Team Swinehart: October 2010

Hello.

Ok, so now it really is official. I've gotten emails stating so. :-)

Our project has moved out to Feb 1 and then I'll be here for 2 months of stabilization. We will be moving home April 1.

Things here are exciting as always. Ivy is talking more and more and loves to sit and 'read' her books or watch her movies (Tee Wee).

Henry is a crawling machine and loves to chew on his books and watch Ivy. Their interaction is super cute.

Ivy created her first piece of art with her nanny Rosina the other day. I came home from work and there on the table was a piece of paper with a sheep drawn on it. In the sheep were little cotton balls glued to the paper. It is SO CUTE! I can't wait to take it to work and hang it on my wall. I LOVE IT. I was so excited to see it. :-)

We have decided that it would be good for the babies to get some social time during the week so we are enrolling them in 'school'. It's really a daycare run by a british woman (Alison) in her home. She has a 4 year old name Daniel and there is another little girl who's 2.5. Her name is Lydia. We met them all today. The babies will go to school on Fridays from 8 - 5 or 6. They start the first week of November. I am really excited for them...

Ben has found a Crossfit gym just outside of Amsterdam. He does two nights a week to workout with the gang and have some fun.

We have also met a great couple on our street, Kate and Chris. They are originally from Scotland, but have lived in Portland, Buffalo, London and now Hilversum. Chris is a professional freelance photographer so they've traveled for his work.

Their daughter and son-in-law live in Corvallis, their son and daughter-in-law live in Columbus, OH and their other dauther and son-in-law live in Amsterdam. Kate and Chris are extremely friendly, love the babies and are a lot of fun to hang out with. We went to dinner with them last night and left the babies with the babysitter. It was a ton of fun.

This weekend (Saturday) Ben and I are going to Rotterdam with Jami and Igor. There is a craft fair that Jami and I want to check out. Our knitting clubs will be there and we can just hang out and knit for a while and then pick up some cool stuff. Igor and Ben are going to explore Rotterdam. Then we'll all meet up for a beer and some bitterballen before heading back.

Ivy and Henry will be hanging out with Susan, their babysitter.

Next week we are having visitors. Rod and Joanne arrive on Friday. We are SO excited to spend time with them. Then Andrea arrives on the 24th. It's going to be such fun to hang out for a few days...They won't believe how big the babies are. :-)

Oct 30th we'll be moving in to a bigger and GORGEOUS new house. It's about 4 blocks from where we live now, but such a better place for us. And, the roof doesn't leak and it doesn't smell of mold and must. BONUS! It's been completely renovated and the attic has been transformed into a beautiful master suite. I will take pictures and post them as soon as we get the keys. :-)

I hope things are going well for everyone in the states.

We are really looking forward to our visit home in Dec/Jan.

Til then, we'll keep posting the blog and pics!

Love

The Swinehart Clan

Hello~

Many of you have heard or seen on facebook that our stay has been extended.

We will have final plans later this week, but I wanted to update you on what it is potentially going to look like over the next 6 months.

The project that I am working on over here has been delayed. As of right now, we are shooting for a Feb. 1 2011 go live. This means that we will be home Dec 18 through Jan 7 for the holidays.

Then back to Holland where we will live until the successful end of my project. :-) As of now, it looks like I will be here for a month or two after go live to help with stabilization.

This decision was not made lightly. Ben and I discussed it over tears and fears. Ben has spoken to the team and let them know that he won't be back until March. Thankfully, they are extremely supportive and are not looking at this extension as necessarily the end of Ben at T-hills. But for now, he will continue to be the rock of the house in Hilversum.