Birthday party Central!

Victoria turned 6 on Saturday, and celebrated with some friends at the pool at the Y. It was great! We had 7 girls and Michael along with grandma, Karen, Chloe's dad, me and Kevin.
Brian and Chase met us in the pool after we all finished having cake and ice cream in the party room.

Sunday we had a family party for Victoria, Kevin and Michael along with grandma, grandpa, Brian, Lisa, Chase and Evan, and of course out whole family. I had made Dronning Maud pudding for Kevin ( a Nowegian treat he has adopted as his favorite), Death by Chicken (aptly named such after we realized exactly how unhealthy it was!) and Lois made them all a chocolate cake shaped as a football that Michael helped her frost. It was a great time even though I did run out of a key ingredient at the last minute. Lois was kind enough to run to the store for me, and we were able to save dinner!

Kevin's birthday was actually on Monday, and that day he came home early from work with a bad headache. After I got home we all ate dinner and he went back to bed. What a way to celebrate turning 30! In the middle of the night he got sick and started throwing up, so he spent yesterday at home on the couch.
By the time I was done with my Norwegian class (which went well by the way) he was feeling a lot better and we finished watching Batman Begins together.

Now I only have one more party to plan - Michael's for his friends - for next weekend. He want to have a Pirate party with a few friends at our house, so that is what he'll get.

Right now I am sitting in the cafe at church waiting for the kids and Kevin to finish at Awana. I am so glad they have wireless! I am also working on backing up all our work CD's (kids' music) on my laptop for next time the CD's get scratched. Things are not handled very delicately at my work!

Hope all is well with all of you out there! Gotta get back to work.

Dr. Appt today

So, I had my monthly checkup today and everything is fine. I am still not gaining a lot of weight, but enough to keep them happy! I am still below where I started and I am almost 23 weeks. The baby is growing though, and that is all that matters.
I also am allowed to not be as strict with staying off my feet as long as I take a break if I feel like I need to. I am still not allowed to lift anything heavy though.

I had ultimate plans to clean a lot yesterday, but instead I did nothing! I am sure Kevin is proud of me. Doing noting is very difficult for me!
I also learned today that I have until Friday afternoon to have everything clean, so that is great. I have done smaller things around the house every day, so the major things won't be as bad.
Tonight is Awana at church, and Kevin and I have plans together. Seems like I have not seen him a lot this past week, so it will be good to catch up.

Well, i better get off my behind before it grows stuck on this chair:)
Have a wonderful September day all!

I just fell in love!

I was reading on babycenter.com and saw the most beautiful name! I am not sure Kevin will like it, but I am totally in love! The name is Viviana.
Kevin is out with the guys, so now I am anxiously waiting for him to come home so I can tell him all about it!
Maybe if I clean some more time will go faster:)

The name is Latin and means alive.

I know Kevin wants a Norwegian name that is more or less Americanized, so we'll see what he says.

Norwegian class starts today

and I feel very unprepared!
The book I have used for the past few years and know by heart is too difficult to get ordered in time from Norway, so we had to make a last minute decision to change the curriculum. Yikes!
I feel like I have to learn the whole thing before I an teach it, but today is the first time I had to sit down and work through the first few pages.
Also, I have a lady in my class who took the beginning class last spring and signed up again. She paid for the old book, and now has to get the new book:( I feel bad!

At least it is a beginners class though. I just wish I had had some more time to work through it.

My house is still a mess too, which does not help my stress level. I need it cleaned by Thursday am, or at the latest Friday am. Tomorrow I have part of the day off so that will help. I had to take the whole day off from the Y due to an appointment I scheduled a month ago, so I guess that is good. That will give me some extra time to get things done around the house before the weekend. Victoria will be at school so it should go smoother. She loves to help, but sometimes it is just easier with no children around!
I am also hoping that at my appointment they will lift my restrictions and let me at least not worry about staying on my feet all day:) No issues since that last Friday, so that is good. My back is still sore, but as long as I can get through this week and weekend I should be able to take it easier!

Wow, I really am nervous! Cross your fingers my class goes well! I gotta eat an early dinner and head out. I am kind of relieved my intermediate class did not go through!
Have a wonderful night everyone!

Gettin in done!

Wow, I am amazed at what I have accomplished this last week! I totally trashed my house, got stuff ready for a garage sale while still trashing the house (and mind you, not doing anything cleaning whatsoever), started paperwork for my new job, finished the new schedule, moved stuff to the garage sale venue (still have about two van loads to go), scrubbed my fish tank and accessories (for the sale), did two loads of laundry (should have done me though) and just now I am blogging:)
I have a lot left to accomplish, but just knowing that I did as much as I did this past week makes me feel better about the coming week and crunch time before party weekend. Next week I will have less time as I will be working many more hours at the Y, but at least the majority of my junk is gone!
I never got to go through my own room, but that is ok. I will save that for a day when I am nesting and everything else is spic and span clean (yeah, right, never gonna happen!).

Tonight I am babysitting my two nephews while their daddy and my hubby go gaming at the gaming club(board games) and I am also watching our friends' two kids (who are my kids' best friends) overnight.
Saturday am I have to get up early to get to the sale - 4 kids in tow as they are planning on selling lemonade:) Then, right after the sale I have to rush home, shower and get ready for my nursery duty at church. Then, straight from church to a slumber party at my good friend Melissa's house. It will be a very busy day, but I am sure tons of fun as well.
Sunday am I have Cafe duty at church, so up again early!
I feel bad for leaving Kevin alone for almost a whole weekend, but he is tough and can handle it:) I will make up for it the next weekend when it is his BIG 30th birthday!

Well, I better go run some errands while I can, although sitting here blogging feels kinda nice!

Oh, and I really want to change the look of my blog too, so if you know where I can find someone who does blog makeovers, let me know!

Hanne

Garage Sale

So a friend of mine offered to have a garage sale at her house so that we both could clean out our houses. My main goal was to get the garage cleared out, and then maybe some of the junk in the house too. Well, the sale is this Saturday (one day only) and I just started working on the garage yesterday after work. I did get a lot done, but with my restrictions on being on my feet and lifting it made it difficult to get much more done than I already did. My house is an utter mess as I empties closets in both kids' rooms and the bathroom, emptied out my laundry/storage room and brought all the junk out to the living room and family room. I am so embarrassed to have people see my house right now! I know it is all for the greater good, but seriously, I need to get better at organizing and getting rid of stuff as we go, not once every few years!
Kevin is thrilled with my "get rid of" pile as it is huge. The kids did an awesome job clearing out their rooms, and Michael actually has a whole side of his closet all empty!
I still have not even started on my own room, but if I don't get there that is ok.
My worry is that I am not going to be able to get the house back together for the next weekend when we'll be celebrating Victoria's 6th birthday, Kevin's 30th and Michael's 9th. Kevin's parents, his brother and our sister-in-law are coming along with their two kids for a dinner party Sunday evening, but Kevin's parents, I am guessing here, will be staying with us that whole weekend for the kids' celebrations so I need to have it ready by next Friday. Wish me luck!

I am currently 21 weeks (will be 2 weeks along on Saturday) and I am feeling good other than my back issues. We did have a scare on Friday and I had to talk to the Doctor then, which is when I got my restrictions as far as lifting and staying on my feet for too long. Being halfway through the pregancy makes me feel a litle rushed though, as we have nothing ready for the baby bean. I am hoping that whatever money I can make during the sale I will be able to spend on baby stuff as we are in need of everything but the crib and mattress!
Another good friend of mine is having a sale at her house the weekend after mine, and she is selling her little girl's clothes, so a lot of the money will end up at her house I am sure:) The biggest problem will be the time of year for clothing. Her daughter is a summer baby while our will be a winter one, so we'll se how that works out.

Sorry for not updating earlier. I have just been too busy getting things ready for this sale!
On Friday I am babysitting my two nephews until late in the night, and our friends' kids for a sleep over while they are out celebrating Jen's birthday! I am hoping it will be possible for the kids and their parents to at least venture into my house without stumbling over something when they come over on Friday! At the least, I want to have all the stuff I haven't already brought to the sale venue stacked in the garage ready to be transported. I need help for this though as most of the buckets are too heavy for me to lift ( I am capable, but will be dealing with a mad hubby and some very upset friends if I do). It is not fun being helpless I tell ya! I am not used to asking for help. I usually just do things myself.

Well, better get back to work! I have this week semi-off, meaning that I work my nanny job and then at the Y 2 ams a week, but starting next week I will step into my AM Lead job in the Kids Care and will be working longer hours, leaving not much time for cleaning and resting. So things that need to be done, should be done this week or weekend! I guess I need to work on organizing my schedule to allow for some down time too!


Have a wonderful week all!

Hanne