Category Archives: life

Almost trashed a treasure

While rummaging through papers (yes, they pile up) I almost threw out a piece of paper that looked like just another scribblesheet from the kids (no, not everything is precious childhood art). Then I opened it and at first thought it was just a jumble of letters. I looked a little longer and realized that my little songbird had been writing down lyrics.

Can you figure it out which songs they are? They are not complete, and not 100% correct, and we won’t talk about the complete absence of spaces, lol. I also have to mention that Kari goes to a Norwegian school, and Norwegian is very phonetically spelled. At her age they haven’t started learning to write English yet, so she writes her English as she hears it in her head.

Song 1:

de=san=vil=kameottomarobetsjorbadmdlrdettomaroderbisanJastfinkim-abeottomaroteiksdekabvoebstomarovindedeiisgreienlonlijostpickinapa-
djinenpreiensei

Song 2:

somdeiaivisapanastarenveikapverdeklodsarfarbihainmivertrablsmeltlaik-lemintopsdetsverjulfaindmisomveroverdereimboblobrdsfraiendedrims-
detjodertodrimrilikamtro

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Little Miss Kari

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A beautiful surprise

As Christmas approached this year I was more heart wrenched than ever. I haven’t missed my father that intensely since he passed ( Missing You) last year. My brothers were celebrating Christmas with their in-laws and for the first time in many years we would have a rather quiet Christmas. It was going to be just the 4 of us, and my mom.

Snow was coming down in droves, and it was beautiful outside. The turkey was in the oven, the tree was decorated, the table set, the presents under the tree, and everything was on its way to being a lovely Christmas Eve. However, that knot in my heart just wouldn’t let go.

My husband went out to buy a few last things, and when he came home I heard from the gasps of the girls that there was something extra coming inside the door. He had bought a beautiful Christmas table decoration at the florist. I was amazed. My husband isn’t one for romance and flowers so I thought that was so sweet.

And then – to my surprise – a bouquet shows up. A bouquet of the most gorgeous stem flowers! The flower was so delicate, yet powerful. The stem was thick and strong. The color was beautiful, and they stood so tall and proud! I didn’t even know what they were, and I’m rarely mesmerized by flowers, but these stopped me in my tracks. I just stared at my hubbylove, wondering what had gotten into him. He said he knew how much I was missing my dad, and he wanted to give me something special. I hadn’t really been talking about how much I was missing my dad, but after 10 years of marriage I guess he just knows when something’s up with the wifey 😉

My mom – the flower guru – didn’t even know what they were, I put out an inquiry on Facebook. That didn’t make me much wiser, but I have now come to that I believe that they are a Double Flowered Amaryllis:

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Thank you Hubbylove! They really brightened my Christmas 😀

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I’m back!! – or least we’ll hope so, ha!

Wow… it’s been a long time since I posted anything on my blog… I’m thinking of all the things I could have written about – like the costume that have been sown, the cakes that have been baked, the bird that flew into our bedroom, all the silly things my children say, the ups and the downs, the annoyances of the flu…

Speaking of….. THE FLU! What an insane flu season it is this year! There is both the regular seasonal flu, the swine flu, and a nasty stomach flu going around. Kari was down for the count for 10 – yes TEN! – days. We had a healthy house for almost a week, and then we were at it again. Now Julia is down for the count.

So anyway, I’m thinking I’ll try getting back into the swing of blogging things 🙂

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Julia – Student of the Week

I can hardly believe that I have neglected my blog since February 27… now I have a proud little Mommy post that screams to be made:

Julia was Student of the Week for week 18. It’s really a week of appreciation, and all her friends write a note to the teacher saying something nice about their fellow student. The teacher makes a poster with all the quotes and hangs it on the classroom wall for all to see. At the end of the week Julia got to take hers home:

carview.php?tsp=Translation for you non-Norwegian speakers out there:

  • You are nice
  • You have a good imagination
  • You are good at math
  • You are  good friend. I like that you were born.
  • I’m in love with you*
  • You are good at martial arts
  • I like that you are my friend
  • Your hair looks nice
  • You are funny
  • You are kind and give me a grape
  • I like you
  • You are good at jumping rope
  • You are really nice
  • You are my very best friend
  • I like the color of your hair

*Julia claims she knows who wrote this particular quote. I do believe the feeling is mutual 😉 Ah, young love, lol.

I think this is a really nice initiative from the teacher 🙂

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What is this? A democracy???

Husband doesn’t have his own blog and wrote a status update that was WAAAY too long for Facebook today. So, wonderful wife that I am I hereby offer my husband an honorary blog post. It’s only fair – he’s the other half of “I’m all right here” 🙂 Here goes Mr. Miller’s very first blog post:

It’s great C got some time off from the girls today…. I took them shopping with me. Four different stores. Mistake… maybe..

First we had a “recycling day” by returning all those soda bottles back to the store, and the kids get the loot for helping out. It turns out they get to split nearly $50 (Yes… tons of bottles. Sick how much soda we buy in a few months). After 10 minutes of convincing the kids that we needed to go, and that they are not allowed to blow 50 bucks on candy –  with Norwegians staring at us as Norwegians do when there is a scene – we went to stop 2, the super market. Right before I open the car door to get to stop 2, Kari, (6 years old), says,

“Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“What are we having for dinner tonight?”

“Well, I’m probably going to make some chicken quesadillas”

“Thats not going to work Daddy!”

“Well why not?

Julia, (7 years old), says:  “We need to vote on what we should have for dinner daddy”.

Me: “OK? Well… your mother and I want quesadillas”.

Julia: “Well, you loose the vote daddy!”

Me: “How is that? Its 2 against 2 and mom and dad are in charge!”

Julia: “Well you see daddy, our friend is coming over tonight and if she was here right now her vote would have been on our side and it would have been a total loss on your end because that’s 3 against 2. So you see, we win and now it’s pizza tonight!!!”

Me: “What!!?? You can’t do that! What is this? A democracy???”

Kari says: “Yes Daddy it is!” (Dont think she is sure what democracy means?).

I bought pizza for tonight. I could not find an argument against their cunning and intelligent plan to get theír way without me being a dictator and overthrowing their “democracy”.

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Yes, we have him duly wrapped around our little fingers!

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Walk with me

The steady rhythm of snow crunching under her winter boots was all she could hear as she walked home.  A midnight blue sky sparkled with starlight above her, and the moon hung quietly in a misty haze. Snow covered fields glittered as far as the eye could see. It was a beautiful night.

Breathing in that ice-cold air she stopped to take it all in. The world spins so fast. It’s loud, it’s hectic, and paced forward by a relentless timekeeper. Cars whooshing, voices talking, phones ringing, clocks dinging, dryers humming, cats scratching, tv talking, radio playing, kids laughing, kids fighting….they had all gone silent. Just for a moment there was nothing, and it was lovely.

“Hey Pappa”, she thought. “I wish you were walking here with me tonight, you would have loved it”. As the timekeeper passed midnight on February 24, 2010 she stood there in that beautiful silence and remembered. She could hardly believe it had already been a year. “I miss you Pappa”, she said out loud into the dark wintry night. She looked up into the heavens and wondered if he could see her standing there. She smiled thinking he could.

(Missing you)

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Something’s gotta give

A slightly frustrated Julia came to me on Friday and announced that she needs new clothes. New pants, underwear, socks, shirts, and sweaters in particular. Uhm, really? Considering that she has more than she needs in that department I was slightly puzzled. I asked why she thought she needed new clothes. “Because there’s nothing in my closet mommy! I don’t have any clothes left!” Oh… right. Hehe. Of course. If the clothes aren’t in the closet they must be gone right? Nah. It’s more a case of mamma-get-your-laundry-act-together!

So why were our closets in such a sorry state? And why were both hampers filled to overflowing, and an extra bag had to be brought in to hold the excess? Well, here’s my excuse explanation:

January is coming to an end. It’s the last day. I survived it – again 😉 A few months a year are particularly busy. The yearly company Kick Off is an event that takes a tremendous amount of my time and energy in January. It’s undoubtedly the most fun I have at work, and I love every minute of it’s insanity. However, being that busy means that something’s gotta give. I can’t do it all. Nope, it’s true. I can’t. At least not if I want to maintain some semblance of relationship with my children and husband in January.

One of the things that definitely has to give in January is laundry. This final weekend of January has been get-back-on-track-weekend, at least where laundry is concerned. Here’s a glimpse of my weekend fun:

carview.php?tsp=Load after load after load gets washed, dried, and folded. The piles of folded clothes gets higher and higher as each load finishes. When it’s all done it will find it’s way to the closets. No, I don’t put away each load as it finishes. I will not make 5 trips to Julia’s closet with pants, I will make one. That’s the kind of lazy I am – or efficient – or energy saving – or whatever you want to call it.

I believe both husband (though he kindly doesn’t complain) and children are rather happy that it’s all getting done. Personally I can’t wait until it’s all done. I’ll then proceed to enjoy it for about 5 minutes – that’s about how long it will take before at least one basket  is half full again – ha!

The weekend hasn’t been all laundry though! It’s been filled with a visit to my mom’s house where we gorged on amazing home-made cinnamon buns. We also found time for bowling, and a movie. The soundtrack of the weekend has been John Meyer kinda smooth.

Another January will be packed away in a few hours. Here comes February. And a one year anniversary on the 24th… but that will have to be a whole ‘nother post.

Here’s to all my fellow working moms out there – laundry can wait once in a while! 🙂 As long as everyone has something clean to wear, even though it might not be their favorite shirt, there’s no crisis or shame in taking a break. It’ll still be there when you get around to it. You can take my word for it – ha! 🙂

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The ‘Julekalender’ 2009

When I was a kid I dreamed of having a “gift calendar” for advent. In Norway the countdown to Christmas is very important. Every child has an advent calendar with 24 days of chocolate or gifts. I used to have the chocolate filled ones. Sometimes I’d have one chocolate filled one, and one filled with little plastic trinkets that I found annoying and pointless even then. My best friend however had this amazing calendar. Her mom had made it. It was a good 1.5m x 1.5m large and had a big train on it. Each train cart had a number and a gift inside. Oh how I dreamed of having a calendar just like hers!

Fast forward to having my own kids, and I want them to have the gift calendar that I always dreamed of. Last year I wasn’t well so I didn’t manage to get one done, so they got these ready made High School Musical ones instead. This year I found that my string with numbered clips was broken (clips falling apart etc) and it was time for a new one. Of course nothing is fun unless done at the last minute (?? she pretends), so on November 30th I’m at the store looking for a replacement. I couldn’t find anything I liked, and decided to make my own. So off I went and purchased:

  • One table runner with a Christmas pattern
  • 50 golden rings
  • 1 roll of 2cm wide red ribbon
  • 1 roll of 5cm wide red ribbon
  • Red spool of thread

As James wrapped 48 small gifts I sowed 24 rings on one side of the runner, and then 24 on the other side. (James tried to help sew on rings, but apparently this is not a skill he has even remotely perfected so the rest were left to me. He does get credit for 2 rings 😉 ) I added a stick to the back of the top and bottom for sturdiness, sewed on a 40cm piece of 2cm wide red ribbon to hang it from. After it was hung I added a big bow of red ribbon on top, just to give it  that little extra touch. Check out the workshop:

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Daddy manning the wrapping end

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Mommy manning the sowing end

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The finished product

We started at 21:00 and finished at 00:54…..boy were we tired. But it’s all worth it when you’re standing in front of it the next morning with a sleepy eyed kid beside you, and you see those eyes widen, the smile brighten and arms throw themselves around your neck. The first gift was a round chocolate with a picture of Santa on it. Small and sweet little gift to start off the advent season.

Funny footnote: James woke up this next morning and the first thing he said was “I’ve been dreaming of gift wrapping all night!” lol

Happy Advent Everyone! It’s such an exciting time of year!

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It’s in their blood

My children’s intense love of donning a costume and putting on a show with the hopes of amusing a captive audience is growing stronger every year. It’s in their blood. My nieces and nephews are the same. We can’t get through a family party without them putting on a show. The fun thing is that they’re actually hilarious. We don’t laugh or clap just to amuse them. These children evoke genuine rolling belly laughter in their adult family audience. Here’s a little gallery of insanity:

The girls

The girls

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Kari & Julia

Michael Jackson & Dolly Parton

Michael Jackson & Dolly Parton

At the "Supershow" in Vegårshei Summer 09

"Supershow" Summer09

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Julia - the born performer

And hey – for my colleagues out there: Pretty good Kick Off specimen huh? 😉 😀

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What one accumulates….

When we moved to our current abode we thought we’d live here 6 months to a year. As life would have it we’re now approaching the  4 1/2 yr mark. We’ve loved our little “stint in the country”, but have found that we truly are city people at heart. We are looking for a home surrounded by more people than cows 😉 We won’t move too far, either to Sola Sentrum or somewhere in Stavanger.

House hunting is fun, stressful, emotional, disappointing and exciting! We haven’t found it yet. In the meantime I’m slowly preparing to move. I’m going through closets and cupboards, shelves and drawers, attic, garage and basement. Garbage bags are being filled, bags of clothes sent off to salvation army, and we’ve begun refinishing some furniture.

I’m a bit baffled as I dig through everything. What one accumulates! That’s what you get for being a bit of a hoarder :/ I have two things working against me. I’m a sentimental fool –  the slightest tug at my heart strings makes it very hard for me to toss something that could even slightly classify as a current or future heirloom. In addition there is the fear of: “…but I might need that one day”. On more than one occasion I’ve had a small raid and decided to throw stuff out. Within weeks I will find that I’m looking for something and suddenly realize “No!!!” – I had thrown it out.

In my ‘prepare to move’ process I’m having to buckle down and decide what truly is worth saving. It’s not easy. I’m getting better at it though 🙂 I’m slowly making my towards “everything having a place to call home”.

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