Yesterday we celebrated Sinterklaas; the first time for my nephew Ruben \o/ I'd like to share some photos of the festivities, starting with my preparations...


On Friday I wrapped all the presents before writing poems to accompany the gifts.

Per the new rules this year I only had to make one surprise package (previously I would make one for everyone;). The name I drew was Gayleen, and because of the arrival of baby Ruben I finally had an excuse to make one of the eldest traditional Sint pranks...

I bought (biologically produced) diapers and after taking two out I pushed the present in between the rest of the diapers. But that was just the beginning: this bulky package was to be hidden somewhere in my mom's house before celebrations and I would put a clue in the surprise package... Now this is where it gets a little bit dirty (you have been warned). *rubs hands with an evil grin*


I took one diaper, cut it open and hid an envelope with a clue in there.


I then put the sealed up diaper in a waterproof transparent box and got some slices ontbijtkoek (literally translated breakfast cake: a Dutch spiced cake made of rye) filled with raisins and hazelnuts...


...I tore these up in pieces and mixed those with water to create a chunky, yet liquid paste...


... I dribbled this in the diaper et voilà: one steaming surprise package. \o/

Heheheheheheh. On to the party!


Here's some tastier looking food: marzipan pig with acorns and a bit of Sinterklaas' hat in chocolate:) Besides marzipan and speculaas it is tradition for everyone to get a chocolate letter; the capital of their name:)


Below my mom's window was a group of Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) playing music. They had woken my mom and brotherdearest Hans up early this morning:) (He had come to sleepover on Friday and still had to write all his poems before the rest of us arrived...)

Around 14.30 uur we were all settled and could start unwrapping presents. (FINALLY!)


First one was for Ruben:)


Ruben is still a little confused, but Grandma gets the joke: a bodysuit with "Hulppietje" on it: little helper Pete:)


A glimpse of all the presents on the table (there are also some huge packages that are too big to put on there, woohoo)


My other brother Jaap (dad now!) has another present for Ruben, yay!


Ruben plays with his Nijntje drum while Grandma reads a poem.


Gayleen reading her poem about being a new mom and her assignment from Sinterklaas to show her skills. (One poopy diaper coming up;)


Hahahahahaha. :-D Since Gayleen hasn't heard of this surprise before, she doesn't know what the poo is made of and is perfectly grossed out. WIN:) But she managed to find the clue without getting too much on her hands:)


Here she found the real present: the book "Go The Fuck To Sleep". (a bedtime book for parents, I also got the audio CD read by Samuel L. Jackson for my brother:)


Another present for Ruben: he discovered the mirror *grins*


Brotherdearest Hans reading a poem.


All of us anxiously waiting to see what's in the package (Ruben is curious too:)


Dear Ruben
You’re definitely gonna look like a boss
when you wear this pressie on the beach in Oz.
Sint Nicolaas

(They are going Down Under to visit Gayleen's family for the Holidays)


My surprise package (on top of my other gifts:) was a silver treasure trunk and it hid goodies from Lush and "The Kissing Game" by Aidan Chambers \o/


Final HUGE package of the day was for Hans and it came with a very long poem (about his trip to Asia:)


The surprise was a dude on a surfboard that was wearing the presents: a shirt and shorts (the bodyboard was part of the gift too:)


My loot! Woohoo!

Besides being very happy with all my presents, it was first and foremost so much fun to spend time together with our tiny family. Especially since Jaap, Gayleen and Ruben will leave for Australia for over a month. We all got our dose of cuddles from Ruben to get us through the holidays;)