Cold weekend, but very relaxing!

Wow, just when we thought the weather was going to be nice and warm it got cold again, and rainy, windy even sleet!
Thankfully we have not had to turn the heat back on. On the sad side of that we haven't had our windows open for a few days either......I miss the fresh air!
This morning I volunteered in the CommUnity Cafe at church and I loved it! Made my own mocha, and a smoothie, and messed up one smoothie, so not too bad:)
Mostly took orders, and worked the cash register a bit too.

I am coming down with a head cold and the sinus drainage is causing me to lose my voice, usually something that happens once a year so hopefully this is it for this year then.

Other than that, I am counting down the days for many things - Mother's Day, although I am sure nothing much will happen, syttende mai which is Norways constitution day, an all girls' weekend to the cities and the end of the school year and much less work as far as getting the kids to school in the am.

Well, I am gonna head to the basement and take some pictures of my cards that I have made as I have had several requests for them to be posted on my blogg.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rain, rain go away

come again another day! ( I am done jumping in the puddles for now:) )
Today it was raining when I left for work....I actually woke up around 5 when the thunder and lightning started and I crawled into Kevin's arms....poor guy, he does not get much sleep when the thunder hits as I am terrified! He was kind enough to hold around me for an hour (of course he can sleep through it) while it lasted and then when it ended it was time for me to get up and get ready for work.
It kept raining through lunch, and then it cleared up until 7pm or so when it started again.
Kevin had an "at-home" date with Toria and I got to take Michael out for some fun. We went to Target to pick up a birthday present for his best buddy:) Tons of fun, huh:)
Right when we left Target it started drizzling. We then headed over to Walmart as it was not time to go home yet. It is only a 2 minute drive and when we got there it was pouring down.
By the time we left Walmart (we picked up a snack for both of us) it was raining cats and dogs! Huge ones too! Since we were already wet we decided to jump in every puddle on the way to the car:) Totally brought me back to when I was little and loved playing in the rain! Of course, growing up on the coast of Norway rain is an everyday thing and you almost have to love the rain or else you will go nuts:)
I guess it just made me realize how much time we spend inside, and how easy it is to come up with excuses to not be outside. I always tell my kids they are waterproof when they complain about the rain, and today I made an older lady laugh out loud when I told Michael. She thought it was so cute, and so true! It made her put down her umbrella and walk into the store dripping wet:) So, that is my great influence today:)
Now I have to go change out of my wet clothes, but oh well. By tomorrow my shirt and pants will be all dry, and I have a fun memory that I share with my wonderful boy!

Have wonderful evening and weekend if I don't make it back on here before that:)

So beautiful!

The weather is so beautiful! I love being able to keep the windows open and let fresh air in! Unfortunately, we have people working on the water tower across the street from us, and they are not quiet at all. Thankfully they end their work early in the day though, so the evening in quiet and calm.
I did some major cleaning today, mostly in the living room and in Victoria's room. Anyone want toys? When bringing my rug back into the living room I realized how full of stuff it was so I brought the vacuum cleaner up and got to it. I had most of it cleaned when all of a sudden the vacuum cleaner let out a weird sound and tons of yucky smelling smoke! (Now I am really thankful I can have the windows open!) I sent the kids outside as it reeked and tried to figure out what went wrong.....the rug wasn't THAT messy! So, it seems as though the motor (or something) in the cleaner broke......can you tell I have no clue and that I am only guessing? I guess I need to figure out if I need a new vacuum or if this is something that can be fixed.

Other than that I have not done much. Walked the track at the Y while Victoria was at school, walked around the neighborhood with Victoria biking, and walked once more around the neighborhood with Kevin after we went out to eat. A total of 6 miles today! Yay! Never thought my legs would be tired from walking! The walking is much better for my back than the running I've been doing, so any races that I have been planning on being in this summer probably won't take place with me on the starting line. Oh well.....
I will aim for three miles on the track tomorrow, and probably another mile and a half with Kevin and the kids in the evening. I am really hoping to slim down enough to fit into my Bunad bu May 17th! We're not sure where to go celebrate yet, but it will be either Decorah, Iowa or Fargo, ND. There are pros and cons to both, so we''ll see:) Either way, I WILL wear my bunad, I guess it will just be a matter of how comfortable I will be:)

Off to fold some more clothes! I am totally caught up with laundry. Yay! And I am not going to fall behind......at least not this week:)

Oh, I almost forgot....I will get to work in the CommUnity Cafe this weekend too! I am so excited!!
Have a nice night!

Hanne

Not fun.....

so, I spent most of last night awake waiting for when I had to run up and get to the bathroom due to a stomach flu. Never had to, but regardless, my stomach was churning and I got close to no sleep! This morning two of my co-workers (I worked with both of them yesterday) called to see if I could work for them as they had the stomach flu! I guess we all got it at work yesterday then.
I am feeling better, but probably won't eat anything for the next day or so until it is all gone.
What bums me out the most if that Michael had late start today and we were going to hang out and do fun stuff! Instead he took care of me - got me crackers, ginger ale, my book etc and was content in doing so.
My big boy is just so helpful and caring it bring tears to my eyes! No complaining about not getting to do fun stuff, just compliant and taking things in stride. Makes my heart swell with pride!
So, since he is now at school, and I am waiting for my good friend Karen to bring Toria home from school (I am typing this to make sure I don't fall asleep while waiting) I am trying to come up with something I can do with Michael maybe next weekend.
the planned Girls' night out for tomorrow evening was canceled as well, so I guess if I was to get sick it was the best weekend to do it. Still blows though!
Anyways, my princess should be home soon. I will make her lunch and pop both us us back in bed:)
Have a wonderful weekend!

Date night with hubby!

I honestly felt bad for a few months after I stopped volunteering at church on Wednesday evenings, but now I really enjoy it! I still volunteer on other days, so I am doing something good right, AND spending quality time with my hubby is very important too!
We still drop the kids of at church each end every Wednesday and then head out to eat.
Today I even dressed in a dress! I spent most of the day outside (gorgeous weather!) cleaning in the yard, organizing in the garage etc, so dressing up felt good:)

We missed date night last week as we were still watching our nephew, so we're making up for it this time around. Still have no clue where we'll be going, but I am sure it will be great.

Oh, and think Spring is here finally! 70 degrees today! Yay!

Gotta go, have a wonderful evening all!

CommUnity Cafe!

My church has decided to reach out in a different way and opened a coffee store in the church. When they asked for volunteers I just knew that was something I was meant to do! Tonight was the training and I love it! We got to sample different coffees and drinks. I learned how to steam and froth the milk and how to use the register!
If/when we move home ---> to Norway, I really hope to be able to open a coffee store ala Starbucks or Caribou Coffee in my hometown! It is such a great way to meet new people and chat and just be social in general!

Anyways, the downside of the training is that I am so hyped on caffeine right now I am not sure WHEN I will get to go to sleep.

Have a great night and tomorrow!

Curling Finals and bronze game - Edited

Here is one of the guys I met in Canada. Norway is playing for the Bronze medal against China tonight. Wish them luck!


Edited:
My mom pointed out that I forgot the picture link:)
http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2008/04/12/532354.html
Norway won the game against China by the way, so they got Bronze medals

Hanne

Trying something new

Ok, so when I was younger, I learned to knit and crochet. Never really had the patience for it, but seeing that my wonderful mom is THE knitting and crochet Queen (I swear she does it in her sleep!) I figured it really can't be that bad! So, I got a book with patterns for some dish cloths, knitting needles and yarns started knitting. Well, starting up was easy, it was when I hit the third row and had to purl (what the heck is purling?) that I ran into problems. I did remember from way back when that there was a different kind of stitch to do, so I tried it and felt pretty good about myself, that is, until I realized it had to be wrong because I lost most of my stitches:)
Off to the internet I went and found a video info thingy that showed me what to do, and voila!, I know how to purl! Unfortunately I had to start all over as I kind of made everything too loose when I was working on it.
I am now and row 7! However, I found that I have one stitch too many at the end so the pattern won't line up, so I guess I have to go back and re-do the whole line or row or whatever it is called in knitting land.
I figure that if I can't finish it, my mom will have something to do next time she visits:) I hope to at least get one dishcloth finished though, before I crawl back to my cards and scrapbooking pages:)

Have a wonderful weekend! Or as my husband would say: Ha en vidunderlig helg!

Hanne

Back at it...

Oki, so the day came again when i had to return to work........I stayed up way to late last night to be able to get up rested this morning...oh well...I will learn I hope:)

We came back into town on Saturday night as we decided to leave a day early from the in-laws due to a winter storm coming their way the next day. I did NOT want to be stuck u there or even worse, forced to drive home in horrible weather.
We did have a great Spring Break, with some me-and-hubby time and some relaxation and lots of kiddo time. The kids loved being with grandma and grandpa and their cousin Chase. chase came home with us and is staying with us until Wednesday night when his mommy and daddy comes home from California. They are enjoying a break before the baby arrives in June.
I went back to both jobs today - first at my nanny job and that went fine, then to the Y and that was more work but not as much as anticipated The person who was supposed to cover for part of my job decided to not check messages and left me with a whole weeks worth of unhappy people that were expecting a call back within a day. They were all kind and understanding though when I called them back, so that was good.

Tomorrow will be a short day at the Y so I am hoping to get most of the activities and crafts for Healthy Kids Day arranged and set up while Toria and Chase are napping.

I am gonna head off and watch the Final Game in March Madness with hubby - neither of us are to excited as our picks - UNC and UCLA - already lost, but at least it is something to do:)

Have a wonderful night, and cross your fingers for me heading to bed before 1am this night!

Norwegian National Team in Curling in Canada

Oki, so Kevin and I are back from Canada. It was a great trip, albeit short.
The coolest thing, I think anyways, was that we ran into a group of guys at the restaurant Earls while we were there for dinner. They all had a blue jackets that matched and I saw a Norwegian flag. So I jumped up and let Kevin know I was going to ask if they were from Norway. And they were. They told us they were playing Curling for practice before the World Championship. That is when I could respond: "In Grand Forks?". I bet that impressed them:) Kevin and his dad had read about it just the day before and I picked up some key info while reading my book I guess.
So, we might head up to Grand Forks this weekend
(just for the day) and watch a game or two. I am only going if the Norwegians are playing while we're there.
Either way, it was cool to run into fellow Norwegians and get to speak some Norwegian!

Hope all is well!
I am glad to be back with the kids, but can notice the lack of sleep in my body and a high amount of chocolate running through my veins. They had a Chocolate Festival in Winnipeg while we were there! Now, that is MY kind of festival!

See ya!