Happy Halloween

Bobbejaanland

Yesterday we were invited to spent the day in Bobbejaanland. But because I had a splitting migraine attack, the boys had to go without me. Luckily our au pair didn´t mind joining them, and as you can see by the pictures, the had a wonderful time. Thanks Jelle, you made Halloween come alive for my boy, they just loved the day at Bobbejaanland.

Grandparents day at school

Every day we have grandparents day at school. The kids can show their classrooms to their grandparents and they can see what the kids do all day at school.
Our au pair and I vollunteered to serve coffee and cake to all the 400 grandparents that paid a visit. Fun day, they did great.
And if you wonder who the little funny guy is in the first picture, that is Jules, he is teh mascotte of son #3´ class and he is staying with us for the autumn holiday. Each child has him over to sleep and can tell about the adventures they had with Jules when they go back to school. So this was his first adventure, secretly going to grandparents day, because only grandparents are allowed to come...

I promised some more pictures of the finished quilt after I presented it to its new owner. The quilt was made for my FIL who needs to undergo cancer treatment. The quilt has a pirate theme, guess who´s choice it was?
I used pictures of all the grandsons, there are no girls, just to make sure :-). I also used pieces of their shirts and shirts of their fathers, so all sons and grandsons participated and I also had them draw some pirate ships. Since grandson #4 is too small, his mum tooks his handprints. I for one liked the finished result.

Finished quilt

Yesterday I finished this charm quilt. It is made from pieces of clothing, drawings and pictures and it is for someone very special but I am not spoiling the surprise. So when we have given it to this person, I will post some mre pictures of the quilt itself.

jiu jitsu - Update

The boys got their new colors as you can see, they did their best and now they can show it... They were both very proud as are we.


The boys had jiu jitsu today. Son #1 went for his 5th Kyu 1st half and son #2 6th Kyu 2nd half. They did their best so we will wait for their result next week...

Exams

Yep! they are. Today I had two exams.


We already know the results of one, and I passed, the other one, we get the result in about one and a half week...
But now, I have time to craft again. So I immediately got on the couch with my quilt.

Antwerp Zoo

This morning we paid a visit to the Antwerp Zoo with our au pair. But unfortunately, we were not alone... Normally the zoo is not so popular on Sunday morning but now it was swamped... So we only paid it a short visit.
The lions have their new enclosure so it was nice to see that they have much , more space now. But we learned that the lions mate and his daugther fight him, so he was alone today. Poor guy, intimidated by two females...

Although it seems that he likes being on his own.

Son #3 was a bit tired, since he had to walk quite a distance yesterday, so we cut the walk short and went back home. And as you can see, he was really tired...

jiu jitsu

Yesterday we had a walk through the forest wit the jiu jitsu, you had to do tasks on the way. When we arrived back at base camp the boys could do some games and afterwards we had a BBQ. Great idea, fun afternoon.
And some planking on the way...

Pink

This is a combination I would wear. Love the pinks and especially the bag.

stitch itch

I was checking out Pinterest, (yes, I know, I spent way too much time there) when I saw this gorgeous stitched piece. The pattern is available from ThisTinyExistence. I can´t imagine how many hours of embroidery went into this exquised piece.
Wish my craft place would look like this...

Crochet

I saw this afghan on Pinterest. And it has a link to the pattern. I just love it, I would make it with a red background to take to our cabin when we go skiing. Oh, who am I kidding, I still have so many UFO´s that it will take me at least a year to finfih everything, but then...
A specially since I am studing for my exams...

Autumn

Yesterday I noticed some squirrels in the back of the garden. As I followed them running through the yard, I saw that we already have some shrooms in the yard, but they are already damaged because some animals fed on them, probably the squirrels. And as it has been raining all weekend, autumn is definitelt here.

Yesterday morning we made a quick trip to the market in Antwerp, where I bought these... a cross between strawberries and raspberries... they tasted like the small wood strawberries, but they are much bigger, really nice and they didn´t last the trip back, as we ate them in the car.
Have been quilting a bit, but since I have exams in two weeks, I have been reading in my books a bit... I think it is getting time to do this...

Happy camper

Today my new sewing machine arrived! I am a happy camper. Couldn´t wait until the kids were to bed and I could unpack it and try it...
Oh, and what a difference it is with my old machine. No comparison...
When DH saw my trying some different stitches, he wondered when I would shorten his trousers... as if this machine is made for domestic work, no this machine is made for quilting.

WIP

My sewing machine died on me, so yesterday I joined my friend Evelyn to finish my quilttop. She generously offered that I use her sewing machine. So I went over, we had a cup of coffee in a local bistro first and then we started.

She tried a new pattern and I finfished my quilttop. It is now lying on the dining table to be pinned, so I can quilt it.
And since my friend´s sewing machine was so great, I also bought a brother. I ordered it from Matri. So I can´t wait to get it and give it a go here at home.

Wonderful weather

Today the weather was great! So we decided to visit my PIL who live near the beach.
And even on the beach, we had wonderful weather, with a warm breeze.
The boys enjoyed this unexpected day at the beach. They found these empty crab shells and one crab that was still living and son #1 even a fish that was still alive, so he showed it in his bucket and then through it back into the sea, where it swam away real quickly.

In the meanwhile I am still crocheting on my Lollo bear, but I saw that I don´t have enough stuffing, so I will have to get some, so I can finish him.

WIP

While I am crocheting on my hex blanket and finishing a quilt (my sewing machine died on me while making the top of the quilt), I started a new project.
It is the lovely Lollo from Heidi Bears. When she finished the pattern I immediately bought the pattern and couldn´t wait to start. I finished the head, and a big portion of his body and also one arm. He is absolutely gorgeous and I willd o my best to finish him as soon as possible.
When I finish him, I will show the result.

Look who arrived

Today a little bag with a red cross arrived and it was adressed to your youngest son. And look who it is...Son #3 lost his stuffed animal, last week... again, so I called the Knuffelkliniek. They have stock of all the stuffed anlimals they ever made and you can back/order them. And the way the present the animals, how cute is this?
I think there will be a very happy boy after school...

Autumn is coming

This morning we had a walk in the Peerdsbos, a small forest in Brasschaat. Because autumn is coming early there were already chestnuts and beechnuts (hope this is correct), as son #3 shows in the pic below. We harvested some to feed to the squirrel that lives in our garden, as we don´t have nuttrees in our garden.

As the weather was better than predicted, we also had a row at the small lake of the castle of Brascchaat.
But then we met this tree...
Doesn´t the eye look eery...

Craft

For those of you that are wandering if I did any craft during our holiday... Yes, I did!
I made this viking hat, it was a trial hat, as I tried it before with a different kind of wool and it didn´t work out they I want it to be.
When we were in Augsburg, Germany, we strolled in the city and I saw a wool shop, so I bought some 100% Merino wool for crochet hook 7. And I think it worked out they way it should be, although the horns should be more curved.
The problem now is, I can´t find such wool anywhere around here, so I think the easiest way is to order them from the net in Germany.
And offcourse I also am still working on my African Flower blanket.