Decluttering

My house is lately in a constant state of clutter because I am decluttering. Weird, but true. I have lots of old stuff from my daughter and myself that I hoped to sell. Unfortunately we do not have garagesales over here, so I have to rely on internet and special occasions. My daughter's old school is organising a sale twice every year and we have our famous Koninginnedag (the day wecelebrate our queen's birthday) where you can have a stand and sell your od stuff. But that's on April 30th and I cannot wait that long!

Because now is the time to make use of the special events, I had to sort it all out. There were bags everywhere, waiting to go. Like two bas of old me-clothes in my bedroom. I fitted them in my tiny car on Monday and took them to the ladies that are organising a big sale. I get half of the venue. Hope to get at least a nice new Dior or Chanel lipstick out of it!

I had three boxes of stuff I decided to donate that were standing in the hallway. When they were finally picked up, the hallway was cluttered again with enormous bags with toys and children's clothes that are due today for a schoolsale. I get 75% of the venue, even better. Hope to be able to add a a nice lipstick at least or (wish wish) get enough to buy 6 beautiful cups and saucers from pip design.

Now I have to figure out what to do with all the junk that is still left over, appeared from nowhere and is not eligible for sale at the moment( aka ummerstuff). There are old bathtowels and summerjackets on the staircase waiting to be stored or given away. In the attic I still have boxes with toys, old dvd's, games etc that I don't want to throw away. In the hallway is still a box filled with stuff I dig up from everywhere around the house. If I do not find a solution soon, husband will toss it away! Come to think of it, that's a solution too. Or maybe I should do that myself, might be easier.

Autumn holiday

One of the things I enjoy about the Dutch schoolsystem is the many holidays/vacations they have. We do not have a three months long vacation over the summer, like in the US, but we have several vacations spread through out the year. At the very moment my daughter has her "herfstvakantie" or autumn vacation. It's one week off and so far it's great. I used to dread vacations when she was younger, but now she is older and is having playdates throughout the holiday. I have learned to be quick and arange for days out and stay-overs beforehand. The past couple of days her old and dearest friend who used to live next door, came to stay for two nights. Pretty relaxing for mom who was able to putter around the house, read a book and have a quiet cup of tea. The small price I had to pay was going to see Totally Spies the movie with the girls.
We still have five days left before school starts again and I am planning to enjoy everyone of them. We stay in our pj's till late, have a quiet breakfast and plan visits. Today we will visit grandma (my mom), we have a visit to other grandma (my mother in law) planeed out and a few days left at home. After this week we will both be ready to get back to the real life. And my daughter will have enough energy to make it till christmas, when she has another two weeks off.

Wounded Knee

The problem with little 6yo girls who are active and like to run and play, is that they tend to fall a lot. I can tell you that all spring and summer my daughter's knees are nothing like smooth and beautiful. Three weeks ago she fell while playing at the cutest little amusement parc. I have to tell you about it: it was build in the late 1970's and it shows. It's small and extremely old fashioned, even if they did add several acts during the years. It's sweet and small and even little kids can safely wander around. We go there each year to commemorate my father in law. On his last birthday we went there with the whole family and had a lovely day. We never good have guessed that six months later he would die of lungcancer.
Anyway, the day we were there with the family again my darling daughter fell and her knee was completely open. For a week she was not able to wear long trousers (TG the weather cooperated) and she wouldn't have any blankets over her knee. Just when the crust had finally fallen off, she fell on the hockeyfield, trying to prevent the other team from making a goal. Same knee completely open. A few days later she was still complaining about it. During a walk with the dog she complained being about her knee hurting, so daddy had to carry her around. We had our suspicians about how bad it really was, so I started: "who is the first to get home gets....." Daughter was immediately allert: "gets wat?" "No darling, you can't run. I was going to say: get's a mini marsbar." I hadn't even finished speaking and off she was, running home! If life was so easy on all sides.