Saint Nicholas' eve is celebrated in the Netherlands on December 5. It is the present-giving occasion in the Netherlands (after birthdays). Sinterklaas is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colorful Moorish dresses, called "Zwarte Pieten" (black Petes). Their blackness may have been inspired by black slaves, but today the more politically correct explanation that their faces are "black from soot" (as they have to climb through chimneys to deliver their gifts) is used. Sinterklaas has a long white beard, holds a long gold colored staff with a fancy curled top in his hand, and carries a big book with all the children's names in it, and whether they have been good or bad. He rides the roofs on a white horse. Each year in November Sinterklaas arrives by steamboat ''from Spain".

It is that time of the year again, Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten are back in the Netherlands. Luna and Lior climb into their bycicle seat (far left) and watch Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten arrive by boat (middle left).

Luna watches the arrival of Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten while being carried by Opa Tano (middle right), while Lior wonders what the fuss is all about in the arms of Oma Naatje (far right).

One of the nice things about the arrival of Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten in Spijk is that there are relatively few children, making it easy for Luna and Lior to get very close to the Goedheiligman (left).

Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten next go over to the city center at Spijk, where the children get treated to lots of goodies (middle right). These distract Lior for long enough to for him to get pictured wearing a Zwarte Pieten hat (far right).

The Zwarte Pieten have a problem, which is that they ate too many goodies. Luna and Lior observe them as they deal with this problem (far left). When mama is called on stage to sing a Sinterklaas song, she is relieved that Luna decides to join her in the singing. Our big sister and little brother help make a birthday cake for Sinterklaas, who celebrates his birthday on December 5 (middle left).

Though a little apprehensive, Luna agrees to have her picture taken while sitting on Sinterklaas' lap (middle right). After a fun-filled afternoon, Lior falls asleep in his bicycle seat on the way back to Opa Tano and Oma Naatje's home (far right).

Having a bath is one of Luna's favorite activities. While she barely fits into Opa Ben and Oma Alie's bath (row below), fortunately the one that she has at home is big enough to herself and her little brother.

Luna is very excited about the presence of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet in the Netherlands, for she gets to wear her Zwarte Piet hat, play with Opa Ben, and carry candy in her bag (row below). Partly thanks to the encouragement of Opa Ben, Luna excells at make-believe games.

This is vintage Luna (left and right). She is a beautiful, smart, and thoughtful little lady. It takes her a little while to feel comfortable in new situations, but once she has warmed up, she is a very sweet young girl.

Meals at the Sent home are always lots of fun. Luna plays peek-a-boo with her hands (row above, left) and Lior follows her example (row above, right). When showing his face, he says: "Een, twee, ta-ta" (row above, middle), much to the joy of his sister (left and right).

While Luna used to be able to boss her little brother around, she now gets a very big return-hug whenever she gives him a hug (row below).

Nightly Adventures

It has been a rough month for the Sent family, with fall bugs making their way into the members' bodies. One night topped it all. Just as mom was about to take a shower, Luna called her. The poor girl had thrown up all over herself. Esther-Mirjam dressed her into clean pyjamas, changed the sheets, and put her into mom's bed. Just after mom got out of the shower, Luna called her again. The poor girl had thrown up again. Esther-Mirjam dressed her into clean pyjamas, changed the sheets, and put her back into mom's bed. Just as mom was about to go to bed herself, Lior called her. The poor boy had thrown up all over himself. Esther-Mirjam dressed him into clean pyjamas, changed the sheets, and put him into mom's bed. It took the Sent clan a long time to fall asleep. About an hour later, Luna called mom. The poor girl had yet again thrown up all over herself. And as Luna was throwing up, Lior also started throwing up all over himself. Mom dressed them into clean pyjamas, changed the sheets, and tried to fall asleep again with Lior next to her and Luna on the other side of the bed. A few hours later, mom woke up to do the fourth load of laundry, and noticed that Luna was now sleeping next to her and Lior on the other side of the bed. She was just grateful that they were both sound asleep. Indeed, sleep has been a scarce commodity over the past month. One night Luna wakes herself up coughing and feverish and the next night it is Lior's turn. Fortunately, it seems that the Sent family has finally built up the required resistance. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

When Opa Tano has free tickets for the Beekse Bergen zoo in November, he convinces Luna, mama, and Victoria to come along during the last weekend of the month. However, when he is unable to find the tickets, the group decides to visit Burgers' Zoo instead. Luna gets to admire the animals from the comfort of Victoria (row above, left and middle) and Opa Tano's shoulders (row above, right). The playground is almost more fun than the animals (top left) and the sandwiches are pretty good, too (top right). With the weather being pretty cold, there is an additional reason to spend lots of time inside admiring the fish (bottom left). And getting close to a tiger is worth getting into the cold for (bottom right).

Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten visit mom's work (row above, middle). Luna is a little feverish, so watches most of the show sitting on mom's lap (row above, left and right). Once she gets over her shyness, Luna dances with Oma Alie (left) and the other children (right).

Luna also goes to the "pepernotencircus" (row below). Intrigued by Sinterklaas, the Zwarte Pieten, and the circus acts, she watches the show from the comfort of Oma Alie's lap.

When Opa Ben pretends to be a doctor (row above, left), Luna quickly takes charge (row above, middle) to check whether he is healthy (row above, right). Indeed, Luna and Opa Ben always have lots of fun playing together (left and right).

Traditionally, in the weeks between the arrival of Sinterklaas and the 5th of December, before going to bed, children leave a carrot in a shoe as well as some water for Sinterklaas's horse (far left), sing a Sinterklaas song (middle left), and will find a present in the shoe the next day. Luna and Lior love this Dutch tradition!

While Luna and Lior are asleep, Zwarte Piet sneaks into the house and leaves presents their shoes (middle right). The next morning, they are very excited about the Sinterklaas and Christmas DVDs that they got (far right).

Luna also joins the Sinterklaas celebration at papa's house in Apeldoorn, along with some of the Brink kids (row below, left). Luna has a hard time waiting to unwrap her present while the poem is being read to her by Aafke (row below, middle). When she finally gets to unwrap her present, she finds a beautiful ballet book with a CD and jigsaw puzzles (row below, right).

During the dark days of December, it is more fun to stay inside than to go out. And what better fun is there inside than painting the windows with Oma Alie (row below)? The windows wish the visitors happy holidays.

Luna and Lior certainly do not want to cooperate when it comes to having their pictures taken wearing christmas hats (row below). Either they both cover their heads with the hats. Or only one is looking at the camera. Or one is looking sad. Or one is looking silly. Or one is eating. Or one has closed eyes. The possibilities are endless, but do not seem to include Luna and Lior both looking happily into the camera! Fortunately, Christmas is a few weeks off, so there is plenty of time to keep trying....

Luna and Opa Ben do better at having their picture taken wearing christmas hats (left). Proud of their achievement, they take a cuddling break on the couch afterwards (right).

Hip, Hip, Hurray!
Four years old!

Luna reaches another milestone in her young life as she turns four years old, which means that she starts going to kindergarten. A delicious birthday cake (row below, left) and a big smile (row below, middle) await the people who come and celebrate with our birthday girl (row below, right).

It is 3 PM, so let the party begin (middle right)! Opa Tano, Oma Naatje, Ome Arno, Linda, Victoria, Opa Ben, Oma Alie, Tante Daan, Irene, Iris, and Michelle all join the celebration (far right). Papa, Lenneke, Aafke, and Tante Daphne will come over soon.

Wearing one of her birthday presents, a princess dress, our little princess does a great job blowing out the candles (left).

Iris and her mama, Irene, give Luna a wonderful book about going to kindergarten, play games with our birthday girl (middle right), and dress up in princess clothes (far right). That is, only Iris joins in the latter activity.

Luna gets to open lots of wonderful presents for her birthday (far left), with the opas and omas seeming to compete for whose present takes up the most space in the Sent residence. Opa Tano and Oma Naatje give Luna a mini-supermarket and Opa Ben and Oma Alie buy her a blackboard. After all this fun, it is time to relax on the couch with Tante Daan (middle left).