We had a lot of guests around our house at Easter time this year! Some members of a Serbian family that used to be in our ward stayed with us for a few days. And Hans, good friend to the boys, was with us for a few days while his dad and sister toured Paris. The kids had a whole week and a half off of school, and we enjoyed it! Went swimming and painted eggs...
Unfortunately (for us at home, anyway), Carl was in Utah for a week over Easter and we missed him! This is the early Easter dinner that we had together before he left.
We tried blowing out egg shells and using real paints on them as ornaments for our "Easter tree."
Then we did a special art project: cut shapes from the dried paint on the paper plates we'd been using and made them in to pictures! We used Eric Carle's picture books as our inspiration. :)
And this is Carl with my family on Easter (in Utah). Was I jealous? Yes.
The kids have had the week off for Vinterferie (winter break).
What fun you can have with a little imagination! :)
We were invited by friends, Wenche and Ole, to spend a weekend at their cabin in the mountains! They have two cabins, actually. (Both are beautiful and the details creative--Wenche is an interior decorator--so I took lots of pictures.) We stayed in one, our hosts and some other guests stayed in the other, and we were all spoiled with great food and a wonderful time!
Here are some pictures of the cabin we slept in. It's new--they've been working hard to finish the building and interior. As I said, we were spoiled! We'd envisioned a really rustic mountain cabin, but this was much bigger and nicer than our own home. They've placed bird houses outside, so the surrounding forest is full of birdsong. :)
Pictures of the other cabin where we ate and played chess and hung out...
We all went sledding, Carl skied with Ole, and James threw snowballs because he wasn't allowed on a sled (poor kid, broken collar bone).
Many thanks, Wenche and Ole!!
We had a ridiculously bad day couple weeks back! It started when Sam stopped (too long) to fix his boot, and missed the taxi bus that takes him and his brothers to school. He came home crying and I had to drop him off at the school, which made me late for work! Had to take Annie with me because there wasn't time to drop her off at barnehage. She threw a royal fit on the way out of work. As we were driving home, I got a call that James had been injured in a sledding accident at school. He was knocked over by a sled and broke his collar bone! So, I took him to the closest urgent care where they told me I had to take him to his regular doctor, who then gave him a referal to the hospital in Drammen. We picked up Carl from work so that he could go to the hospital with James while I stayed with the younger kids. Well, we got another call en route that Joseph had somehow missed his regular bus home (honestly?! This was a first for both him and Sam). We headed for the school and Annie threw up in the car on the way! Carsick, I guess. Finally got home. In the bustle to unload the car, I got my finger jammed in the car door. I cleaned the mess off of Annie and the car seat while Carl went on to the hospital with James...they waited a long time for the x-rays and advice...and James came home with this padded "sling" stabilizing his arm so the collarbone can heal. What a day!!
James is fine now. He keeps his arm in the sling and no longer feels much pain--just a bit annoyed that he can't do all he wants to do. :) He's been a trooper.
I'm posting these photos to help family and friends "picture" our setting in Norway :)
This is Carl's work place, as seen from the freeway. (He actually spends most of his time in another building close by.)
Our church building (the font is off of the main corridor, behind sliding glass).
Our neighborhood grocery store. Good ole' Kiwi.
This is the school that our boys attend this year. It's about ten minutes from home--the taxi bus picks them up each morning. Joseph and Sam are in the "mottaksklasse," a class for foreign kids to learn Norwegian. James is in a regular 6th grade class. It's a nice school! Newly expanded with smart boards in almost every classroom, kitchens for cooking class, craft rooms, etc...they like it! There's a field at the school that has been frozen over so the kids can skate.
I volunteer at the school every Monday. I spend a couple hours working with kids (James included) who are above-level in English and need lessons different than their classmates.
This is our neighborhood barnehage. It's the standard preschool/daycare that almost every Norwegian child attends. Last year, Sam went to barnehage 4 days a week. This year, he's in school, and Annie goes to barnehage 4 days a week. (We signed them up in hopes that they would learn Norwegian language and culture.) I've been happy with the nice ladies that work at our barnehage, and the structure of the system. The kids play well together in a safe atmosphere. They eat and sing and do crafts. Spend a lot of time playing outside and taking walks in the forest. Annie loves it!
On days when Carl has the car, I walk up the hill to get Annie, and we sled all the way down! :)
We shared the LOVE with a special candle-lit dinner, cards, and (what has become our tradition) fudge!
The weekend following, Carl and I got to attend a party at the Oldham's. Adults only. :) We played a couples game and talked and had a good time with friends!
