10 on 10 May 2013

10 on 10  "once a month on the tenth taking a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. Finding life and beauty in the ordinary things of our day to day!" from here.

I didn't do a very good job this month of getting photos on consecutive hours, but they are fun pictures nevertheless.  

Daddy started the day off right with pancakes and some fun for the kiddos.  They were all looking out the window at the neighbor's cat.

My sweet girl and the belly.  Addie is so excited about being a big sister again.    

We scheduled an ultrasound for this morning.  We were able to find out the gender and you will all know on Sunday.  This picture is off little one's precious profile.   They had their hand up by their face.  

After the appointment I went and picked up the kiddos.  They were able to play at a friend's house and they had a fantastic time.  Ben was happy to see me and picked me a flower.

Addie LOVED the trampoline at our friend's house.

Garrett and his back pack.  This little boy loves his back pack, he wants to carry it everywhere.

We headed home and it was time for lunch.  I am still sometimes amazed by how much food we go through.  I mean 8 pieces of bread for lunch?  No matter I go to the grocery store   These are all the fixings for 3 grilled cheese sandwiches and 1 ham sandwich.  

After lunch Ben asked to do 'homework'.  He doesn't get homework from his school, but he really wanted to do some work.  I used a pinterest idea and wrote out letters with a highlighter and let him trace them.  Ben is left handed so it is always interesting to watch him write.  I am just thankful he is showing an interest in writing.

Addie and Ben being sweet and playing on the computer together.

This is how Garrett spends a lot of his time, boots and helmets on.  Garrett LOVES his scooter and his bike so if he goes outside he has to have his helmet on.

Cuddle time with Garrett after nap time.  Garrett does not like to wear clothes right now.  He has also decided he wants to learn to potty like a big boy, but we are still working through that.

Spring time and a Visitor

This weekend we have been lucky enough to have Mr. Pat visiting us again.  Mr. Pat is a friend of Jon's from college and he is the only person that has been to visit us here in Oslo TWICE.  

Today was so beautiful, the nicest day so far this year, so we went for an evening walk.

The adults walked, and the kids rode their scooters.  This was the first time I had seen the kids on their scooters and they are CRAZY.  Here Ben is moving right along.  You can see his Thor hammer sticking out of his pocket.  He loves his Thor hammer and would have worn his viking helmet if we would have let him.  

I love this face.

Garrett is a crazy man on his scooter.  He loves the hills and would get going much faster than this momma liked.  Thankfully Jon can keep up with him and keep him from hurting himself.

At the top of the hill we all got a little nervous.  Garrett got off his scooter and just let it go down the hill, he had fun watching Mr. Pat chase after it.

Then Jon stole Addie's scooter and tried out the hill himself.  

At this point I had visions of ER visits in my head.  Thankfully Jon made it to the bottom with no problems.  

Then we parked the scooters and walked on the golf course paths.  There were plenty of people out at the driving range, but the course itself isn't open just yet.  The kids enjoy the path that leads to a little stream.

They all took turns throwing rocks into the stream.  Ben was very proud of these two rocks.

Garrett had fun getting his rock to throw in.

Addie is such a ham for the camera!

Mr. Pat was kind enough to take a family picture.  

Then we made the trek home and Ben got to do one of his most favorite things, climb in the tree.

Garrett got to ride his bike.  This is a picture with his helmet on backwards.  This little boy is so independent, I love it.  Thankfully he does still let us help him at times (Jon fixed his helmet as soon as I took this picture).  An example of his problem solving, he was riding his bike after we all went

And in case you are interested, here is a belly shot at 16 weeks.  This pregnancy is flying by.  I am feeling pretty good these days.  I will take a nap if I can get it and I am eating A LOT of food.  We will hopefully find out the gender this Friday!  I am so excited.  

We are moving, Again

That's right, adding a new member to our family wasn't enough of an accomplishment for this year, we will also be adding a new address, in a new country.

The plan right now is to move our family to Paris, France in July.  This is a 2 year assignment and we are thrilled at this opportunity that God has provided.  We are sad to be leaving Norway so soon, but we are so excited about the chance to live in Paris.  Staying in Norway was not going to be an option for us because of Jon's work, but we had no idea that Paris would be an option for us.  We really feel God's hand in all of this as we prepare to move in time for the kids to be able to get started in school and be settled before the new baby comes.  There is still a long road ahead of us as we prepare to move from Oslo to Paris, and I plan on sharing as much as I can about all of our adventures.

14 Weeks!

The first belly shot of this pregnancy, I am 14 weeks and officially entering the 2nd trimester.  I am feeling much better, I just can't believe how quickly things are moving along.  

This sweet boy is so crazy.  He picked up Addie's pink bunny hat and wore it all the way to Sweden.  

Addie and Ben ran outside and started doing a happy dance, the snow is almost all gone!  It has finally started to feel like spring here and we are all thankful.

Poor Bennett really doesn't like the snow very much.  He had fun playing in it at the beginning of winter, but he has been done with winter for a couple of months now.  

Sunday morning snuggles for Garrett and Addison.  They were watching Peter Pan in Norwegian. 

Adding to My Collection

I found two more bowls to go with my collection this week.  These bowls came from my favorite shop, Marita Butikken.  

I love this mismatched look for china.  I love the process of collecting.  Now I just need to plan a party so we can use our new dishes.  

I promise the next post will have people in it.

Treasure Hunting in Norway

Today we went to our first loppemarket of the season.  A loppemarket here in Norway is like a garage sale.  The only one we went to last year was right after we moved here and it was at Addie's school.  That loppemarket was a little different because it was at an international school.  Today's loppemarket was at a local Norwegian school.  They have been advertising heavily in our area and they got the message out.  We got to the school just after 10, when the sale started.  We were shocked when we had to park down a hill and around a corner and then walk back to the school.  There were so many people heading to the sale.  The playground area was full of stuffed animals, furniture, and skis.  Most of the good furniture was already sold.   I may have missed a couple of gems because I was so overwhelmed. We walked around outside for a bit and then we all headed inside because we were COLD.  The temperature this morning was around 4*C or 38*F, still pretty chilly.  We went inside and there were items for sale everywhere, clothes along the hallway, shoes, books,  and children's clothes in classrooms.  The gym was the jackpot for us, dishes/small items and toys.  I left Jon with the kids to look at the toys and I walked around all the tables, trying to get close enough to see what was on them. I made one full round and then I had to go back a second time.  I was able to get close enough the second time to check out this set of dishes.  I am in love with brown transferware, but in the US I found it to be hard to find and expensive.  Here at the loppemarket I found 6 plates, 6 bowls, a serving bowl and 3 serving platters.  One plate has a chip, but the rest of the set is in great condition.  I was so excited, but it didn't have a price and that made me nervous.  You never know at sales like this which direction the pricing is going to go.   Thankfully we were able to make a deal and I was the proud owner of a set of dishes.  I also found a "Norge" mason jar for my mom, a Norwegian cake plate, a rooster piggy bank, and the 3 tiered rack.  I loaded as much as I could into a bag that I had brought with me and staggered over to Jon and the kids.  By now we were all a little overwhelmed with the number of people, Garrett especially was ready to go.

I am so excited about these dishes!

Here is one of the plates.

This was Ben's treasure, he was so excited to find it.  I had one just like it when I was a little girl.  

It has been a big hit with all three kids today.

And just for fun a picture of Garrett.  This is the face he makes when he is asking for a bite of whatever you are eating.  He opens his mouth wide and says 'Ahhh' just like a little bird.  

Craving Chocolate Cake

Last week I got a craving.  This is not unusual for my pregnant self.  Unfortunately this pregnancy I have had a hard time fulfilling a lot of my cravings because I live in Norway and most of the foods I crave are not available here.  This craving was different though, I wanted chocolate cake.  I don't really like cake most of the time, but I really wanted chocolate cake.  My mom was still here, on the tail end of her visit, and she volunteered to make her Grandmother's recipe of homemade chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting.  It was AMAZING.  

I was trying to get Garrett to look at the camera for a picture, but he was entranced by the chocolate cake in front of him.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate cake!