Visit from Family

It has been a while since I last blogged and all I can say is that we've been busy!
Between the visit from my brother and Kevin's sister and the kids and now my parents our house has been bustling. the good kind of bustling of course!
I am working this week and next, but have a week off after that, so I will get to spend some down time with my mom and dad. Tomorrow they are taking Michael and Victoria with them to visit my grandma's cousin Fred in Milwaukee until Sunday or Monday. Kevin and I will be heading to the Cities on Saturday for a Twins game and hopefully a trip to the science museum.

Hopefully the weather will hold up for us when we have time off. So far this summer we have not done a whole lot of yard work, although I did put mom and dad up to some work just yesterday and we weeded my overgrown flowerbeds (my mom knows better than me what is weeds and what is flowers), sprayed down the patio and got rid of some moss and weeds coming up through the cracks in the bricks, as well as emptied some containers with dirt that I planned on emptying in early June!

Oh, and we also checked out my little vegetable garden. I now have a whole two tomatoes on one of my tomato plants! ?Yay! Kevin is happy about that. I also have three cucumbers coming up and some green beans! I am learning each day what is good and bad and vow to do better next year!

Another thing going on is that my parents offered to buy us a digital SLR camera! Yikes! Kevin is doing research (he is BIG into research) and I am anxiously awaiting his decision:) I am hoping to take a class through community ed later on this year so that I can fully use the plethora of options on the camera. And who knows, maybe by this time next year I will have some award winning pics on my blog:) I still have a long ways to go before I get to where my wonderful cousin Marthe is at. I just love her pics and hope that she is ok with me posting some of them on my blog. My favorite one is of my grandma and grandpa's house in Norway.
Hmm..for some reason I cannot post it, so I 'll have to wait until I have more time to work with it.
I just wanted to up update and let you know we're all still alive!

Hopefully we'll have some more pics to post after this weekend too, both of Kevin and I and the kids with my mom and dad.

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Amazing love!

Someone posted this link on a board I frequent and it is just an amazing clip!
I watched it three times and had tears in my eyes each time!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Check it out!

Random Questions - You're tagged!

Amanda posted this on her page and I was tagged so here we go:
Oh, and by the way, if you read it, you are tagged too!

Do you flip your pillow to the cold side? No.

Do you like to hold or be held? I like to be held by Kevin and hold any child (especially my own kids)

Did you have a small or big wedding? I am guessing it would be considered small

What type of girls/guys do you usually go for? A loving, caring and honest man - which is just what I found and married

Would you rather be rich and unhappy or poor and happy? Poor and happy!

Have you ever churned butter? No

What is the most money you would spend on a pair of shoes? $50 I think, but usually they are less than $30 (except for my running shoes)

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Green

If you could win a couple front row tickets to a game, any sport, any team? Hmmm......Team handball for one of the Norwegian National teams' games in the Olympics.

If you found out you couldn't have kids, would you adopt? Yes

What woke you up this morning? Unfortunately, my alarm

How was your weekend? It was good, but short

What's the weirdest thing someone said to you lately? Hm.....can't think of anything....must have been something Victoria said though as she always throws me for a loop with her weird comments

Did you kiss or hug anyone today? Not yet:(

When was the last time you cried? A few days ago when I just felt quite down

Would you take a bullet for anyone? Yes, for a few very loved ones

Where would you like to live? At the beach

What kind of house would you like? An older Victorian style house, or a brand new house with nothing wrong with it:)

What was the last thing you drank? A diet coke

Who do you miss? My bff Elin and my grandparents

What’s your favorite kind of soda? Diet Coke in the US, Champagne in Norway

How many times have you eaten sushi? Never

What do you want to do right now? Nap

Are you listening to music right now? well....I can hear the sound of Victoria's play laptop, but not quite music

What time is it now? 11:02am

Do you think anyone will repost this? Maybe a few people

Do you drink? for sure, lotsa water each day:)


What do you like to listen to before you go to bed? Any kind of soothing music, although I usually don't.

What are you wearing? White tank top and Aqua capris

Do you have a bad habit? Yeah,biting my nails, but I haven't for weeks now and my nails look sooo nice:)

Do you have any credit cards? No

Do you have bills? Doesn't everyone?

One wish you have? I certainly have one, but not for public display

Have a wonderful day all!

Hanne

Updates and pictures

Here are some of the pics taken in the past few weeks.
Many more were taken but it is so hard to pick which ones to post!

This week we have my brother, sister-in-law and in-laws staying in town with us, as well as some friends who used to live here but moved to North Carolina. We went to a get-together last night to hang out with our friends and it was great. Of course, Victoria hit the wall soon after bedtime and Michael was in that path within minutes. So, off we went home to bed:)
this am I volunteered in the Cafe at church and had a great time. Feel tired this evening though!

This evening after a delicious dinner Kevin made we went to Riverside Concert by the Civic Center. It was nice. The weather is amazing! Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (I think that was the name) were the main group and quite enjoyable. Kevin wasn't a fan, but didn't complain:)

Next weekend we'll be camping with the in-laws and brother and sister at Kevin;s aunt's lake. We camped there last year as well and it was great, all except for the fact that their neighbors were bear hunting and just the mere thought kept me awake all night thinking I heard bears outside our tent! I am crossing my fingers I do not hear about it this year:)

Tomorrow is the start of what will be a loooong week. the kids I watch have hardly anything going on, so I will be at their house all day trying to convince them to have fun rather than be bored. Quite a task when the kids are adamant they can't have fun if they can't watch TV.
My kiddos will get to sleep in though, so that is good. my mother-in-law is staying here tonight and said I could leave the kids when I head to work in the am. I truly appreciate it! It not only means my kids will get a good nights' sleep, but also that I can snooze one me time before getting up in the morning:)

Anyways, it will be a bust few weeks to come with people staying here until next Tuesday (over a week from now) and then my parents coming two weeks from today. It is all good though. I love that we get to spend so much time with family!

I better head to bed now, so that I can actually snooze once extra tomorrow morning:)



Hanne

Hot, Hot, Hot!!

Oh my, it is almost ungodly hot here today! The humidity is high and the temp is 87F (31C) but feels like 94F (34C).
I was trying to finish up the last of my cleaning before people come to stay with us, but it was so darn hot I felt like all I did was sweat!
When I get back home after work I will turn the AC on (we try to keep it off during the day, and actually haven't used it yet this year other than when we were drying out the carpet in the basement after water seeped in!) and get back at the cleaning. Then, when I am done I am taking a year long COLD shower:)
My brother and Kevin's sister and their two kids are coming to town today, but they are starting out staying at Kevin's brother's house.
We also have friends coming into town from North Carolina, and we get to hang out with them at a get-together tomorrow. I am very excited!
I still have to upload pics from the past few weeks, but will do that when my cleaning is done:)
Hope you are all enjoying your summer! I sure am.
Had the week of July 4th off, and another one in August when my mom and dad are here, so that will be great!

See you later!