Sinterklaas

Every year on the 5th of December the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas. This includes making 'suprises' for other people with a poem attached. This is something that Isaac and I cooked up for a girl in his class (it's a lot like secret santa where you are assigned someone to give to) who really likes dogs.

There is a lot of paper mache action going on here. And it has taken us about 3 days off and on to get it done but I think it has turned out pretty well.

If you pull on the tail, then it opens up and the real present is on the inside. Usually, the surprise is sealed on the outside and you have to break it to get to the good stuff, but we decided to do it this way for the sake of the poem that goes with it. By the way, we wrote the poem without any outside help with the exception of a little help from Abby and some proof reading from Hannah.

Here is the poem:

Sinterklaas is gekommen
op een koude nacht,
en hij geeft je een hond
zo dat je lacht.

Hij heeft 4 witte pootjes
en een witte neus
met 2 flodderige oren
en een bruine vlek rond zijn oog.

Dit puppy is lief
maar heeft een vervelende gewoonte,
hij wil alles op eten
dat hij heeft gevonden.

Het spijt me heel erg
dat je cadeautje is verloren,
want ik heb het op een stoel
achternagelaten.

Wij moeten het redden,
van zijn start op te trekken.

Wij vieren met soepen
toen hij het cadeautje uitpoepen.

Rough translation:
Sinterklaas has come on a cold night and given you a dog so that you smile.
He has 4 white paws and one white nose with 2 floppy ears and a brown spot round his eye.
This puppy is sweet but has one annoying habit, he wants to eat everything that he has found.
I am really sorry that your gift is lost, but I left it behind on a chair.
We must save the gift by pulling on his tail.
We will celebrate with soup when he poops out the gift.

It sounds way better in Dutch but we all thought it was pretty funny anyway.

We will be enjoying the evening with gifts and treats. Maybe someday we will learn all the songs that you are supposed to sing too, but for now we will stick with this. Hope everyone has a great Sinterklaas feestje!