Project Project

Step 6: Plan a menu

2012-02-01T22:04:00.002-07:00

I am posting next week's challenge early, because this one will require a little planning and forethought on everyone's part. I'll still post on Sunday/Monday as usual, but hopefully by then you'll be well on your way with the challenge!

I'd recommend a longer list than this.

Our next challenge will be to plan (and ideally shop for) next week's menu. To keep things simple, we will limit this to dinners and snacks.What does this have to do with being more healthy? Well, it is my opinion that it is much easier to make good choices when you have already prepared to do so. The times when we grab fast food for dinner are the times when it's late, we're hungry and we're not prepared with a better option. The times when we start digging out the cookies from the back of the pantry is when we're not prepared with a more healthy option. And the times when we eat healthy, balanced meals with fresh fruit and vegetables are the times when we've planned ahead so we're prepared to eat well.

I actually really like doing this, and it gives me an insane amount of satisfaction and calm to know that I won't be stressing about what we're having for dinner for a whole week. Lowered blood pressure and stress levels are good for your health too, right?

You are of course welcome to do this however you like, but I thought I'd share what I like to do:

On Saturday morning I start by poking around the fridge, freezer and pantry to see what we have on hand, and come up with a few meal ideas from that. Then I ask Nick what he would like to have for dinner this week. Usually he has about two or three ideas, which almost brings me half way. If I catch him when he's hungry, he can come up with quite a few :) If he's not hungry, I make him pick from my recipe board on Pinterest.
Once we have a list of dinners planned, I work out what ingredients we need, write them all on a list with whatever else we need, and head out to the grocery store. I try to get all of my grocery shopping done on Saturday, unless of course we run out of, or forget something.
One thing that I've found to work well, is that I make the dinners in order of freshness, if that makes sense. If we're having a salad, for example, we'll have it during the first day or two and save the less perishable foods for later in the week.
I also like to double up on ingredients as much as possible. Back to the salad example: if we're having salad one day, I might use some of the lettuce to go in tacos the next day, and some of the cheese to go in wraps the day after that. Doing this will save you time shopping, a little bit of money and a lot of waste.
One other thing I like to do is write out a weekly menu and stick it on the fridge. This helps me remember what I'm doing, and Nick likes to know what we're having ahead of time so he can look forward to it, and not end up eating the same thing for lunch.
And finally, I leave a day or two off the list. Sometimes you just need to go out to dinner, order a pizza or let someone else do the planning. And that's healthy too.

I'm not going to tell you what to eat. People get very passionate about what is and is not the "right" way to eat. We're all grown ups, and we all know what healthy eating looks like for each of us. I will say that for me, healthy eating involves plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, fish, whole grains and moderate amounts of meat and dairy.

I'll be back on Monday with my menu for the week! What are you having?

Image borrowed here.

Workout music

2012-01-31T15:10:00.002-07:00

Just wanted to briefly stop in and tell you that I did in fact make it to the gym last night, and am now halfway to my twice-a-week goal. Yay! I felt a little uncomf walking into the gym in my very functional (not cute) workout clothes. I haven't been to the gym in almost three years (The shame! The shame!) and felt very self-conscious as I got on my treadmill and started a brisk walk. But I stayed on that treadmill for 20 minutes, and then followed it up with another 20 minutes on the exercise bikes. I'm happy with that for a start.

One thing that really helped my workout along was listening to music. I listened to Pandora on my phone, and couldn't stop grinning like a maniac at their 80's Cardio Radio channel. For your own workout enjoyment, I bring you a playlist of what I worked out to last night:

Such a happy little bunch of songs! I seriously laughed out loud (I am now the official gym weirdo)when it started playing "Mickey. Do you like working out to music? What keeps you moving?

Step 5: Get some exercise!

2012-01-30T14:46:00.001-07:00

This week will mark one month of our weekly health challenges, and I think that once we're out of January, we can officially declare this a success! We'll be out of the realms of New Year's Resolutions, and onto the path of lifestyle changes.

Before we move onto this weeks's challenge, I thought I'd write a little bit about each of the four weeks so far and tell you how I did, and how I feel like I'm still doing.

Week 1, drinking water: I did well on this challenge. I started noticing a difference in how I felt within about a week. Most noticeably, I found that I often have a very slight headache that I wasn't even aware of until I started drinking more water and it went away. I also find that I snack a little less and make better drink choices when trying to reach my water goal of 60 fl. oz. (1.7 liters). What worked best for me was discovering that 60 oz equals four of our kitchen glasses. Breaking it down into smaller, manageable amounts like that has been really helpful for me. Four weeks later, I'm still trying to reach my goal, but not making it quite as regularly as I did for the first week. I probably average about three glasses of water a day, or 45 fl. oz. I'm doing good, but there is room for improvement.
Week 2, spending time outside: I did great at this goal, and really enjoyed doing it. We were lucky in that it coincided with a "warm" (for January!) sunny week, which meant that we took several trips to the park. I really enjoy being outside for my own benefit, but love seeing how much Espen enjoys it too. I need to make much more of an effort to keep this up, though, because the rain, snow and cold weather we've had since that has kept us inside more than I like. We've also all taken turns being sick, which kind of puts a damper on things. Lots of room for improvement here, but also lots of room for enjoying some time outside, which is a plus.
Week 3, Eating a daily piece of fruit: I did really well for the first four days, because I bought a bunch of bananas. I had banana on my cereal a few times, and also for a late afternoon snack (I always get hungry around 4 PM, which is just silly). Then the bananas started getting a little brown and I got busy with a project, and things got a little tricky. I had some grapes in the fridge, though, so there were a few nights where I shoveled down a fistful of grapes before bed, just so I could reach my goal. Grapes also make a really great snack. I haven't been doing too great with this after the challenge, so need to step it up.
Week 4, Healthy Weeknight treats: I was pretty terrified of this one before I started, because Nick and I have done this before and it has been hard. The main difference this time (and why I hope we can succeed) is that instead of saying no treats at all on weeknights, now we're eating healthy treats. One night this week we watched Midnight in Paris (great movie!) and ate hummus and pita chips with grapes, and it was delicious. Some nights we haven't even really wanted a treat, which is extremely rare for me. I think part of that might be that we've been busy and have had a lot of late dinners this week, which means I've been less hungry in the evenings. When the weekend rolled around, we made our unhealthy treat choices wisely: raspberry turnovers on Friday and Lindt Black Currant Chocolate on Saturday. On Sunday we had dinner with friends, and were in no need of extra treats. I like how saving tasty treats for the weekend makes them much more special and a little decadent. We'll be keeping this up, but I'm not going to lie, I'll miss my Thursday night milk and cookies with 30 Rock and Big Bang Theory!

Tell me how you've been doing! Have you kept it all up? What have you liked and not liked? Also, if you have any ideas for future challenges, please let me know!

OK, Step 5!

Here's where we might part ways a little bit on this series of challenges: Last week Nick and took the plunge and signed up for a gym membership. It's going to be tricky to find the time for me to go, seeing as I take care of Espen all day, but I am determined to use the gym. This week I am going to go to the gym at least twice. I'd like to increase that number to three or four, but until I find my feet and figure out what to do with Espen, and find a good time to go, two it is.

Obviously, this isn't going to work for everyone. Some of you don't have gym memberships and aren't about to go out and get one just because I did. Some of you already go to the gym regularly. Some of you aren't really physically able to do very much (pregnant, dealing with injuries or other health problems). These are my suggestions for you this week:

If you don't have a gym membership, find a way to get some exercise twice this week. Go for a walk, go jogging go for a bike ride, do a workout video. If you don't have any available, there are lots available online. Spark People might be a good place to start, I know Netflix has some available for instant streaming, especially if you have a high tolerance for the late Nineties.
If you do have a gym membership, and I am assuming you go regularly, find a way to step it up a notch. Add an extra session (if you're really hard core!), switch up your routine, try a new class. If you have a gym membership and don't go as often as you'd like, this is the week to make it over there.

So, tell me, what are you doing this week?

Image borrowed here.

Be a better snacker

2012-01-22T23:39:00.005-07:00

So it's week four of my small steps health challenge, and it's time to kick it up a notch, I think. OK, deep breath:

This week I will be giving up weeknight treats.

OK, that is to say not completely. I will still eat if I feel hungry or snacky. This isn't about deprivation, it's about being more healthy. But instead of cookies chocolate, ice cream, chips or general naughtiness of that nature, I'm going to try to go for healthier options like fruit, yogurt, nuts (unsalted).

The idea is that I will try to be smart about what I eat during the weekend, then fulfill whatever snack cravings I have on the weekends. I'm not swearing off sugar or treats completely, because for 99% of the population, that is doomed to fail. I'm not deciding to stop eating after a certain time of day, because I believe that if your body is telling to eat, you need to listen to it. I'm just trying to be a little more mindful about my snack habits.

If you are joining me, I'm going to leave it up to you to decide what you want to eat and not eat. I'm also going to let you decide if your weekend is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or just Saturday and Sunday. We're all grown ups here (right?) and I think we know what constitutes healthy and not-so-healthy. However, if you need some ideas (I do!), you could try looking here, here, and here are some ideas for healthy snacks.

Good luck to you, soldier.

Image borrowed here.

PS: For those of you bored to tears with my health challenge, I am planning some typical Project Project projects to blog about soon. Just bear with me while I try to do something a little better for myself.

Feeling fruity

2012-01-16T23:28:00.002-07:00

I'm here, I'm here! A little behind schedule, but it's a three-day weekend, so I'm cutting myself a nice big length of slack. Americans, do you have the day off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? Do you commemorate the day? We didn't really do much (sadly), but Espen's library book ties in quite nicely for the occasion.

For the third week of my small steps challenge, I will be eating a piece of fresh fruit every day. At least. It's kind of silly that I need to make this a specific goal, because not only do I know how good for you it is, I also love it. In fact, the only pregnancy cravings I ever had were for fruit. Some women crave raw hamburger and heavy cream, I could not get enough strawberries and fruit smoothies. Weird.

As usual, I'm not going to lecture you why this is good for you and your body. But I will point you to some helpful reading here, here and here. The second one is especially helpful.

And here I am two years later, needing to make a goal to eat fruit. Like I said, it's not that I don't love fruit or recognize how crazy-good it is for you, I'm just not all that great at eating it. Here are a few of my problems with eating fruit:

I like it best when it's freshy fresh and lose interest after it has spent a few days in our kitchen.
Fruit often requires a bit more effort (washing, peeling, cutting), and I am a lazy lazy girl.
Both of these often lead to less-than-appealing fruit that sits around and eventually gets thrown out at out house. Knowing we often waste it discourages us from buying more.

But the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables are so immense that I just need to make an attempt to step it up. Not that long ago the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables was five. Remember the 5 A Day campaign? (Or Fem om dagen for you Norwegians?) Well, these days* that recommendation is nine. So it's time to get chomping, friends! Who's with me? If you're already an impressive nosher of fruit, maybe try adding another serving to get you even closer to that magical number nine. And if you're already at nine, can you tell us how you do it?

*OK, this "new" recommendation came in 2005, so it's not exactly cutting edge. But it was news to me!
Image borrowed here.

Checking in

2012-01-10T17:21:00.002-07:00

Well, week one of my little health challenge is behind us, and I'm going to say "so far, so good!" I more than met my goal of drinking 60 oz. of water for the first four days, and really liked it. Then Espen got sick and the weekend hit, and all of my attention was just sucked into taking care of my little boy. I know I didn't make it to my goal one day, and the two others were so busy that I'm not even entirely sure what I had to eat or drink. I'm paying for my negligence now though, as my throat started feeling sore yesterday. Is it especially hard for mothers to learn the importance of first taking care of their own needs before they can help anyone else?

A few thoughts on drinking more water:

I didn't really notice much of a difference until I stopped, when I became aware of a faint, dull headache that just kind of lurks behind my forehead. It goes away with a glass of water!
Going to the bathroom more often is kind of annoying.
On the upside, after about three days I developed the ability to stealth-pee. Completely clear, you guys! (OK, that was almost definitely too much information.)
Drinking water makes me feel less snacky. Not that it has necessarily helped me to snack less, but it has made me realize that a lot of the time the food cravings I feel are mostly in my mind.
Discovering that our tall drinking glasses each held 1/4 of my daily intake was really helpful. I could just tell myself that I drank one glass with lunch, one with dinner and two more in between. Drinking two of my big water bottle felt a little daunting, and I only have one of it, which makes things a little trickier if it was in the dish washer.
Speaking of dishes, things also got tricky if all the tall glasses were dirty.
I need to do my dishes more often.

I'm definitely a fan of drinking more water, and will be keeping it up. I'm not sure if I was just caught up in the euphoria of a new project, but I have to say I felt pretty good last week. A little more energized and a little more clear-minded. I'll take it.

If you're following along, how did you do? Did you notice a difference in how you felt? Will you be keeping it up?

PS: I came across this blogpost that talks about the advantages of drinking lemon water every morning. I haven't had a chance to research this much on my own, but it certainly gives you a few things to think about, right?

Image borrowed here.

Step 2: Go outside

2012-01-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

This week I will be taking it outside by spending at least 20 minutes outdoors three times. In my mind I hear about half of you gasping "Outside? Now? But it's January!!!" and the other half saying "my goodness, what kind of a couch potato are you? You need to make an effort to spend 20 minutes outside?!?"

And the answer is... well, sometimes I do. Truth be told, I am pretty good about getting outside, especially with Espen who loves getting out of doors. But when it's cold outside I don't want to get us both bundled up, and so we stay in, and so I get lazy and so I forget how much I actually enjoy being outside. Yes, forgetting that I enjoy things that require effort is a common theme in my life, have you noticed?

Anyway, it seems that being outside is pretty great for your health. Personally, I always find it helps to clear my mind and brighten my mood whenever I spend time outside. Harvard Health mentions a few in this article: increased vitamin D levels, more exercise, feeling happier, improved concentration and you may even heal faster!

Another personal reason for getting outside is that I want to teach Espen the value and fun in being active and outdoorsy. I don't think it will necessarily be as natural for his generation to find their fun outside, so I want to try to instill that in him from an early age.

Plus he looks cuter in natural light (Joking! He is adorable in all lights):

For myself, I like the idea that being outside sort of inherently makes you be more active. I find it unlikely that I'll go and sit on my front door step with a timer set for 20 minutes, and know that I will move around more than if I stayed inside. Of course, I have a toddler, which means I will be spending most of my time pulling him out of precarious situations. Fun for him, a little exercise for me. Win-win!

I imagine we will take a walk around the duck ponds, and spend some time at the playground. Nothing big or ambitious, but plenty of opportunity to breathe some fresh air and soak up some of that vitamin D.

Are you in? If you're already an outdoorsy person, why not step it up a bit and go outside more than you typically do, or stay out a bit longer once you're there. If you never spend time outside and find this daunting, then maybe just aim for one trip outside this week. Small steps!

Who's with me?

PS, I also wanted to point out that Resources for the Future has a good article here, if you're feeling the tiniest bit academic today.

The 52 Week Organized Home Challenge

2012-01-03T20:58:00.001-07:00

Because I seem to have developed a severe case of overachiever-itis, I have also signed up for this series of weekly challenges:

(Thanks, Janey!)

Every week they email you a an assignment for a different area to clean and organize, along with a guide for how to do it. I got the first one yesterday, and so hopefully by the end of the week I will have clean and organized kitchen countertops and sink! You can read about the first week here.

What I like about it is that it seems like each challenge is pretty reasonable, and something that you could definitely do in a week, if not an afternoon. It's hard for to take on huge projects because 1) I tend to get overwhelmed easily, and 2) with Espen around, my time is not usually my own. I mean, those trains aren't going to drive themselves! But a weekly chunk is something I can handle, so I am feeling pretty optimistic about it.

And even if I fall off the wagon and daily miserably, at least I will have gotten clean counters out of it. I can't lose!

------

Over to other things, how are my drinking buddies doing? It's taking some effort on my part to drink my 60 oz. of water, but it's not as hard as I thought. Remembering is the hard part! I think it just needs to become a habit first. It turns out that our tall drinking glasses hold 16 oz. if you fill them to the brim, so four glasses of water equals 64 oz! I just assume that by not filling my glass quite to the brim, I'm still getting at least my 60 oz., so I'm golden. For some reason, four tall glasses of water seems much more manageable than eight cups or even two HUGE cups.

So, my pro-tip for today is to measure your everyday glasses and see how many you need to drink in a day.

Other than that, I can't say I've noticed a lot of health benefits in the last two days (gosh!), but I have definitely noticed an increase in trips to the bathroom. TMI? Well, you try this out and see what your bladder thinks!

How are your New Year's Resolutions coming?

Step 1: Drink water!

2012-01-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

This first week's challenge is going to be to drink water. I said small steps, right?!? You can decide for yourself how much you think you need to increase your intake, but I am going for 60 oz a day of water, or 1.7 liters. Let me explain a little about how I arrived at that number:

The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get roughly 2.2 l (9 cups or 74 fl. oz) of total drinking fluids per day. Men should be getting about 3 liters (13 cups or 101 fl. oz.). If I am drinking 60 oz of water, that leaves another 14 oz for other things I like to drink, like my orange juice in the morning, or my beloved milk that I cannot, will not live without. Although please note that 1) these are intended as guidelines, and 2) no one is going to a watery grave if they drink a bit more.

Also, my beloved hospital water cup holds 30 oz, so that's a significant deciding factor too.

There are heaps and heaps of reasons why drinking enough water is good for your health, and I'm not going to make this post any longer by listing them for you. But I will provide you with some good resources if you want to read up on it yourself :

The Facts About Water from the Drinking Water Research Foundation
How much water should you drink every day? from the Mayo Clinic
6 Reasons to Drink Water from Web MD
Water from the Institute of Medicine (if you're feeling really researchy and scientific)

Cheers!

PS: It occurs to me that Monday mornings are not going to cut it for any of you Europeans who might want to join in my little Health Challenge, so in the future I will try to get my posts up on Sunday night so everyone can have the benefit of starting on Monday morning.

And, finally, while we're in the housekeeping vein: I just wanted to tell you all how much your comments mean to me! I love hearing from you, and I love checking out your blogs to learn a bit about you, so don't be surprised to find a comment or two from me!

Image borrowed here. Randomly from a site about dogs and water. Hey, we all need to hydrate! :)

A healthier 2012

2012-01-01T21:48:00.002-07:00

I mentioned in my New Year's Resolutions that I want to be kinder to my health and my body. I've been thinking a lot about health lately. Not just in the typical post-holiday "I have got to find the way out of this chocolate box" haze that so many of us experience after an indulgent December, and not simply because everyone I know seems to be filling their Pinterest boards with inspirational photos of salads and athletic bodies.

Feeling good after a hike at Zion National Park, Christmas 2011.

I've been thinking about my body, and how I believe it is a literal gift from God. It has allowed me to experience some incredible things, and I feel genuinely grateful for its strength and abilities. And yet I don't treat my body as well as I could. I don't nourish or exercise it as well as I think it deserves. I don't give it enough opportunity to show me what it can do, or allow it to remind me how much I enjoy using it, especially once I get started.

I could feel guilty about this, but I'm not going to. There are enough influences out there who will tell us to feel ashamed of how our bodies look or function, and I'm not going to be one of them. Like many of you, I could write a novel about the things I don't like about my body, how it looks or how it works, but this isn't about that. Like many of you, I have a number in my head that describes the amount of weight I think I have to lose before I'll feel happy about how I look and feel, but let's not make this about weight. Like many of you, I think that health and happiness come from making major lifestyle changes and, like many of you, I find it easy to stumble, fall and give up before reaching whatever goal was set before starting out.

Here's the thing: I don't want to wait to be happy or healthy. I want to start now. I want to make the changes in my life that will eventually lead to a healthier, stronger me. And so I am starting small:

Every week I will present myself with a new health challenge, one of the things I know I should be doing better at, and I will give myself all week to work on it. Hopefully some of these small steps will become permanent and help shape healthier habits, but I f I can only keep it up for one week, then so be it. At least then I will still have done something good for myself for a week, and can move onto something else that I might like better.

To keep myself accountable I will post every new challenge at the beginning of each week, along with a little recap of how things went the previous week. And, if you want to, this also allows you to join in with me, if you're interested? Just check in at the beginning of the week to see what I'll be up to, and then join in if it sounds like something you'd like to do. And let me know if you do, I'm such a fan of the buddy system!

All I ask is that if you do join in, please make the main focus your health and wellbeing, rather than obsessing about reaching a number on the scale. Because you, my friend, know so much better than to tie your self-worth to a mere number. This is about becoming better, feeling stronger and living more healthily.

Deep breath and... small steps.

Check back tomorrow for the first challenge!

New Year's Resolutions 2012

2012-01-01T17:17:00.002-07:00

I love January 1st. The whole year is ahead of us, stuffed to the gills (provided a year has gills, natch) with promise, potential and experiences to be had. This year could hold anything! One of my favorite things about all this newness and potential is to think about the marks that I'd like to make on my own year. Changes I'd like to make, things I'd like to accomplish, places I'd like to see.

I am a big believer in New Year's Resolutions. Now, I know there are those who say that they're stupid, and that you can make changes in your life whenever you want to, and don't need to wait for some designated day on the calendar to start. To them (whoever they are) I say: Sure! But I'd rather take advantage of the excitement and motivation that I feel right now, than wait around for the fancy to strike another time. And so what if my resolve only lasts a few months/days/weeks? At least then I will have accomplished some good during that time, right?

In 2012 I resolve to

Be kinder to my health and my body. (More about that tomorrow!)
Take more responsibility and feel less guilt.
Take family pictures.
Attend an evening class.
Take Espen on adventures.
Better nourish my soul.
Visit my family in Norway.
Write more letters.
Paint our bedroom.
Show Nick I love him.

How about you?

Image borrowed here. Thank you, Yale!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:03:00.003-07:00

As you can see, it's all glitz and glamour around here tonight! I generally feel like December 31st is a waste without a party, but we've had some crazy (good!) stuff going on around here lately (no, not pregnant) and even the thought of entertaining is exhausting. Espen is in bed, so tonight it will just be me and Nick, some blankets and a movie. Oh, and a bottle of Martinelli's at midnight :)

Hope 2012 will be a happy one for you and yours!

Christmas

2011-12-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

We're arrived home tonight from our week-long Christmas trip and are getting settled back in. The next few days will be spent unpacking, finding homes for new Christmas gifts (mostly Espen's), doing laundry, grocery shopping and getting caught up on the errands we got behind on while we were away. Pretty soon the Christmas decorations will be boxed up and back in the attic and we will be back to normal again. But before we get to that point, can I just tell you that we have had the most wonderful Christmas?

We relaxed, we spent time with family, we ate good food. Espen was all the best kinds of excited about celebrating Christmas and opening presents. But what he loved the best was spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa. Seriously. They both have the ability to absolutely drop everything and just focus their whole attention on Espen, which is something I feel I could learn a lot from.

As for me, my favorite part of Christmas had to be seeing the joy and excitement in Espen. He's not even two yet, and he was already too excited to sleep on Christmas eve. When he was taking a while to fall asleep, Nick went up to tuck him in (about half an hour after we said goodnight) and Espen asked him: "Daddy, is Christmas Day?" I understand now why parents run themselves ragged to find the perfect gift for their children, spend too much money and stay up all hours of the night assembling gifts. I understand because not only have we now done those things ourselves, but now we have seen the joy and the magic of Christmas on our little boy's face, and it doesn't get much better than that, friends.

Will you forgive me if I unleash an avalanche of Christmas photos on you?

Espen opening his (now) traditional gift of pajamas and a book on Christmas eve.

Modeling his new pajamas. New book in the bottom right.

12:45 AM on Christmas morning, and I have finally finished knitting Espen's Kipper.

Why yes, I was as exhausted as I looked, thanks for noticing.

But it was all worth it in the end, because Kipper was a hit!

Espen and Daddy playing with the new remote controlled fire truck.

A gift that only a grand parent could give!

His wooden train set from IKEA was probably the big favorite. I've lost count of how many times he's taken me by the hand and asked: "Mama, play trains? OK?"

And his new Doodler. I think Grandpa wants to try!

Espen couldn't wait to try out the water color paints in his stocking, so we stripped him down and let him loose. He loved it!

Espen's first painting. Clearly the kid's a genius. I mean, come on!

(Don't be surprised if you see this framed in my house. Sentimental fool + proud mama = me.)

The day after Christmas just got better, as Nick and I sneaked away for a few days on our own. But that is for another post!

How were your holidays?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T13:45:00.001-07:00

The North family is headed South for Christmas and we are literally one lunch salad from being out of here! Before we go, though, I just wanted to stop by and wish all of you a very happy Christmas. It's such a gift to have an actual, bonafide readership out there (even if half of you are family and friends!), and I love how you make me feel like what I have to say is worth your while. So thank you!

I don't anticipate being back online for a week or so while we bask in the glory of family and free baby sitters, so with this I wish you a merry Christmas and quite possibly a happy New Year!

Pepperkaker

2011-12-19T15:31:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We had a fantastic one filled with family and friends. Highlights included a highly successful dinner out with Espen (not always guaranteed), Christmas lights, Grandma and Grandpa babysitting, the wedding of some very good friends and a lovely Sunday evening spent with new friends. We've been so spoiled, I haven't cooked since Thursday!

Although our weekend was pretty busy, we still managed to sneak in some time to bake pepperkaker. They are a Norwegian type of cookie, a lot like thin gingerbread. You can buy the Swedish equivalent in the US as Anna's Ginger Thins, and they are basically the same thing.

We let Espen in on the fun, and he had a fantastic time getting coated in flour and cutting out the cookies. We were impressed that he could identify all of the shapes correctly too, including the angel. That boy, I tell you what! He kept attacking the dough with great gusto, and then proclaiming the mangled remains "perfect!" We didn't get a whole lot of cookies out of our little baking session, but we all had a lot of fun.

Our yield from round one of baking. We tried a new recipe, and I have to say I wasn't super happy with it. The cookies ended up paler and thicker than I like them, and the flavor wasn't quite "right" somehow. They were still good, though, and it was fun to try something a little different. I think we'll probably do another round of "our" recipe later on in the week.

A little tip if you'd like to try making your own pepperkaker: Ikea sells their own refrigerated dough that you can just roll out and bake, and it is delicious! I know several Norwegians in Norway that choose to go that route, for the simplicity of it as well as for the tastiness. If you want to make your own dough, this recipe looks pretty close to the one that we use. Just make sure that you refrigerate your dough overnight, and keep the rest of your dough cold while you roll it out in sections. It's useless once it warms up to room temperature!

What kind of treats do you just have to have for it to be Christmas? Pepperkaker are at the top of my list, followed by krumkaker, which we'll also be making one of these days. Oh yum!

Christmas cards

2011-12-16T13:51:00.001-07:00

I love getting the mail in December, because there's always a chance that there will be a Christmas card. I love Christmas cards! Photo cards with Christmas letters are my favorites, because I love catching up with friends and family ("Look how much those kids have grown! She looks just like her mom. Oh, I didn't know he had a new job!") Traditional cards are my other favorites, because I love how they're such an instant shot of Christmas cheer.

We always like to display our cards somewhere, and this year they have ended up around the clock in the living room. The collection has grown a bit since I took this photo a few days ago, and I'm hoping for even more.

Does anyone offer a class on how to take better bloggy photos? I mean, really!

Although I've always tried to send Christmas cards, even as a single college student, we have definitely kicked things up a bit since the arrival of Espen. Our family and friends span a couple of continents, and so a photo card and a Christmas letter seem like a good way to go. Below is a little sneak preview of our card and letter. Don't look too closely if you suspect you are on our list!

Also, don't worry; Nick is still part of our family, he just hasn't signed the letters yet when I took this photo!

I love thinking of our cards and letters winging their little way across the globe, and finally finding their way into a loved one's hands. It reminds me of this quote by Phyllis Theroux: "To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart." So if you get a card from us, know that that is our intention! And if you'd like a card from us, email me your address, and I'd love to send you one.

How about you? Do you send Christmas cards? Do you love getting them, or do you find them a bit of a waste of time and resources in this day and age when you could just as easily send an email?

More julevask

2011-12-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

You guys, it only took four days, but I have finally finished cleaning my kitchen! The julevask bug got me good, and so I have spent every spare moment cleaning. I am a little creeped out by how good it feels. I mean, seriously. This is how I get my kicks now?

No matter. Espen is still napping, and Nick is at work, and I have even banished myself to the living room to prolong the kitchen's spotless state. I know it can't (and won't) last beyond dinner time, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

And I took a picture, because it lasts longer:

While I'm clearly not an interior design blogger (I don't think they feature battery chargers in their photos), I am categorizing myself as a house proud braggy blogger. Perhaps only the parents of small children will recognize the mad sense of accomplishment that comes from having something, anything not be covered in fingerprints and Legos for more than 10 minutes.

When I was standing on a chair this morning, unscrewing the shades from the lamp above the kitchen table, Espen came and stood beside me repeating "Careful, mama! Mama! Be careful!"because he knows that is what you say when someone (I'm not naming names) climbs on the furniture.

I don't think interior design bloggers typically show you the rear view of a high chair either, but this does give you a chance to see our advent calendar in action, along with a few oranges with cloves. Our breakfasts have been quite festive in December, with candles on the table and three calendars to open (Espen's chocolate calendar can be seen in the background). No wonder January is such a dreary month in comparison!

Nine more days until Christmas Eve! Are you ready?

Julevask

2011-12-12T21:10:00.002-07:00

Do you love all of your Christmas traditions, or are there any you keep around for who-knows-what reason? Christmas in Norway is filled with all sorts of traditions, most of them absolutely lovely, and some of them slightly... well...

One of those traditions is julevask, or Christmas cleaning. Basically, Norwegians do all of their spring cleaning in the month before Christmas. And then they do it all again in the spring. On top of Christmas shopping, decorating, Christmas parties, baking and all of the other things that happen in December, Norwegians also feel the need to scrub every inch of their homes before settling in to celebrate Christmas. Literally. It's not just a little bit of vacuuming up after bringing in the tree, or dusting before putting up the decorations. No. In my family (usually spearheaded by my very traditional father) we would empty out closets, vacuum behind the couch and scrub down the walls. I may or may not have memories of sorting my Barbie shoes. And it all has to be finished by Christmas Eve at the very very latest. Needless to say, this results in a lot of stressed out Norwegians!

There is an upside or two, of course. At the top of the list is the glowy, virtuous, exhausted feeling you have as you sit down to enjoy your Christmas in an absolutely spotless house. And Norwegians traditionally spend the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve visiting each other, so at least it's good to know that no fastidious old aunty is going to catch you with dusty baseboards!

It has to be said that I'm probably remembering this in a slightly unfair light. My mum is English, and still views a lot of Norwegian traditions from an outsider's perspective, maybe especially this one, which she sees as slightly mad. Why not enjoy the pre-Christmas season, rather than scrub it from existence? My dad, however, talks disdainfully about how the English decorate around the dirt, rather than go that extra mile to make things nice for the holiday. And I think I fall somewhere in between.

I've always thought Norwegian Christmas cleaning bordered on slightly hysterical. As my cousin just said on Facebook today, if you're not planning on celebrating Christmas inside your cupboards, don't waste December cleaning them. And yet I found myself yesterday morning, writing a check-list of everything I wanted to clean in our kitchen before I could consider it properly done. Rest assured that the top of our fridge has been scrubbed, and the inside of the freezer has been wiped. The light fixture is about to be dusted and the floors mopped.

And the absolutely bonkers thing to me is that nothing we have done so far this holiday has filled me with as much Christmas spirit as blasting Christmas music and giving my kitchen a really good scrub. I've never felt so connected to my ancestors in my life! It must be in my DNA.

Image borrowed here.

Sage Digital Designs Winner!

2011-12-12T14:45:00.002-07:00

The lovely Carolyn is the winner of the Sage Digital Designs Giveaway. Show off those adorable kids, Carolyn, and be sure to send a Christmas card my way. Kristen from Sage Digital Designs will be in touch :)

Congratulations!

A special ornament.

2011-12-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

We have made it a North family tradition to buy something new and special for the tree each year. When we were just starting out and didn't have much holiday decorations, it was often bigger things like a box of ornaments or a tree skirt one year, or spools of ribbon another year. Now we're not so worried about having enough to simply cover the tree, and can focus on finding something really pretty or meaningful each year.

This year's special ornament is a hand painted Delftware bell that we bought in Delft this summer while we were visiting Nick's sister Tess in the Netherlands. (Tess, why did you stop blogging?) We bought it in a little store on the square, where the owner was painting pottery in the store. She was friendly and endlessly patient with Espen, who wanted to touch everything. Bull in a china shop? Pshaw! Try a bored toddler.

Sitting here in my living room and looking up at tree, I am reminded of so much about that day, it's almost like being transported there in my mind, right up to regretting all over again not buying some of those silly wooden tulips they sold to tourists everywhere you turned.

My hope is that, years from now, our whole tree will be filled with things that bring back memories of places we've been, people we love and the wonderful things we have done.

What do you love about your Christmas tree?

Also, don't forget to enter my current giveaway from Sage Digital Designs! If not for Christmas cards this year, then maybe for an upcoming holiday or event next year! Show off that beautiful little family/dog/cat/face of yours! :) Enter here.

Sage Digital Designs Giveaway

2011-12-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

Hands up if you have procrastinated your Christmas cards! Well, if you have, you might just be in luck, and even if you haven't you might be in luck too!

The very talented Kristen of Sage Digital Designs is offering one lucky reader a free design of their choice. Naturally Christmas comes to mind (and Kristen says she can have your completed design to you in a day or two, so there's still time!), but Sage Digital Designs also offers wedding invitations and inserts, baby announcements, thank you cards, graduation announcement and birthday/shower invitations. She promised she'd even make you a Happy New Year's card if that's the way you roll. Yo.

The basic idea is that you select a design of your choice, send Sage Digital Designs an email with your photos attached, telling them what fonts, colors and text you want on your card. Then the lovely Kristen will create a design to your specifications, which she will email to you as a digital file, that you can print out wherever you prefer. The truly amazing part is that the whole process only takes a few days, including time for your input to get everything just how you want it! You can read more about the ordering process here.

Giveaway Details

To enter, simply visit Sage Digital Designs, come back here and leave a comment on this post, telling me what your favorite design is. Be sure to include a name and email if you don't have a blog where I can easily contact you.
For a second entry, mention this competition on your blog, Facebook or Twitter, then tell me about in a separate comment. Honors' system here, although I'd love to visit your blog if you leave me a link!
The competition is open to anyone, and runs until 12 noon MST, Monday 12 December, 2011. At that time, I will announce the winner here on Project Project.
Please note that this giveaway is for any type of design, not just for Christmas cards! I'd be sad if you didn't enter just because your cards are already done.

Now go win yourself something pretty!

In the advent calendar today

2011-12-08T13:07:00.001-07:00

I thought you might be interested in what goes inside our advent calendar. So far there has been a lot of chocolate (Espen is in heaven), some music, and today's gift was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

The good thing about being the driving force behind the advent calendar, is that I get to decide what goes in it, and today was a day for some self-indulgence. If you read my Christmas wish list last week, you already know how I feel about the clothbound, hardcover Penguin Classics (swoon), and I have actually wanted to read A Christmas Carol for years. Every year the leaders of our church and the Tabernacle Choir do a special Christmas broadcast together. This year, Thomas S. Monson, the leader and prophet of our church mentioned that he reads A Christmas Carol every December to help him remember the true purpose of Christmas, which was the nudge I needed to add it to our family library, in the hope that Nick and I can read it together in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

As much as I love the fun of decorating, presents, parties, baking, music, friends and family, I think it's important to remember that for our family, Christmas is a celebration of Christ, and the best way I know to celebrate him is through showing love and kindness to others. And if a beautifully written and bound book can help us remember the importance of doing that, all the better.

How do you make your Christmas meaningful? If faith isn't part of your celebration, do you prefer to keep it light and fun, or do you try to add a "deeper" meaning to it?

Watch President Monson's address here.

Graham cracker house

2011-12-05T16:24:00.001-07:00

A quick peek at Espen's graham cracker "gingerbread" house. We made these at a playmate with some friends last week, and they are a great alternative for kids too young for a full gingerbread house. I thought it was going to be a bit out of his league, but Espen was all about sticking on those marshmallows with frosting! I masterminded the marshmallow roof, and Espen "rearranged" them as we went. The gummy bear door is mine, and the randomly attached piece of cracker and candy on the side is Espen's. It originally went on the roof with the marshmallows, but truly great artists get to change their minds, right?

If I am completely honest, I have to say that I struggle with some of the stickier aspects of parenting, and it can be hard for me to relinquish control and let Espen have at it. But I knew going into this that Espen was going to get messy, so I did some deep breathing and tried my hardest to just let him have fun with it. And he did! I loved seeing how proud he was of his masterpiece, which is now prominently displayed in our kitchen.

If you'd like to make your own, I found a quick tutorial here. I would like to add, though, that if you're doing this with young kids, I'd recommend following my friend's genius idea of putting a little chocolate milk carton inside to help stabilize the house. Definitely a plus when it's being manhandled by tiny hands! We just glued the crackers directly onto the carton with frosting, and it worked great! I'm sure your little architects won't mind drinking the milk :)

PS, I just noticed this was my 300th post! Yay :)

The surest sign of Christmas at our house.

2011-12-04T19:39:00.001-07:00

I love this song so much it's not even a guilty secret anymore, and December is the month for all out 1984, big-haired, moon-bootsed, puppy-eyed Whamtastic indulgence. Seriously. Last Christmas - this Christmas and every Christmas.

Won't you join me?

Advent calendar (with tutorial)

2011-12-01T14:14:00.001-07:00

December 1st always marks the official start of the Christmas season to me. As is traditional in Norway where I grew up, we have an advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas. And as is traditional, the mother of the house (me) stayed up until midnight finishing it up. We actually have four advent calendars on the go this year: a chocolate calendar for Espen (because those were The Most Coveted calendars available when I was a kid), one that a friend made for Espen, a Norwegian 24-episode advent calendar on DVD (Skomakergata!) and the home-made one that the whole family shares:

You're going to have to use your imagination a bit as far as presentation is concerned; I did buy a cute basket for it last year, but that has been misappropriated as our kitchen counter catch-all. So the punchbowl gets the job for now, until I find something better. Maybe a white old-timey enamel basin?

I actually made most of this calendar last year, but being the slovenly crafter that I am, I started reusing the empty bags from the beginning of the month rather than sewing up the last six bags. There's only so much blanket stitch a girl can handle! I finished it up yesterday, though, and took a few photos in case any of you are interested in a tutorial of sorts.

(If not, stop reading now, because this is going to be long!)

Advent Calendar Tutorial

You will need:

Red felt. Seeing as you decide the size of your bags, how much is up to you, but 2 yds. should be plenty.
White felt. I just bought a couple of the 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets of cheap felt and used that, although a heavier felt might fare a bit better longterm.
Needle, thread and scissors. OK, here is where we all see why I should not be doing a sewing tutorial, especially a year after buying my supplies. I used a heavier white embroidery thread and an embroidery needle. Stitch School is smarter than me, and can point you in the right direction on that.
Pretty ribbon, and plenty of it! I like my bag ties short and poky, but if you're going to be doing 24 (or 25, if that is how you roll) pretty bows, you're going to need a lot more.
Glue. Use fabric glue if you're feeling fancy, I just used Elmer's glue and everything is still sticking just fine one year later.
Numbers 1-24 (really, 1-9 will do) cut out from felt. More on this later.
Hole punch.

Tags

I made mine a year ago, so my photos are a bit limited. The process here is pretty simple, though:

1. Cut out numbers in red felt. If you're fancy and have a cutting machine, you're golden. If you're a ghetto crafter like me, here's what I did:

Choose a clear, open font (I used CK Frosting) and print out the numbers 1-9 on plain old paper.
Carefully cut out the numbers.
Trace them onto some red felt, making sure that you trace the numbers backwards so you don't get visible pencil marks.
Cut them out, and repeat until you have enough for the numbers 1-24.

2. Take your white felt, and cut out 24 rectangles. Mine measure about 2x3 inches (5x7.5 cm). With an 81/2 x 11" sheet, you can fit 4 by 3, 4 if you get a bit squidgy on the height of the tags. It doesn't really matter if they're not all identical.

3. Cut the corners off one side of your rectangle to make it tag-shaped.

4. With the hole punch, make a hole for your ribbon to go through.
5. Glue the numbers onto the tags. Tadah! (Bonus points: stitch the numbers into place with red or white thread. I haven't done mine, but I keep thinking about it.)

Bags

1. Cut out 24 strips of fabric in varying widths and lengths. Fold them in half widthwise to determine the size of each bag. Think about the things you'll be putting inside to determine the size and shape of the bags. A few pieces of candy can go in a very small bag, but a DVD needs a pretty tall bag. Take into account that you will need enough fabric at the top of the bag to tie a ribbon around it.

2. Fold bags in half and stitch along the two long sides. Stitch School has a great tutorial for blanket stitch here, although as I look closer, I appear to have invented my own bastardization of blanket stitch on my bags. Oh well. I told you I shouldn't be making sewing tutorials!

3. Repeat and repeat and repeat until you are done!

To finish

1. Fill your bags with goodies.

2. Slip tags onto lengths of ribbon, and tie onto corresponding bag.

3. Slap bags into a vessel of your choice, and you are done!

A cute little exchange about Christmas

2011-11-30T09:02:00.001-07:00

Mama, what are you talking about?

Espen: Mama, show me Christmas? I see Christmas?
Me: Uhm.... it's hard to show you Christmas. There is Christmas music, and Christmas trees, but really, Christmas is in here (touching his heart).
Espen (utterly bewildered, poking his little pajama-clad belly) Christmas here?

The poor kid is truly confused now, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

All I want for Christmas is...

2011-11-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

Do you make Christmas wish lists? We used to in my family when we were kids and teenagers, but that seemed to go by the wayside at some point, and I haven't made one since. But now, of course, all the best bloggers seem to be posting them, and they're all so pretty and dreamy that I just wanted to make one too!

Left to right, top to bottom:

Farmer's Egg Crate, from Anthropologie. I love pretty kitchen things, and this is no exception. I may be insane for wanting to pretty up the inside of my fridge, but the thought of seeing that every day just makes me smile.
La Roux: La Roux. I'm in need of some new music, and I've liked the sound of La Roux for a couple of years without every actually getting the album.
Design Sponge at Home. I've followed the Design Sponge blog for ages, and was excited to see that Grace Bonney has put together a book. My house may not look anything like the homes you'll see on Design Sponge, but I love looking and getting some new ideas.
Is anyone else in love with the clothbound Penguin classics? I love pretty things, and I love books, so this is pretty much perfection for me! I'd love any of them, but Sense and Sensibility and Little Women are at the tippy top of my list. I haven't read either of them yet, but have wanted to read either for years.
Leather gloves. Not necessarily these ones from Overstock (although I do like them!), but I would love a pair of warm, lined leather gloves. I love how a nice pair of leather gloves look, and I'd like them for driving in on those winter mornings when the car hasn't quite warmed up yet.
The entire Farmer's Market line from Anthropologie is killing me softly with its (siren) song, but these little baskets are especially adorable. I mean, look at it!
I want a bright, splashy,vintage-y calendar for my kitchen. This vintage travel calendar is really ticking my boxes, but I'd really love anything with the same feel. The only thing I'm really married to is the big whitespace around the image. It's just crisp!
Domino: The Book of Decorating. I loved the magazine before it went out of print, and just really want to snap up the book before it disappears for ever.
Asymmetric collar felted pea coat from eShakti. Here's the tricky thing about this one: I've actually had my eye on it for about a year, and this year my mum ordered it for me for Christmas. It arrived today, and I am so pleased with it that I included it on the list :)
Regina Spektor: Far. I've liked Regina Spektor for ages, but haven't ever gotten any of her music. Really, though, I am just interested in new music. Any ideas?
Savon de Marseille. I know, I know: it's a $23 bottle of soap, so help me. But I've been dying to try it, I love the glass bottle and the styling, and I could refill it with cheapy (cheapier, anyway) soap when it was empty. And bonus! This particular one is grapefruit scented, which I think smells fantastic. And bonus-bonus, I would smile every time I saw the French word for grapefruit, which is pamplemousse!
This is really the same thing as #4, but I wanted to show you the pretty cover for the Penguin clothbound copy of Little Women.

A few less specific things are on my list too:

A scarf or a brooch to brighten up my new coat.
A subscription to Better Homes and Gardens. I think they're only $6!
Jewelry. I am not very good with jewelry, but I feel like I could use a few statement pieces.
Tops and cardigans.
Norwegian books, music and films. Oh, and chocolate.
And can I just say, I love me a good old fashioned gift card.

Gosh, that was materialistic! And fun :) At least I have a good shopping list for the after-Christmas sales, right?

Giving Thanks: November 21

2011-11-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

You guys, I am trying my hardest here to hold back the Christmas blogging until after Thanksgiving, but it is tough. I am sticking to my guns that Christmas should be contained to December, or at least until after Thanksgiving or the first Sunday in advent. I love Christmas, but I love Thanksgiving too, and really feel like it deserves to be its own holiday. My problem this year, though, is that I am just starting to feel so dang Christmassy already! I think it's probably because it's the first Christmas where Espen can really grasp what's going on, and so I am just exploding with excitement over all the fun we're going to have. GAH!

Oh, it feels good to get it out of my system. But expect Christmas to be pretty fair game around here after this weekend, ok?

Anyway, I am still feeling grateful over here. I haven't been posting every day, but this whole Giving Thanks has really helped me to be constantly mindful of the things I am grateful for. Even when I haven't posted, I have still found the time at the end of each day to ask myself what I am grateful for today.

November 21st: I am thankful for the internet.

No, really. I am! The internet has been a completely life-changing phenomenon for me in the last decade. When I first moved out here to Utah, I had to buy phone cards to call my family at home in Norway. We would talk for about 20 minutes or so every other week, and I'd pay as much for a phone card then as we pay for our entire phone service now. We had email of course, but it was no easier in early 2000 to find the time to sit down and write an email than it is in 2011. Internet connections were often slow, and websites had very limited content compared to today.

I love how I sound like I'm talking about The Olden Days (Erin :) ) and this was only 11 years ago!

Anyway, so much has changed! It used to feel like my home and my family were so far away from me, but now it's almost like having a foot at home in Norway. Thanks to the internet, I read Norwegian newspapers daily, we watch our favorite Norwegian shows on the day they air, I stay in touch with family and friends via Facebook and blogs, I can look up Norwegian recipes when I'm feeling homesick, I can share photos and videos instantly with my family, I can talk to them on the phone as much as I want to for a tiny fee, and holy-freaking-crap, I can see them whenever I want to!

A very young Espen Skypes with Granny.

Skype has been a fantastic thing for our family. We talked my parents into giving it a try when I was pregnant, and Espen had his first Skypedate with Granny and Granddad on the day he was born. Now we Skype a couple of times a week. Espen will often ask to "Skype Granny?" and he completely has a relationship with his grandparents even though they're almost 5,000 miles away. They can watch Espen play, and I can see my mum's latest shopping treasures and knitting projects. It has been a great comfort to be able to actually see my dad since his cancer diagnosis too. Just being able to see how he is doing with my own eyes has given me a lot of peace of mind.

I could go on and on. There's online bill pay, Google, Netflix, Pinterest, blogs, amazon, and all kinds of conveniences and entertainment to be had. Of course this isn't a very nuanced point of view, seeing as I am only focusing on the parts I like. There are plenty of downsides to the internet too, from fraud to causing problems for people with a variety of addictions. But of course there is going to be a downside to essentially allowing the entire world into your home. Today, though, I am grateful for all of the wonderful benefits to be being able to do exactly that.

Are you grateful for the internet? Why? Why not?

Giving Thanks: November 15

2011-11-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

November 15th: I am thankful for four little words

Photo taken by my mum, via Skype. She is sneaky like that.

Kids really do say the darndest things. Why, it was only this morning that I was burying my head in my hands as my 21-month old son repeated "oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot" over and over again. Other Espen classics have lately included "Mama, draw poopy?" and a suggestion that his Daddy should sleep outside. The things that come out of his mouth vary from giggle-inducing, to stupefying (Did he just say...?) to outright mortifying.

And sometimes they just melt my heart:

I was putting Espen down for his nap after a very wild and raucous diaper change. He was squirmy and wiggly and I was thinking to myself that this nap is just not going to take (it still hasn't). After getting him settled in with his crazy cat, two giraffes, a hippo and a blanket, I stroked his face and told him good night. That was when Espen looked up at me said said : "Mama, I love you."

He has never said that before. Granted, he's not even two yet, so it's not too surprising, but this is also a little boy whose vocabulary includes words like "hexagon", "ambulance" and "sculpture". We tell him that we love him all the time, so it's a phrase he's heard, and as his mother, I know it's an emotion he feels. Today was just the day he decided to put the two together, and I am so grateful I was there for it. So grateful to feel the impact of having those words meant for me. So grateful to know that, together, we are doing something right.

Giving Thanks: November 14

2011-11-14T22:44:00.001-07:00

November 14th: I am thankful for insulin

This gorgeous photo is of me and my lovely Erin, bestie and former roommate extraordinaire, and was taken during our college days. Don't we have "serious students" written all over us? Anyway, the reason why I'm treating you to this blast from the past is that today is World Diabetes Day, and Erin has diabetes.

You can read more on her blog here.

Before we were roommates, I didn't know all that much about diabetes. I mean, I knew that it meant that your body didn't produce insulin, and that you had to give yourself insulin shots to compensate. I knew that you shouldn't eat sugar (not technically true), and I knew that you could go into something called a diabetic coma.

(My spell check just tried to correct that to "diabetic roman.")

Then I met Erin. Erin spoke German, painted pictures, owned a Mac before they were cool, played the flute and the piano, liked Indian food and double-stuffed oreos, double-majored in psychology and anthropology, and loved Sting with a fiery passion. And she had diabetes.

I could say that Erin's diabetes didn't matter. But it became part of our lives, because it was part of her life. She had an insulin pump attached to her body at all times, tested her blood sugar many times a day and always carried a test kit with her. You could find stray test strips anywhere within a one mile radius of our house. Erin got loopy when her blood sugar was low, and grumpy when it was high. She kept insulin in the fridge, and a bin of pump supplies in her room. In spite of all of this, diabetes never, ever defined who Erin was or what she did.

The summer before I got married, Erin packed up her diabetes and moved to Ghana for three months. I'll let you read all about it here but think power outages (remember insulin has to be kept cold!), eating goats, being stranded in Burkina Faso and fixing a moped with a hair tie, oh, and crocodiles.

See?!?

Clearly I am grateful for Erin and the influence she's had on my life. But I am also so grateful for the simple existence of insulin that has taken diabetes from a death sentence to a chronic illness. And that has given me one of my best friends.

Giving Thanks: November 13

2011-11-13T17:32:00.001-07:00

November 13th: I am thankful for these guys

The startled look is due to the flash. They are playing in the dark because that is how we roll, yo.

As I write and our shepherd's pie bubbles away in the oven, Nick and Espen are in their blanket fort, racing cars. And, I believe, giraffes. If you can think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I'd love to hear it.

(Oh, and yes, those are his pajamas.)

Giving Thanks: November 7,8,9 and 10

2011-11-10T19:24:00.001-07:00

Hello internet! Just stopping by to confirm that I am, indeed, still alive and still feeling thankful. I've just had to work a little harder to get there in the last couple of days. Espen got sick on Sunday night/Monday morning, and so we were up with him every hour until about 6 AM. Needless to say, we were all exhausted and grumpy. Then, after a few days of randomly bursting into tears, I notice that Espen has a new tooth, and it was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Until yesterday morning when Nick and I both woke up with sore throats. And then tonight I discover that Espen has another new tooth on the way. Poor little guy!

So I've been having to dig a little deeper to find the gratitude. The amazing thing though, is that there is always something to be grateful for.

November 7th: I am thankful for grandparents

Espen and Grandma in happier times.

On Monday afternoon Espen went from being a tearful, listless little lump that only wanted to be held and watch illicit amounts of Kipper to a squealing, giggling little streak of happy running around the living room in about 3 seconds flat. The difference? Grandma and Grandpa came over for a visit. They live over three hours away, so I have to say that their timing for a quick trip up North was impeccable. And while they were playing, it gave me a chance to do some listless slumping of my own. But seeing Espen so happy and having so much fun, and knowing he really didn't feel good, was great. And I'm thankful for Grandma and Grandpa, the only people who could make that happen.

And then later that evening, Espen got some dinosaur stickers in the mail from Granny and Granddad. Way to grandparent from halfway around the world! Sticking those all over the kitchen window completely saved the day on Tuesday when we were stuck in the house for day two of the North Family Sickathon 2011.

November 8th: I am thankful for my life situation.

I hope to tread a little carefully with this one: Lots of parents work outside the home, and lots of parents don't work outside the home. I think that each family needs to decide what will work best for them. This week I am grateful to belong to the latter group. I know how fortunate we are to even be able to consider having me stay home full-time. I'm always happy we made this choice, because it feels like the right one for us. This week it was great to just know that I was free to take care of Espen without worrying about anything else.

November 9th: I am thankful for restaurants.

When I picked Nick up from work we were tired, we were hungry and none of us were feeling great. Nick works in downtown Provo, so we were within seconds of about 12 restaurants that we like. Yesterday I was thankful for Guru's and their California Club wrap. Bonus gratitude points for their kids menu and a cheese quesadilla that Espen would actually eat.

November 10th: I am thankful for friends, visiting teachers and plates of treats.

OK, I know that I was thankful for friends on Monday, but I was thankful all over again today. In our church we have something called visiting teachers. It basically means that every woman in the church has two women assigned to her to basically look out for her and whatever she needs. My visiting teachers have brought me meals when Espen was born, when I was getting over surgery or when I was even just not feeling good. So today, when I heard a knock at the door and I saw it was my visiting teacher, I had no hesitation in hauling my un-showered, sweat-pantsed self to the door. Of course it helps that she's a good friend too, and in this case, a good friend bearing a plate of chocolatey treats. Definitely a highlight of my day! And while the treats were delectable, what really meant something was that someone had taken the time to think of me and how to brighten my day.

What are you feeling thankful for?

Giving Thanks: November 6

2011-11-07T22:13:00.001-07:00

November 6th: I am thankful for friends.

Anyone who has read this blog, or known me in person, for any length of time will know that I get very braggy about my friends. And for good reason! I'm not sure how exactly we have done it, but somehow we've managed to surround with the loveliest, kindest, funniest, most generous group of people imaginable. Somewhere in our youth or childhood, we must have done something good, I suppose.

Me, Annika (one of my oldest and best friends) and a very little Espen.

I was reminded of this fact yesterday when we sat down to dinner with some very good, old friends, as well as an old acquaintance/new friend and his lovely wife. We all had so much to talk about that we could hardly get a word in edgeways between the six of us and Espen, who was perhaps our liveliest conversationalist. It felt especially poignant to sit down with a new friendship and all the potential that holds compared to an old friendship so close that it borders on family. On the one hand we were all introductions and getting to know each other, on the other hand we were completing each other's sentences and reaching back into a shared history of many, many years of friendship.

I am thankful for friends, old and new, near and far. I am thankful for the blessing of the family we are allowed to choose: our friends.

Giving Thanks: November 5

2011-11-05T23:45:00.001-06:00

November 5th: I am thankful for the weekend.

That is all. Proceed.

Giving Thanks: November 4

2011-11-05T00:17:00.000-06:00

November 4th: I am thankful for a perfect moment.

After lunch today, Espen brought his Legos into the kitchen while I worked on a sweater I am knitting for Nick. I sat at the kitchen table, he played on the floor beside me while we both listened to music. I looked down at Espen playing by my feet and realized that I was perfectly happy. For a short, fleeting moment everything was right in my world and my heart was filled with pure joy. I am grateful for that moment and for the quiet voice within me that reminded me it was there.

Giving Thanks: November 3

2011-11-03T22:37:00.000-06:00

November 3rd: I am thankful for play dates, friends and so much more.

The boys enjoy some story time.

Espen has two little friends, and the three of them are all born within four weeks of each other. These little friends happen to all live within walking distance of each other, and more than that, they happen to have some pretty wonderful women for their mothers. Well, the other two do. Espen has me.

The six of us have been getting together pretty regularly lately for a weekly play date. We say it's for the kids, and we mean it, but really, truthfully, it's for us moms too. It certainly is for me. Being a full-time, stay-at-home mom is a wonderful gift. It is truly the most rewarding, significant thing I have ever, ever done. Having said that, it can also be frustrating, tedious and even a little lonely. Which is why it can be so good for everyone involved when you find someone else who speaks your language and knows where you are coming from. I am especially grateful for the love and the kindness that these women show to my little boy; reading him books, letting him climb all over them, being patient when he decides to drive trains on their child's faces.

It's about the kids too. It's about learning to share toys and attention, learning to interact with other people, how to be social. It's about wrestling and toddler pillow fights and working together to figure out who's going to sit on the car and who's going to push. It's about having fun, and discovering the joy that comes from having friends.

Giving Thanks: November 2

2011-11-02T23:32:00.000-06:00

November 2nd: I am thankful for electricity... and the occasional power cut.

Just as we were finishing up breakfast this morning, we had a power cut. Clearly, nothing like people have been experiencing in the North-East, but still, we were without power for a good two hours. Which meant I got absolutely nothing done. No dishes, no laundry, no vacuuming, no internet... nope. Oh, and no heat. That was the tricky one. The other stuff I could just throw my hands up over, because, let's be honest, not being able to do housework isn't the end of the world. But not having heat was a little harder to ignore. At first we were OK; I worked on a sweater I'm knitting for Nick and Espen played his little heart out. Then Espen came up to me and said: "Cold, Mama. Blanket?" Break my heart!

So I scooped him up and headed upstairs where we camped out under the duvet in my bed. We watched cartoons on the iPad (thank you, 8 hour battery!) and read books and just played together. It ended up being a really nice way to spend the morning. And just like every cliche about power cuts ever, I was a little disappointed when the power came back on. But let's be honest, not when the vents started gushing with lovely warm air.

Going without all of our day-to-day conveniences for a few hours was a great reminder of how fortunate we are to live so comfortably. At the same time, spending some time being unplugged showed me how easy it is to get wrapped up in those conveniences and completely miss out on the simple pleasures like snuggling up with a book and your favorite toddler.

It's amazing what you can accomplish when none of your appliances work.

Giving Thanks: November 1

2011-11-01T14:37:00.002-06:00

Before we get all swallowed up in our preparations for Christmas (or The Holidays, if that's how you roll), I would like to take some time to reflect on the things that I am grateful for. One of the things that I love about the American holiday of Thanksgiving, is that if you take even the tiniest moment to stop and think about it, you find yourself considering the things that you have to be grateful for in your life.

This year, rather than a fleeting thought at the Thanksgiving dinner table, I would like to take the whole month of November to reflect on some of the things I have to be grateful for in my life. I will try to do a short post every day about something I am grateful for, big or small. Won't you join me?

November 1st: I am thankful for a warm and sunny October.

This morning we woke up to a wet and rainy November, which soon turned into a cold and snowy November. Quite a contrast to the sunshine we went trick or treating in last night! But we knew that winter and cold weather was coming, so I am just grateful for all the sunshine and mild weather we have had. It feels like a gift to know that the long, dark winter will be just that little bit shorter this year.

My roses on October 31st.

Playing in the sunshine at the park, October 22nd.

Trick or treating, October 31st.

Halloween aftermath

2011-10-31T22:02:00.001-06:00

I am writing this from my couch, where Nick and I are eating leftover Halloween candy and watching British people being murdered (specifically Scottish people, actually). I'm a little sad that I didn't do my annual Halloween week here on the blog, but I just haven't been feeling it for blogging lately. You can see what we've been up to in previous years here.

We have been getting our Halloween on, though!

First I got a little crafty with some friends and made this little witchy thing, that now lives on top of my fridge. It's not typically my thing, but I had a really fun time and am quite pleased with how it turned out.

We went to a pumpkin patch in search of The Perfect One,

And to a corn maze.

We made paper pumpkins - again.

And we took this little train driver out trick or treating.

But not before he had spent some serious time driving his train on the pipes outside. Priorities.

Espen and his loot.

Because it was close to bed time, and he's still such a little guy, we only hit a handful of houses. He loved it, and soon caught onto the drill of knocking on doors and carefully selecting his candy. Or "cannies" as he lovingly calls them. We let him have one piece after dinner, but he was so wild and excited about the trick or treaters coming to the door that Nick ended up finishing it up for him. Parenting is rough stuff, I tell you what.

It's really true that holidays really come into focus when you have children of your own. I've always thought Halloween was fun, and have gotten into dressing up and decorating before, but it never really meant much. Seeing the pure joy and excitement on Espen's face tonight, though, made it about so much more than pumpkins and candy. It's fantastic to be given a second chance to catch a glimpse of the magic in the world that only children can see.

Happy birthday, loves!

2011-10-12T13:59:00.001-06:00

Today is Nick's birthday, and so my day is filled with cake baking and wrapping presents. Good gravy, I love that man! Happy birthday :)

Freezing cold and very happy.

I'll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled programming, but until then I have a cake to frost.

As you were.

Unnaturally curly

2011-10-10T13:19:00.001-06:00

In the midst of doing Maddy's hair tutorial, and looking gorgeous!

One day I'll learn to put on some make up before posting pictures of myself on the internet. Not today, it seems.

My hair wouldn't curl if you paid, so we shall see. Stay tuned!

Goodnight, Steve.

2011-10-06T09:58:00.002-06:00

Steve Jobs and wife Laurene at his last keynote address.

I am finding myself surprisingly emotional about the passing of Steve Jobs. Not simply because we are a dyed-in-the-wool Apple family and ol' Steve helped make our lives easier, or even because he was an iconic figure of our century. I'm sad to lose such a brilliant mind, and just a plain decent human being.

Of all that has been written about Steve Jobs recently, I haven't seen anything that has touched me more than this blog post written by a neighbor, Lisen Stromberg. Please note that it was written more than a month before he passed away. Not a eulogy, but a tribute to a good man:

My neighbor, Steve Jobs.

Image borrowed here.

Toddler activities: A trip to the park

2011-10-03T15:03:00.001-06:00

Like many of you, (Hello, UK!) we've been having a bit of an Indian summer around here. We have been soaking up as much sun and warm weather as possible, in preparation for the months and months we will be spending indoors soon. Sigh.

One of the best ways to spend time outside with a toddler, in my opinion, is to go to the park. There's lots of open space, places to explore, things to do, and endless energy-burning opportunities to be had. Add to that that fact that parks are free to visit, and you've got yourself a seriously good deal.

We are lucky enough to have (roughly) 20 parks within a 20 minute drive of our house. Only one of them is within realistic walking distance, so when we had the car one day last week we made sure to spend some time at a park we rarely visit in Provo on our way to pick up Daddy from work.

A few photos:

Espen the Explorer.

"Circle!"

Isn't he a handsome little guy?

This was a really easy little field trip. We were going out and about anyway, so all I had to do was make sure we left about half an hour early to make time for the park. The park itself was only a few blocks out of our way, and we parked on the street, which made it really quick and easy to get in and out. Then all I had to do was stay two steps behind Espen while he played his little heart out. He had a great time exploring a new park and playground, and half an hour was just about perfect for both of us. I loved seeing how a new playground challenged Espen and encouraged him to think a little differently. I loved seeing how he is friendly and confident enough to make new friends no matter where we are. I did not love how that same confidence makes him think he can walk off a four foot drop and be fine. But I learned that I can move quickly when I need to!

The weather is supposed to get colder and wetter this week, so I guess fall is finally here. We will be sneaking in as much time on the playground as we can.

Delft

2011-09-28T14:04:00.000-06:00

I have to say that with that photography project under my belt, I feel like my blogger's block might finally be at an end! I was thrown for such a loop with everything that happened this summer, that blogging often felt like the last thing I wanted to do, and so I just got out of the habit. But now I feel like I might just be back!

I want to pick up where I left off in July, telling you about our trip to Norway (and the Netherlands and England) this spring. I just want to make sure I record some of the things we did there, so just smile and nod like looking at someone else's vacation photos is your fave, ok?

Let's start with Delft.

While visiting Nick's sister Tess and her boyfriend, Jasper, in the Netherlands, they took us on a trip to the city of Delft. I have to say that I really enjoyed visiting a country where everything is within driving distance! We stayed in the middle of the country, and were still only about two hours from every border, which is handy for sightseeing.

Anyway, Delft was on my list for two reasons: the artist Johannes Vermeer and Delft pottery. I hadn't really thought much about the city itself, and had my socks well and truly knocked off by it's charm and beauty. See for yourself:

Feel free to ignore me crouching in the corner.

Canals were everywhere.

This picture just makes me smile as I remember how... cute! it all was.

Seriously. I loved it. Even to the point of checking out some real estate in a real estate agent's window. I especially love that because it is a small city, the streets and canals are very narrow, which makes you feel like there is water everywhere. And they have these tiny bridges that just make your heart sing.

Delft is an old city, with many of the buildings dating back to the 17th century. Because of an explosion in 1654 that destroyed most of the city, there aren't too many buildings older than that, although both of the biggest churches survived.

The spire of the Nieuwe Kerk

A little bit of architectural humor for you. This photo shows what is known as the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. Nieuwe Kerk means "new church," because this little spring chicken was only completed in 1492. Which makes it a total newbie compared to the Oude Kerk (Old Church) which was founded in 1246.* It makes me smile that something built almost 600 years ago is still considered "new".

We started out our day at the Vermeer museum. We didn't realize before we went that the Vermeer museum didn't have any of Vermeer's paintings, so that was a little disappointing. Of course, if I had thought about it, I might have remembered that his works are few and very rare, and mostly owned by foreign museums. (Art History major, remember?) Vermeer is actually one of the few great artists whose full body of work you could actually realistically see in person. He didn't paint much in the first place, and so only 34 painting remain today. I think I've seen 3, so 31 to go!

I digress.

The museum had done a great job with what they had, and once we understood what they were doing (i.e., not displaying original works by Vermeer), we enjoyed the exhibits. But I would say that unless you're a pretty hardcore art fan, you might not enjoy the museum all that much. Their gift shop was pretty, though, so you might enjoy that! :) If you're curious about this Vermeer dude and why I personally go all Art Nerd over him, you can see a pretty cool display of his work here. The Milk Maid rocks my world.

After the museum, we spent the rest of the day in search of some Delftware. I wanted a Christmas tree ornament for us (we often buy something for our tree when we travel), and plate for Nick's mama, who collects them. It wasn't too hard to track down some hand painted Delftware, seeing as about 60 percent of the town square was devoted to selling the stuff. It was, however, much, much harder to pick something. I didn't want the typical windmill-emblazoned tourist stuff, and so we were in and out of stores like mad people, trying to find Just The Thing. We ended up getting a little hand-painted bell for our tree, bought from a lady who painted right there in her little store, and then a plate for Grandma from the official Royal Delft store. We also bought a little hand painted cow for Espen. I like the idea of getting him a little souvenir from his visits to places he won't remember when he gets older.

An attempt at taking a photo of the Royal Delft window. I got lots of glare, but ultimately decided I liked how you could see the square in the background, reflected in the window.

Espen was desperately tired by this point, and so sick of stores and not being allowed to touch anything. I'd happily bring a bull into a china shop rather than him at that point, so we called it a day, bought some ice creams and sat down to watch the newly married couples emerge from the church and the city hall that face each other across the square.

Another place to revisit the next time we go to see Tess.

*All of this fun info found on Wikipedia.

30 in 30: Back from beyond the grave.

2011-09-27T13:48:00.003-06:00

Clearly I fell off the wagon on this one, but clearly we're going to ignore that little fact as I put forth a Herculean effort to put this baby to bed. Capisce?

*cough cough*

Day 12: Sun flare

The sun in the sky this afternoon in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Day 15: An action shot

Nick and Espen on the slide at the park.

Day 17: Bokeh

Just beyond my little scope! Here's a good tutorial, though.

Day 18: Eyes

My eye. Gettin' a little artsy there.

Day 19: Summertime

Espen playing at the splash pad in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Day 20: Water

Bridal veil falls, Provo canyon, Utah.

Day 21: Micro (up close)

A warm giraffe in the sunshine at Hogle Zoo.

Day 22: Landscape

Kinderdijk, Netherlands.

Day 23: Black and white

Wheal Peevor, Cornwall, England.

Day 24: Love

I've always loved this statue and what it represents at Vigelandsparken in Oslo, Norway.

Day 25: Citrus

Orange tree at the flower market in Amsterdam.

Day 26: Favorite color

Not to toot my own knitting horn, but I really love this shade of red.

Day 27: My weakness

These two. Seriously.

Day 28: Transportation

Espen and Granny at the Railway Museum in Hamar, Norway.

Day 29: Trees

Statue trees at Vigelandsparken in Oslo, Norway.

Day 30: Family

Just the three of us being silly on the stairs one day.

Phew! It feels good to get that taken care of! Granted, some of the photos are from "the archives", and weren't taken specifically for this photography challenge, but I think we'll all live. Right guys?

And now for something completely different! I'll be back.

Forget-me-not

2011-09-26T13:51:00.005-06:00

My heart needed a little lift today, when I saw this video from our church's women's organization broadcast this past weekend. A powerful reminder of who we are.

Want more? The whole address by Dieter F. Uchtdorf can be viewed here.

The Letter A

2011-09-23T18:28:00.000-06:00

This week has become a bit of a weird one, because Espen has been sick with a stomach bug. And so we have placed ourselves under house arrest until he is back to normal again. In light of this, we won't be doing our usual toddler activity post next week, because our activities have mainly revolved around reading books and watching hours and hours of cartoons. However, we did find time for a little before Espen got sick that I thought you might like to see.

The Letter A Learning Activity

It might make sense to kick this off by stating that not only may it be a little nuts to try to teach a 19-month old the alphabet, I am also in no ways academically trained to do so. Having said that, I feel like being Espen's mother qualifies me to say that this little boy is interested and ready to learn! So I decided to put together a little lesson on the first letter of the alphabet for him.

I had seen Alison of Oopsey Daisy's Mommy School posts, and felt hugely inspired by them. I think it's so cool how she recognizes her toddler's potential for learning and goes with it. I knew I wanted to start with the alphabet, so I took some inspiration from Alison's alphabet lessons, and put together my own little lesson.

I started by gathering up a variety of objects from around the house that began with A. I also cut out two large paper A's, and printed off a coloring page from the Sesame Street section of PBSkids.org, and got out our alphabet books for some context. I put this all together while Espen was napping, and stuck it all in a bag for extra interest/surprise/attention-holding.

A is for apple, alligator, avocado, apple sauce, angry and amazed. And for another apple and also an alligator.

After lunch Espen played right into my hands by asking to color. So we got out paper and crayons, and drew a big, blue A. "This is an A", I told Espen. He was OK with that. Then I drew some more things that started with the letter A, like "arm", "ant" and "apple," and we talked about them. Within about 2 minutes, Espen was pointing to the A's and saying "ay!" I was surprised by how quickly he caught on.

Clearly I missed my vocation in life. Shoulda been an artist - just look at that ant!

Then I pulled out the bag and showed Espen the objects inside, describing how each of them starts with an A. "A is for Apple. A is for avocado." I'm not sure how much of this he actually got, but he was interested and having fun, which, I think, is the most important thing at this point. Then we got out the paper A's, one for me and one for Espen. I hung mine on the wall in the kitchen, leaving room for the rest of the alphabet if we get that far. Espen carried his around, singing "ay ay ay" for a good hour afterwards.

A little tip: I chose a font that I like (Helvetica) in a color that works well with our wall color. That way I won't mind having a bit of pre-pre-school flava to our kitchen. I'm hopeful that if and when we make it through the alphabet, we'll have a cool little wall mural going on. Or a mangled collection of chewed up paper scraps.

Then we finished up the lesson by coloring the Sesame Street picture and watching a couple of Youtube videos about the Letter A, which Espen really loved. I felt like seeing the videos address the things we had been talking about really helped solidify the things we had been talking about in his mind.

I was really happy with how this turned out. Espen really had fun and enjoyed himself, which was what I really wanted to accomplish, and I have to say that I enjoyed myself too. As well as having fun, I feel like Espen actually learned something. It has been five days now, and he can still identify a capital A when he he sees one. He'll even tell you what an A "says" if you ask him. (/æ/, if you were wondering.)

Including preparation, I probably spent about half an hour on this whole thing. The most time-consuming part of that was probably printing and cutting out the A's. The actual "lesson" probably lasted about 10 minutes, which was just right for what I had planned and for Espen's attention span. I think we will definitely be doing the other letters of the alphabet, but not on any sort of rigid schedule. Espen is just too young to have his days planned and rigorously scheduled for him yet, but when we're looking for something to keep us busy, we'll do the rest. It was fun for me too, and I enjoyed coming up with, and putting together, our little letter activity.

What do you think? Is 19 months too young for "formal" learning like this? Do you teach your kids at home, or do you feel like school will come quickly enough for all of that? And if I do more lesson "plans" like this, would you like me to post them here?

Have a good weekend!

Toddler Activities Week 5

2011-09-20T16:04:00.001-06:00

Before we get started, I have to tell you that my son called me saucy yesterday. Saucy! I have to admit that made my whole entire week. It was just out of the blue too, which made it perfect.

The truth is that I really haven't been feeling very saucy lately. Unfocused, unmotivated, disorganized and exhausted - yes. Saucy, not so much. While what I probably really need is a sharp kick in the pants, it's nice to know that someone thinks his mom has still got it.

Anyway.

We'll be making a small change to our toddler activity round-ups. While Espen and I both love spending time with our friends, I've decided to not write about our play dates anymore. I'd hate for anyone to feel like we're just spending time with them to check something off on our list, or for the sole purpose of blogging about it. And even though I'm careful about not using identifiable names or photos of other people's children, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable by writing about them. We value our friendships so much, and I just feel like it's better to be safe than sorry.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Field trip I have racked my brain, and I don't think we really had one this week, unless you could a trip to the doctor's office and a quick jaunt to BYU. Which you really shouldn't. Still, with the zoo and farm country behind us and a couple of fun trips in the pipeline, I don't really feel too bad about that. Next week!

An ambitious activity Goodness, this one could have been so disastrous! I was feeling tired and grumpy and just generally crummy last week, so of course I called my husband at work to tell him just that. I'm pretty helpful like that. He suggested that I load Espen into the stroller and walk down to the park, about a mile away. I whined and made excuses, and then ultimately decided to go. It was hot and dry and dusty, and there is no sidewalk for part of the walk, and cars turning left at the light wouldn't let me cross, and a huge part of the walk is along a busy highway, and and and....! Espen had a great time. He's at that stage where he just loves anything with wheels, so he had a great time watching all of the cars, trucks and "O-sicles" (motorcycles) that went by. In spite of his cheerfulness, I continued to whip myself into a state of misery until we got to the park, where we discovered that the playground was closed! Not just closed, but fenced in, with enormous holes in the ground. Nick had offered to pick us up on his way home from work, but he wasn't due to leave work for another half hour, and there we were with nothing to do.

So we made us some proverbial lemonade. Although it was September, and we were absolutely unprepared, I took a deep and anxiety-ridden breath and let Espen play on the splash pad.

And he had a fantastic time! Yes, mine was the ghetto child playing in the water in his diaper and a t-shirt with absolutely nothing to change into, but mine was also the little boy who was having the time of his life. It seems that this is a lesson I can't learn often enough: to let go, stop worrying and just enjoy.

Toddler activities: Week 4

2011-09-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

I am in such a blogging slump right now! It's like I want to write, but then I don't have time. Or I can't be bothered. But I still want to do it. Ack!

Last week was a good week, with just the right amount of stuff going on for Espen. We somehow seemed to strike a pretty good balance of going out, having friends over and just hanging out at home. More of that, please!

Espen on the zoo train. This is basically the expression he wore all day. :)

A field trip: We were feeling brave and went to the zoo with S and her mom. It's a 45 minute drive, and I knew we would be cutting into nap time, but I also knew that Espen would absolutely love it, so off we went. Yes, things did get a bit hairy in parts when we left much later than planned for (toddlers will do that to you!) and didn't end up getting home until three hours past Espen's nap, but all in all, it was such a fun day out. The kids loved just about everything about it (with the possible exception of not being allowed inside the tiger enclosure), and the moms had a good time too. I can't recommend teaming up with another parent highly enough. I would never, ever take on a day out like this with Espen on my own, but when you go with another family the kids can play together, and you have someone else to help wrangle, feed and entertain as you go. Days out like this are making me a braver and more relaxed mom. Except maybe when there are wild turkeys trying to eat my son('s lunch).

A play date: Nice and low-key this week! We just wandered over to Espen's friend L's house. The boys played pretty well side-by-side while L's mom and I chatted. There was some refereeing to be done over sharing toys and respecting personal space, but once again I got to see that these kids are well on their way to growing up be civilized human beings.

An ambitious activity: This one wasn't even prompted by me, but this week Espen baked cookies. He has been showing lots of interest in cooking lately, and so we have been letting him get involved a little bit, by stirring things together and tasting ingredients and whatnot. I'd thought about baking cookies with Espen, but ultimately put it off because it sounded difficult and messy. Sigh. Did you know I struggle with messy? Enter my good friend Annika, who just has "fun pseudo-aunt" written all over her. We did a little baking when she came over last week, and Espen was so interested that Annika let him make cookies with the leftover dough. Difficult? Yes. It is hard to direct those little hands that are so sure they know best, and some small frustration on both parts is basically inevitable. Messy? Absolutely! See that shirt? But really, cookies can be lumpy. T-shirts and small boys can be washed. It's a small price to pay for giving my little boy a brand new experience that he loved so much. We will be buying an apron and trying again.

Annika and Espen baking cookies.

30 in 30: Day 16 - Mason jar/jelly jar.

2011-09-07T09:15:00.001-06:00

This one worked out well. Espen and I happened to pick some flowers while we were out on a walk the other morning, which we then came home and put in a jar because the flowers were too short for a vase. It wasn't until later that I realized that a jar was the next thing on my photo challenge. All i had to do was whip out a quick shot while Espen ate his lunch. Nice and easy!

I love having fresh flowers around, and this loppy little bunch is especially charming, I think. It's nice to take advantage of the rest of the summer while we can.

Housekeeping

2011-09-06T18:15:00.000-06:00

Just a few things I wanted to tell you:

I made a Facebook page for Project Project! You can check it out here, and of course it would warm the little cockles of my heart if you "like" it too. It's mostly so the people who are interested in my blog can follow it without me having to post each update to my regular newsfeed, but if there's an ego boost to be had, I'll take it! I'll post some fun stuff on there too, to keep things interesting.
Check out the new featured blog, Utah Valley Foodie, written by the lovely Janey, a girl who definitely knows her food. Hope you're hungry!
I need a new blog header! And maybe a button. Any suggestions? *cough cough* Want to make me one? *cough cough*
Do you use Pinterest? I do! Find me here.

30 in 30: Day 14, Someone I love

2011-09-06T11:46:00.002-06:00

This photo is a few days old, but shows my two favorite people. I definitely love these boys. We had a North family movie night last Sunday. It started at 4 PM and lasted all of 45 minutes, but was a lot of fun. Espen helped pop and season the popcorn, then we all cozied up in a row on the couch to watch Lyle the Kindly Viking. Espen was a big fan of the whole thing. He loved the popcorn and was very concerned about making proper use of his napkin. Or all the napkins. The best part, however, was just doing something together that all three of us could enjoy.

30 in 30: day 13 - Reminds me of my childhood

2011-09-06T00:30:00.000-06:00

This is Kalle. My uncle Dagfinn gave him to me for Christmas when I was either two or three, and he has been with me ever since. Granted, he spent my junior high/middle school/ungdomsskole years in a closet when I was too cool and grown up for toys, but by the time I was 16, it was OK to ironically have toys again. I think I was just happy to have Kalle back, and he slept in my bed all through high school. When I went away to college it was surely time to put away childish things, so Kalle stayed home in Norway while I flew out to BYU. After a summer at home, he came to Utah with me for my second semester and stayed with me all through my college years. I lived in four different apartments with over 30 different roommates, but Kalle was a constant. And Nick, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he still slept in our bed for a while after we got married, right? Then, being an elderly gentleman in his late 20s (what is that in cuddly dog years?) he started coming apart at the seams. First his ears needed to be sewn back on, then his head almost came off. In a state of disrepair, he went back to a life in the closet.

Until I started thinking about something that reminds me of childhood. Of course it had to be Kalle! I pulled him out and mended him. I noticed the big, uneven stitches in any-colored threads from previous mendings performed by a much younger me. He's not perfect, but he's well enough to be out and about in society now. He even made his first trip outside in about 10 years for this photo. A new life for Kalle? Let's hope so.

30 in 30: days 7, 8, and 11.

2011-09-05T16:42:00.001-06:00

I'm having a bit of a love/hate relationship with this challenge, but I guess that's why it's a challenge, right? Some days my life is just not conducive to taking photos of sunsets and silhouettes. Another day I was inspired to do something I have intended to do for literally years. More on that tomorrow.

Day 7: High angle

I stood on the kitchen table to get this shot of Espen eating his lunch. A few thoughts: that kid is one messy eater, and I need to dust the lamp.

Day 8: Sunset

The world was not cooperating with me for this one. Sunsets move fast and don't wait for people who let the battery in the camera die while they're in the middle of a 30 day photo challenge. On my first attempt the battery died, so I went back in, defeated. Nick sent me out again with the camera on my cell phone. The pictures came out flat and awful, so I went back in, defeated. Nick sent me out again with the camera, whose battery had now a chance to charge minutely. I pointed the camera in the direction of the sky, snapped this and the battery died again. All things considered, I think it turned out pretty decent.

Day 11: Silhouette

With Nick gone at work all day, my best option for a model is Espen. Problem: Espen doesn't stop moving. Ever. Solution: Snap him while he's in his high chair and can't escape (see high angle shot above). Actually, we were giving him dinner the other night when I noticed his shadow on the wall and thought "hey, silhouette!" Those little cheeks are packed full of spaghetti, and the other shadow is his beloved sippy. Note: Espen does not actually have a cone head.

Toddler Activities: Week 3

2011-09-05T13:21:00.002-06:00

Did you have a good weekend? We had another great one, just the three of us relaxing at home without any big plans or projects. I have about a brazillion photos to show you, but before I get to them, let me tell you about what Espen and I got up to last week:

Espen and C admiring the pigs.

A field trip: We took advantage of Thanksgiving Point's Two-Buck Tuesdays (sadly, now over) and took a trip to Farm Country with some friends. The earliest we could all make it was 11 AM, which made me nervous because that is getting dangerously close to nap time. We don't mess with nap time around here. But I knew it would be fun and good for us, so I took a deep breath, loaded up the car and off we went. And, oh, it was worth it!

To say Espen enjoyed himself would be the understatement of the century. We soon ditched the stroller so he could run from enclosure to enclosure as fast as his 18 month-old legs could carry him, and bellow out the name of whatever animal was inside: "A rabbit! Chickens! A cow!" Some older kids were counting the pigs with their mother, so soon we were counting everything too: "twoooo, fweee, twoo, seben..." Espen had the time of his life, although I'm not quite sure if he enjoyed the wagon ride or the chickens the most. Yes, there was tired grumpiness when we went back to the car. Yes, he fell asleep in the car and slept for 20 minutes while we drove home and refused to nap when we got there. But every once in a while, it is worth the trade-off to let him do something he really enjoys at the expense of a nap.

A few tips if you're planning a trip to Farm Country yourself:

If your kids are old enough, or you're only bringing one, leave the stroller at home. It's small enough that they can easily walk it themselves, plus it will be easier for the kids to see the animals if they're not strapped into a stroller.
Bring snacks and drinks. They do sell some stuff there, but I wouldn't rely on it to feed your family. Plus Farm Country has some nice grass and benches where you could picnic, which they don't mind you doing at all.
Moms with small children are pushy. Push back, or you'll never get on that wagon ride.
Bring hand sanitizer and sun screen.
Plan on at least an hour, but probably not much more than two. We were comfortably done in about 1 hour and 15, which was just right for our little boys.
Pony ride schmony ride. Only if you think it's worth $2 and 20 minutes standing in line to watch your child ride around in a circle. We are just not there yet.

A play date: It looks like we are officially on the play date circuit, because Espen had a friend to play with every single day this week. We didn't necessarily plan it this way, but it worked out great, and Espen had a really good time. We probably won't stuff our social calendar like this every week, but we both enjoyed spending lots of time with friends while we had the chance.

An ambitious activity: We've honestly been too busy this week! However, I have been making a conscious effort to let Espen help me around the house a lot more lately. He now has one official chore, which is loading and unloading the dryer. He takes it very seriously and works diligently until he is finished. Then he tries his hardest to push the laundry basket filled with clean clothes to the foot of the stairs. It impresses me to see him really put his tiny back into it, even if I do help out quite a lot along the way. I think it's important for kids to learn how to work, and when he enjoys it as much as he does, why not?

Besides child labor, the other thing we have been doing a lot of lately is coloring. Espen begs daily to get the crayons out, and loves to spend hours and hours scribbling away. See my mum's cute post about that here.

How was your week?

30 in 30: Day 9 - fresh fruit.

2011-09-01T15:07:00.000-06:00

The more discerning among you may have noticed that I've skipped a few days in this here photo challenge. And just for the simple fact that the camera was in the kitchen and I was in the living room being much too lazy to get up off the couch and get it. Hmm.... maybe that might be what's keeping me from international super blogger stardom? No matter.

Tuesday's challenge was fresh fruit, which you can generally find around here. Espen has been a complete fruit bat ever since we first introduced him to pureed pears at 4 months old, and so his meals generally involve some kind of fruit or berry. Blueberries have been out of rotation ever since he spent most of his meals squishing them in his hands while bellowing "SKA-WISH!", but we are giving them a try again. So far, so good, even if he does call them strawberries.

30 in 30: Day 10 - Animal

2011-08-31T21:13:00.001-06:00

As it happens, I don't have too many animals parading around my house in anticipation of having their photo taken, so for today's challenge I went digging in the archives and found this photo of an owl that I took in England this summer:

Lest you be of the impression that England is teeming with woodland creatures just aching for a photo op, or that I am even remotely decent with a camera, let me assure you that this was taken at Paradise Park, a wildlife sanctuary in Cornwall. I literally looked up, and there it was. Espen fell deeply in love with owls that day, and brought a little toy one home with him, thanks to some pocket money from his great-granny. He will still happily inform you that an owl says "hoo-hoo" if you ask him. I love how much he loves animals, and hope that he will keep that love with him as he grows older.

Toddler activities: Week 2

2011-08-31T11:08:00.005-06:00

A quick update on what we did last week:

A field trip: We didn't do one. Partially because I knew this week was going to be really busy, and partially because I was just all kinds of off my game last week. No good reason, I just couldn't seem to get it together all week long. This week is much better!

A play date: Espen has a cute little girlfriend in the neighborhood (actually, he has a couple!), and she has her very own bounce house! S and her mom brought it over and set it up on the grass outside our house. Espen was in toddler heaven! His only other bounce house experience involved a lot of much older kids, so he kept getting squished and bounced on. No fun! This time, he was fearless and soon learned how to go down the little slide and scramble back up again on his own. It was so fun to see Espen enjoy a new activity so much!

An ambitious activity: We're trying to soak up the last days of summer, and have been spending a lot of time outside. Espen loves playing in his little pool, but I always put off doing it because it is kind of a hassle. But summer is going fast, so on Monday I bit the bullet and got it all set up. And of course it was worth it, because Espen had a wonderful time splashing in the water and playing outside. We'll definitely be doing that again while the weather is still warm enough.

Crazy-eyed fun!

What have you been doing with your kids lately?

30 in 30: Days 5 and 6 - My breakfast and books.

2011-08-29T16:42:00.003-06:00

Weekends always throw me off my game. It's OK, though, because we happen to have had a particularly lovely one. No plans, no big accomplishments (although, should Costco on a Saturday count?), just the three of us relaxing at home. It was a good reminder to me that we don't always have to have Big Plans to have a good time together.

Day 5: My breakfast

Let's be honest, my friends: there are bloggers out there that could turn this challenge into a visual feast for the eyes. I am not one of them. I barely have my eyes open at breakfast time, let alone the ability to get all fancy with my camera. Or my breakfast. For about six days of the week, the North family is a cereal-eating family. You can also tell that Friday morning, when I took this photo, was a winner because I'm eating my cereal with a teaspoon (no clean regular spoons), and we were basically out of orange juice, so I only got half a glass. However, you should also know that the North family eats breakfast together every single day, and that is awesome. Keeping it simple makes that possible, and I'm not trading.

Day 6: Books

My bedside table is crammed with books. Books I've read, books I plan to read, books I'm reading right now, books I like to keep around for reference. I was going to take a photo of that for you, but then realized that I basically already have. And let's be honest, that would also require cleaning and staging said bedside table in order to make it presentable for you. If this blog should have taught you anything, it is that I am a slovenly woman with very little desire to clean. So no.

Then I looked beside me on the couch (See? Slovenly.) and saw the books I read every single day. Often multiple times a day. The books that bore me to tears, but that I read over and over again because my little boy loves them so. Which makes me love them too, even if does force me to say things like "Red. Flopsy's cape is red. Turquoise. This shoe is turquoise." Espen loves the page with 8 butterflies, and likes to count them with me. He also likes pointing out the animals and shapes that he knows, and has learned words like 'badger' and 'hexagon' from them. Not bad for 18 months! So, if you ever wonder what we might be doing at any given moment, there's a good chance we might be reading our way through 'Peter Rabbit's Bag of Books'. Again.

30 in 30: Day 4 - Clouds

2011-08-25T23:25:00.006-06:00

Busy day, lots to do. I essentially opened the back door and snapped this on my way from point A to point B. I do love my dead trees, though.

Goodness gracious, worst blog post ever! I just reread this, and realized that posting at 11 at night while watching Scrubs is probably not the way to go. I could at least have thrown in some lyrical waxing about Dutch skies and the contrast between light and dark. Or maybe a cohesive sentence or two? But, hey, at least now you know that I love my dead trees. *Forehead slap*

30 in 30: Day 3 - Hands

2011-08-25T15:13:00.003-06:00

Hands can be so beautiful and expressive, and I've seen some really great photos of hands. Don't you love this one, for example? I think I had that in the back of my mind when I set out to do yesterday's assignment, which was hands. However, seeing as Nick and I more or less changed guard duties at the door last night, there wasn't much time for heartfelt family photo sessions. Which left it down to me and Espen. Which, in turn, left it down to me trying to take photos of a squirmy toddler's hands as he tried to get the camera from me to see the "baby" that lives inside. This is what I came up with:

Under the circumstances, I'm pretty happy with it. It touches my little mother-heart, and am sure I will enjoy looking back at it in years to come. It's strange to think that one day that little hand will be bigger than mine.

Then, this morning Espen asked to get the "crats" (crayons) so we could "a color". He likes to sit on my lap at the kitchen table while we both draw on a huge sheet of paper. Sometimes he'll ask me to draw something like flowers, trees, boats, houses, etc., and then he improves/embellishes/scribbles on my drawings to his little heart's content. Espen likes it when we trace around our hands, and asked me to do it today. "A hand? A hand? Mama?" So I did.

I think I almost like this one a little better. It's like a tiny moment, frozen in time. I can guarantee you that we won't have the actual piece of paper in years to come (as of right now, I'd be impressed if it made it through the week), but now we have the photo to remind us of a time when there was nothing Espen liked better than to sit in his mama's lap and color.

I have company! Go check out Tana's 30 Photos in 30 Days here. Same idea, different photos.

30 in 30: Day 2 - My favorite shoes

2011-08-23T12:53:00.003-06:00

It's things like this that make me love being a blogger. How else could a 30-something mother from Spanish Fork justify having her own little photo shoot in the backyard? Why else would I put on my winter boots in 90 degree weather? How else would I know how impossible it is to contort yourself into a position that allows you to get a decent shot of said boots on your own feet?

Eventually I had to give up on being my own model (I think your kind comments from last night's post went to my head! ), and prop them up to get a photo. I don't know if they're my favorite shoes per se, but I do know that when I saw them hiding coyly in the back of the closet the other say, I got all excited for winter. Don't you love the fluffy tassels? I love the fluffy tassels.

I am doing 30 photo posts in 30 days, as found in this photo challenge. Please let me know if you feel inspired to join me - I'd love to see your posts!

30 in 30 : Day 1 - Self-portrait

2011-08-22T21:06:00.003-06:00

This little ol' blog of mine is in need of a little inspiration and a general kick in the pants. I got a little lazy and distracted over the course of the summer, and just sort of got out of the habit of blogging regularly. To help me get back into the swing of things, I am taking on this 30 day photo challenge, found via Pinterest (thanks, Janey!). So, for the next 30 days I will be taking and posting a new photo. And, because I am mouthy like that, I will most likely write a little something to go along with it. Behold!

Day 1: Self-portrait

Four in the afternoon. No makeup. Hair styled by my toddler. (No, really. He likes brushing it. I like letting him :) ) I was going to show y'all how artsy and awesome and frankly beautiful I really am, but let's be honest, friends. Were you to drop by my house at any given moment, this is likely who you'd find. Unless it was before nap time, and then you'd find an un-showered version of the same. And then my cheeks would be pink with embarrassment, and not because I had just wrangled Espen out of the bath.

Toddler activities: Week 1

2011-08-22T10:41:00.005-06:00

We kept busy for our first week of Espen-activities. I kept thinking of so many things to do that I had to kind of rein myself in to not go overboard and down in flames in the first week. (Mixed metaphors, anyone?) Anyway, I promised to keep these pretty short and sweet (who am I kidding?), so here's what we did:

A field trip: We actually sort of went on two. On Monday we had the car and some time to kill, so we went to visit some friends in Orem for a play date. And I made the rule that any play date that involves a 20 minute drive definitely counts as a field trip! Espen's friend, C, is almost three, but the two boys played together so well. They were laughing and chatting and chasing each other around the yard, while C's mom and I sat back, sipped lemonade and chatted. It was great.

Our second field trip came later in the week on one of those afternoons when time just would not pass, and we were both climbing the walls with cabin fever. No car though, so some creativity was definitely in order. So, we looked up the bus schedule, and realized in we could catch the bus over to Nick's work and meet him just as he got off work. Espen has had a deep passion for buses since a bus driver waved to him outside the Primark in High Wycombe, so when I asked him if he wanted to go ride a bus he was so excited he was literally running around in circles. The bus stop is only a few minutes walk from our house, so it was easy to hop on. Espen was so happy and excited to be there, and loved having his own seat beside me on the bus. And when the novelty of that wore off, he was happy to sit on my lap and get a better view out of the window. Definitely a win, and one we will be repeating.

A play date: As well as going to play with C, we also had a friend and his mom come and visit us for a play date. M is a few months younger than Espen, and their only play date so far began and ended in tears. This time they did much better. They mostly played side by side like one-year olds do, but they did occasionally play together. My favorite moment was when Espen brought M every single car he could find for him to play with. Sharing is so hard to teach to an only child, so it was really fun to see Espen do it so willingly.

An ambitious activity: A picnic lunch. The effort here was pretty minimal, and mostly lay in me letting go and relaxing a bit. Instead of our usual lunch in the kitchen, we packed a little lunch, grabbed a blanket and headed outside for a picnic. Espen grazed, played, flopped around and generally had a great time while I shoved food in his mouth in passing. I think it was a great reminder for both of us that lunch can be fun, and not just another checkmark on the list. I think part of the key to making it enjoyable for me was to just decide beforehand that it was going to get messy, and to decide to be OK with that. I did put the blanket straight in the washing machine when we came in, but I already knew that was going to be a consequence, so it was fine.

What was really great was seeing Espen so happy. Every once in a while he'd just flop down in the grass and just lie there, smiling and looking around at the world. He also climbed into my lap for some snuggles, something that doesn't happen nearly enough when I'm busy doing stuff around the house, rather than just sitting down and being available to him.

And that was our week! If you have done anything fun with your kids lately, please let me know so I can be inspired and share your good ideas here on Project Project.

Also, check back later today for my first post in a month-long series!

18 months

2011-08-17T16:40:00.000-06:00

Espen turned 18 months yesterday, and our little baby is inexplicably now a toddler. Whoa! Whoever "they" are, they got it right when they said that kids grow up so fast. But when each new stage is so exciting and fun, you don't really have time to mourn "lost babyhood." Instead, you just stand back in awe and amazement at all the things your little guy or girl can suddenly do. Who taught you that?

At 18 months, Espen is happy, curious, and playful. He is very interested in the world around, and always wants to know what things are and what they do. He is very eager to communicate with us, and is as pleased to be understood as he is frustrated when mom and dad just don't get it. His vocabulary is growing fast at a rate of about a word a day. He passed the 50-word mark a couple of months ago, and at this point we've just lost count!

Espen loves books and reading and begs nightly for "Hvor er Tassen?" ("Where is Spot?"). He plays with his Legos daily, and has a deep and abiding love for cars and his race track. He can recognize motorcycles by sound, and calls them "o-sicles". He loves going for walks and being outside, and will often bring mama's shoes to her and try to put put them on her feet. The highlight of his day is still when Daddy comes home.

Having a toddler is a game changer. While Espen remains great at playing independently and keeping himself busy, I'm seeing a greater need to challenge and introduce him to new things. Hangin' out at home with me all day isn't quite enough these days. And so it's time to fill our days with a little more... more.

After some thinking, I've come up with a little plan. And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share my plan with you? Here's what I'm thinking:

Every week I will try do to three things:

A field trip. One day a week, Espen and I will drop Nick off at work, take the car and head out on a little adventure. I'm thinking parks, museums, the library... just somewhere we can see and do something different to what we do at home. Shopping doesn't count!
A play date. People need people, even if they're little people! It's good to learn to be social and share and have fun. And let's be honest, moms need people too.
An ambitious activity. I'm always thinking about fun and clever little things to do with Espen, like bake cookies, make crafts, garden, finger paint, play in his pool outside... all of that good stuff. But those things are messy, or require preparation, or take a lot of time and effort, and so I get overwhelmed and discouraged and don't do any of them. But even I can get ambitious once a week.

Just to keep me accountable, I will be doing some brief updates every weekend (-ish) so you can see what we've been up to. And if you'd like to join in, I'd love to see and link to your own activities.

I'll be starting a 30-day challenge here on the blog on Monday, so expect a lot more updates in the coming weeks! What are you blogging about these days? Leave me a comment so I can find you, and I'd love to stop by and see what you're up to.

Goodbye, Grandma Jo.

2011-08-12T13:07:00.008-06:00

We are headed out of town on a little errand of sadness this weekend. Nick's sweet little Grandma Jo has passed away at the age of 101, and we are going to Las Vegas to attend her funeral.

We will miss our visits with her every time we go to St. George, and how welcome and loved she always made us feel. I only knew her for the last few years of her life, but feel grateful to have known and loved her. We're especially grateful that Espen had the chance to meet her. He might not remember her, but we can tell him that his great-grandma thought he was a beautiful boy, and was always pleased to see him.

Although we will miss seeing her, we're grateful for our strong belief that there is a life after this one. It's a happy thought to imagine Grandma Jo reunited with the love of her life, riding off into the sunset on her beloved horse Banjo, and all her little dogs at their heels.

And of course there will be lots of time for this:

Thank you

2011-08-08T09:48:00.007-06:00

Thank all of you for your kind comments, concern and well wishes. I feel so loved! Thank you for letting me know you're thinking of me.

In spite of being a blogger and all, I'm a pretty private person, especially about the hard things in my life. That is perhaps why, this time, I made a concerted effort to let the people around me know what was going on. I knew we couldn't do this on our own, so I overrode my pride gene and actually let people help us. And I'm so glad we did! Nick's parents came up for two days to take care of Espen (and me!), and he just had a wonderful time with his grandparents. There's so much love in that little relationship, and I'm so glad that Nick and I were able to step out of the equation a bit and just let them do their thing together.

Other friends have brought us meals (thank you! thank you!) which has been such a relief. If all else feels, at least I know my family is going to eat a good meal tonight! Our good friend Caren spent Saturday afternoon with us, and it was great for all of us to take our minds off me and my guts for a bit. Caren is really great with Espen, and spent a lot of time playing cars and taking him for a walk at a time when I just couldn't do it myself.

And while I'm feeling grateful for all the kindnesses that have come my way in the past few days, Nick is of course at the very tippy-top of that list. He's had a lot going on at work lately, but there was never any doubt in his mind that he would take time off to take care of me. He was there for every appointment, and all through my day at the hospital. The hardest part of surgery by far for me was waking up in recovery and not having Nick by my side. Silly hospital rules! He's taken care of me in every way possible, and even now that he's back at work, he still makes sure that I have everything I need before he goes. I love that man.

Sharing his toys with mama.

Finally, I'm grateful for my little Espen. I don't think the past couple of days have been the easiest for him, but he has been such a trooper. He definitely knows something is up, but is very patient with his somewhat useless mama. When I'm not feeling good, he'll bring toys over to the couch so he can play beside me. He crawls up the stairs on his own so I don't have to carry him, and yesterday he obliged by taking an extra long nap. And when he's whiny and needy, he lets me park him in front of a cartoon. Sigh. I promise there will be much less of that really soon, little friend.

So, yes, I have a lot to be grateful for. Above all, a gallbladder full of stones that left my body without complication, and a body that is healing nicely. I just need to keep taking things slowly and we'll be back to normal before you know it.

So, enough about me, how are you doing?

Farewell to a biliary vesicle

2011-08-03T15:26:00.006-06:00

Dear Gallbladder,

We've been together for 31 years, and yet I feel like I hardly know you. Now you're leaving. Where did we go wrong? I'd wish you well in your future endeavors, but seeing as you will likely be incinerated within moments of leaving me, that seems a little callous. Just for old times' sake, though, please leave without making a scene?

Gratefully, Tamsin

Dear Gallstones,

I don't remember inviting you to visit, but this is me inviting you to leave. If you must take my gallbladder with you, so be it. But I think you're quite rude.

Unwaveringly, Tamsin

PS. I am undecided about whether or not I may keep you in a jar. We shall see.

Tomorrow is the big day. No more gallbladder for me!

Regrouping

2011-07-29T12:34:00.003-06:00

In light of last week's events in Norway, Project Project will be taking a little break*. We need time to grieve, to breathe and regroup. Our own loved ones are safe, but our hearts are broken by the enormous loss our little country has to bear. It hurts so much.

I am working on a longer post about this tragedy and how it has affected our own little Norwegian outpost here in the Wild West, but the words are slow to come. Be patient with me, and I am sure the blog will be back to its normal silliness before too long.

*We have also run into a bump in the road in the form of my gallbladder needing to be removed next week, so bear with us!

Kinderdijk

2011-07-14T12:49:00.005-06:00

We just passed the one-month-since-we-got-back mark, so I am trying to crank out these travel posts as fast as I can! But I want to record the things we did, as well as share them with you, so please bear with me while I get caught up.

While we were in the Netherlands, Tess and Jasper took us to Kinderdijk, a village that boasts 19 windmills built during the 1500s. And they are pretty!

How many windmills do you see? Espen only has eyes for the cows at this point.

We spent an absolutely magical morning tromping around and looking at windmills. It doesn't get much more Dutch than that! Actually, Tess and Jasper had never visited before. It's just one of those touristy places that you don't really go out of your way to visit if you're a local. But I think they were glad that they did!

Most of the windmills are privately owned now (people live in them!), but there was one windmill that we could visit and explore. It was so fun to climb around inside and see how a miller and his family would have lived. Let's just say that personal space wouldn't have been much of a priority back then!

The pictures we took inside the mill didn't really turn out too great (too dark), but here is one taken right outside the mill to give you a sense of scale. What you can't see from the photo is how incredibly fast those sails got going when the wind kicked up. Not bad for 500 year-old technology!

The windmills were used to pump water in order to keep the country from flooding, and so each windmill is built right on a canal. And the canals were full of waterlilies, that I just couldn't stop taking photos of.

We rounded off our trip to Kinderdijk with a canal-side picnic. As you can see, Espen was a pretty big fan of the Gouda cheese. I loved seeing how quickly and easily he adapted to everywhere we took him. He even learned to say "windmill" during our visit.

Finally, here is a quick video of us at Kinderdijk. It really sums up the feeling of the day for me. Pretty idyllic, don't you think?

About Amsterdam from Brussels (finished in Spanish Fork)

2011-07-13T13:01:00.003-06:00

Here's a post I started writing while traveling, but threw aside with reckless abandon as soon as Nick brought me some much-needed dinner. Better late then never, right?

I have a few quiet moments to myself while Espen sleeps peacefully in the bathroom(!) of our hotel room and Nick is out trying to track down some dinner. We're in Brussels for one night only on our way to catching the Eurostar (high speed train) to London tomorrow. It completely blows my mind that you can travel that distance on land in only 2 hours, and tomorrow we are trying it out!

We've had the best time in The Netherlands. Tess and Jasper were fantastic hosts who not drove us all over the country as our tour guides, but were so happy to accommodate Espen's needs too. Traveling with a toddler can be tough for all involved, so it means so much when someone goes that extra mile for your little one. Thank you!

Well, let me tell you a little about our time in Holland, starting with our day in Amsterdam. Do we need to have a little heart to heart about Amsterdam? Yes, I rather think we do.

When I said "Amsterdam", did your brain come back with "legalized drugs, prostitution and wooden shoes"? If it did, you'd be right on all accounts. However, in our experience (and as with most nastiness), if you're after those things in Amsterdam, you'd have to go looking for them. We weren't looking for them, and so all we saw was a beautiful, unique city brimming with history on every corner.

A few things that stood out to me:

The History. Amsterdam is an old place with lots of stories to tell and sights to see. You quite literally cannot turn a street corner without coming across another beautiful old church, building or statue. The art history geek in me could spend months exploring the city and putting it all together. At the same time I enjoyed seeing how the old and traditional coexisted so peacefully with the new and modern. The photo above is a good example of that: it shows the royal palace in Amsterdam, and although you can't quite see it in the photo, there were school children playing soccer outside in the grounds. A perfect example of how to marry the old with the new, I think.

The Nemo Science Center.

We would have made it too, had our feet not been so tired!

The Architecture. Like I mentioned above, Amsterdam is such an old place where buildings have been allowed to stand pretty much as they are for hundreds of years. That creates a great opportunity to literally see a timeline of Dutch architecture as the period and style changes from building to building. And even if you don't get all nerdy about it, you can still just enjoy the prettiness of it all.

The Churches. They were everywhere! The Netherlands has a long history of religious tolerance, and so it seemed like all kinds of congregations had built their own place of worship. The photos are from a Jesuit church that we happened to step inside.

The flower market. It was fun to see bucket after bucket of tulip bulbs, and I was sorely tempted to bring some home with us to remember our trip. However, in the end my fear of getting in trouble with customs got the better of me, and I left them there. Instead, I took lots of photos of all the little stalls stuffed to the rafters with flowers.

The Rijksmuseum. The Dutch National Museum of Art. My goodness, this place certainly deserves its own post! It was really fun to see some really well-known paintings that I studied in my art history classes in college, like Vermeer's Milk Maid (detail seen on the banner in the photo above) or Rembrandt's Night Watch, but I also enjoyed discovering a few works that were either new to me, or that I didn't know as well. I love this marriage portrait by Frans Hals, they just look so relaxed and happy to be together.

Finally, a shout-out to aunt Tess. We've never had a nanny, nor are we ever really likely to get one, but traveling with Tess definitely showed us why some people choose to go that route. Having worked as a nanny, Tess was confident and happy to just step in and take over Espen so we could enjoy the day and our surroundings. And Espen loved the attention and getting to explore new places with his aunt. In fact, he still talks about her daily after almost two months!

And that was our day out in Amsterdam. I feel like we saw just enough to know that we need to see more! With Tess living there, I am sure we will be back before too long.

Images borrowed here and here.

Fruity

2011-07-11T13:35:00.005-06:00

A quick break from all of the trip posts. Contrary to how I sometimes feel, life didn't quite come to a grinding halt as soon as we got back, and we have actually been doing stuff. Including knitting some fruit.

I've been off the knitting wagon for ages and ages (a year, anyway) but suddenly felt the need to dig out my needles again. And this is the result!

I started out with the apple, which I knit up in about an evening. I was really pleased with how it turned out, and Espen (its intended recipient) loves it too. He likes to pretend to take bites out of it, and thinks it makes a great ball.

Then, because the apple was so quick and satisfying to make, I decided to make a pear as well. It was equally quick and easy to make, although I'm not quite so delighted with its looks. Oh well.

If this pattern holds, we should be looking at an entire fruit bowl by the end of the week. We will see!

Norway 2011: Valdres

2011-07-07T21:14:00.008-06:00

Seeing as Nick had never really spent much time in Valdres, the area of Norway where my family comes from, we decided to take the scenic route to and from the family reunion. Would you like to see some photos from our trip?

Our first stop on the way up was at Møllerstugufossen to see some petroglyphs.

What is a petroglyph, you say?

One of these. They are prehistoric images carved into stone.

The red coloring has been added later to make them easier to see.

Møllerstugufossen has a whole big area of large, smooth rocks that are covered with them. I will spare you the art history lecture, and just say that they are awesome and beautiful and I like them.

Espen, on the other hand, was much more interested in jumping into the white water over yonder.

Next we stopped at my dad's cousin Steinar's place.

He had a whole collection of tractors, and boy howdy, was someone pleased to see them!

Hint: It was Espen.

OK, this photo is actually from the reunion when we all went for a walk, and it was freezing cold! Espen borrowed a hat - can you tell?

That is someone's posh cabin in the background, made to look all old and traditional, but probably has a couple of flat screens and a hot tub inside.

A photo of my grandfather's old house, the house that my dad and his five siblings grew up in. The photo was stealthily taken through the bushes because the house hasn't belonged to the family for years, so we were just being creepers.

We stopped to see an old church (with the cemetery in the last post) but totally got distracted by this enormous crane strutting around in the field next to the church. He struck a few poses, then flew off over the horizon.

We drove throught Etnedal on the way back from Valdres (waste of time, if you ask someone from Valdres) and stopped to see this bridge and adjoining park. Again, Espen was desperate to get in the (raging) waters, and I was equally desperate to keep him out. But isn't the bridge pretty?

And there you have it! My ancestral home and a lovely rearview of me in my dad's raincoat. Ah, blogging.

Norway 2011: Family Reunion

2011-07-07T14:45:00.007-06:00

While we were in Norway, we were lucky enough with our timing that we were able to attend a family reunion for my dad's side of the family. It was a great chance to get to see a lot of family members all at once, and to show Nick the area of the country where my family comes from. And the fact that the reunion was being held in a swanky-pantsed cabin at a ski resort didn't hurt either :) So off we went for two days of intensive family-ing it up in the mountains of Valdres.

We saw aunts (including my favorite - you know who you are! :) ) and uncles and cousins and second and third cousins. I was especially happy to have a chance to see my grandmother. She celebrated her 90th birthday in December, and is just an all round great lady. Remind me to tell you about her sometime.

We were also happy to get to spend some time with my cousin Wendy and her family. We read each other's blogs and stay in touch a lot through Facebook, so it was fun to see each other in person. I was especially excited to meet her youngest son, Dylan, for the first time. He and Espen are less than a year apart in age, and so we have been interested in each other's experiences as the boys grow and develop. And of course it was just fun to see them play and have fun together!

My family has lived in Valdres for hundreds and hundreds of years. In fact, I believe my dad has traced some of our ancestors back to the 13th century (right, Daddy?) So when we stopped by an old church on the way back, it wasn't too surprising to see that we were related to half the cemetery. My maiden name is Robøle, and if you look at the head stones in the photo below, we are well represented. Creepy? Or just nice to know where you come from?

Norway 2011: A day out in Oslo

2011-07-05T17:13:00.007-06:00

While we were in Norway, we had the pleasure of playing hosts to Nick's little sister Tess and her boyfriend Jasper. They live in the Netherlands, so thanks to cheap airfare inside Europe, they were able to make the short hop up to Norway to spend a few days with us. It was great because Tess hadn't seen Espen since he was two days old, and we just plain old like her! I think it was especially fun for Nick to get to show his little sister around the country he lived in for two years.

One day we took Tess and Jasper down to Oslo. Thanks to my parents, we had some more than willing babysitters who took care of Espen so we could spend the entire day in he city without worrying about wearing him out. Instead, he wore out his granny and granddad!

Our first stop was the Viking ship museum. It houses three full-size viking ships, the oldest of which has been dated to about 815 AD. I had visited several times over the years, but the beauty and history of those ships just gets me every time. It is significant to feel that connection to the people who once lived and worked in my country. Norway has such a rich heritage, and I am so proud to call it my own.

A detail of the Oseberg ship, built fit for a queen.

One of the best things about Oslo is that it is built on the Oslofjord. This means that at least half the city has an ocean view, and it means that there are ferries that connect the areas along the fjord to the city. Travel tip: Buy a pass to the city's public transportation (bus, subway, tram) and it will include use of the ferries. We took the bus out to the museum, and then the ferry back again. Unless you're planning to leave the city, don't even think about renting a car. Parking is outrageously expensive, and you will waste lots of time sitting in traffic. Public transportation is the way to go.

Tess and Jasper waiting for the ferry to take us back to the city.

After lunch, we hopped on the tram up to the Vigeland park, another must-see in Oslo. It is a large park that displays more than 200 sculptures by the artist Gustav Vigeland. We heard a huge clap of thunder as soon as we stepped into the park, which cleared out the tour buses in minutes.

We sheltered under some enormous oak trees which kept us dry and (mostly) warm until the storm passed, which really wasn't long at all. While we were standing there, it was fun to notice how easy it was to spot the Norwegians in the crowd, as they were the ones who seemed completely un-phased by the weather.

Then, when the storm passed, we were given the very rare treat of a completely empty park:

Climbing the steps to the Monolith.

One of my very favorite sculptures.

After the park, we caught the tram downtown again, and walked down Karl Johan, which is the main street in Oslo. The palace sits on the hill at one end, and unromantically, the train station at the other. Along the way we passed the university of Oslo, the parliament buildings, the Grand Hotel where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented every year. And some shopping. Nick and I stopped off for books, and Tess and Jasper detoured for some gelato.

Then we rounded off the day with a quick walk on the roof of the new opera house. The roof slopes all the way down into the fjord, which allows visitors to walk up and around the building. I love the architecture, and I love how accessible the building is for everyone to enjoy. And the view of the fjord is pretty gorgeous too. (Tess, where are your photos?!?)

Operahuset

After that we hobbled across the street and loaded our tired bodies onto the bus home. We really enjoyed playing tour guide to Tess and Jasper, and it was good to know that even though it has been years since I lived there myself, I can still find my way around the city. I was never much of a city girl, but Oslo still feels a bit like home.

Outside! Outside!*

2011-06-21T11:32:00.005-06:00

One of the best parts of being "at home" with my parents in Norway was getting to spend so much time outside. Norwegians are really outdoorsy people (think bundled-up babies napping outside in the middle of winter), and there's just something about being there that makes you want to get out there too. As evidenced by all the fleece wearing in these photos, the weather doesn't even have to be all that great to be outside.

Of course having Dad around 24/7 was a big treat too. I mean, who else will fix your new truck when you've ripped in two with all your 15-month old strength?

We enjoyed relaxing in the fresh air, and Espen enjoyed exploring and being able to roam free. My parents have a big, open garden with lots of interesting "bits" to investigate here and there.

Espen especially enjoyed their little rock pond, and would have happily splashed in it until his fingers turned blue...

... if it wasn't for the presence of one of those ever-tempting cats! Never has a boy loved cats (and dogs and chickens and...) with as fiery a passion as this little guy.

Just looking at these photos makes me want to get outside again. And with our newly purchased umbrella and little pool for Espen, we are well on our way to making it that kind of summer.

*One of Espen's most used catch phrases.

Norway 2011: The Big Travel Day

2011-06-20T12:50:00.007-06:00

One of the first things that people want to know about our trip, is how our flights went. Which, with 16 hours of travel and a 15-month old in tow, is reasonable thing to ask. It's a pretty well documented fact that toddlers don't do well with sitting still in confined spaces for hours (and hours), and we've all been on flights with screaming babies and small children.

All packed up and ready to go!

So, how did Espen do? I'm going to have to say surprising well. Our first flight was three hours to Chicago, and Espen had a great time. It was all new and exciting with lots to see and explore. He enjoyed saying hi to people and looking out of the window and eating snacks. And when we brought out the beloved iPad to watch cartoons, well, his little happiness was just complete.

Layover in Chicago. Turns out that Espen is quite the french fry enthusiast.

Then he continued to do fantastically all through the Chicago airport, even though it was hours past his bedtime, and he had to be exhausted. He introduced himself to everyone in sight, and at one point attempted to head off on a solo adventure of the airport. While we were there, we made a point to sit down and eat a real dinner, rather than rely on the airline to feed us. Nick and I often did this when it was just the two of us because I don't like airline food, but it also turned out to be a really great thing to do with Espen too. We sat in a booth, which gave him some room to roam (and chat to people at surrounding tables!) and Nick and I a bit of a break from wrestling him. Toddler travel tip: Because we knew meal times would get a bit weird, we brought some oatmeal that we just needed to add hot water to. At the restaurant, we just had to ask the waitress for some hot water, and then Espen's dinner was served - with a hearty side of fries from Daddy's plate. It was great to get onto an 8-hour flight, knowing that Espen had a full tummy and didn't have to rely on whatever the airline served up.

Awful photo, but yay for airports with play areas! Great to get the wiggles out between flights.

Another thing I can't say enough good things about is play areas in airports. If you are traveling with children and have time, definitely stop for a quick play between flights. When you're asking your child to make the sacrifice of traveling for you, then the least you can do is sneak in some fun for them along the way. This photo was taken while Nick was standing in the long line to board our flight. Espen and I only got in about five minutes of playing, but it was a happy five minutes that we didn't have to stand in line with a tired, wiggly baby.

Playing with Photobooth on the iPad. Bless that iPad!

We kept Espen happy and busy on the long flights with books, a few toys, snacks and mostly the iPad. Generally speaking, I don't think that hours and hours of cartoons are the way to go for any kid. But travel is a lot to ask of a little body like that, so I think that you may as well keep them happy, even if it is vegging with cartoons, games and snacks. It certainly worked for us, and I'm not entirely sure how we would have made it work without hours on Curious George and Charlie and Lola on tap.

Of course, we had our rough moments. When he gets tired and upset, Espen can scream. And scream he did. The first time we were trying to juggle three trays of food and a purple-faced, screaming Espen between two seats and it was hard. I almost cried too. But I knew he was mostly just exhausted, so I held him and rocked him and sang to him, and within two minutes, Espen was fast asleep in my lap, where he stayed for the next two hours. Then he woke up again (along with everyone sitting close to us) and screamed inconsolably for what felt like hours, but was in reality about five minutes. We finally calmed him down by distracting him with a few episodes of Curious George, and then he fell asleep again and stayed asleep for essentially the rest of the flight, waking up with just enough time to eat a bit before landing. Then, for our third flight, he fell asleep in my arms during take off and didn't wake up until it was time to get off the plane.

Espen finally figured out the best way to pass the time. Finally.

A few tips for night time travel. We changed Espen into his pajamas and brushed his teeth so he would know it was time for sleep. Then we read him his bed time book and gave him his favorite blanket and pacifier to help him settle down. We purposefully kept up Espen's pacifier until after this trip, because we knew that it would help him on the plane. Small children and babies can't make their ears pop, and the pressure can get extremely painful during take off and landing. Sucking, chewing or drinking all help relieve that, and so, while he has never used it a lot, the pacifier came with us. It turned out to be another absolute life saver along the way.

And that was basically the journey there. It was long, it was tiring, it was not without its challenges, but ultimately things went so much better than I was expecting. It looks like good travel-genes run in the family, and we will absolutely do this again in the future.

And we're back!

2011-06-17T15:18:00.004-06:00

At the airport in Oslo, about to head home. Can you tell that we were up early?*

OK, actually we got home late last Saturday night, and have been settling back into our little routine again. We had such a fantastic trip and were so sad to leave, but, boy-oh-boy, does it feel good to be home again! There's just nothing like your own bed. Or fridge. Or closet full of clean clothes.

Our trip just flew by. I thought I was going to be able to blog a lot more as we went along, but somehow those quiet evenings with my laptop just didn't happen! I am thinking that I will do some posts from our trip in retrospect, though. Would you be interested in reading about our travels, or would you rather I just shut up about our privileged jet-setting ways already?

I will be getting back into the swing of things here on ye olde blog soon, until then - what are your plans for summer?

*Image borrowed from my mum's blog.

Hello from Holland!

2011-05-26T11:26:00.002-06:00

The three of us are visiting Nick's little sister, Tess, and her boyfriend who live here in The Netherlands. I stayed home from a shopping trip to put Espen to bed, and so sadly missed out on getting to see a real live Dutch grocery store. I love seeing the little, everyday stuff that really gives you a feel for how people actually live, y'know? But no worries, I will get a chance to go again before we leave! After a long day on our feet in Amsterdam, it feels good to get up-close-and-personal with a real live Dutch couch.

Espen is a superstar traveler, and napped in the stroller while we did our sightseeing. When we stopped for lunch, he found himself snoozing in an Irish pub in Amsterdam while Bob Marley sang him to sleep. A little bizarre, but it worked!

Tomorrow we are off to Delft and The Hague. I will be back with some photos and a more detailed report of Amsterdam soon, but now it is time for my dinner!

What have you all been up to? I've missed hearing from you and would love an update!

Norway 2011: Hurra for 17. mai!

2011-05-22T12:01:00.001-06:00

Time is flying, friends! We just got back from a family reunion up in the mountains and will be heading off to the Netherlands on Wednesday. I have a few posts in the works for you, and will get them up as they're ready. Until then - the 17th of May:

May 17 is Norway's national holiday, and this year www were lucky enough to be able to celebrate it in Norway. While we always go to the celebration in Salt Lake City, we have never actually celebrated the 17th of May together in Norway. Add the fact that it was Espen's first one in Norway, and the first one spent with his grandparents, and we had the makings of a very special day on our hands.

And that is exactly what it was. Let me chuck a few photo highlights at you:

My mum and Espen waiting for the church service to start. They are both dressed in a bunad, which is a traditional Norwegian costume. A lot of people here wear them for special occasions. We loved seeing Espen in his!

Espen and his Daddy getting in the party spirit. The green leaves and blue sky are part of what makes this time of year in Norway so perfect.

Waiting for the parade to start. Every town in Norway has a parade on the 17th of May, including the small community where my parents live. All of the school kids participate, dressed in their best, along with bands, choirs, etc.

This gives you a better view of our national costumes too. Mine was made to fit me when I was 14 (FOURTEEN!!) and I made an entirely unholy effort to fit into it so I could feel special too! Time to get it refitted, I think :)

Watching the parade. Lots of people and flags and music. Espen learned the word "flags" and bellowed it triumphantly at anyone holding one.

My boys. Oh, I love them.

Safe and Sound

2011-05-07T15:40:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we've arrived safe and sound in Norway. We arrived on Thursday, but have been busy soaking up the family and home ever since. It feels so good to be here.

The trip was long and tiring as always, but Espen was a little trooper and took everything we threw at him. He enjoyed the novelty of traveling and loved seeing lots of new people and places, but of course, got very tired and had a hard time falling asleep on the long flight, much to the annoyance of everyone around us, I'm sure. But thanks to Curious George and the iPad, we made it through. Oh, I cannot say enough good things about traveling with an iPad when you have a toddler! It seriously saved the day so many times when we were stuck in a small space and needed to keep him busy.

This photo is of Espen sleeping on our laps, somewhere over the North Sea. Once he fell asleep, he was so tired we basically had to wake him to strap him in for landing in Copenhagen. I was so proud of him and his little traveling chops.

The big pay-off was, of course, meeting Granny and Grandad at the airport. My mum (who has been counting the days since we bought the tickets) had mentally prepared for Espen being tired and grumpy and not knowing who she was. Imagine how she felt when Espen smiled and waved at her, then reached out his arms to be held. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment.

Guest blogger: Josh

2011-05-06T12:02:00.002-06:00

While I am busy getting myself and my family halfway around the world, I have asked a few friends to guest post for me. Rounding out the trifecta is Josh of The Weed. (Ha! A boy is guest posting on my blog - suck it, monkeys!) Josh is here to instill confidence in parents everywhere - right?

So, there's a man, a woman, a deaf guy and a one-year old on an airplane...

No seriously. This is not a joke. About a year after our oldest daughter, Anna, was born, my wife and I braved a round trip airplane flight with her. We were flying from Seattle to Utah and back so we could see family, and the flight to Utah was a resounding success. It was so incredibly successful that I can't even remember a single detail from it. See, that's the sure-fire way to detect the success of traveling with toddlers: if you aren't so traumatized by the experience that you have memories of it seared into your mind years later the way combat veterans have PTSD flashbacks of near-death experiences, you were successful. Congratulations, self!

Well, except for the flight home. Uh, yeah. I have memories seared inexorably into my mind on that one. I might never forget that flight. Even if I get early onset Alzheimer's like my mom, I won't forget this flight. I might forget my daughter's name and age and everything about our relationship. But I won't forget this.

It all started when, being the young, naive, and totally thoughtless parents that we were, Wife and I decided to accidentally keep Anna up very late the night before our flight. It's an understandable mistake, I guess. We were saying goodbye to lots of people and we were trying to relish in our time with family members. And we were stupid. Painfully, awkwardly stupid.

Because sweet Anna was so late to getting to bed, when we woke her up the next morning, she was wittle miss cwanky pants. (Yes, I did just drop baby-speak on you right there. Don't hate.) She was not a happy camper, and she was letting us know it. She was grumpy on the car ride to the airport, and she didn't eat very well. On top of that we were running late. Everything was frantic, and we just wanted to get on the plane and get home. She complained minimally as we went through the airport process, but it was clear that she wasn't happy. We craved to just get everything checked in, and then sit down so we could all relax and take a breather.

At last, we got to our seats. We sat down, took a deep breath and...things got ugly. Fast

Instead of the relaxed two hours of travel we were hoping for, our tired, travel-weary daughter had apparently completely lost her mind. She launched into a crying fit which soon turned into a prolonged sequence of straight-up, blood curdling screaming which resembled what a mix between a fire-alarm and a really angry hyena would sound like. We did our best to comfort her and get her to stop crying, but our attempts were met with louder screams so shrill I thought she might actually physically assault me.

When we started getting looks from our fellow passengers that said "shut that kid up, or I'll shut her up for you..." we knew we had to do... something. But what?

I don't know if you've ever been on an airplane before or not, but the truth of airplanes is that they are tight, confined spaces flying in the sky. There is absolutely nowhere to take a profusely screaming Anna if she decides she's too upset to stop sounding like a police siren on crack. What this leads to is a little something called "tension." And when babies know that their parents are feeling "tense," those babies feel "panic" which leads to more "screaming" and "scary-baby nearly homicidal rage."

We were so embarrassed. You could tell most of the people around us were trying to not be annoyed. But they were annoyed. I would have been annoyed. Heck, I was annoyed. I wanted to sit back, listen to my iPod and read a Grisham novel just as much as the next guy. So I could only imagine the level of annoyance I would have been feeling if the grinding, unbearable racket I was hearing didn't happen to be emanating from the lips of my first born child who I am biologically compelled to love, shrill torture devices notwithstanding.

I'd be pissed. I knew it. Wife knew it. We knew we had to shut her up. But we had no idea how. So, we just tried to act casual for a little while, hoping it would end. We tried to talk calmly to each other hoping Anna would calm down. Not paying attention to her, though, made her even more angry. Somehow, her piercing screams got louder. We were especially worried about the man sitting a row in front of us. Surely, we thought, his eardrums must nearly be bursting. But then we realized how lucky we were as we saw him signing to his neighbor. He was deaf! He couldn't hear Anna at all. Everyone else around us was trying desperately not to court fantasies of infanticide (or murdering "that kid's crappy parents"), but not the person in closest proximity to us. This brought us some level of comfort and we went forward trying everything we could possibly fathom to try and calm her down--snacks, drinks, games, holding her, suffocation, etc. (that last one was a joke, btw. CPS not required.)

When something like this is happening, it's all you can do to keep your cool. You know that everyone around you is in literal pain because of your screaming spawn, and you're not sure how to respond. Do you give everyone a knowing look and a shrug and risk people actually murdering you with their cold, enraged stares? Do you keep sitting there, talking "calmly" hoping it will pass? Do you ask a stewardess what to do? Do you engage the emergency exit, grab each other's hand, and launch your little family of three out of the plane in a desperate suicide? Nothing sounds just right.

So, we kept on... talking. And trying to ignore it as best we could.

And that's when Anna got really mad.

She started flailing like she had epilepsy. We're talking gran mal seizure type flails reminiscent of the exorcist. I was half expecting to see her head spin on her neck, or for her to spew vomit everywhere. But not Anna. No, she did something worse. She took the last remaining shred of dignity we had as parents and pooped into it like it was a diaper.

She kicked the chair of the deaf man in front of us. Repeatedly. And as it turns out, that guy was not very nice. Have you ever been yelled at by a person who can't speak or hear? I have. It happens with their eyes. When he turned back and looked at us, it encapsulated all of the rage building up in everyone around us. We were hated. We were the most hated "incompetent" parents ever. And he turned, and looked at us with rage and frustration and judgment and shock in his eyes, and Wife and I knew in no uncertain terms that we had probably literally ruined every person on that plane's life irreparably.

I shook my head solemnly as Wife picked Anna up and raced to the back of the plane, weeping. It was ugly. Really really ugly.

I wish I could say there was some magical lesson learned from this experience. But there wasn't. There was just a young set of parents trying to calm an extremely disruptive baby and failing miserably. And then there was a mom in the back of the plane crying because her baby would not stop crying no matter what she did, and a harried father sitting near the front of the plane, feeling embarrassed and angry and awkward and alone, and yet at the same time relieved that the crying had been taken elsewhere.

Actually, I guess there is a lesson, kind of. Because eventually, that flight ended. Even though things were about as bad as one could possibly imagine, the minutes passed by, and we all got to our destination, and now I have this story to tell on Tamsin's blog, and every other passenger on that plane has a really great "Worst flight ever" story to tell all their friends. And, truth be told, we will never have contact with any of those people again. Unless you, reader, were on that flight. And you're going to look me up and hunt me down for ruining your life. Um, sorry.

Oh, and the stewardesses were really nice. And they warmed Anna's formula up for us. So they win.

Happy traveling everyone!!

Guest blogger: Maddy

2011-05-05T12:02:00.004-06:00

While I am busy getting myself and my family halfway around the world, I have asked a few friends to guest post for me. Of course I had to invite my favorite co-conspirator, Maddy of The Madsta Journals, to join in the party:

When I was fifteen, I went to Paris.

Every year growing up we would go to a spot along the great British coastline, Paris was the first time I had ever been anywhere outside of England itself.

I went with two of my best friends, and my French class.

It wasn't an entirely positive experience, my purse was stolen on the way to our hotel, within an hour of arriving in Paris, but that's just the kind of luck I roll with.

If you have ever been to Paris, you'll understand why they call it the most beautiful city in the world, it is.

I love pretty things, and Paris was like a giant painting come to life, that's how I remember it now.

We went up the Eiffel tower, (a story in itself) on a cruise on the Seine, to the centre Pompidu, and, the highlight, Montmartre.

It was spectacular, and If your going any time soon, scrap the Eiffel tower, its overrated and scary, but go ahead and go to Montmartre, getting there is a week's worth of workouts (if I worked out) and you can see the whole of Paris.

So with my huge knowledge of travelling, having spent three days abroad two years ago- I'm here today to tell you the countries on my hit- list now I'm sweet seventeen, and not too many years away from hopefully getting out to see the world.

Jersey in the channel islands- This beautiful Island hit my attention whilst I was wikipedia-ing Henry Cavill, who happens to call this place home- whilst I don't intend to stalk him, unless the opportunity arised, through some research, I have deemed that I want to go to Jersey, and ride a bike all over the island.
The Seychelles- one of my best friends, Nadine's Mum is from The Seychelles and not only is she lovely, but they have a lot of family over there, and a house, and I have been enchanted by tales of Manatees, and geckos, and the beach.
America- I want to do a big American road trip, Jamie style- and hopefully stop by and visit Tamsin, I am fascinated by it.
Greece- I watch mamma mia! on a fortnightly rotation, and I have a beautiful vision of drinking something Greek against the backdrop of whitewashed walls and a sunset- whilst hopping around the islands.
Panama- as a dedicated Prison break addict, I did a lot of research on panama, through wikipedia, because let's face it, it looked awesome, and now I have a growing thought bubble of sailing round.

You will perhaps notice that a lot of my wishful visits include beaches, I just love the beach, I never feel as brilliant, as when I am standing on a beach, looking out at the ocean.

I don't know if I will ever get to visit these places, or if I'll be in a position to travel in a few years time, but I sure am hopeful.

I hope you've enjoyed my random ramblings on where I want to go, feel free to throw in your suggestions, or opinions!

Tamsin- thank you for having me- have a fantastic trip!

Guest Blogger: Nancy

2011-05-04T07:37:00.002-06:00

While I am busy getting myself and my family halfway around the world, I have asked a few friends to guest post for me. First up, Nancy from Heissatopia. Being prone to moving to far-away lands with small (and ridiculously cute) children in tow, Nancy is beyond qualified to tell you all about traveling with them. Step aside, rookies.

My husband is currently doing a field study program in Ghana, and though he has a well-planned itinerary for his entire trip he wrote home a few days ago and said, "True to third-world form, nothing went as planned today."

I will admit that life in a first-world country does seem to spoil people, comparatively speaking, but I think we could safely pare the sentence down to read, "true to...form, nothing went as planned today," and it would still maintain its veracity. Life throws you curveballs anywhere you live and it's your job to be ready to swing well enough to hit them.

While we were living in Egypt I came across an article in The Economist that suggested that people who live abroad approach life more creatively. I looked around our apartment and noticed the mosquito netting we had rigged above our beds, the homemade air conditioner we had attempted to construct, the tire on our jogging stroller that didn't quite match the others, the couches we'd nailed back together several times because they kept collapsing, the "railing" we'd added to our daughter's bed, the duck tape we'd used to prevent the bathroom door from latching all the way so you wouldn't get trapped inside...

I think you get the picture. We made a lot of creative fixes around our home because "proper" supplies were unobtainable, either because we didn't know where to find them or because they simply weren't available. Instead we improvised.

You've probably heard the adage "less is more," and that's my rule for packing, whether it's a weekend getaway or a trip across the Atlantic. Anything you forget can be improvised.

It's been harder to live up to this maxim after having children because children require so. much. stuff.

Still, I try to do my best.

I use cloth diapers a home, full time. They're wonderful because they are easy to use in a variety of situations. They are part burp cloth, part handkerchief, part bib, part sun bonnet, part diaper, part baby wipe, part washcloth. Name a job and it's likely they do it. They are certainly a daily staple of mine and make my diaper bag much lighter than it would be otherwise.

The only downside is that they necessitate washing, so when I go on an extended trip and know I won't have access to a washing machine I switch to disposables.

Still, being comfortable with cloth diapers was once a life-saver for me. A couple of summers ago we were traveling around Israel with our recently fully potty-trained daughter. When we were on our way to Nazareth she suddenly got violently ill. In the middle of an art gallery. It was classy.

She was feverish, vomiting, and miserable, and we were in Ceasarea (Maritima), which, in case you're not up to date on your Israeli geography, is in the middle of nowhere. We had no choice but to drive on and by the time we got to Nazareth it was late afternoon. I sent my husband out to find a fever-reducer, which he did, and then I started preparing our daughter for a nap. She was so sick that I didn't think she'd be able to stay dry while she slept—sickness can take a fully-potty trained child to a fully-diapered child in no time flat. We had no diapers and no time to go out hunting for any since this baby desperately needed a nap. So I pulled out a dirty t-shirt of mine, folded it into a makeshift diaper, slapped on a diaper cover we had serendipitously packed and we were good to go. That's what we did until she was better enough to sleep and stay dry; we used the shower to wash them out and let them air dry.

Problem solved...and I further developed my creativity—my ability to handle one of life's curveballs without having an emotional breakdown or forking out a million dollars.

Obviously not everything can be improvised and when you're traveling with children many things are actually essential. Here are a few things I can't live without:
security blanket
a few toys (we take 10 small toys; it's an easy number to remember)
outfits that are highly interchangeable (think a top that could match with three bottoms or vise versa)
toothbrush and paste
baby wipes and/or hand sanitizer
crayons or pencils and a notebook
diapers (if necessary)
Most of the things that I think of as essential are to entertain children or to help children feel like they have a little bit of home with them or are hygienically necessary. Sometimes we'll bring a stroller or backpack to carry the child in, though that sometimes is more of a hassle than anything else. Sometimes we'll bring a few stories so that we can read instead of trying to make up stories when our brains are fried. Other than that I can't think of anything to add to the list unless you're planning on swimming.

I know people worry about traveling with kids; they're worried that they'll act up and won't appreciate what they're seeing and sometimes that's true. Sometimes it's my child screaming in her stroller at the Acropolis, or where have you; sometimes it's my child who loses her stomach in an art gallery; sometimes it's my child who wets her pants and has to walk around in them for the rest of the day because I didn't put an extra outfit in the diaper bag; sometimes it's my child screaming in the car/plane/bus/boat/train. Sometimes it's embarrassing.

Being a parent is embarrassing, anyway, so I figure I may as well go out and embrace the world.

My children have (hopefully) developed an appreciation for cultures other than their own, have been places many people will only ever dream of visiting, and have learned that screaming in public will earn them either disproving looks or lots of candy depending on where in the world we are.

If venturing into the world helps adults be more creative, as The Economist suggests (if you haven't read the article, go ahead and do it; it's short), it will likely do the same for children.

So if you're not headed for Europe, like Tamsin (lucky girl), there's still the world outside your door. Do something bold, do something daring—leave your hand sanitizer (or other security item) at home, go for a walk, and see what happens. If you're lucky, maybe nothing will go as planned. That's what we call an adventure.

Norway 2011: we're leaving on a jet plane

2011-05-04T00:03:00.002-06:00

The day is finally here! In about 17 hours we will board our first flight, and then 16 hours after that we arrive in Norway.
The iPad is loaded with books, games and hours of cartoons, and we have enough snacks to feed a platoon of toddlers. Wish us luck!

To keep you entertained until we safely arrive and get settled in the good ol' land of the free and home of the brave (Norway), I have arranged for a few guest bloggers to keep Project Project moving along. Check back soon, the first post will be up within the day. Enjoy!

Easter Celebrations

2011-04-26T10:12:00.005-06:00

Just a little peek at our Easter celebrations this year. Last Easter we kept our celebrations pretty low key because Espen was only two months old and slept for most of the day, so this year we got into things a bit more. Espen's grandparents came up from southern Utah for the weekend, which Espen very much enjoyed. It was really great to see how much fun they had together. We had wanted to go and see the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU while they were here, but apparently the rest of the valley also thought that would be a great way to spend the Easter weekend, because they were out of tickets. I'd love to sneak in a visit before we leave for Norway, though.

We had roast lamb for dinner on Easter Sunday, and as usual I enjoyed setting the table. I tried to keep things fairly simple, and just used the painted eggs as a center piece. Did any of you try making those? I'd love to see your results if you did! We didn't do Easter baskets this year, but I did make sure that everyone got a little chocolate bunny. Next year I will make sure to buy the pretty Lindt ones earlier. We made most of our Easter preparations on Saturday (I know, I know...) and the shelves at Target (and Walmart and Macey's) were just wiped for candy.

I found a tutorial for these bunny napkins, which Nick very graciously helped me make. He liked to do origami as a kid, and I liked to do things that required zero patience and very little attention span. Marriage is a beautiful thing.

The highlight of our Easter was Espen's Easter egg hunt. We filled six eggs with things like Annie's Bunny Grahams, fruit leather and a few Legos. And M&M's, which were a huge hit with Espen. Then we placed them around the living room in fairly obvious locations so he could find them. Let me promise you that it did not take long for him to figure out what the aim of the game was! At first he was just delighted to have six new shiny toys to play with (which he calls "balls" or "apples"), but then when we showed him that there were toys inside, life could not get much better.

Until, of course, we presented him with a new box of Legos.

It was a lovely, relaxing weekend with family, and we had so much fun showing Espen a few traditions. As he gets a little bit older, we hope to teach him a bit more about the religious nature of Easter, but until then, it's lovely to just spend time together.

How was your Easter?

Nine days

2011-04-25T13:56:00.003-06:00

Nine tiny days. Next Wednesday we are taking off for Norway, and we have lots to do to get ready before then. I have a couple of blog posts up my sleeve for you, but until they're ready, I thought you might enjoy a little bit of a giggle:

Also, feel free to take a look at my post for this week over at Me Here Her There.