King winter has arrived!

 The hours of daylight are few but oh so beautiful! Here are a couple of photos from outside my office yesterday.

Last weekend I forgot the second Sunday of advent photo. Here we are.

Our manger scene that sits next to the TV. I'm quite proud of this one - it's hand made from Madagascar :-)

And as I wrote in my last post, on December 5th we made some snowflakes. The result was good, and I love them hanging there. They're fluttering due to the heat from the heater below.

We go on with our advent calendar :)

4th of December the family activity was going to the movie theater.
December 5th we were making paper snowflakes and decorating one of our windows. I'll show you a pic once I've downloaded it.
6th of December was a disaster - on the note it said we were going to make snow lanterns. But little did we know the night before, that the snow was becoming too cold and not wet enough to make the snowballs needed for the lanterns. So we ended up searching the web for stuff the kids like to watch as a compensation for promises we failed to keep.
December 7th was the day where the boys were invited to a birthday party and mom was working all afternoon. There was no time for family activities, so we figured maybe that should be the day for a gift. So it was.
8th of December - that's today. We knew we were going to be sort of busy today and that there were going to be other people around too. So today was the day for making frozen bananas and eat them covered in chocolate. Yum!

I probably told you the same a year ago ;-)

I love advent!

I love all the smells that remind me of my childhood and of course of Christmas.
I love to do with my kids what I used to do when I was little.
I love to make new traditions that are ours, that my kids hopefully will continue with their kids.
I love the way we've found a solution for the advent calendar. I so much want my kids to count their blessing as a count down for Christmas, not their things. This month shouldn't be all about getting another little gift.

I'm sure our kids know we love them more than anything despite not getting presents until Christmas Eve.
So how do we solve this challenge when our kids already have one of these cloth calendars with twenty four rings on them each?

Every day there is a rolled paper note for each of them hanging on their calendars. The note says something about what kind of activity the family is doing together today.

December 1st: We're finding our wooden manger scene and putting it in a nice spot. (Now it sits next to the TV ;-)  )

December 2nd: Treasure hunt. They looked around the house for ten clues to find the treasure hidden in the laundry room. The treasure was the dinner ingredients and we made the dinner together.

December 3rd: Baking ginger breads. And so we did :)

First grade family night

I just have to show you some of the pictures from tonight.
Girlie and I have been out for a first grade family outdoors night.
We brought flashlights and headlamps to light up the trail and to se the reflectors in the trees showing the way to the different stations. Six stations there were on our way to the campsite. When we arrived the there the fire was already lit. And sometimes I ask myself: Is there anything as beautiful as a fire in the dark?

Well, yes there is one ting - the stars! It was a stellar night for stargazing! Ursa Major(big dipper) shone upon us. And several other constellations were to be seen too. Awesome!


The kids are used to the place. They've been here several times on their out-of-school learning days.
Tonight everybody brought food to roast over the fire. Lots of hot dogs.

It was a great night for both of us! Thanks to first grades parent contacts!

Just in time

My last post about the mild fall was posted just in time. The same night it was freezing.
When we woke up the next morning, the ground was covered in frost. Stunningly beautiful!
And the funny thing is it lasts!
We went for a trip today and somewhere even the mud wasn't that gushy any more. It was half frozen and sort of hard.

We walked around Stavsjøen - a nice little lake. The kids love the little bridge at the very end of the lake. They love balancing on the railing.

We made fire and cooked for lunch.   A bit cold but not winter cold any way!

Not winter yet

This time one year ago, we'd already had lasting snow for about a month. But not this year. It's still sort of warm weather. We wear regular sneakers and shell jackets every day.

It feels like the fall has lasted for a decade - that's a lot longer than usual.
Don't get me wrong! I love the fall - this is one of the most beautiful seasons, and it's wonderful not to freeze too much all the time. I love the possibilities for hiking and little trips that comes with the leaf covered grounds. I just wish I had more time for loving the nature, more time to spend outdoors.  But working some fifty hours a week on average and lots of weekends doesn't go too well with being an outdoors person. Sometimes I even have to come home from work Sunday night and just look at the pics from one of the family trips I was not a part of.
There has been no canoeing this fall and no camping so far, but i still am hoping for a camping. Maybe this weekend - I don't work until Sunday morning this time.
After setting our clocks to standard time again days are becoming shorter. No doubt the winter draws nearer, but so far I enjoy the fall as much as I can. This really is great!

Scout trip

The one I told you about - well, here are a few pics: