My mother asked me if I could run the household as a summer job. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I never imagined it was so much work! Siem is just now learning to sleep through the night, so I had to get up at least once a night. My days were so full of caring for Siem and the house that I had the feeling I wasn't able to do anything else. I have so much more respect for my mom (and for moms in general)! But I loved doing it and I learned a lot. My mother bought me a small cooking book with traditional recepies of Flanders, and I can make a lot of yummy foods now. And because it was a 'job', I got money too, so I am saving a nice amount of money for later.

Siem has learned a lot the last few months. He's now crawling around, trying to hug our pets. Our cat has a new favourite place now: the high cabinet. The dog doesn't mind Siem playing with her. He's laughing really hard here.

Siem drinking mama-milk at night.

How to put on a cloth diaper...

Well, that's how mama does it!

Helping mama to write her book.

The hardest part of the holidays was when my nephews came to stay for a few days. They're lovely kids, but it was just too much. I was exhausted by the end of the week. I think the main problem was that the day wasn't organised. But we had a good time. They were really easy to take to the shop, and Renzo (3,5y) loved to 'help' in the kitchen. They had the most fun when we taped the table with wallpaper. They were drawing and playing on it for over an hour! And after lunch we put new paper on it and drew a village on it. We even connected the table with a tunnel to the couch. They just loved driving their little cars around!

Renzo (3,5yo)

Roan (2yo)

 A few days later we went on a holiday to Vaals in the Netherlands. It's the place where the borders of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet. The surroundings are beautiful, and we enjoyed our rest. There was a nice swimming pool. Siem loved to be in the water, and we had a lot of fun.

Splashing around

Snuggling with mama

We made a nice long walk on a sunny day and enjoyed the old little villages. Siem walked too for a while! He's getting quite good at it.

While we were there, I had a meeting with the other 'leaders' of Ichtus. We had a 3-day meeting. It was exhausting, but very rewarding. We know have a clear vision of what we want for Ichtus. We also learned a lot about each other, which is very important if we want to work together this year.

Hanna, André, Anneke and I

After the other members left, we still had another week of vacation to fully enjoy with the whole family. I have a few more pictures of Siem and also of our garden that is completly redone by my brother-in-law. It looks so nice.

Siem sitting

'Hanging' around with Hanne

Siem and I in pj's

This isn't fluid?!

More!!!

 

Our new garden!

I hope you enjoyed this way too long update! I feel like I've only told and showed a little bit of all the changes in my life.

Ciska