes to town. The Dutch don’t always respond well to such questions and sometimes they simply pity your stupidity.

“Do you think the pope knows his hat is missing?”

“If I pledge allegiance to Sinterklaas do I still get gifts from Santa?”

“How many hours do you think Sinterklaas spends grooming his beard every morning? He’s very metro for an old man.”

“Who do you think would win in a fight? Sinterklaas or Santa?”

“Do you think it’s like this all year around in Spain?”

“Do you think Sinterklaas works on pakjesavond so he can have Christmas off? Or do you think Santa works on Christmas so he can have pakjesavond off?… or both?”

“Do you think the Pieten get confused whenever anyone calls out their name? Do they all answer?”

“If I’m on Santa’s naughty list am I automatically on Sinterklaas’ naughty list as well? Because if so I’m in trouble.”

“Do you think Sinterklaas realizes that owning a steam boat is not very good for his carbon footprint?”

“Can you OD on pepernoten? Because I might need an ambulance.”

And the number one question that you must never ever ask a Dutch person:
“Why is Santa riding a horse?”

December!!

Finally!! I'm updated to December. November was a fun but busy month, and I can see December is shaping up the same way.

These past 3 days we have already:

*said Merry Christmas/Happy New Year to my little daycare boy. His parents are off on 2 week rotations for a bit and he is done visiting us.

*had our Christmas gifts arrive in BC and Alberta for our friends/family out there.

*gone on a date with the boys to get Daddy's Christmas gifts (the boys picked them out themselves - hehe )

*made my first batch of Christmas exchange cookies (and have now eaten about half of them - I'm making more tomorrow)

*boys had their last men's breakfast of the year at church today

*gone to see Santa at the mall

*saw Santa at the zoo and got to play some games there.

*updated and change all the calendars in the house

*updated our budgets

WOW we have done alot! and still more to do. I did manage to get some Christmas Gifts wrapped up this morning so that helps me out a bit. Just a few more to go and I'm all done for now. I do need to finish making some gifts as well.

So on our December plate is:

Dutch Christmas
Doctors appointments for myself and for Kyler
2 more Wednesday Night Youth Groups before the end of the year
Girls from across the road coming over for another 4 times before school is out
Going to Home Depot to make something
Going to see the Nutcracker (first year with both boys!)
Nursery schedule at church
Arnold's Christmas party
Sound checks/dress rehearsals for the Church's Christmas production
Youth's "Disney Themed" Christmas party
Boys both have their own school productions
Last day of school
Traveling to Sarnia for Christmas
Kyler's Skating daycamp
Pre-New years all night-er for the youth
New Years at the Zoo

Wow are we busy! Thankfully it slows down a bit in January! So please forgive me if I'm not posting alot/at all. We are busy!

Tree And Snow!

On the 29th of November we put the decorations on the tree and had a nice evening.

Kyler wanted to put the start on but DANG that kid is fast! I should have used sports mode instead. Here's what I did manage to get:











AND Nov 30th we did get our first snow. It even lasted until the 1st of December!! Then it was gone. But wow did it look nice!

Christmas Tree Cutting!

Last weekend we went to my parents house. We stayed the night on Saturday and headed out in the morning and got our Christmas trees. IT's always something exciting for us. Here's a photo idea of how it went: