Sleepovers, Ashlynn-style...

Ashlynn loves going on sleepovers and is thrilled that we finally lived in a house where she can easily host. She enjoyed having Roisin, Sophie and Marianna over for a night of making ice cream, watching movies and singing.

Ashlynn also had Katy over another night. They liked lounging around in their onesies.

Another Week, Another Housewarming....

After getting the house ready for the neighborhood party, we figured it was time to host a party for our friends as well. Rather than just having one, we opted to have two separate parties: the first for classmates and friends in our new town and the second for other friends.

The menu for each party got more complicated. The first had mostly munchies plus a few dips and homemade soup. The second had all of the first plus homemade mini chicken pot pies. For the final party, we added chili and teriyaki chicken. The food was a big hit and so was the house. Only bummer about the open kitchen is that there’s nowhere to hide the dirty dishes.

Welcoming Ourselves to the Neighborhood...

The Dutch believe in giving a new neighbor privacy. Rather than welcoming the newcomer, they wait for the newcomer to invite them over for a coffee or cocktail. We didn’t know about this when we moved into our first house and didn’t have any immediate neighbors around our last house, so here was our chance to finally follow proper etiquette.

When I asked the fellow at the card store for help to find appropriate invitations, he said that I only needed to invite the neighbors on either side of our house. He thought I was crazy that I wanted 20 cards so we could invite our entire street. We delivered the invites in the evening so we’d have a chance to meet everyone. We were a bit nervous of everyone showing up, but survived just fine when most of them did. Apparently no one had ever had the entire street over before so many of the neighbors enjoyed meeting each other for the first time.

The Kinect was a big hit with the kids. Ashlynn also enjoyed playing hockey on the street with some of the girls.

Snowball Fight...

Ashlynn and Masha came into our yard to have a snowball fight with some of the kids from our street.

No surprise that Jimmy couldn’t resist getting into the act.

Rather than making snowballs, he filled up a bucket.

Crazy guy that he is, he even threw snow from the upstairs window.

Surrounded by Natural Ice...

Looking Lovely on the Ice

Before venturing onto the iced over pond behind our house, we waited for our Dutch neighbor to check it out first. Once he determined it was safe enough for his kids, we ventured out. Masha came to spend the afternoon on the ice with Ashlynn. They didn’t want to skate, but enjoyed playing with some of the neighbor kids. 

Jimmy and Veronica were thrilled to be able to put their skates on in our yard and walk straight onto the ice. Unfortunately, they only had the chance to skate once before additional snow fell, which was followed by the big thaw.

Jimmy made sure to hold on while testing the ice on the canal (which is six feet deep) in front of our house.

Icicles...

We’ve had cold winters before, but this was likely our coldest with several weeks in January when it never got above freezing. This was the first time we’d ever lived anywhere where icicles grew in the windows.

This icicle was especially interesting as it dripped onto the icy banister and looked like it might eventually join up. It was actually quite nerve-wrecking when the icicles went crashing down after the temperatures finally warmed up.

First Snow of 2013...

It started to snow on January 14. When we woke up the next morning, we found 5 inches on the ground. While Ashlynn was hoping that school would be cancelled, Veronica actually didn’t want to miss her mocks (practice exams). Granted, school should have been cancelled because the roads were a mess, but the girls could easily walk.

Now they’ll be able to tell their kids that they trudged one mile to school through the snow. 

 Love the view from my desk.

Here’s the view from the end of our street (our house is the one with the tree on the right).