Irish is good...

As you may or may not have read in a previous post, we recently travelled to England. Before the flight we ate at a restaurant called O'Learys. The next time we fly from Moss Airport Rygge is DEFINITELY the next time we will stop there for a meal. The food is fabul-antastic-ous. I mean really fabul-antastic-ous. Oh sorry did I mention that before?

We were going to have a bit of something. I thought 'ahh let me take the nachos, nice and light'. Big J thought 'the more the better' and promptly ordered the spareribs. Lil C and J ordered a hamburger each. Thank goodness the portions were so big that I could have a bite of the kids' burgers. They were SO GOOOOD!!! (Big J gave me a bite of the ribs, just to tease me). I left the nachos in the end and almost literally licked my plate (oh, I meant the kids' plates) clean. The barbeque sauce was to die for. Big J was IMPRESSED (and he does not give his compliments freely, only when he REALLY means it).

O'Learys burger and ribs, DELICIOUS

Lil J enjoying his meal

The poor almost unwanted nachos

Parties and mosquito bites

When one looks back and sees a weekend spent with family and friends, in the lovely outdoors, and one is pleasantly tired, then one just KNOWS it was time well spent.. Until the mosquito bites start itching that is..

On Friday evening, lil C's class had their summer party. As of next year, the two 6-grade classes will be split into three classes, so the parents decided to have a sleep over at Isesjøbråten, a newly renovated camp site. The main building was lovely. However... We (18 kids and 6 adults) slept outside, in the fresh air.. in an open wooden shelter, so that IF it rained, we would not get wet. How VIKING is that?!

I wish I could say it was a long and quiet night..

The rain started at around 3:30 am and was relaxing to listen to.. Not so the chattering of 14 kids (yes 14 kids, coz lil C and 3 boys slept until around 7:30) at 5:00 am, not something I want to repeat too soon. Two not-so-cheery-at-5am-moms asked if it was possible to be QUIET *ahem* so the children disappeared up the trail towards the main building and we could sleep for a few hours more. The three dads (who claimed back problems and moved in the middle of the night) were sleeping closer to the buildings, so we figured we'd let them take care of the chatterbugs ;-)

Lil C's class summer party

The GREAT outdoors :-)

The dad with the mosquito head-net was obviously not a TRUE Viking!



View from my 'bed'


Saturday morning I rushed lil C  off to a friend's house so they could rush out to catch a ferry to another friend's house for a sleepover (PHEW!), lil J was at a classmate's birthday party and afterwards at home with my mother-in-law (double PHEW! Coz just one wild guess who co-ordinates all of these comings and goings..).

In between a fast cake session, keywords: fondant, silver paint that smelled of coconut essence (don't ask why I didn't use water to mix in the silver powder, just mental block right then and there).

Saturday evening. The next party we went to was a choir-friend's 40th birthday party. It was to be held (you guessed it) outdoors(!!!) but in a nice big party tent, just in case it rained (the birthday 'boy' said he'd get the weather he deserved, and he got sun!). There were ACTIVITIES, some more usual than others:




A Swedish game called Kubb. The point is to ... WIN :-)

Croquet (without the flamingoes though)

And unexpectedly a little bit of Zumba...

Proving again that Vikings are not the wild people the rest of the world think them to be.
They are even WILDER!

Our friend A, asked for donations (smaaaaaaart.. not birthday GIFTS but donations!) towards installing electricity in his new garage. What a GREAT excuse to make a cake!! :-)

A lightbulb! What a bright idea :-P

The card gave instructions on how to find the 'real' gift..
Which was of course INSIDE the cake ;-)

So finally at home my ankles start itching.. Mosquito bites, NOW?!? Two outdoor parties and I sigh with relief that I did not get bitten. Safe at home and my legs look like they got a touch of the Himalayas.

I don't think I like mosquitoes very much.. Parties yes, mosquitoes NO!

Webcam, mic and Skype

What a beautiful combination!

Guess what? I actually went out and bought us a new webcam with a mic. Yes lightning must have struck, coz this time I thought about a webcam while the shop was open!! (Yup, she can be taught!).



Logitech C170, easy to use



So now, I'm just waiting for my chatterbox Trini girlfriend T so log on so we can chat!!! It will be great to see and talk to my brother's newest addition, at the end of the summer (well maybe not TALK to the baby, but to coo at it, as only we women can!).

I'll just sit back with my delicious Adanim tea from Israel (also sold by the Lev Ha'Olam people) and an equally scrumptious AND healthy muesli roll.. yummmmmz!

Yesterday.. of course

I did NOT forget to tell you about yesterday... I was just so excited about the grocery's opening (or more excited about the new fondant moulds that I was going to pick up at the post office which is also in the grocery. Coz that is actually possible here in the little village (pronounce: willage, if you want to be a true Norwegian!) of Greåker).

Yesterday lil J took part in a BIG concert at a hall called Folkets Hus in Sarpsborg. It was a BIG concert as in, the general rehearsal only took more than 4 hours and then they only did the lights and entering/leaving the stage. The tickets did not come cheap. In all fairness, looking at the element of chaos at the general rehearsal, I honestly did not expect the outcome: a VERY well performed concert by the students at the music/dance school, and well walked-through (what is the term I'm looking for??) by the light and sound people! The teachers did a terrific job. KUDOS!



The general rehearsal: last item on the programme - everyone was on the stage



The violinists all wore head-lamps, a cool and unexpected twist in the programme



Lil J sat on the far right

 

Tomorrow..

is the opening of my local grocery, Kiwi Greåker, the one where the staff actually is friendly (PLUS they remember my name, musta made a lasting impression!).

The main shop has been closed for the past weeks, but it feels like it has been forever.. I've had to drive a whole 3 minutes further to do groceries (oh the HORROR! Or rather, oh the LAZINESS!).. Well I took a sneak peek in the shop, looks grand!

As I said, tomorrow is the opening. And with that, there is a PROGRAM (gasp!). There will be cake, barbeque, face painting for the kids (and I SO wanted to be painted as a lion or a butterfly!!). And all of this is for free for the loyal customers (and the not-so-loyal ones who will go for the free stuff).

Unfortunately, this chicky baby's going to be a Barn elf all day (4 days a week, why should this day be any different).. So that means someone else will have my cake AND eat it.

Did I mention..

that I had to speak Spanish, French, English and Norwegian (duhhh) yesterday at work?? And all in one day?? Lucky me!!

Hope you do something you enjoy today!!

Just my two cents.. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Back pedalling..

I just figured out the minor hitch in the 'whoopie I have a blog'-thing.. I have too much to tell! There is simply so much happening nowadays (and I don't mean the 'I'm brushing my teeth, going to bed, just woke up, having breakfast-sort of thing).

Along with the fact that Big J and I are active members of each of our own choirs, our lil beans are also active (in every which way!). Lil C has piano lessons at the music school here in town, and is starting singing lessons in August (gone are the days of her violin lessons I think), whereas Lil J has guitar lessons. As it is end of term, there is a concert, and with that lots of rehearsing. Guess who's the lucky driver? Yup, yours truly!

Back to the back pedalling.. Last Wednesday was lil J's class summer party. We of course trotted off faithfully to school to hear the 5th graders perform, or rather to sit back and be ENTERTAINED! After which most of the kids ran outside for a game of hide-and-seek while the parents stayed inside to finish up with cakes, soda and the not to be forgotten RAFFLE. Needless to say, we won nothing, whilst the people next to us won 3 times (they were sweet and gave lil J one of their prizes, much to his delight).



Lil J's class

From there we dashed into the car and drove to church, where we had some exciting visitors. Two friends from Israel, who are settlers in Samaria, came to tell us about what is happening where they live. Boy do we have a LOT to be thankful for! It is almost impossible for me to imagine how they live, yet they hold on to their faith and the promise He has given.

Singing with our visitors (not on the photo)

They hope to start exporting their own products directly to homes in Norway, and so avoid the boycott that many Norwegian companies have instigated. This will help support them and their families. A box of products such as tea, skin products (creams, lotions etc), chocolates and many more will be sent once a month for a year. Their homepage, Lev Ha'Olam is under construction, hopefully it will be available before long.

Shalom aleichem!

A 12 year old's birthday and a Tusenfryd trip

One week ago (precisely) our munchkin celebrated her birthday at Landeparken, a nice big park nearby here. Lots of kids, lots of hotdogs, lots of fun :-) The weather held, despite some grey clouds and a bit of a breeze towards the end. But all in all a nice evening, with fun games (googled them of COURSE!). Last but not least, the presents were a GREAT source of joy for the birthday girlie :-)

The day after we went to Tusenfryd, a really nice amusement park just an hour's drive from our home. The kids had been measuring themselves ever so often, coz they wanted to be sure they passed the magical length of 140 cm, which meant they'd be able to take all the BIG rides :-) so for the first time lil C got o take the Speed Monster and Spin Spider with me (big and lil Js didn't hehe). Naturally we bought a 'second day ticket' and waiting till summer hols to go again!!