Spring!

Last weekend it was really warm - as warm as gets around here in the middle of summer. Today it's cooled down a little bit (62 right now at 3:30), but it's still sunny and nice. And all of the spring flowers are blooming.

Like our cherry tree -



And the tulips along the fence -




Today I got started on studying for my oral exam in Social Studies. It's still over 2 weeks away, but there's a lot of stuff we need to know. I want to use a few hours every day, so that I'm not cramming at the last minute. We can take 30 pages of notes with us, so the key is taking good, organized notes!

Tonight we're having homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner. We haven't had it for months, and Anders made a special request. We're eating really early tonight. Anders has a football game - he has to be there at 4:30. And then Espen has a game at 5:30. I think I'm going to make Norwegian waffles for dessert when we get back. I have a great new recipe for them, and I make them at least once a week for dessert!

This American Life

I have to make a plug for This American Life, a fantastic radio program that I download and listen to as a podcast every week. I just listened to the show from last week, and they explained in an easy-to-understand way all about the housing crisis. I knew a little bit about the subprime mortgage crisis, but only in a very general way, and this really opened my eyes.

Some pics from the last week

Things have calmed down a lot. I have turned in both of my term papers. Still have two oral exams, but that's "just" a matter of studying - much better than writing!

I want to post some of the pictures that I've taken in the last week - here they are:

Last week I took the kids to Burger King. It was a big treat since we don't go there often.



I took Anders and Johan and our neighbor, Sebastian, on a bike ride. The river below our house is really full. Tons of snow in the mountains this year which is all melting now. Up by Lillehammer they're having lots of flooding. Luckily none around here, but the river was really full, and it was cool to look at.





Last Sunday we went on a hike - the weather was nice, but when we got up higher, we ended up walking through lots of rotten snow. Our shoes got all wet, but it was fun. Our goal was a cabin maintained by the Norwegian Trekking Association. No one was there when we were, but it is possible to rent it out to stay in overnight.






The next pictures are from Johan's performance in A Midsummer Night's Dream - the neverending play. He was very cute, and he did a good job, but it lasted WAY too long! And no one knew their lines...






Finally, a few pictures of Johan's first official football game. This year is the first year they're registered to play in a series against other teams. Thursday was their first game. The weather was incredible - about 75 degrees at 7:00 pm - and they won - 6-3!!

This is his team:



And this is Johan - he was goalkeeper in the second half of the game, and he did a fantastic job!

Woe is me

Last weekend was pretty nice. I took several pictures, thinking I would post them here on my blog and write somewhat intelligible commentary to them. Then Monday morning came, and reality hit me like a brick wall. Two huge papers (which each count for half of my grade for the semester) due within one week, and a schedule in the evenings which makes me want to cry. Yesterday, to take an example, Johan was in a play with his after school program. It was from 3 until after 5 (they tried to do A Midsummer Night's Dream with 7- and 8-year-olds, and it took FOREVER). Then we ran - literally - home to eat a quick sandwich, before we headed back up to the school again. The 7th graders had a performance which started at 6. And in the meantime, Anders got himself up to his football practice.

Tonight's schedule is similar...

And, then this morning I realized that Mother's Day is on Sunday. I can't believe it!!! How is it possible that I manage to forget Mother's Day EVERY SINGLE YEAR! There's no way that I can manage to even get a card off in time.

Right now I'm feeling pretty low...A new 4-day weekend is coming up, the weather is gorgeous, and I'll be inside working on my paper.

Feeling sorry for myself is really lame!

Dinner AND a movie

We decided to go all out last night. First dinner, then a movie. And both were very good. We went to Mucho Mas, a Mexican restaurant (Molly, we were there last summer - this is in a different location, though). It tasted really good, and it's pretty cheap for Oslo (everything is relative...).

Then we went to see in the In the Valley of Elah. I had actually never heard of the movie, but we decided to go for it anyway. It was playing at a theater in Oslo which only shows good movies, so if you pick a movie there, then you're pretty safe. Plus, it's pretty easy to find parking there, they have really good, comfortable seats, and they serve wine that you can take in the theater with you! The movie was great - glad we chose it.

Today the kids don't have school, but Gaute has work and I have a class. The kids will be on their own for about three hours in the middle of the day, but, happily, that's not a problem. I really like having kids who are big enough to be on their own for a while. They all know how to use a phone and can call us if there is any problem. Gaute's office is only about 10 minutes away, so he can be home quickly if he needs to be.

I'm off to what will most likely be my last English class. Officially, it is the last lecture, but I saw that they have now scheduled another lecture for next Friday, since our teacher was sick a few weeks ago. I think I might drop that lecture, though. She's going to talk about something which is not relevant to my final, and I have become pretty cynical when deciding what I want to spend my time on these days.

Labor Day

Today there was no school. It was really nice last night to have no lunches to make. Making lunches for the kids doesn't take much time. This is Norway, so all they take are two open faces slices of bread with something on them. Anders and Johan almost always go for butter and brown cheese on one set for school and then butter and liver paste for the snack they eat at their afterschool program. This can vary at times, but not much. I had Espen start making his own lunches when he was in 5th grade and already have Anders geared up for doing it next year. Making lunches isn't the biggest deal, but still one more chore that has to be done. And I am so happy when I don't have to do it!



I've been working all day on my English term paper, and I now have 7 and a half pages which are fairly decent. And it's not due until May 9th. I'm pretty happy with that. We're having a workshop in class tomorrow (I have to go to school, even though the kids have the day off) about this paper, so hopefully I can get some more tips to make it even better. But then I need to start working on the portfolio I'm putting together for my Social Studies class. It's due on the 14th and needs a lot of work. Can't wait to be done with school - although the fact that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this English paper makes me feel much less stressed.

It's been rainy, yucky weather today. The kids have been hanging out with their friends, here and there. I wish it was nice weather so that everyone could be outside, but they have been very well-behaved. A few years, there is no way I would be able to work on a paper and have all of the kids and their friends in the house, but that is exactly what I have done today. That's a sign that they're all getting older, I guess.

I think Gaute and I are going to go out for dinner tonight. We rarely do - last time we were going to, we decided it would be too expensive and went to the grocery store instead :-(. It's nice to get out and share a meal without the kids, though. Espen, our official babysitter these days, readily agreed to watch his brothers. Espen is a fantastic babysitter. He really steps up when we need him to. The house is always clean and the little guys in bed when he has been watching them. He has even been known to read for Johan. We pay him about 10 dollars to watch them for a whole evening. Extremely cheap compare to what we would pay a "real" babysitter, but he's thrilled. We always let them buy some chips and Coke while we're gone, too, so Anders and Johan are quite happy, as well.

Not sure where we'll go tonight. Hopefully I won't be as nerdy as I usually am, spending hours online before we ever go out trying to find the most perfect place...

The new Coldplay single

The new single from Coldplay is available as a free download right now, if you're interested. Which I was. And it's good.

Our life

Officially, I've been writing a term paper today. And I have gotten a lot done. My method is setting my timer for 30 minutes, working like crazy, taking a 15 minute break, and then working for another 15 minutes. It works for me, and slowly but surely a paper is emerging.

But, during my breaks, I've been reading entries on a blog I just discovered recently. Another Salt Lake City mom who writes about her family. I check out these blogs every morning when I turn on my computer. And they inspire me to write more about my family. I want this blog to be something we can all look back on to remember how things were in April, 2008.

So,here's how things are today, April 30, 2008 -

It's about 5:30 in the evening. We haven't had dinner yet. We used to eat dinner pretty early when the kids were younger, but now we rarely sit down before 6, and usually it's closer to 6:30. Today we're going to have baked breaded cod fillets, homemade baked french fries and peas. A few years ago I had a subscription to Cooking Light and starting in January this year I decided to start using those magazines which I've saved and try to make all of the recipes in them for each month. I don't manage to make all of the recipes, but it's a fun way to try out new recipes. They're almost always good and relatively healthy. And the idea that I have to make recipes from this month's magazine appeals to the nerd in me.

Espen went to Gaute's parents after school today. For the last two years, he has gone over there every Wednesday and done some work for them. Things like vacuuming, taking all of their old newspapers to be recycled and stuff like that. They pay him about 10 dollars a week and make his favorite dinners for him. I think they both like the arrangement. They get to spend some time with him - unlike Anders and Johan he's not that in to going over there and hanging out anymore. Gaute and I are happy that he makes some money so we don't have to give him any :-).

Anders went to his afterschool football academy today. I went up and watched the last half hour. They have a really fun time. The boys in the 4th grade are a pretty tightknit group, especially the ones who are into football. He doesn't go to his regular afterschool program on Wednesdays and Thursdays when he has football academy, but comes straight home when school is over at 1:30. He changes into his football gear, grabs a water bottle and rides his bike up to the football field. We are so lucky to live so close to the school and to the football field, the two main focuses of the kids' lives!

This whole school year, Anders and Johan have been walking home together at 3:30, when they are finished with their afterschool program. I've had to pick Johan up the last few weeks when Anders has been at football academy, however. Today Johan really wanted to walk home alone, though, so we let him do it. He ended up walking home with our neighbor who goes in the same class, but he was really proud of himself. He even has his own key now.

Gaute's been working hard, as usual. He goes to work every day - he is officially a consultant for Guard Systems - he and another guy have made one of the tracking systems they use. But, Gaute being Gaute, he has many, many things he is working on on the side. If you look here, you'll find some of the stuff he works on in the evening. He spends a lot of time on all of that stuff, and although I do complain at times, I don't complain too much, because it's all starting to produce a pretty good extra income (did I mention that we're headed off for a week in Paris this summer?)

Well, dinner's almost done. Time to go down and set the table. Espen has football practice from 7 until 8:30, and then there's a very important Championship League game between Liverpool and Chelsea that I can't wait to watch.

And tomorrow and Friday there's no school - Labor Day weekend!!!!

Bergen

I just spent the last few minutes uploading pictures from our trip to Bergen onto my Facebook page. Facebook has a much better and faster system for uploading pictures than Blogger does, so I've decided to just post a link to my album there, rather than upload all of the pictures again (yes, I know that was a run-on sentence). So - here is the link.

We had a fun time. The weather was crappy, but it was really good to see Tori and Sindre and their families!

By the way, get a Facebook account, those of you who don't have one already!!

Off to Bergen tomorrow

Tomorrow we're taking the train to Bergen. Gaute's sister's son is being confirmed on Saturday. Confirmations are really big in Norway, and nearly all 14-15-year-olds are confirmed. Originally, the confirmations were religious, and a lot of them still are. For those who are not religious, the Norwegian Humanist Society also has confirmation ceremonies. As a type of right-of-passage into adulthood. This is the type of confirmation Sverre is going to have. His older sister, Runa, was confirmed two years ago. The weather during that trip was gorgeous, and we've had a week of really nice weather now, but it's supposed to rain all weekend...

The wedding

On Saturday, my stepbrother, Dan, got married! They have had a website set up for the wedding, and when I checked it this morning they had posted pictures from the wedding. I wish I could have been there. It looks like everyone had a really good time! And it made me feel really homesick for my family...My mom and my sisters - and my grandma - looked great! Can't wait to see you guys in about 8 weeks!!!

Party tonight

For the last few months, seven other moms and I have been planning a party. We've invited the parents of all of the 2nd graders at Korsvoll school. Some of us have been to a similar party for the 4th graders' parents, and it was a great party, so we decided to do the same thing for the 2nd graders.

We've rented the local sports hall (been to oh so many parties there), and have hired a catering firm to provide tapas. We've also hired a DJ who will playing classic hits from the 80's ;-). 92 people are coming to the party!! And it's a sunny, nice day -should be really fun!

Twenty hours working at McDonalds

I filled up my car with gas today, and it cost me $117 - yes, one hundred and seventeen dollars, not kroner. And it's not like I'm driving around in a big SUV or anything. I know that Americans are complaining a lot about how gas prices have really gone up lately, but they've gone up here, too, and until a gallon of gas costs NINE DOLLARS A GALLON, which is what I paid today, then I don't want to hear any more complaining.

Yesterday was a fun day! It was "Tourist in your own city" day, which meant that we could go down to the city hall and get a pass which gave us free admission to all museums in Oslo, plus free public transport. We wandered around downtown and went into a few museums. The kids don't get downtown very often, so they thought it was pretty cool. Then we walked over to the new opera house which just opened on Saturday. Yesterday it was open to the public and we got to walk around (and on) it. (That is not snow on the opera, by the way. It's made out of white marble.) It was incredibly expensive to build, but it is so cool!! You can walk all around on the roof and it goes straight down into the water. Here is a series of pictures of the opera, and here for pictures from the grand opening on Saturday.

Yesterday afternoon, Espen had another game, and he was captain once again! The weather was quite nice when the game began...


...but went downhill pretty fast.


But, the good news is that they won - 6-4! And Lyn won their game last night, too, and they are leading the series at the moment!

No words necessary

Low energy

I've been feeling pretty low on energy lately, and I think a lot of that has to do with the weather. We've had rainy, cloudy weather for weeks, and I'M GETTING REALLY SICK OF IT! I want nice spring weather!

And I want to be done with all of the papers that are due within the next few weeks. I'm severely lacking in motivation to get them done. I will be so happy to be done with school....

But, it's Friday! Tonight is homemade pizza night, and then good Friday night TV entertainment....

Lupine Hill Farm

My mom was inspired and is putting together a blog, too!

Lupine Hill Farm

Go, Mom!

Football nerd

Until my kids started playing football, I had never seen an entire game. And the first games they played when they were in first grade didn't exactly inspire me to become a fan. But something has happened the last 3-4 years. I love football.

Last night Liverpool played an important game in the quarter finals of the Champions League. It was such a great game, and they won, and I couldn't have been happier!

Heia Lyn

Lyn's first home game last night! It was about 35 degrees, raining and windy, but we put on warm clothes and showed up. And were so glad - it was a great game. They won - 3-1!

Looking ahead to the weekend

It's Thursday evening....I have a paper due on Monday, which I am trying as hard as I can to get done by tomorrow afternoon. I have lots of fun stuff planned for the weekend and sitting in front of the computer is not one of them.

Saturday night Gaute and I are going to a party. Should be a fun one - it's an annual party that we've been to several years in a row now.

Sunday night we have free tickets to the first home game that Lyn is playing this season.

Fun, fun weekend!