I got this email from Jan earlier this afternoon. It touches me deeply. I am happy and extremely grateful on what we have right now. A safe environment and enough food for the kids to be obese easily. hehehehe. I would like to thank Jan for working so very hard for giving this wonderful life to us The email I got from Jan is….

Hoi Lieverd,

I just had a look at a photo report title ‘Colourful India’. The photo that struck me most was the one below.
For some reason, I couldn’t help imagining Daniel (in front), Nadya (behind him) and Aryan (leaning on the shovel) in that picture…

Why is there so much injustice in this world….

Indian children work nearby to their parents at a construction project in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on January 30, 2010 in New Delhi, India. The children accompany their parents to the work site, where if they are prepared to work, they will receive money for bread and milk and be provided with dinner by the contractor.
Taken from: The Big Picture (Boston.com)

I am happy that we can give our children a better life and future.

I love you,
Jan

Many women dread becoming 30 but I embraced it with pride, joy and gracefully. I feel by turning 30, I am much more wiser, independent, and more adaptable to change. I have sorted out clearly what I want in my life and move towards what makes me happy and stay clear of things and situation that could bring me and my family down. At the age of 30, what is important to me is family and friends. My family will always be number 1 in my life but sometimes, you also need friends. I have been here in the Netherlands for almost 3 yrs and I am glad to say I have ALOT of friends. Not just some Tom, Dick, Mary of Harry but real friends. To name a few good friends, I have Cara (American), Angge (Indonesian), Monica (Ugandan), Hani (Egyptian), Leonila (Filipino), Caratimo (Somalian) and many dutch friends. Too much. Once in a while, we gather and have a cup of coffee and a slice of pizza in a pub and just talk about anything and everything. Too bad for Hani, as he is a guy and he hates girly talks. He just disagrees with us girls…hahaha!!

Kids…oh wow…they grew! Daniel is 3 1/2  yrs and Nadya and Aryan are 2 1/2yrs old. The toughest is Nadya and the easiest to handle is Aryan. But no matter what, they are still my babies and I love them to death! There was once, I tried to asked Nadya to put back my shoes in the shoerack and she didn’t listen. So for the 3rd time, I raised my voice and asked her again. She says, “Mama..don’t scream at Nadya..Nadya is a princess!!” How can I get angry at this precious little barbie doll??….With her twinkling green-eyed on those perfectly brown skin…she is beautiful. And Aryan…whenever he breaks something, he comes to me with those serious face and those grey eyes just shows nothing else but innocense and say..”Allemachtig…it’s kapot”. How can I be angry? You tell me…I just melt…And Daniel…I went up to put the twins in bed and when I cam down, he was washing dishes and he was trying to wash his cup and tries to get apple juice from the refrigerator. I asked him what is he doing, and he said he wants to help me. And he says, “Mama is busy with Aryan and Nadya, and Daniel is thirsty, so Daniel take apple sap self..cause Daniel is a grote jonge already..” How to be angry..you tell me..those red cheeks and big brown eyes…he looks exactly like me…and behaves like me…funny..sweet..cheeky…and considerate.

I am gonna say bye bye for now… my back still hurts..after 3 yrs ++. I don’t think it will ever go away…I need a massage…

Will write more soon!!

I think being a mum can be fairly lonely, especially if you have your kids at a fairly young. I think it is an isolating experience being a stay at home mum. I would like to have more time for myself, and I am tired of being seen as a ‘mum’ all the time. I don’t think mothers are valued enough in the society. I find that usually the first thing people ask me is if I have a job. When I say no, the conversation stops.

Ik ben Haseenah Penninkhof en ik ben 28 jaar oud. Ik woon in Nederland sinds mei 2006. Toen was ik 6 maanden zwanger met tweeling. Het was een zwaar zwangerschaap. Daniel, mijn eerste zoon was tien maanden oud. Ik was altijd zo moe. Maar nou ook.Mijn beslissing om naar Nederlands te komen is voor de kinderen. Ik denk kinderen hier krijgt meer zorgen dan in mijn land, Singapore. Hier, daar is de consultatie bereau. Ik kan altijd vraag naar de kinderarts als ik heb soms probleem met het slapen, eten en drinken, opvoeding of kinderziekte. Ik ben hastikke blij dat Nederlands heb zo veel aandacht voor de kinderen.

Nederlands is een practige land. Zo veel bomen and bos en mooi bloemen. En de schapen and koien spelen on de heuvels en de boerderij met weide land. Practig. Ik voel me zo vrij. Zo veel ruimte. Ik kan zo beter ademhalen. Hahaha. En voor de kinderen, kinderboerderij. Mijn kinderen vinden de paarden, varkens en schappen zo spannend. Als de kinderen blij zijn dan ben ik ook blij.

Nog iets wat ik geweldig vind is het winkelen. Ik ben een koopjesjager and ik ben gek voor Zeeman, Hunkem

Twins 1st Birthday!

Hip Hip Hooray!! Nadya and Aryan are 1 today! Finally….the first difficult year is over and I have no intention of doing it all over again. I am so done with 3 kids. I love kids..but not at the same time. Daniel is now 2 yrs and 1 month and I see all of them of nearly the same age. Only that Daniel is more vocal and active and able to eat everthing! Fries, Beef Rendang, Grilled Chicken, Beans, Boiled Corn, Noodles, Rice, Nuggets…etc etc. He eats everything. Good appetite. I am happy.
I decided not to have the twins birthday celebration today. I am still not 100% well yet. I had very bad asthma since last week. Seen the doctor 2 times and she gave me predisolone and antibiotics. My airways felt so sore and inflamed. Ask any asthmatics, they know what I am talking about.

I decided to have the twins birthday on the 15th Sept 2007, Saturday. I think it is best. Aryan is still sore around his gums and Daniel is still quite breathless after a rough wrestle with blown up guitar. His favourite song….”Broken” by Seether. Hello?!!……I love him to death!

I have been quite a tough time for the last 5 weeks. I don’t feel I should elaborate more in my blog. Afterall, my family and friends in Singapore are reading this…. I am just hoping that as days goes by, things will get better and hopefully, at the end of this painful journey, I see a ray of sunshine. I will pray hard!

Twins 1st Birthday!

Hip Hip Hooray!! Nadya and Aryan are 1 today! Finally….the first difficult year is over and I have no intention of doing it all over again. I am so done with 3 kids. I love kids..but not at the same time. Daniel is now 2 yrs and 1 month and I see all of them of nearly the same age. Only that Daniel is more vocal and active and able to eat everthing! Fries, Beef Rendang, Grilled Chicken, Beans, Boiled Corn, Noodles, Rice, Nuggets…etc etc. He eats everything. Good appetite. I am happy.
I decided not to have the twins birthday celebration today. I am still not 100% well yet. I had very bad asthma since last week. Seen the doctor 2 times and she gave me predisolone and antibiotics. My airways felt so sore and inflamed. Ask any asthmatics, they know what I am talking about.

I decided to have the twins birthday on the 15th Sept 2007, Saturday. I think it is best. Aryan is still sore around his gums and Daniel is still quite breathless after a rough wrestle with blown up guitar. His favourite song….”Broken” by Seether. Hello?!!……I love him to death!

I have been quite a tough time for the last 5 weeks. I don’t feel I should elaborate more in my blog. Afterall, my family and friends in Singapore are reading this…. I am just hoping that as days goes by, things will get better and hopefully, at the end of this painful journey, I see a ray of sunshine. I will pray hard!

Ik ben blij dat mijn lerares heb dit onderwerp heeft gekozen. Omdat vorige week, om 15 September is de verjaardag van my tweeling. Zij werden een jaar oud. Spannend.

Ze zijn geboren op 9 september 2006. Maar 2 week geleden, the tweeling en ik voelen niet zo goed. Mijn asthma was heftig en Nadya en Aryan hadden griep. Niet zo zwaar, maar Nadya overgegeven bijna elke dag. Daarom is het uitgesteld tot volgende week.

De voorbereiding van de feest begin om 1600 vrijdag middag. Daniel, mijn oudste zoon hielp met ophangen van de slingers en ballonnen. Hij vond het zo spannend en hastikke leuk. Dan, toen wij klaar waren met de ophanging, de kinderen moesten eten en douchen. Om 8 uur avond, alle 3 kinderen moesten naar hun eigen bed. Beetje huilen af en toe, beetje knuffelen, beetje kusjes, dan alle drie slapen. He! he!

Toen alle drie kinderen sliepen, ik was bezig met de voorbereiding voor de avond eten morgen. Ik maakte gado gado voor de kinderen en volwassenen. De rijst blokjes moesten worden gekookt in de water voor 90 minuten en dan in de koelkast voor niet minder dan 3 uur. De speziebonen moesten gesneden in kleine stukjes. De biefstuk moest ook snijden in kleine stukjes en kookt tot zacht. Ik sliep dat nacht om 1 uur in de morgen denk ik. Zo onzettend moe. Nou ja….Ik hou van koken. En ik hou van koken voor andere mensen.

Op Zaterdag, werd ik wakker om 7 uur en gaf onbijt naar de kinderen. Kinderen speelden in de tuin met hun vader en ik beetje schoonmaken de huis. Stofzuigen en dat sort dingen. Om 9 uur, ik en de kinderen gingen boodscappendoen. Ik gaf Nadya naar mij schoonouders te zorgen voor haar omdat ik wil bezig met de voorbereiding van de feest. Dus… Ik rende naar Hema en haalde de verjaardag taart en rende naar Jumbo en haalde paar flesjes cola en pakjes applesap voor de lieve kinderen.

Ik kwam terug naar mijn huis om half een denk ik. De kinderen moesten ga naar bed voor hun middag slapen. Ongeveer 2 uur zij wil slaap. Ik en mijn man dan brachten de stoel uit van de tuinhuisjes en parasol en alle hapjes en eten uit naar de tuin tafel. Om 3 uur middag, de kinderen en hun ouders kwamen. Ongeveer 25 mensen kwamen voor de tweeling verjaardag. Mijn buren kwamen ook met hun kinderen. Anouk en Lisanne heten zij.

Om 6 uur avond, alle mensen gingen naar hun eigen huis. Ik en Jan (mijn man) en de kinderen ware n zo onzetten moe! En de kinderen waren vies ook. Spelen met de vissen in de vijfer, spelen met de zandbak, klimmen en spelen met de glijbaan en schoomel. Ik denk Nadya en Aryan had en goede tijd. Ik en Jan waren blij. J

Om 8 uur in de avond, de kinderen gingen naar bed en slaapt en ik hoorde niks na 8 uur. Leuk! Hastikke leuk!

Op Zondag, de hele familie gingen naar Ikea. Meer speelgoed te kopen voor de kinderen. En lekker stoom zalm met patatjes voor Jan. Hij vindt zalm zo lekker. Ik lust niet van vis. Bah! Ik vergeet wat ik had. Mischeen soms patat en chocolade mousse of zo.

Dank je wel.

Haseenah Penninkhof

Hoi beautiful people!

I am back! 2 years ago, I am a woman with no kids and now I have 3!! *I still feel I got only 1*. By chance, I gave birth to twins. A boy (Super Handsome) and a girl (Gorgeous!). I couldn’t imagine of more beautiful kids!

Living in Lelystad now. Quite a spacious house. Good for 3 active kids. Lost quite some weight from climbing the stairs like 50x a day. God! I am so tired now! Having 3 babies is hard work! Gimme some credit!

My mum is here and she is staying for 3 months! Yooooooohoooooo!! She helping me a lot with the twins. Nobody can handle Daniel except me or Jan. That boy has a temper like his father (read mother!). Daniel is now 20 months and the twins, Nadya en Aryan 6 months. Aryan is the easiest among all 3. The toughest is Daniel. Ask me again in 6 months and maybe I have different views…hehehe…babies change their behaviours every month!

I am going to bed! Gonna make lekker warm chocolate milk for Jan and me! BTW, today, we known each other almost 6 years. Next month on the 10th April, will be our 6 yrs anniversary and we been married for 4 yrs! God I love that man to death! I couldn’t ask for a better husband, mentor, friend and the father for my 3 beautiful children. Jan..I Love You! Kus!