Brandt Family

Christmas and New Years Eve

2012-01-02T20:17:00.000+01:00

There are tons of pictures from the last few days just waiting to be shared with the rest of the world, meaning you readers of this blog. Pictures of Samuel and Magnus unwrapping gifts, me eating, Mike sleeping and playing with the kids' toys, and many, many more.

We've had such wonderful last few weeks. There has been great company, new friends, old friends, family and some days just the four of us. We've played, relaxed, slept and five million other things. It has been so nice.

But even though I spent half the day yesterday sleeping I still feel sluggish - actually, maybe because I spent half the day yesterday sleeping! So for now I'll share the entertainment portion of today.

Samuel have been on fire today and he has kept me plenty entertained!

It started while we were in line at the grocery store. Magnus, who is madly in love with all things animals, noticed the big posters for dog- and catfood, and we started talking about pets. Samuel said that we didn't have any pets. I made a fun reply saying that we had daddy, but I wasn't sure that really counted. Okay, so it wasn't that fun. But I thought that was the end of that conversation.

However, this must have started something because Samuel then told me that we should have a cow. A cow? So as I was paying for our groceries, he was telling me how we should get a cow, and how we needed fresh grass for it. When I asked him whether he thought that the cow could walk up all the stairs to our apartment, he was certain it could.

On the way back to our apartment I commented how we could then get fresh milk every day. He was excited and said that then we never had to buy milk again. Clever little boy. He also told me that we would need a tractor, and then we could get fresh grass and we had to get a bag so we could carry the grass up the stairs. And he would make sure it got grass to eat every day.

On the way up the stairs we discussed who should milk the cow and who would hold it while it was milked. Samuel told me how the cow needed to stand still while it was milked. I am not sure how he knew, but it does seem like a good idea to me too. I said I could milk it while he held it. He added that he could also stroke it.

While we took jackets and shoes off the cow had now gotten a calf.

As I was cooking, he was sitting on the table telling me how we could give the calf a bottle and take care of it. After a while he decided that three cows would be even better, and they could each have three calfs. For a little while he was also toying with the idea of having a baby lion, but it was soon forgotten again.

During dinner Samuel told us that we needed to get a cow bell for the cows so we could hear where they were. Mike joked that they would need it so we could hear whether they were in the kitchen or the bathroom. Samuel was not impressed, because obviously they were to be outside. And they couldn't be in the sandbox because there is no grass there. He told us exactly where in the garden they were to be, and that he needed a rope for them, so he could pull them up the stairs. Apparently they are supposed to be sleeping at our house. And something was mentioned about us getting some extra beds. I really should have asked where they were supposed to be.

Fortunately he has taken it upon himself to feed them and get them to and from the apartment, and the newest development is that he is also going to milk them. Maybe we should actually get a few cows!

Anyway if anyone is wondering why his wish list this year has cows on it, then this is the explanation. Or maybe it is not really an explanation, more like a ... actually I am not sure what it is, but it certainly has been interesting!

Christmas

2011-12-16T23:12:00.000+01:00

I may once or twice have mentioned a sore back, maybe in a slightly bitter tone. So there is no need to bring it up again other than to say, I have fallen behind with the whole christmas thing.

I did my best, but there have been certain things missing this christmas. Like christmas cards. Yes, you not receiving a card is nothing personal. No one is getting one this year. Another thing missing is advent calenders for the kids. Had it not been for my lovely, lovely friend who bought my kids 6 gifts, there would have been none. None! No chocolate advent calender gift either. No speciel wreath for advent with four candles. Not even close.

But we have managed to do some things, which I think are pretty nice - and my back is better, much better, so I have high hopes for the last week before christmas.

My gift-giving friend and me baked cookies with our kids. Samuel decorated these.

And apparently also tasted them.

I got christmas decorations up. And I do love them - and I'll spare you pictures of each one.

And saint Nicklaus came to visit on the 6th, leaving treats for us in our boots.

Samuel keeps asking why Nicklas gave us things. I guess the fact that it is also his middlename makes it even harder for him to grasp it. But he didn't seem to worried about it as he was drinking his dragonfruit juice in approximately 2 seconds. Thank you, Nicklas!

We made invitations for all Samuels and Magnus' friends to invite them to a day of treat making. All the kids had a blast - and the adults too.

Some of the things were very pretty ...

And some less than pretty.

But all of it was tasty!

Samuel working his magic with the chocolate melter. He has such a blast.

My two favorite boys chiling in Samuels bed. Please notice Samuels fake sleeping.

And other important stuff -

Magnus is doing 3 word sentences. He is ruling the world, and he is loving it.

Samuel is still in his "Why" phase, and I sort of love it. I love that he is curious, and I am very grateful, that he knows when to stop. I do think it is funny, that he has asked the question "why" so many times, that Magnus have picked up on it. Sometimes Magnus comes up to me, looks me square in the eyes and says "why". I really don't know what to answer.

It feels like much more is going on, but I seem to have forgotten it. Just know that the kids are doing good. They are growing, learning, talking, laughing, doing laundry, eating, talking some more, asking questions, helping me with back exercises, saying "sorry", sleeping, baking bread, taking naps, riding the train, drawing and being happy.
Mike and me are doing good too. I'll skip the list of our activities. Mikes would be mainly work, and mine sounds pretty much like the kids. Not a bad life at all.

I seem to have lost my brain - around the time I became a mother

2011-12-10T22:13:00.000+01:00

I used to be pretty clever, well-spoken, my clothes were clean, and I had a well-working life. A degree, a job even.

Then I had kids and I am pretty sure my brain fell out.

Child - with brain intact, but interesting bed-hair

So a few months ago ...

It had been a busy morning, and it seemed I was all over the place doing a load of different stuff. I grab a quick shower, while trying to make sure my kids don't hurt anything, or more importantly, anyone.

As I take my towel off the hook, I wonder why it is wet. No one has used it the last 24 hours.

Oh no, wait. Slowly I remember that I may just maybe have showered a little more recently than that. More like an hour earlier.

An hour earlier! How do you forget that kind of thing?

I told one of my friends this, and she laughed and laughed and laughed. Absolutely no sympathy!

A few days ago I make a quick call right before the same friend is coming over. When she arrives, my phone is gone. We look everywhere, and due to a bad coverage, she can't even call it. Later on I find it inside my make-up purse. Why?

Why would anyone put their phone there?

My friend had the time of her life ... again no sympathy from her.

And you know what? Later that day I found my powder in my fridge. I didn't tell my friend that ... that'll teach her not to give me any sympathy! HA!

Seriously! If you happen to see my brain, please give it back to me. I really need it before something really crazy happens!

The New Art Installation

2011-12-07T23:07:00.000+01:00

For a year or so Mike have been planning a big art installation on one of the walls in our livingroom. Obviously Master Painter Samuel was to be involved in the proces, and it was to be a big art installation.

A few weeks ago the work started on it. First boards were acquired, then a little planning and finally a few coats of white paint. And then Mike and Samuel were ready to create.

For some reason I have no pictures of the actual painting proces but I can assure you that Master Painter Samuel was very excited, almost as excited as Mike was.

The Before Picture. Big wall, small picture.

I know, I know, with style like this I really should be an interior decorator.

Getting it up there! Mike and Master Painter Samuel preparing to hang up the picture. You can tell, this is great art, right?

Finally up. Bolted to the wall, just in case some art thieves should get any ideas. This is an Samuel/Mike Original. It is going to be worth millions in a few years!

You can totally tell what the picture is, right? It is obviously a blue car, driving past a tree on the way to the beach. The car is for Samuel, the beach is for Mike, and I am thinking the tree was a result of their creative juices running amok!

Can I just say how awesome it is to be married to a man who is having the time of his life while painting a picture with our three years old son. And who is excited to have their picture up on the wall.

I love their picture because of the story behind it, because of the joy I saw in my sons eyes, because it makes me smile everytime I see it, and because it is just so darn awesome! I mean, a bright blue car with a smiling man inside. A certain hit!

As promised - a calorie overdose

2011-12-04T22:33:00.000+01:00

I made homemade mayo one afternoon. Magnus was happily asleep, and Samuel and me were gearing up for a big, crazy burger-night. Part of that gearing up included making mayo which turned out to be surprisingly tasty with bread sticks.

Samuel likes bread sticks. And he likes mayo. His mouth is full of both on this picture. And so is his tummy.

That day he must have eaten more calories than he had ever done before. It was a proud moment!

And this picture of Magnus doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I just wanted to share it.

Awesome, awesome little boy. I could happily spend a few hours just hugging and kissing this little boy. Unfortunately he won't have it. That doesn't stop me from trying though.

Computer games

2011-12-02T22:16:00.000+01:00

For reasons I can't really remember but may have been connected to me and my sore back, I introduced Samuel to the world of computer games. I know, I know, bad mother!

But I really thought Samuel could handle it, not succumb to the world of violence and addiction, to just enjoy the pure fun of it.

I was wrong.

It all started innocently. I found a game with Kaj and Andrea, a frog and a parrot from a Danish childrens show.

See there they are. So cute!

It is Andrea in the helicopter, flying up to the tree to get fruits for a cake, they are baking. Kaj is the lovely green frog holding the basket, where Andrea puts the fruit after she is done collecting it.

In the tree there are 6 different kinds of fruit, 3 of each. So Kaj will tell Andrea to please get some lemons and the player then flies Andrea up the tree and help her collect the 3 lemons, leaving the other fruits behind.

If you by accident pick one of the other fruits, Andrea will drop it to the ground where it will hit poor Kaj, resulting in some sort of "aww" comment from him.

After you pick the 3 fruits you need, you fly down and give them to Kaj, and he now tells you to get some other fruits. When Andrea goes back up, all the fruits are now back on the tree and you start picking.

Seriously, that shouldn't be able to turn out badly, right?

Take a look at this screen. Do you see something strange? Something missing?

Maybe if we look a little closer?

So, Samuel, where are all the fruits?

Turns out my son, my first-born, my big boy is picking all the wrong fruits just so that Andrea will drop them and they will hit poor Kaj. He does this over and over again, all the while he is chuckling to himself.

Next time it is World of Warcraft, I am sure!

But at least Kaj and Andrea got all their fruits and baked a huge cake with them!

So I guess all is well that ends well, right?

I just have a few things, I am wondering ... what kind of cake can you bake using plums, lemons, bananas, apples, pears and oranges? Why on earth is a parrot using a helicopter to fly up to the tree? And how does it steer the thing? And what kind of tree has 6 different kinds of fruit on it?

Notice how I am refraining from commenting on the fact that the animals talk, sing and bake cakes? I have to stop somewhere : )

If you want to try the fruit picking yourself, here you go.

Band aids

2011-11-28T21:23:00.000+01:00

A certain someone in our household is very fond of band-aids. A lot! And when his aunt came with a package of Cars band-aids the love turned into complete love!

And fortunately, so to speak, he has gotten hurt a few times lately with blood and all, so there has been plenty of photo oppertunities.

Please don't ask me what had happened, but I do remember the tiniest drop of blood, which naturally means that he is allowed a band-aid.

You gotta love a band-aid!

Those pictures were obviously pre-cars bandaids. "Fortunately" he got hurt again a little while later.

Cars band-aids! True love!

I should have dressed him in red to match his band-aid, right?

However, another certain someone doesn't care much for band-aids. But he do care a whole lot for hats, or maybe I should rather say just having something on his head.

A white fabric cloth will do any day of the week.

And the watermelon hat from last New Years Eve is always a hit.

By the way, is this not the most awesome picture you have ever seen? The hat, the attitude, pacifier and big, fat necklace. That is the stuff superstars are made of.

And last but not least, an elf hat. The picture doesn't do his cuteness justice. He ruled that christmas party!

And I know I have been a sporadic blogger lately. I just downloaded a whole lot of pictures from my camera and have a lot more to show you, like how Samuel looks after ingesting approximately 10,000 calories. It had something to do with homemade mayo and breadsticks. There are also pictures of our new art installation, our visit to Mother and how video games turned Samuel evil.

Ohh, much excitement!

The end of the weekend

2011-11-13T22:23:00.000+01:00

Today my sister accompagnied me and the two small children to church. I am pretty sure that she more than once thought "I am never ever doing this again."

In short actually getting to church was epic. I am not going to bore you with the long version, but suffice to say that one small boy and his bike went on strike a few times, the smaller boy did all sorts of houdini tricks, and yours truly with her bad back just stood there and gave my poor sister directions: "Ahm, Anne, would you please make sure Magnus doesn't fall out of the stroller? It looks kinda dangerous right now. Oh, and Samuel is asking you to put his glove back on. And Magnus is crying. Could you also find his pacifier? It was there just a minute ago." When she took of her jacket in the bus because she was all warm, I knew that she was even more anxious for my back to get better than I am.

Mike came home in the afternoon, happy and content after a wonderful but quite hectic whirl-wind wedding. Actually so hectic, that I am not even sure the kids noticed he was even away. We also kept them plenty busy sleeping in, brunch, a nice stroll, tasty dinner, baths and an almost never ending repeat of a cartoon duck jumping into a swimming pool. I am not sure Magnus have ever enjoyed anything as much as he did that duck.

While the duck was busy jumping, and Magnus was chuckling, I cleaned the kitchen, and obviously poor Anne was asked to help me with all the areas I couldn't reach. Like the 15 or so cannisters with spices that Magnus had taken out of the cupboard, the cupboard I can't reach. And all the bowls, trays, pots, bread baskets and so forth that I needed back into another cupboard. Again a cupboard I can't reach.

Did I mention she also washed the floor under our dining table? And she was the one giving my kids their baths?

She does deserve a medal.

Oh, and I did mention that it was on her birthday, right!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My sister just about to sample what was to become my friends wedding cake!

My Family

2011-11-09T13:20:00.000+01:00

I have no pictures from the last month. We've had tons of visitors, a birthday brunch for yours truly and I must have read approximately half a million books.

All but one contained pictures of animals. Many, many pictures of animals.

It was due to him. He likes his books and he likes animals. I think 80% of his vocabulary are either animals or animal sounds. And he is a pro with the sounds. My favorites are owl, snake, fish and his most recent one, the wolf.

Oh, and my back is out. So much so that the plane I was supposed to board this afternoon to go to Germany to celebrate the birthday of my mother-in-law and the wedding of my brother-in-law is leaving without me. I cannot sit down. Yes, I am ticked off.

Mike and the kids are staying home too. I am sad that they don't get to go. I know Samuel loves the airplanes, and I know they would have loved to go visit friends and family. I would have loved for them to go - not just for them, but also a little bit for me. Can you imagine a full 5 days with no kids?

Can you imagine the possibilities? The sleep? The relaxation for my back?

All the icecream I could eat ... no wait, this is just a picture of one reward Samuel got during the his potty training.Which is by the way going excellent!

But returning to the topic. So this weekend Mike is going to Germany, leaving me alone with the kids. Slightly bitter yes. But fortunately it is my sisters birthday and I have lured her over with promises of brunch, great company and excellent activities. The brunch is true, but I am not sure about the great company nor the interesting activities. I guess that depends on how much you enjoy reading books about animals with Magnus. Maybe she should be the one being slightly bitter ... but at least brunch will be good.

But my back is getting better and better and I can now sit down for short periods during the day, which mean I no longer have to eat my entire meal standing up. Another revelation is that I can put my own boots on now. Well, at least the ones without laces.

Okay, so those of you who were saying you missed my blogging, do you still feel the same way after a whole slightly bitter post about my back. However, the pictures and the kids on them are pretty fine, so maybe it is good after all!

And finally Happy Birthday Siegrit. We all really wished we were on the plane!

Still ...

2011-09-25T00:02:00.000+02:00

Still here ...

Still not making a lot of sense

Still loving to draw - and eating the crayons

Still adorable

Still awesome

Still drinking smoothies

Still baking bread - Master chef Samuel and Master chef Magnus

Still in fashion - loving the shoes

And still loving them more than words can say!

I went on vacation

2011-07-27T20:51:00.000+02:00

I know I have been slacking off lately, and I could try to use our recent vacation as an excuse, but since we were only away for a week, that might not work.

So honestly I just haven't been up for it. No idea why. However, yesterday we had some lovely, lovely people over for brunch, and one of them commented how she liked my blog and how I was so enarmored with my two boys.

And vupti! The desire to share pictures of the two small ones, to blog, to rant and to write things are back again.

Let's hope it stays for a while, because I have so many pictures to show and so many things to tell.

Excited? Scared?

I am hoping you guys are excited. I am ...

But enough talking, let's proceed to the all pictures which I know you've all been waiting for.

Awesome Samuel ... eating some BRIO trains, I guess

Magnus making a weird face

Samuel with two of my favorite people, Spencer and Annika, in Copenhagen

Magnus enjoying a boatride with daddy and friends

And enjoying a flight with daddy

And having a great time in his new sling on Daddys back

Switzerland is very, very pretty! Pictures doesn't do it justice

Samuel blowing on a dandelion ... I know it looks like he is eating it though

Switzerland rules the world

Samuel taking a walk inside a gletcher

The temple in Bern, Switzerland. My parents were married there!

And back to Copenhagen again.

Nothing a pair of rubber boots and a washing machine can't handle

2011-07-03T22:36:00.000+02:00

I've been away for a while.

I've baked, attended a birthday party, a wedding, slept an entire day, coughed, laughed, slept some more and coughed a bit more. All in all it was great.

Pictures really should follow - of the cakes, the birthday party, the wedding - not of me sleeping or coughing. That isn't that interesting if I may say so.

Instead I'll post a picture of Magnus because he is pretty much the most awesome kid in the world.

Picture courtesy of Mike and his beloved iPhone

The title of this post you might ask ... we had a small flood yesterday. If there is any such thing as a small flood? The heavens opened and it poured, filling the basement of our apartment building with water. Fortunately most of our things down there was packed away in 3 layers of plastic - thank heaven for a paranoid husband. And the things that did get wet was mainly baby clothes, and that really is nothing a washing machine can't handle.

I am just grateful that we have a wonderful apartment that keeps the rain out, where my babies are safe and cozy, that I have a washing machine and that everyone is happy, healthy and safe.

Life is pretty good, and it has to rain a whole lot more before our 5th floor apartment is in any danger.

I fear - I fear much!

2011-06-24T00:11:00.000+02:00

Today is midsummer. It is also the day where my dear friend Nathalie had her birthday celebration - and unfortunately it is also the day where Magnus fell asleep af 11.00 pm, and Samuel fell asleep at 11.30 pm.

Between you and me, I am completely terrified just thinking about my two tired kids tomorrow. Unfortunately Mike has one of the last days at school, so I am on my own with the two boys.

What to do?

I need to call in some sort of reinforcement or a special task force!

And on a pretty unrelated topic.

Magnus can now say like an elephant and as a pig. Both of which are absolutely awesome. I even made him do it today as entertainment at the birthday party. Yup, he is that good!

Samuel and me had a discussion today when they were having a bath. I had put shampoo in his hair and was getting ready to rinse it out. However, the little man told me not to, because he wanted to get the shampoo out himself, using with his hands.

Huh?

Picture a little boy in his bathtub frantically combing through his hair with his fingers, getting all the foam out, rinsing off his hands and repeating over and over. I told him it wasn't going to work, but he just didn't believe me. How do you explain those things to a small guy?

And today when we walked home from the party, we passed by a big bonfire by the lakes. It is part of the Danish celebration of midsummer. All the way home Samuel kept begging us to show him the fire trucks!

Firetrucks? What firetrucks?

I finally connected the dots and told him that even though there was a fire there wasn't any firetrucks. He did not believe me, and I can't blame him. How do you explain such things?

And again, completely unrelated, but none the less cute, cute pictures of our darling boys and one handsome husband.

Samuel helping me make cookies. Love the apron!

Magnus loves, loves, loves his daddy - and the feeling is mutual!

One sore throat = hot chocolate = chocolate moustache

This weekend

2011-06-19T22:59:00.001+02:00

Today we baked cookies. We ate cookie dough. It was heaven. I had a two hour nap. That was heaven once more. We all played outside in the sunshine.

In other words today was an awesome day!

I have no pictures - other than pictures of Samuel and me baking cookies, which will go on my other blog soon. But who would also want to see a picture of me sleeping? I am sure it was not pretty, but it was deep, deep sleep and I loved every minute of it.

If I could that is what I would want for my birthday. Nice long naps, nicely wrapped and maybe with a yellow bow on.

Yesterday we went on an architecture tour. For those who know us well, I do not need to state this, but there might be a few foreigners, who might be mistaken to think this was my idea. It was not. It was Mike, Mike, Mike, all Mike.

He made a list of 6 architectural wonders we had to see here in Copenhagen. My job was to hide my excitement and eagerness ... or not! Of course we brought our kids along for the ride, because that is the kind of parents we are.

Even though the day did not contain any cookies or cookie dough-eating, it was awesome too.

We only saw the one building, which we both fell madly in love with. Somehow we also managed to do the following - watch kayak polo, check out some people doing parkour and agree that our kids are never going to do that, ever, play a little ball, play with our new Giant UFO, see art installation and realise once more that I do not understand art, tour a beautiful and fun building, eat a lovely dinner at a nice cafe, see two cats which was a great moment for Magnus, visit with some sheep - another great moment for Magnus, go through a forrest area, play in a giant, oversized play-ship, see deer grassing, say hi to some more sheep, find a cool druide-like place, cross about 60 streams on funky bridges, take the train twice and the metro once, naturally sitting up front.

I know, it was great!

Because we only saw the one building, there are more architectural tours in the future. However, I doubt that they will even in the smallest be able to measure up to this outing.

Since I did not realise the potential of this tour, I left my camera at home. I know - Big mistake! We walked through this beautiful nature area, the sun was low and the light was fantastic and all I could think was "I wish I brought my camera!"

Mike got some pictures with his iPhone, and as soon as I figure out how, I'll try and get them on here. Look forward to pictures of me with funky hair due to crazy winds.

This coming week I have a birthday party and a wedding to attend, and if the weekend was any indication of the level of awesomeness this week has in store for me, then I am in for a treat!

And I'll bring my camera from now on!

The pictures of Mikes gift

2011-06-15T23:49:00.000+02:00

Wait, is it rude to refer to my mother-in-law solely as Mike's gift? It is a little bit, isn't it? Or no?

I am not completely sure, but I hope that she doesn't take offence. Because we really enjoyed having her here. The kids enjoyed getting to know Oma Siegrit better and we all loved spending time with her.

And without further ado - here are some of the pictures from her visit

Half an hour or so after she arrived. I am not sure Mike had grasped what was really happening.

At the playground while Mike was working. Those kids love the swings!

Friday at the park, sitting on a giant swing with daddy.

We have adorable, adorable children. I could spend hours just kissing the cheeks of that little man.

Trying out big brothers scooter.

Oma Siegrit! She wasn't too keen on having her picture taken, but this one turned out really good!

Reading all about the animals in the Garden of Eden. It is Magnus' favorite book, and he can look through it for hours and hours and hours. How nice to have Oma Siegrit to keep him company.

A pretty perfect gift

2011-06-13T21:49:00.000+02:00

Mikes birthday came and went. The official birthday outing to the beach is also over. And while I could tell you all about that, I know you all are wondering what I got Mike for his birthday this year?

Right, guys?

Right?

Okay, I am going to tell you amyway, because I am so pleased with myself. And with the help of another very important individual!

Because for Mikes birthday Mikes mother came by for a visit. Yes, that was me and Siegrits gift for Mike. Pretty cool, right?

It was so much fun. Both seeing Mikes face, hearing his excitement but also having Siegrit over. The kids enjoyed it so much, and despite the language challenges Samuel and Oma Siegrit hit it off. Race tracks were built, train tracks too, a few books were read and there was a lot of swinging. A lot!

Magnus showed off his dangerous lion roar, his mooh, the bark, the meow and so forth. He loved the book about a sheep living on a farm that she brought with her, and just this morning he chased me around the house, trying to make me read it too him.

I think having Siegrit over was actually a gift for the entire family, so thank you, Mike, for sharing your gift with all of us.

And yes, this post really should have pictures. However, I just threw a bachelor party, the pile of dirty dishes in my kitchen are scaring me, and my bed is calling my name.

Pictures will come, but first a little sleep!

Goodness gracious me

2011-06-07T23:09:00.000+02:00

Tomorrows birthday boy - looking as handsome as ever

We've had some fun, but busy, busy days, and as always our children reacts to it.
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday was filled with activities, fun and good company, but when Monday came, they were exhausted.

Insert a whole lot of whining, complaining, crying and - fortunately - a 3 hour nap for Mr. Magnus. I am going to be honest and say that the only reason all three of us survived the morning was because I finally sat the kids in each their chair and put "Winnie the Pooh" on.

Mr. Pooh saved the day!

Today they seemed better and they even survived a hurried shopping trip to get the last gifts for Mike whos birthday is tomorrow.

Happy birthday, Mike!

It is funny how Samuel and Magnus reacts when they had too much going on. Unfortunately it seems that it also affects me, because Monday when I went into the shower, I wondered why my towel was a bit wet. I figured I must have gotten it wet while I was cleaning the bathroom earlier. However, as I was standing in the actual shower I saw that my wash cloth was wet too. That was pretty weird.

It took me a full 10 seconds to realise that it was wet because I had already taken a shower that day! Seriously, who forgets that they already showered a few hours earlier?

Maybe it is something genetic?

If that is the case, then I am sorry, Samuel and Magnus.

Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-05T21:32:00.000+02:00

I have an awesome dad. A dad who is kind, very very smart and always trying to do his best.

He has helped me with more homework than I care to remember, including a course in boring law, Danish essays and even latin. And more than once has he thrown whatever he had in his hands to come to my rescue before an exam, when I was tired and exhausted or when I needed a dad.

I remember one evening when I was a teenager. That particular day I had a long list of things to do and I knew I would be home late. However, I also had to bake a cake for school the following day. That day had me pretty stressed out.

When I stepped into the house that evening, there was a sweet smell of cake. When I looked into the kitchen I saw that someone had known of my stressed day and had baked the cake for me.

I went upstairs to find my mother, who explained to me that she couldn't bear that I had to stand there late in the evening and bake a cake. At that time my mother was rather sick and she wasn't able to do it herself, so she enlisted the help of my dad.

I can just imagine the two of them in the kitchen. My mother sitting on a chair, with her worn out cookbook in her lap, guiding my father through what I can only presume is the first and last cake he has ever baked. Somehow it is so easy to imagine the two of them there. I can almost hear the conversation between them : ) For me that was truly a labour of love.

My mother has been dead for 10 years now, and in many ways things have changed. My father is now also a grandfather to my children and we are navigating our way through that, figuring out the ins and outs of his new role.

We are doing good at it.

He just got a year pass to the Zoo and we went there the other day. As you can tell by the pictures my kids are pretty smitten by my dad, and they love it when he carries them, plays with them and builds Lego with them.

I am so happy my dad is my dad. I couldn't have asked for anyone better.

Oh, and this picture here ...

It hasn't got anything to do with anything, but I think he looks adorable, my cool boy!

And mr Magnus too - with updates!

2011-06-02T00:43:00.001+02:00

You know what? I have been busy. I really have.

Such hard work to sit all night and watch films and ignore the laundry, the dishes and the general mess in our house. It have been quite hard, but I am sure that as I work at it, I will get better. More films for me, please!

As you can tell I am positively quite exhausted.

Would you like to know what else is going on in the Brandt house? I can tell you do.

So Mikes birthday is coming up soon, and seeing as the only thing on his wishlist year after year is t-shirts from G Star Raw, size Medium, I have done something new.

I have formed a task force. The Ultimate Gift Task Force. It sounds pretty good, right? I was in the process of getting us matching t-shirts and maybe even having a theme song composed. However, that was before The Ultimate Gift Task Force failed at its mission. Despite our best efforts, and they really were good those efforts, we failed at securing the Ultimate Gift.

*Sigh*

I am still trying to recover from that, and even more important, trying to come up with another Ultimate Gift. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to let me know. If the idea is good, I'll promise you a spot on the Task Force, and I'll look into those matching t-shirts for sure. Is green your color?

And finally, a little something about Magnus.

Have I ever told you that he is the most adorable little boy? Or how much I absolutely love that little person? He is just so darn perfect.

Obviously there should be a picture of Magnus here, but I am too busy too download it - see the top about my busy life watching films. I promise you it is hard work!

Magnus favorite book is a lift-a-flap book about the Old Testament. For some reason he loves the page with Noahs ark. For reasons unknown to me the elephants, the bear, and the dogs are his favorites, closely followed by the goat.

He refused to say or even attemt to say like an elephant, but he does quite an impressive bark and a good moooh. He is working on his cat sound, the cock, and even a fish. It is pretty hilarious. Oh, and his lion is sublime!

As you can tell he is into animals. While Samuel can spot a trailer, a cement mixer or a crane from miles away, Magnus can spot a dog. And while Samuel plays with his car track, his crane or any other thing with wheels on, Magnus is content looking at a book containing pictures of animals, hugging a teddybear, drawing or looking at another book with animals.

Random facts:

He is ticklish, especially his neck and stomach.
He just got his first pair of sandals, size 21.
Today he insisted on wearing Samuels shorts which on him looked like pants, though very wide pants. He still drools like crazy.
When we returned from the zoo today he was only wearing his diaper, a bib and his jacket. Suffice to say we had some sort of "diaper situation".
He absolutely loves strawberries, pineapple and grapes. Melons and apples are okay, and oranges are almost his best friend. He is not quite sure about mango and he refused to try kiwi. I think he might be able to live on a diet consisting entirely of fruit.
Magnus' loves sitting on the kitchen table while I cook. From there he can sample the food that is before him, he can play with all the exciting stuff there and keep an eye on things. And if he gets bored he can throw things on the floor. Today apparently he got bored.

Magnus rules and a picture will come. Just not today because I am so busy.

Maybe tomorrow, seeing as tomorrows dinner appointment fell through. Or at least I guess so. The last message my friend sent me today was "Wish me luck. We are going in soon". And my message to her was something along the lines of "Good luck. You can do it. Press! Press". So hopefully little Graham will be here soon. Maybe I should have said "Get an epidural."

Either way we are so excited for her and her little family and wish them all the best!

Oh, this means I have to fix dinner myself tomorrow. Dang it!

UPDATE:

The baby was born that night, apparently in the hospital hallway, head halfway out and so forth. Mother and son are doing great - considering the fact that one just gave birth and the other was just given birth too - and they are home again. I can't wait to hear that birth story ... in the hospital hallway. At least she never needed an epidural.

When I told Mike, she had the baby and was back home, he replied "Oh good, then we can still go over for dinner tonight, right?"

It took me a second or two to register that he was joking!

Updates from Samuel

2011-05-23T22:00:00.000+02:00

Samuel has fallen in love with two things.

One is watches. When Mike comes home from work, the first thing Samuel asks him is "can I have the watch". Or, actually he calls it "clock". He will then wear it the rest of the day and yes, sleep with it next to him.

It is pretty heartbreaking when Mike wants his watch back as he leaves for work.

I love asking him what time it is. The answers are always pretty creative, like "ten five two" or "half minutes". How can you not love that?

The other thing he really, really adores right now is a pair of socks with cars on.

Yes, sometimes he sleeps with them next to him as well. If he doesn't, then the first thing he will ask me in the morning is "Where are my sock cars?"

One morning I'd put them in the washing machine and so he couldn't wear them. He was fairly disappointed.

A while later he came with the wet socks in his hands. It took a little time to convince him to hang them on the drying rack and not wear them right away. Later on I went out to the kitchen to find the entire contents of washing machine on the floor.

Apparently he had opened up the machine when it was done, emptied it out on the floor to find his beloved socks. Now that is dedication.

However, it seems the fascination might be wearing off. Today he threw the socks up into the air and got really excited when they landed on the beams. And they stayed up there for a while without him getting hysterical.

When they are on the beams they are obviously not on his feet. And so maybe ... maybe he'll start wearing other socks soon.

Kids are strange! But awesome.

My boy, the princess

2011-05-18T22:59:00.000+02:00

The first few times, Samuel wore this crown he referred to himself as Princess Samuel. One of his friends, Annesofie, had worn it before and naturally she was Princess Annesofie, so I know where he got it from.

But it is still funny.

He finally started saying "King Samuel" which in my opinion is pretty cool. Oh, and he wears it to the store and yesterday he even wore it to gymnastic class.

And between you and me, I also wear it sometimes. Not outside yet, but everyonce in a while - in the privacy of my own home - I am princess Lene. You may call me your majesty from now on.

And on a completely unrelated topic - Magnus' teeth are going through a growth spurt or something. At least it seems so. Tooth no. 11 is making its way into this world, and the amount of drooling is absolutely insane! Seriously insane! He should come equipped with his own little towel or something.

We love firemen

2011-05-15T21:43:00.000+02:00

Does that sound wrong? I can't really decide.

However, we do. We love the nice, nice firemen that invites us in to the firestation, let the children go crazy, hands out awesome helmets and answers questions, gives everyone a smile and are just all around great!

We love firemen, oh yes, we do!

And so when you take our love for firemen and mix it with my love for my little boys and the handsome husband, you've got a lethal cocktail.

That is the only explanation I have for the many, many pictures to follow. To the fans of Samuel, Magnus and Mike - enjoy!

randoms

2011-05-12T00:18:00.000+02:00

Samuel figured out how to take pictures with my friends camera. He took approximately 500.

It seems I didn't jinx anything with Magnus and his teeth, and now tooth no. 10 is popping up. And yes, the drool is back. And then some!

This morning I fould Magnus' toothbrush floating around in the toilet. I am not completely sure how it got there, but I felt the right thing to do was to throw it out. Right away!

I also spent an hour in the sandbox sifting through the sand, getting rid of leaves, stones and so forth. It was oddly relaxing. I am thinking about doing the same tomorrow. Is that very weird?

While we all ponder that question, please enjoy some of Samuels pictures.

I totally want to squeeze this little guy.

So adorable!

My washing machine ...

2011-05-10T11:20:00.001+02:00

Yes, I have children ... why do you ask?

On video

2011-05-09T22:36:00.002+02:00

Team Magnus & Samuel

I am pretty sure this is going to make you smile.

Samuel and Magnus the team from Mike on Vimeo.

And Samuel speeding.

Samuel with trycicle from Mike on Vimeo.

And finally, Magnus the artist

Magnus from Mike on Vimeo.

He walks!

2011-05-08T21:58:00.000+02:00

We spent the Saturday at the open house at the Fire Station and I finally got mr. Walking Boy on camera.

And more, a lot more pictures will come from the visit to the Fire Station. We all loved it there and it needs to be documented.

BIG NEWS!

2011-05-06T23:03:00.000+02:00

Okay, I am going to do a bit of a Osama-Obama thing here. Not that anyone is dead, but I am going to make a claim with absolutely no proof to back me up.

Are you ready?

Good!

Magnus is walking.

It is awesome. He looks like a mini-sumo wrestler.

It would be great with a picture or a video here, right? But as I said. I have no proof of it. It is not because the pictures are cruel in any way. It is just that they don't exist. While we think it is fantastic we just haven't taken a single picture or video of him.

That really is bad parents, right?

Obviously this will be fixed. The little man will be photographed - thoroughly! And we will share the pictures - to a point where you would probably wish that we hadn't. And all will be well in the world.

My child - the genius

2011-05-03T22:02:00.000+02:00

I know the title of this post sort if gives it away, so maybe I should just skip my rambling of how awesome my big boy is and just go straight to the actual incident and the accompagning picture.

But ... My child is a CREATIVE GENIUS!

Okay, I just needed to get a little rambling out of my system. Moving on.

This morning Samuel came into the room and announced that he had drawn a man with two eyes, two ears, two legs and two arms.

This is his second attempt at drawing a person in half a year or so, so I was quite curious to see what he had come up with. Normally he just draws cars. Cars, cars, cars!

Anyway he then showed me this picture.

I am officially in love with it.

I can actually see what it is. The two huge eyes - Samuel pointed out that it was one tiny eye and one big eye. I am not sure I would call it tiny, but Samuel only operates with tiny and big. I am working on teaching him little, but he remains unimpressed.

Over the eyes you see the lovely ears poking out and naturally a little hair on top. Kinda looked like my hair this morning, thank you very much.

Next to the eyes you have the arms and at the bottom are his feet or legs. The artist have not revealed why the man is inside a bubble, so that is up to your own imagination.

And this, my friends, is great art!

I have no title for this ...

2011-05-02T01:08:00.000+02:00

Saturday when I wrote about Magnus' 9th tooth I wondered whether I was jinxing it by writing that is was on its way.

However, when Magnus and me had a long talk the following morning I realised that the tooth had indeed come out over night.

If I hadn't noticed it there on the changing table I would certainly have noticed something was up, because the drooling had stopped. From one day to another - completey stopped. It is like the river had dried up.

I like it. Before he almost left a trail behind him, which is not that great. So in other words, tooth no. 9, we welcome you and appreciate that you took the drool away.

Aaaand moving on to something different - Magnus and Samuel out cruising.

These pictures absolutely cracks me up, every time I look at them, or even think of them.

Somehow I think those two guys on that scooter is one of the coolest and funniest things I have ever seen.

Basicly this is just a lot of random pictures from our last visit to the garden. Maybe it is a little easier to understand why I couldn't think of a title for this post.

Samuel blowing soap bubbles. He loves doing that, which kinds annoys me because we only have one of them at the moment, and I also want to blow soapbubbles. Arhh, sometimes it is not fun to be the parent when all you want to do it just yank it out of the little boys hands and blow bubbles yourself.

Yup, I am totally mature. And I am getting more soap bubbles ASAP.

Okay, så technically he is not blowing soapbubbles on the pictures, but he is actually pointing at some up in the sky.

And Magnus. Did I tell you that he learned to say Meow today? Among some of the best entertainment in the world in my opinion. There is something about him and animals. He still says "Vov" whenever we see a dog.

On this particular picture, however, it may seem as he is eating sand. He is not. Don't worry.

Do I have any comments on this picture? Not really, other than to point out that I took approximately 30 pictures of him that day and he refused to look directly as me which makes it really hard to take good pictures.

I hope you all had a great weekend! We definitly had, a little slow, but really nice.

Please excuse us ...

2011-04-30T00:47:00.000+02:00

but we've been busy lately!

We're using loads of sunlotion, having lunch outside, sand in our shoes, pants and everywhere else. It's been such a pleasure!

A few days ago I was sitting in the sandbox, sun in my face, toes buried in the warm sand, and two happy boys next to me. It was awesome.

However, I couldn't help but think back a few months to snowy and cold days with a sick little boy and a restless bigger brother, a time where I more than once considered my career choice - or non-career choice. It was not among my best moments.

I really wish I could have seen what was ahead of me. It would have made it easier. Because these days are really worth the long, hard days and even longer sleepless nights.

I love seeing the boys play together, like yesterday where Samuel was riding a little plastic scooter and asked that I put Magnus on the trailer so he could drive him. I did, and watched as Samuel ever so carefully drove his little brother around in our garden. Samuel was so proud he could do it, and Magnus looked like the happiest boy in the world. It was one of those moments that you want to keep in your heart forever.

We had a lot of those lately!

Like visiting with my dad and Conni and all the steplings (my stepsisters and stepbrother)

Annemarie, Charlotte, Samuel and Mike rocking at a nature playground.

Taking the train out into the world with my sister and the rest of my family. I love seeing her and Samuel together. They looked out the window and discussed important matters. I am so grateful for all the love that my children are shown.

My sister - she might just be the worlds coolest!

Two of the steplings testing Samuels scooter on a beautiful spring day in the forest.


Jacob trying to steer and Astrid pushing.

Being deep in conversation and suddenly looking up at my dad to see this beautiful vision. I so know where I got my weirdness from. Totally!

My dad testing Samuels hat.

And this little boy ... this little boy ... Oh, gosh, this is a big one. In order to understand the magnitude of what I am about to say, you need to know that we live on the 5th floor with no lift. I repeat No Lift! And this little boy is now able to crawl up all the stairs himself.

When I sat him down on the ground and just watched him crawl full speed up the stairs, I nearly shed a tear. For two reasons - one because he is suddenly so big and non-baby like, and - two from sheer relief.

Another thing that is going on in his life is teething. He got his 8th tooth while we were in Germany last year in September. Ever since we've been waiting for the rest of the teeth to come. Apart from sore gums every once in a while nothing have happened.

But it seems like tooth no. 9 is finally making it's way into the world. And if the amount of drool is any indicator then it is popping up soon and more are just around the corner.

This kid is not just drooling. It is like a river running out of him. Almost to the point of being a bit impressive.

Going to the zoo with good friends and seeing these cozy creatures.

And having lunch on this platform, surrounded by an ostrich and kangaroos. This beats any cafeteria I've ever been to.

Samuel is still completely cool without his pacifier and never brings it up. I am surprised at how easy it was. Magnus has started walking a few steps here and there and will even walk a few meters, when we hold his hands. So we may soon have two walking boys, one of them uses a paficier, but both are cute as can be.

The pacifier

2011-04-24T22:56:00.000+02:00

First off, can we just use a minute to comment on the amazing weather we've been having lately?

It's been surreal. We've spent so much time in the outdoors, wearing t-shirts and shorts. The kids have loved it, playing in the sandbox, running and crawling on the grass, playing ball and checking out the wonder that is mother nature. Lovely!

But let's move on, because I know you are all just dying to know how it went with the pacifier, right?

No? Not even a little bit?

I don't care. I'll tell you anyway - and I'll show picture of the whole "pacifier-drop-off-expedition". Ha, that'll teach you!

Magnus enjoying the ride in his buggy. He prefers not to be facing me. I don't take it personally, because I figure he is just like his brother, and all he wants to do is look at the cars and what is going on around him.

By the way, can anybody tell me where his reddish hair comes from? I love it, but it is kinda weird that he has it.

While Magnus was enjoying his ride, Samuel rode most of the way on his little scooter. We were away for almost 6 hours and he managed to ride 1-2 kilometers on it. Plus he did a lot of walking. He is one tough guy.

The scooter is almost too small for him, but fortunately a new running-bike has been waiting for him to grow, ever since last fall. And it looks like he is almost big enough now.

I took this picture at the park, and the flower doesn't really have anything to do with anything. But quite obviously that didn't stop me. I am just fascinated with how amazingly sharp my lovely camera is. I am still deeply in love with my camera!

Mike and Samuel looking at some ducks that are passing the path.

And here they are looking at some elephants - fortunately not passing the path.

Ha ha ha! Oh, I crack myself up.

We ate lunch at a little bench, where we had a little hill to the one side of us and the view to the elephants right in front of us.

Samuel enjoyed running down the hill -

And looking at the elephants. He is the little guy on the scooter at the bottom at the picture.

At the pacifier tree, getting ready to say farewell to his last two pacifiers. Yes, he wasn't bothered at all. I took it a lot harder than he did.

Mike scounting the tree for the perfect place to hang the pacifiers.

It was a little strange, because we were there just the week before and we could see that the amount of pacifiers on the tree had increased significantly in that period. I wonder how many people goes there every week - and whether someone cuts the old pacifiers down every once in a while.

Yes, it is questions such as these that keeps me up at night ... but still, someone must cut them down now and then, otherwise it would get kinda yucky.

Samuels red and pink pacifier and a little farewell letter on the tree. I was close to tears at this moment, and Samuel was more bored than anything. He did, however, think it was pretty exciting to go looking for the gift, you get when you give the pacifier tree your pacifiers.

Okay, maybe he didn't think it was all that exciting, but he really did enjoy actually finding his gift - A little Postman Pat giftbox, with books, a colouring book and three small figures.

He slept with the figures next to his bed that night.

Afterwards Samuel found a sandbox to play in, Magnus was still sleeping, Mike and me sat down and relaxed - and the whole pacifier adventure was over.

It wasn't until 10 minutes after we tucked him in that evening that he started asking for his pacifier. Every 10 minute or so he would start crying a little and ask us to bring him his pacifier. We could only tell him that we didn't have any because they were all up on the tree.

Eventually he fell asleep and I prepared myself for the following night. However, the only thing he said was that he didn't use a pacifier anymore. He just fell asleep after singing a little to himself.

I love it when he sings in his bed. It totally makes my day!

I am surprised how easy it all went. Maybe potty training will be just as easy ...

Why are you laughing?

My mommy superpowers

2011-04-21T19:54:00.000+02:00

Being a mom you have these superpowers, you sense things, you get promptings. It is almost like a 6th sense.

Allow me to show you some examples of these superpowers in action.

Exhibit A:

One afternoon a few days ago Samuel went into the wardrobe, got out his jacket, his hat and his shoes and put it all on.

My superpowers tell me that Samuel wanted to go outside and play. They also tell me that Samuel still has problems with the left and right shoe, as they are on wrongly.

Since I was pretty busy that day, I didn't have time to take him outside to play. He wore all his outdoor clothes an hour.

The mommy superpowers got this feeling - that is one warm kid right there.

Exhibit B:

This is a picture of our bed.

My awesome powers tell me that a little boy have been jumping in our bed. Since Magnus can't climb into the bed, it must be Samuel.

Pop quiz: Which duvet do you think is mine, and which one belongs to Mike? Yeah, maybe not that difficult ... moving on to ...

Exhibit C:

This is a very, very tired little boy. He also fell to sleep almost instantly when we put him to bed.

See, these superpowers are pretty cool, right? And they sure do come in handy at times.

But I have to admit, that right now my powers are not working - or maybe there just isn't anything I can do. Because today we said goodbye to the last of Samuels pacifiers and so this is his first night without them. I wish the mommy superpowers could help him right now, but this time I think only time will work.

Wish us luck.

Meatloaf

2011-04-17T22:47:00.000+02:00

When I was 23 years old, my mother died. She had given us a legacy of love, laughter and good food. Really good food!

While I could go on and on about the special moments I've had with my mother, I am not going to right now. This post is going to be about the good food.

Because while we had her recipe book there are a few things for which she didn't leave any recipes. For most people this would be a little sad, but for a person like me who loves food, this is tragic!

Or maybe it is me going on and on about food which is tragic?

Moving on. I was unable to find her recipe for frikadeller, the Danish meatballs. My goodness, they were so, so good. Fortunately I was saved by a dear friend who had a pretty spectacular recipe. Thank you Miss Mona. They are tasty!

However, I have not been able to find a decent recipe for meatloaf. This might have had something to do with the fact that I have not been looking that much, but still!

Today we had the missionaries over for dinner and I thought it was about time I start on my quest for the perfect meatloaf a la mom recipe. Or to be fair, I was browsing the "Cowboy food" recipes on pionerwoman.com and stumbled over a recipe for meatloaf and I immediately had flashbacks of my mothers meatloaf.

Oh my!

From Pionerwoman.com

I made it today. It is so easy to make and it is the perfect food for guests. You just put it in the oven and let it enjoy itself in there for an hour and then you are ready to eat! Easy peasy.

So the verdict?

Definitly not my mothers meatloaf, but the fact that this recipe included a spicy ketchup-based sauce on top had already given that away. My mothers was more of an old-school version - no spicy sauce there.

But I love it! I am planning on eating the rest for breakfast tomorrow ... what, too weird? For lunch then? Okay then, for lunch it is. And I know my mother will be okay with me saying this, so here goes - it was better than my mothers meatloaf.

You want the recipe? Here it is. And even if you like the old school version, give the fancy sauce on top a try! Samuel was dipping his bread in it and I was almost licking it off my plate.

I did alter the recipe a little since I did not have any tabasco sauce or dry mustard. I substituted it with some kick-ass dijon mustard to bring the heat, and it sure did.

Tasty!

Let me know what you think, if you try it : )

Ps. did you notice this is a post with only one mentioning of my children and no pictures of them. What is this world coming to?

Visiting doctor Nir

2011-04-15T23:04:00.000+02:00

I really should post a picture of Magnus with chubby cheeks and a huge smile, but I do not have any that you haven't seen. So instead you get Samuel with a slightly disturbing and rather manic smile. Don't ask me why, he just did that when I got my camera out.

The reason I should post a picture of Magnus is obviously because this post is about Magnus - and a little bit about a pediatrician and the Danish system!

Magnus have been a little underweight, which is completely understandable after all his sickness and stomach problems. That being said there is also a big "but". Because even though there is a reason for it, he still needs to gain some weight! And pronto please!

The lovely pediatrician told me to just put sugar on whatever and go ahead and add butter. The last month I did just that! Oh, and I also put cream in his bottle.

That is right! While I couldn't convince him to eat frosting, apple pie or muffins, he did enjoy a little bit of cream in his milk.

So did it work?

Today we had an appointment with the lovely pediatrician who measured and weighed our little guy. And it worked beyond my expectations. Mr. Magnus had gained 750 grams and grown 3 centimeters in little over a month. I am sure it was the cream, that did it!

I was so excited and honestly rather relieved. The medicine he is getting for his stomach problems also helps and life is good, oh so good! And between you and me, I am really enjoying not forcefeeding my child prunes or a variety of strange seeds or keeping him away from anything containing even a tiny bit of white flour. I think he likes that too.

Another thing I should say is that I am a little in love with our pediatrician. She has a long waitinglist, is stylish, super knowledgeable and somehow she manage to make me feel like a competent, well-informed, and clever mother. Honestly, what is not to love?

Today she also told me how one of her children had the same problems as Magnus have, and her take on it. She could relate to my frustration and she listened and gave her view on it. She assured me and shared some of her own insights which helped me in this process.
But the thing that really made me want to hug her today, was when she, stylish super-pediatrician, kneeled down on the ground before little, tired Samuel and helped him put his shoes on.

I have a friend from abroad who sometimes tease me and say that we Danes love the Danish system and anything Danish - she is probably right. At least I have to say that I do love the people I have met in the Danish healthsystem. I love our doctors, the midwives, the nurses and of course the pediatricians. I love how they listen to me, to my concerns and how they respect my views, and I love how they treat my two boys, how they talk to them, explain things and walk them through things step by step. Even if it is merely helping them put their shoes on.

Magnus is doing so well that we don't have to visit the pediatrician again. I am glad he is well, and a little sad we won't visit her again. But mostly glad!

Perfect days

2011-04-12T22:33:00.000+02:00

Sunday evening Mike returned home from a four day trip to Berlin. Both the two kids and I were happy and excited to see him, but goodness gracious did he ever miss out on some perfect, perfect days.

We had bright blue sky. It was amazing. One day we even wore t-shirts and no jackets.

This guy was healthy and in an excellent mood. He enjoyed life in the sandbox, and he enjoyed the huge brunch he ate an hour after this picture was taken.Samuel did too, drinking countless smoothies and orange juice, and eating his share of yoghurt.

Samuel loves the sandbox and loves being outdoor. We were out everyday and it was heaven for him - well, for all of us. Later this day we also did a little shopping and he was jumping and dancing all the way, pointing out the airplanes that flew over us, the moon, the busses, trailers and so forth.

I love sitting in the sandbox with the sun in my face and two happy boys around me. We looked at snails, spiders, a rainworm and a larva. A few dogs also stopped by and Magnus impressed us all by saying "Vuf vuf", when I showed him the dogs.

Their granddad and aunt came over for a little sandbox play-time, dinner and lego-building. And Samuels friend came over the following day for a litte crafting, pizza and even more playing. And finally on the Sunday their favorite babysitter came home with us after church and spent the whole day with us, once more an hour was spent in the sandbox.

And while we waited for dad to arrive ... or well, more like when I was clearing off the table 4 hours before Mike was due home, there was a knock on the door and there was one of our neighbors holding this plate.

"I could imagine you have some hungry boys", he said. They had celebrated his birthday and had too many leftovers.

Thanks so much! What a perfect way to end a few perfect days with lots of sun and outdoor time and excellent company. Samuel ate a muffin and Magnus ate the strawberries, refusing any cake. When I put Magnus to bed, I could smell the strawberries still on his little hands.

I am so ready for summer and more perfect days in the sun. I already checked and all the excellent company is more than happy to come over again.

What wonderful days and what a wonderful life!

Balloons

2011-04-08T23:26:00.001+02:00

Or maybe I should rather say duloons, as Samuel calls them. Magnus doesn't call them anything, but he seem to be working on the word "no".

I would rather have him say balloon though.

Magnus can also say "hov" which means "Oops" and "se" for "see". Yup, he is talented. No walking though, but everyonce in a while he will do a lion roar. Awesome stuff!

But back to the balloons.

We love balloons at our house and whenever I see any new kinds I buy them. A while ago I bought some big balloons which was a huge hit in the house.

He may not look excited, but he is. Deep down inside, he really is.

And then recently I bought some giant balloons. You know how the title can dissapoint at times. Like giant balloons being less than giant?

That was not the case here.

I nearly passed out after blowing it up.

I got pretty darn dizzy.

But the kids were ecstatic! And truth be told so was I.

It was one of the funniest things we'd done in quite a while. We played with it for a long time, nearly knocking over a few items plus a little boy. Unfortunately someone - maybe me - got too carried away and suddenly it exploded.

Apart from someone - maybe me - screaming, everyone else took it very calmly. Samuels biggest concern was what to play with now.

Blowing up another giant balloons was out of the question for me. I was recovering from the first balloon.

Instead their dad kindly offered to blow up two regular sized balloons for them, in blue even.

It's just not the same, not the same at all!

I have 7 more. I just need to find a pump for them.

Meeting mother nature

2011-04-03T20:02:00.000+02:00

Checking out mr. Beetle

Yesterday Samuel discovered a tiny beetle in his bedroom. There was much excitement.

So much so that it really made me aware of the fact that our children are urban-children. Of course that fact that Samuel referred to it as a spider the first 5 minutes added to that.

The beetle kept him entertained for a good 20 minutes, and I could hear him talk to it and a few times he was yelling that it should go away. As great as that was, my favorite point was when he looked up at me and said that he didn't want the beetle to eat him.

Very understandable.

I think we need to get these kids out of the city.

Nighttime ritual - or not

2011-03-30T21:50:00.000+02:00

This is what happens when Mike puts Samuel to bed.

Pretty awesome, right?

Checking out the view

2011-03-28T13:47:00.000+02:00

Magnus sitting in his favorite place, the windowsill, where he can keep an eye on what is happening down in the garden.

Zoo in the sun

2011-03-27T20:46:00.000+02:00

I packed up the kids and we headed to the zoo, to spend a great day with Samuels friend and her mother - or should I say my friend and her daughter?

The dangerous crocodiles .. grrrr

Magnus checking out the monkeys. He was quite fascinated

And so was Samuel.

Magnus was pretty relaxed with the whole experience, while Samuel really enjoyed the monkeys. He did however also like the other animals, he was especially sorry that the tiger weren't out the first time we went by their area.

Even though, and I am slightly embaressed to say this, he kept referring to them as Tigger, a character from Winnie the Pooh.

Oh, and I cut Samuels hair. As you can see on the picture above it was very needed.

The day after the zoo trip I got him up from his nap, cut his hair on a whim on the changing table and then realised he would probably need a bath to get all the hair off. Ran the bath, managed to soak myself in the proces, and got Magnus up. Put Samuel in the bath. Made smoothie while Magnus crawled around and enjoyed himself. Sun was shining through the windows and it was nice and cozy. Samuel was happy as can be in the bath, especially when I gave him a smoothie to drink. Magnus sat on my lap and drank a cup of smoothie before he returned to play with Samuels bathwater.

When I finally got Samuel out of the bathtub, he was clean, Magnus was soaked, and Samuels fingers looked like this.

But strangely enough it was one of those great, great afternoons that I hope I will remember for ever.

Big brother Samuel

2011-03-22T22:19:00.001+01:00

The weather have been amazing these last few days, and we've enjoyed it tremendously.

When we came home one day after one of our excursions, I had just gotten my jacket and shoes off and was about to help Magnus out of his outfit when this happened.

Yes, that is Samuel, with his shoes and hat still on, trying to help Magnus out of his shoes.

When the shoes finally came off - with a little help from me - he then proceeded to work on Magnus' outfit.

As soon as I figure out how to make him change Magnus' diapers, I am going to retire.

They are a strange and funny couple, but they do love each other. Yesterday Samuel kept hugging Magnus, to the point where I had to intervene to protect Magnus, and some days I come into a room, to find the two of them laughing and Samuel then tells me "I am playing with Magnus". Nothing like brothers, I guess.

I'm still here ...

2011-03-20T20:19:00.000+01:00

My dad just complained that he has no idea what is going on in our life because I haven't updated the blog in a while.

My apologies!

However, you can see what I've been doing lately here. I have to warn you though - it's mainly pictures of cakes, all in Danish and there are no pictures of little cute kids. But the cakes are yummy!

But while you wait for updates on our life, you can enjoy these pictures of Samuels little hand.

It's his hand, that should count for something, right?

Oh, and we are all healthy and have been for a while. That's right! HEALTHY! I love it.

Being sick

2011-03-07T20:48:00.000+01:00

I would like to appologize for the last post. It was depressing and complaining.
I'll try and avoid those in the future. Life sometimes is a little hard and frustrating, but I am pretty sure wallowing in your challenges doesn't help the situation.

So instead I am going to be positive and this post is about sick kids - with a positive spin on it. Are you excited?

I knew you would be!

We went to visit Samuels friend, Annesofie, to celebrate her birthday this Saturday. Magnus wasn't feeling very well, and when I finally got the two kids home, the first thing I did was to check his temperature.

39,4 degrees celcius.

And because I am a paranoid mother I also checked Samuels temperature. He was not impressed by that maneuvre and told me repeatedly that "That was not that smart, mum".

(Today I went and bought a thermometer for the ear to avoid further frustration)

Samuel was absolutely fit for fight, but had a temperature of 39,2.

Fortunately the kids both fell to sleep very quickly and slept so well. And this is the first cool thing about sick kids. We didn't get up till 9.30.

The second cool thing wasn't so much the kids being sick, but the great timing. Because they got sick the weekend Mike had borrowed a projector from his work.

You gotta love Winnie the Pooh in extra large.

Another point for the timing, we had cakes galore in the house because we had baked for the birthday party.

Being sick or being the parent of a sick child is much better when there is cake in the house.

And finally come Sunday night both kids seemed like they had a normal temperature. I didn't dare check it because when Samuel saw the thermometer he had a small meltdown. And today they were back to normal, a little more tired than normal, but otherwise okay.

Children should be sick this way every time they get sick. Especially the sleeping till 9.30 thing.

potty time

2011-03-04T23:56:00.001+01:00

We are potty training at our house. Or to be more exact, Samuel is potty training. I am running around with soap and a cloth, continually adding to the laundry pile. It is awesome!

I should include pictures of Samuel sitting proudly on his potty, but I also have to realise that he will one day be a teenager - and then he might not appreciate the potty pictures on the world wide web.

Much mocking could result from that, I fear. And who would want that?

Post-edit: Due to an excessive workload on one parent which lead to an excessive workload on the other parent we quit the potty training. Yes, we will do potty training some day - otherwise the mocking will be out of this world, but for now we are just happy that everyone is content and healthy.

Healthy being a relative term though when it comes to the kids *sigh*

Wise words

2011-02-27T19:17:00.000+01:00

I went to church today and heard a lot of cool things, I was taught, I taught. I felt better, more educated and ready to take another go at life. When I do my part Church tends to do that to me.

And this evening I read this.

It is like double church today. Lucky me!

Magnus

2011-02-25T22:41:00.000+01:00

We've been sick at home. I am not going to go into details, because it was gross. I am just thankful for toilets, running water and the washing machine.

And so while we ignore the sickness, let me show you some pictures of my favorite little tiny boy.

He is so darn cute.

Happy Birthday

2011-02-18T21:41:00.000+01:00

Last week we celebrated Samuels birthday.

It was two great days, and I am a little sad that we have to wait another 11 months for the next kiddie birthday. Maybe we could do some sort of themed party for Mikes birthday? No?

You want pictures? Yes?

One of the gifts. A sure hit!

Unwrapping gifts - great concentration

Testing his new hat, Mr. Builder

More gifts ...


Testing some of the new gifts.

Mike had to be at work early and so we invited Aunt Anne over for breakfast with pancakes. Samuel ate half a pancake and then it was all about the gifts.

We then packed a bag, sent Anne off to work and headed to the Zoo to meet up with Lisbeth for a tour de Zoo. We spend quite a while looking at the monkeys and then Samuel declared he was hungry. Apparently half a pancake doesn't last that long.

We had lunch and went home for naps and Lisbeth joined us later for some playtime. In other words it was an awesome, awesome day and Samuel was almost exhausted with all the attention.

And I may have sung every single birthday song that I know - I also did this a few day before and after his birthday. Who says you can only have a birthday song on your birthday?

His favorite is a Danish one where you sing about playing instruments, clapping or saying hurray - he prefers the drums, but also seem quite pleased with the clapping and the loud Hurrays!

Waiting for the Zoo to open, with showel and yellow helmet

You gotta love our little birthday boy.

Feel the force

2011-02-07T23:17:00.003+01:00

Did you see this commercial?

I am loving it - and somehow I can easily picture Samuel doing that stunt. Even though he would obviously be dancing while wearing the costume.

Say Moooohhh!

2011-02-07T13:27:00.000+01:00

I have no words, no words!

Mike wearing my cow-patterned outfit. Don't look at me like that, it was a gift. It really was.

The sickness - a status

2011-02-03T00:16:00.003+01:00

Saturday I got sick with a fever, running nose and just plain unwell-ness. Monday I was almot back to normal and so I sat down with the kids, looked at them both and told them "No more being sick! I am serious. No more. It is over. We are done with all that. Done!"

Tuesday morning my sister who is staying with us for a few days gets sick, Magnus throws up all over our bed and gets a fever, for the fourth time since christmas.

Seriously! We need some sort of wonderpill here soon.

4 years - and counting!

2011-02-03T00:16:00.000+01:00

4 years ago we were married. There was no Samuel, no Magnus. I was without a law degree and was working at a call center, Mike wasn't working. We had a very empty apartment.

I honestly can't remember what we did. What do you do when you don't have kids? No Samuel and no Magnus! That is such a weird thought.

We had babysitters over to look after the children I am happy to call mine, and we went to the opera. It was awesome. More about it later.

I love, love, love the small people in my life. Just love them! And I love, love, love the handsome man I also get to call mine! This is the good life.

2011-01-28T23:24:00.000+01:00

I just finished doing the dishes when I came into the living room to find this:

I can't help but love this boy - and his books!

One trip ...

2011-01-26T00:51:00.000+01:00

I am longing for the days where I once more can post pictures from our trips to the zoo, parties, fun activities and visits to friends. For now let's just state that we are at home. I know that one day this will change, and I am looking forward to that!

And while we wait for that please enjoy a few pictures from a recent visit to the Lego Flagshipstore downtown. It was taken last week, on the one day this month where Magnus wasn't sick.

Samuel checking out LegoWorld - while Mike is filming him

This is what he looks like when he is well : )

It's all made of Lego, including the picture in the background.

Dear Legostore, we will be back! I promise. We will be back.

My dad

2011-01-22T23:14:00.000+01:00

Last week I must have caught some of the germs from Magnus, because I spent a few hours in my bed, and a few days wishing I was in my bed. And to top it off, Magnus is still waking up at night after he's been sick, and I am quite honestly tired.

And so today I have decided it was time to get him back into his normal sleeping rhythm. He really needs to get a good nights sleep, and so do I. So I was prepared to be tough - untill I went into the bedroom where I had tucked Magnus in two hours earlier, to find a tired, crying child with a cold!

A cold! Seriously!

He can hardly breathe through his nose, he is sniffling and quite unwell. And so I guess I can look forward to a few more nights of poor sleep, for the both of us.

It made me think of the night where I went to bed at 9 pm after spending two days helping my sister pack up all her belongings and move. I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was sleep - preferably for a day or two.

Instead Magnus woke up with a sore stomach and spent the next 5 hours whining. I felt really sorry for him, but I also felt really sorry for myself!

I know this is a long lists of complaints, and all these things goes with the territory when you are a parent, but I actually have a point to this.

Because whenever I have a period where I get really exhausted and worn out, where the kids keep me awake at night, try my patience and so on, then I can't help but to think of my parents. I am filled with a deep gratitude for all that they have sacrificed for me, for the many sleepless night, early mornings, diapers changed, kisses given and backs stroked. I feel such love towards them for all that they have given me, because now I better understand the effort it takes.

The first few weeks after I had Samuel, I was in complete awe of my parents. Complete and utter awe!

I think my parents are amazing!

See, this guy here. That is my dad. Notice the tie. I am pretty sure it is characters from the "Far Side" cartoon. This picture is from his retirement party in November.

He worked at the court in Roskilde for more than 23 years. He loved his job, and I am pretty sure he did it with an excitement and a passion.

This is his retirement cake. It was tasty!

The president of the courts giving a speech about my dad. Strangely enough he was actually one of the judges in my department at the Copenhagen City Court, during my very short experience as a deputy judge.

My dad and Magnus listening to a speech given by my dads boss. She was also pretty impressed with him. Can't say I don't understand why.

And this lady here. She is a big fan of my dad, and for that I am a big fan of hers. Her talk made me cry, out of pride and joy that the man she was talking about was my dad. Because my dad is really a good man, a talented man, a kind man, an extremely helpful man and a very wise man.

He saved me more than once at school and at university. He helped me with latin, math (oh boy, did he ever), Danish essays and law. I remember him sitting out in our dining room working on a case, always making time for me if I had a question or even many questions.

He was the guy I called the day before one of my feared exams at law school. My brain had gone dead and I didn't understand a single word in the book. He came over, read the chapters and sat down and explained it for me, using teddybears to illustrate his points.

I always know that whatever happens then he is never more than a phone call away. When I went to Scotland to study, he told me to call if anything happened and he would help. And I know that he would. He would move heavens and earth for his kids, if we ever need anything.

Maybe these stories seem simple, but the heart and the love behind it is immense. I am so grateful that he is my dad, that he went to work every day for so many years, to provide for us, that he and my mother cared for us all through our life, that he taught me so many things - and still continues to teach me.

And now, if you will excuse me. I have a crying boy with a cold to cuddle ...

Please welcome Mr. Magnus Brandt

2011-01-19T20:47:00.000+01:00

I have no excuses, no explanations. Just sit back and enjoy the cuteness of the littlest one.

Thump

2011-01-18T22:47:00.000+01:00

Last night I woke up by the sound of Samuel crying. Magnus woke up too, and while I calmed him down, Mike went to investigate what had happened to Samuel.

That was one unhappy boy.

From our bedroom, all I could make out was Mikes words "all over your bed" and my mind went over the possibilities of things that could be all over his bed; Pee, poo or stomach content! Neither too appealing.

After a minute or so, where I was just waiting for Mike to call for help, he finally returned with a red-eyed Samuel on his arm.

Mike wasn't saying "all over your bed", but "out of your bed". Yup, at 3.33 am Samuel had apparently fallen out of his bed which woke him up, quite naturally I might add.

He spent the rest of the night sleeping between us, safely protected from the abyss by his two parents.

When I put him down for his nap today, he kept talking about falling out of his bed, and I honestly understand how that might be a horrific thought - been there, done that, got the bruises. So I've put two big duvets and a huge pile of pillows right next to his bed. I think he might even be more comfortable if he were to roll out of his bed now.

No, Magnus!

2011-01-18T22:40:00.000+01:00

The other day the two kids were on the floor playing with their Lego.

And yes, they have other toys too.

Anyway Samuel was building some sort of structure when Magnus crawled over and smashed it. Drama followed, and then while pointing to the Lego, Samuel stated: "No, Magnus. This is not toys".

Uhm, Samuel. I hate to break this to you, but actually it is.

It was just a miniature birthday party

2011-01-16T21:05:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we celebrated Magnus' birthday once more. It was a little bit of a recycling party - we reused the cake, and we even reused a guest, my sister. But we had a great time.

The birthday boy, waiting for his dad to unwrap his gift

Lisbeth, our favorite babysitter, brought a penguin for little Magnus. It is so adorable, that I want it to be in my bed.

Introducing Pingo, the penguin!

Magnus seems to be quite smitten by it too.

We did potato prints and painted, played with all the toys and just enjoyed each others company. It was a nice, quiet, fun day.

Samuel getting creative. Paint is always a hit at our house!

I promise we'll do something big next year, or at least bigger. But okay, a birthday party with two guests - it can almost only get bigger next year. But somehow this small party seemed to fit us this year.

And next year we might even let the birthday boy stay up for the birthday cake ; )

Thumb

2011-01-13T23:48:00.005+01:00

The other night I was getting ready to go to bed when I heard a soft *thumb* from Samuels room. It was not followed by any crying, so I thought nothing of it.

By the way is that a sign of a lazy mother?

Anyway right before I went to bed I went to check on him and found this.

Samuel fast asleep on the floor.

What? How? Why?

I have so many questions. Did he fall out while sleeping? And if so, did he then wake up when he hit the floor? Is it because the bed is too small? Did he roll out on purpose? And if that is the case, then why?

Why? How? I mean ... I am puzzled once more!

Hurray!

2011-01-13T23:48:00.000+01:00

Today Magnus turned 1 year. It was quite the event.

Checking out his new book

Thanks to the 40% off on Lego at a nearby store the kids went crazy in a Lego extravaganza. I obviously joined them, and let me tell you I am a little bit smitten with the yellow truck, Magnus got.

Awesome!

And don't get me started on the police car. It has the funkiest siren and is such a smooth ride. Loving it!

The red airplane was for Samuel, and it made him very excited. And he even seemed to be okay with the fact that it was Magnus' birthday today, and not his. At least I heard him say "it's Magnus' birthday", so I guess he got it. Or maybe he is just repeating what I've been telling him. Hmm!

There was a very happy boy, there was cosy naps, a nice time in the swing, a surprise visit by my sister, tasty dinner and a birthday cake to end the day.

I love days like these.

Happy birthday, little one.

Tomorrow

2011-01-12T22:19:00.000+01:00

is Magnus' birthday.

Even though Samuel claims it is his birthday. There have been a few discussions on that topic lately. I have the feeling we might have to discuss it again tomorrow once or twice.

I wrapped the gifts, put up flags and decorated the chairs with balloons. We normally put on a special tablecloth when it is a birthday here at our house, but knowing our two children it seems like a bad idea. It would survive a total of 36 seconds before it would be ready for the washing machine. So I haven't put it on, and quite frankly I feel like a bit of a bad mother for it. I mean, what kind of mother keeps the birthday table cloth from her own little son?

Don't answer that!

Today was Magnus last day as a 0 year old boy. He enjoyed it thoroughly. He got his first birthday gift and the look of excitement on his face was amazing. He was absolutely overjoyed. But how can you also not love a box of Lego with a farmer and a pig?

I even got a little bit excited, but Lego tends to do that for me.

I might as well reveal that a few of Magnus other birthday packages also contains Lego, and also one of the gifts for Samuel.

Yes, Samuel is also getting gifts tomorrow. We decided that our lives were too short not to give him gifts tomorrow - especially as he do believe it is his birthday. There are only two though, but we hope that will be enough to keep him entertained.

I can't believe that Magnus is already turning 1. I've called him "My big boy" all day today. He really no longer is a little baby. I almost miss that. Almost.

I think he is the perfect age right now. He is so cuddly and sweet and amazing. Now that he is well again, he is all smiles and laughter, and I can't help but smile when I am around him.

It is intereting how I always seem to think that the age they have right now is the perfect age. I also feel that way with Samuel. Right now he is in the best age ever. And he really is.

Will I also feel like that when they become teenagers? Or move out, get married and have their own children?

...

Hmm, I think I better go to bed so I am ready for my BIG boy's BIG day tomorrow. And well, according to Samuel, then it is his big day too.

Finally ...

2011-01-11T22:17:00.000+01:00

Today Magnus finally seemed like his usual charming self. He sat on the floor on his own, played with his toys, smiled and crawled around for a while.

The last few weeks he's been more or less glued onto me, so this is big stuff. I feel relieved to be able to preform my everyday tasks again, but also a little redundant. But mostly relieved!

Today was a quiet day like the last few weeks, and even though I've enjoyed it, I am also so ready for something to happen. Just getting a bottle of milk is exciting for me at the moment!

Tomorrow we are visiting a mother who used to be in my day-care group. Her daughter and Samuel are super buddies. Hopefully this will be the first of many days with cool adventures, good company, and fun activities!

2011 - we are ready for you now! (Yes, better late than never)

It's just going to take a little while

2011-01-06T14:17:00.000+01:00

so please sit back, enjoy a cup of hot cocoa.

I'll return as soon as soon as the two kids are better, when I've had a full nights sleep and 40,1 degrees celsius on the thermometer is a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this picture of yours truly posing with one of Magnus' christmasgifts, a bath towel.
Taken christmas eve, but I've been saving it for a special occasion such as today ; )

I really, really need to get out more.

So this is what 2011 feels like

2011-01-02T21:49:00.000+01:00

I kinda like it. So far we've had two days with a bright blue sky and beautiful sunlight. I've missed it, the sun.

From our January 1st walk. Beautiful sky!

New Years Eve ... it is not quite the same when you have small kids. When I look through the pictures from new years eve there is one of Mike folding the laundry. Not-new-years-eveish.

Mike, folding laundry!

I had been reprimanded for my lack of enthusiasm for New Years Eve by the above-mentioned laundry-folder. Apparently my plan for spaghetti bolognese and going to bed early was not exactly what he had in mind.

I tried to raise the bar - I planned a fancy meal which we all enjoyed. We put the kids to bed, and had creme brulée for dessert. I got to use my new awesome chef's torch, which also frighten me quite a lot. It is like a miniature flamethrower!

We even wore hats. I will return to those hats later.

One little boy couldn't fall to sleep, being kept awake by the sounds of "glitter" (fireworks). And so we got him out of bed, drank a little grape juice and watched the fireworks from our window. He was exstatic and he happily wore one of the hats.

After a while we put him back to bed, waited for 12 o'clock to arrive, toasted, ate delicious kransekage and watched the fireworks again. We talked about the future and about the past. And I must say I have high hopes for 2011.

At 1.04 am I was in bed. At about 1.05 I was asleep.

Here is what I miss - I miss making a really, really nice meal, not one where you can prepare it in 20 minutes whereof a few of those minutes was spent with a child on my arm. I miss eating my meal quietly, not while simultaneously feeding a little boy shrimp, avocado, salmon and potatoes. I miss even having time to take a picture of the semi-fancy meal, just to prove myself to later generations. I miss having time to change into nicer clothes or to wear make up. Even just a little mascara would make my day.

I miss being better prepared - as in, not realising that the garlic you clearly remember buying have dissapeared, while you are halfway through making "spicy, garlic tiger prawns". I also left out the "spicy" part because the laundry-folder doesn't like that. In other words we had "tiger prawns". Yup, that was the level of cooking.

And the creme brulée was from powder - where I realised that I didn't have the necessary cream half an hour before I had planned to make it. The laundry folder and the oldest boy went out to get some at the 7-11 around the corner. They returned 50 minutes and four 7-11's later with no cream, but a lovely can of sour cream. That was all they could find. Instead I used instant whip cream from a can. It was very light and airy, if that is even a word.

And the centerpiece was our small christmas tree that was waiting to be thrown out. Napkins and fancy cutlery? Don't even ask.

Will someone please tell me that one day I will get it together again? I will, right? This post-baby stage is not permanent, right?

Please, someone agree with me.

But you know what I did enjoy. I enjoyed spending New Years Eve not being highly pregnant. And I enjoyed my three men. They are so great. And while laundry-folding is maybe not the coolest new years activity, then it is a sign of love.

And concerning the food; My sister and I hosted a few New Years Eve parties, and one time we managed to completely mess up the roast, to the point where it was more or less raw and we had to slice it up and fry it as steaks. Obviously delaying dinner and resulting in other things getting cold and so on and so on. To make matters worse we did the exact same mistake the following year. I don't think I have made a veal roast since then.

I also enjoyed the hats. The hats were absolutely awesome! I told you, I would get back to them, didn't I?

Guess who is loving the melon hats?

If I ask you to guess who wore a melon hat to bed last night, I am pretty sure you would figure it out on your first try.

And this little boy. This little boy have been keeping me up the last few nights, living on my arm and being fussy and frustrating. But look at him.

I would rather eat Ramen noodles the rest of my life than be without him. He is adorable. The last few nights I've woken up more than once with him cuddled up against me. He is so soft and warm and cuddly. He is pure sunshine.

I am not sure this post have an actual point to it, but most of my posts doesn't anyway.

Can we all just say "cheers" and hug and pretend that I am wearing make up and looking fantastic and agree that 2011 is going to be great!

Wishing you all the best!

New Years Eve - and making christmas treats ages ago

2010-12-31T13:03:00.002+01:00

Happy New Years ...

I had a great 2010, and I could spend the next few weeks posting highlights from it. But honestly, it would be much easier to just scroll through the posts in this blog.

Yup, I am all about being lazy here.

Besides if I would spend the next weeks posting highlights I would miss out on some of the cool events that are going to happen in January. For instance a certain little person is turning 1! It is going to be awesome.

Mike gave me some tractor-shaped candles for cakes, so I am totally prepared. And yes, you really know you are a mother when such a gift makes you really excited. I also got some sugar skulls, but I am saving those for later to do a whole pirate theme for Samuel. To top it all of I even got a gift certificate for a cake decorating course, so I should be prepared for a little cake or two. 2011 is going to be pretty interesting.

Okay, I am getting all carried away talking about all my christmas gifts. I just wanted to show some pictures of an event from earlier this month, an event I didn't get around to blog about because so many other things were happening.

I know, I know. The busy life of me. Or maybe it's just because my brain can't handle too many things.

No, that couldn't be it. It must be my busy life.

And so without further ado ... the Day we made Christmas Treats

Call your 15 closest friends, tell them to bring marzipan, nougat, chocolate and sprinkles and come over.

Get everything out on a table. And start!

It is easy peasy! And so much fun.

Samuel was sitting next to his favorite friend, and was having the time of his life.

And you would not believe the amount of sprinkles I found underneath their chairs afterwards. It was a shocking amount! Shocking!

My friend Nathalie was there with her husband and her little babyboy, Adam. Cute, cute little boy!

You may remember her from this post.

And here she is. Notice how I posted the picture of baby-Adam before her? That's what being a mother is all about, I am told. She might as well get used to that.

Oh, and on a completely different note - I just realised that I have the same top, only in red. Well, she always had excellent taste.

And the blanket she is holding? I'm gonna get back to that one later, because that is something that deserves a blogpost of its own.

So in short - Christmas treat making day: We had a great time producing christmas treats to last us a long time. There was excellent company, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

I think Mr. Bomb Guy put it very nicely with this t-shirt: Come to the dark side, we have cookies ...

Ha ha ha ha! I think that is a good way to end 2010!

The haircut

2010-12-28T22:18:00.000+01:00

Some of you may have noticed Samuels new haircut. It is a low-maintance one for sure.

However, we didn't exactly choose this haircut for him. He sort of indirectly made the decision.

Confused?

I know, me to. It was a very confusing day.

I had left Samuel alone by the table where he was cutting up a piece of paper.

I know, I know. First mistake. Never leave child with scissors unsupervised. I am still learning all this mum-stuff.

A little while later he came to the kitchen, proudly showing me this.

Not good!

A thorough cut; making it impossible to save

über cute baby, with all his hair still on, posing next to his brother.

Yes, there was a definite need for some sort of action. We decided for the trimmer.

The result!

This hairdo is also pretty cute, right? Or manly, or attractive, or whatever you're supposed to say about a two year olds haircut.

I also told him that cutting the hair was a definite no-no, and that scissors was only to be used for paper. Paper only! I was just about to tell him never to cut Magnus' hair either, but something told me that there was no reason to give him any ideas.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T22:24:00.001+01:00

You know what? I love christmas. I really, really love christmas.

If I could I would invite christmas over to stay at my house. I would serve christmas nice food, get out the best duvet and a fluffy pillow. There would even be breakfast in bed. I would spoil christmas to the point that it would never want to leave my house. Ever!

You want to know why I love christmas? Okay, I really should have started explaining this back on December 1st, but I'll do my best.

Christmas brought me these two guys, Lasse and Rasmus. Samuel loves them and I believe the feeling to be mutual. Today they came over for their third visit in 4 days. When I told Samuel they would come over today along with grandpa, he became so excited he could barely breathe. And lunch was completely impossible. Who needs food when you are waiting for you favorite cousins?

Yup, they love him back.

Another reason I love christmas is the gifts. I get to give gifts to all the people that matters most to me.

Like Mike.

I got him tickets to the Opera and I am already looking forward to us going. Naturally I also got him a t-shirt - like always. It would be a shame not to give him the usual t-shirt since that is the only thing on his wishlist.

I also got a few gifts for other people. You know, just one or two ...

And christmas allows me to play around with all my ribbons, stickers, wrapping paper and so on. This year I had a blast wrapping all the gifts.


At one point I considered volunteering to wrap my sisters gifts too.

I also love all the decorations. The baubles, pine branches, the christmas tree ... ahhh, and all the glitter.

This year we even got two christmas trees. One big one, actually really, really big! And one small one.

Samuel decorated it himself. It looked unique.

Yup, that's what I mean by unique.

Christmas also gives me a reason to do things I don't do normally. Like make a gingerbread house. I bought a ready made version, that only needed to be assembled and decorated.

Samuel got it in his gift calender on the 23rd.

It was pretty dissapointing.

Luckily we were not to be stopped. We had frosting and m&m's. They needed to be used.

That's how I decorate a cookie.

I also did some more simple cookies - as in "less chocolate".

Hi Sweetie! See, it's a cake just for you.

And then I went a little overboard.

Samuel helped me too. He really enjoyed piling on the chocolate. But who doesn't?


I ate this one yesterday. I am still on a sugar high from that!

Samuel tested them while we were decorating and they seemed to please him. Yum!

Christmas gives me a reason to have bells, angels and lights up.

I love the bells. We have some big ones on our christmas tree and I love their sound, when someone passes the branches where they hang. So cozy.

I also love christmas because christmas got my boys these. Or my boys got these for christmas. It's the same thing, almost. Right?

I think Samuel had a great christmas too.

If I were to invite Christmas over, I am sure Samuel would love that too. Christmas could help us bake cookies, make christmas treats, do christmas decorations and watch christmas plays with us.

It would be great. Maybe christmas could carry the camera around and take pictures of us doing all those activities - because I apparently don't do it.

I hope you all had a great christmas! I know we had : )

Lene

Christmas

2010-12-20T23:52:00.000+01:00

We finally put up the last decorations. The gifts are almost all wrapped. Treats have been made. It is beginning to feel an awful lot like christmas.

I've told Samuel that when out "countdown" candle burn down to the 24th, his cousins will come, there will be great food, we'll sing and dance around the christmas tree and there might be a gift or two to open.

He is thoroughly excited.

Though, I think the best part about it is his cousins coming. He loves them!

And so while we wait for christmas to come - and it is okay to wait a few more days, as we still need to get a tree, decorate it plus buy insane amounts of food - please feel free to check out this post from Bakerella.

My christmas decorations are a mere joke compared to this stuff.

I'm baaaaacccckkkk

2010-12-17T01:47:00.002+01:00

Pretty, pretty earrings
Oh, and so sparkly!

Sorry I have been out of touch.

I've been busy painting with Samuel, checking out the monkeys, playing with Magnus and kissing those soft cheeks, having friends and family over, making treats, planning christmas and crossing things of my to do list like I was getting paid for it. I've had the best few weeks.

Oh, and I did an online store. Wanna see it?

It is either that or pictures of the elephants?

....

Good, I knew you would come around.

Click here for the fabulous online store.

Isn't it strange?

2010-12-05T00:13:00.000+01:00

I just finished doing a load of dishes that could easily be described as gigantic. While I was doing this, I kept going over a conversation I had with my mother many years ago.

I asked her who of her children she loved the most. I don't recall the reason for my question, nor whether I secretly hoped she would say me. She didn't say what many mothers say when asked that question - that she loves each child the same or that it is impossible to compare that. Instead she looked straight at me and said that when she is was with one of us, that was the child that was on her mind, the child that filled her heart and whom she loved the most.

I always liked that concept but I never fully understood it. And before we had Magnus I was puzzled as to how I would ever love another child as much as I loved Samuel.

And then we had Magnus, and I understand now. Because when I am with him, he fills my heart, I think he is the most beautiful child to have ever walked the earth, I love him so much and I am so, so glad I am his mother. And when I am with Samuel it is he, who fills my heart, who is the most beautiful child.

Isn't it weird how the mind and the heart works?

However, what I think is even more strange is that I had 12 people over for candy-production and dinner today, we had a great time, many laughs - no, it is not strange that I had people over today. What is strange is that that old conversation is what my brain chose to have playing inside my brain instead of some of the great moments from today.

Should I be worried?

Warning! View at your own risk!

2010-12-03T22:02:00.000+01:00

This is what happens when you are mindlessly surfing the internet instead of making dough.

Seriously! Who comes up with this stuff? And who buys it?

I am so confused - and frankly also a little frightened. I think I'll turn off my computer and go bake a bread. That seems a lot safer for my sanity.

... A crochet turkey hat ... ?

I love my to-do-list

2010-12-03T00:37:00.002+01:00

Today I have slowly been working my way through my to-do-list.

Yes, yes, I am still working on it. But when your to-do-list is 2½ pages long, I feel it is okay if it takes a while.

My list hangs on a door in the living room so I can keep an eye on it during the day and cross out as a accomplish the task written on it. I'v crossed out a lot of things on the list.

I like it, the crossing out! I like that a lot.

But even more I like accomplishing the task written on the list. I love that!

Like today when I took pictures for an online shop I am working on. I had a blast in the presence of these beautiful earrings, and I enjoyed trying out new things with my lovely camera. This evening I edited some of the pictures and posted the pictures and text into the little online shop.

It was fun!

And that is why I love my to-do-list. Because it gives me the necessary structure to actually do things and not just talk about doing things. I am a master of procrastination, a master of watching television (which is why we do not have a television) and a master at forgetting what I am doing and taking a nap instead. The list saves me. It reminds me of what my goals are, my dreams and my passion.

It also reminds me of boring things like scanning in pictures of our ancestors, which is brain-numbing work. It is still on the list. I keep postponing it. But I'll get it done eventually and I will be glad I did it, when my dad remembers that I have all the pictures laying around and he wants them back.

(Hi dad!)

I recently talked to a friend of mine who was thanking me and my fellow crafters for a package the crafting club had sent her. She said that she often thought of doing things like that, but that she never really got around to it. That is exactly me without my to-do-list.

So today I am grateful for to-do-lists. And I am grateful that it is actually only a 1 page to-do-list now, because that means I can start adding new and fun things to it. Like answering that mail from my old travelling buddy, take a nap, decorate for christmas, and write a blogpost that makes total sense.

Tomorrow ... are you ready for it ... tomorrow I am planning on sorting through some Tupperware and taking pictures so I can sell it online. Yes, I am saving the boring assignments for last.

Here's to doing the last task on your to-do-list!
Hurray.

Merry December 1st

2010-12-01T22:17:00.000+01:00

Starting out small

It is December! The christmas month. I am soo excited.

Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!

And it even feels like christmas because there is snow. Lots of snow. And really long icicles picked by someones daddy.

You would think he, as a boy, would pretend he was a mightly knight and the icicle was his sword, or perhaps a pirate and challenge us to a duel.

No. Instead he licked on it. Should that worry me - or is it yet another sign that he is going to become a great chef?

I finished the calender gifts for my friends little girls. I think Samuel might like one of these pillows too.

See all pink, shiny fabric, small butterflies and beads.

I would actually like one myself. And I would have one had Mike not vetoed me. I would probably have had 10 or so had the veto not come. His veto was probably a good thing.

I am wondering whether I can take all the pinkiness and cuteness and condense into a brooch or something similar so you can always bring it with you. Sort of cuteness-to-go. Plus Mike wouldn't be able to veto that.

Anyway, while I was busy making calender gifts for my friends daughters, someone else was busy getting gifts for my boy.

Today he received some elfs he could paint.

Yup, that is not a sight you forget anytime soon. That is the stuff nightmares are made of.

The artist was very busy working on his creations. He was very caught up in it all,

in fact so caught up that he even started painting the elf I had been working on.

And in keeping with the creative process, we also started making the first christmas treats today, albeit in a slightly unconventional version. And I am only posting this due to several requests - well, two requests. But here it is

Skull-shaped Bethmännchen

Happy December 1st to you all!

Yawnnnnnn

2010-11-30T22:00:00.000+01:00

I am not going to lie to you, I am tired. Really tired.

Strangely the whole family is tired. Samuel actually managed to fall asleep fully dressed in his bed with the light on, surrounded by books. When I got him up to change his diaper and get him undressed, he looked at me shortly and fell right back to sleep.

Tired!

We have been doing a lot lately. Yesterday it was playgroup and crafting night. Today is was my dads retirement party. And we had to walk through a lot of snow to get there. It was cold.

Tomorrow we will relax. I'll catch up with the impressive amount of dishes waiting to be done, try actually cleaning my bathroom and we will draw some trains, trailers and a few trucks. If things get really crazy we might even build a lego-tower.

I love days like that!

And then I'll catch up on blogging. I miss it. I have too many stories floating around in my head right now. I need to get them down on paper ... ermm, you know what I mean.

Like todays highlight when one of my dads co-workers gave a talk about my dads many good qualities and made my eyes water. I have been blessed with a very good dad, who I am very proud of.

Life really is good!

And now if you will excuse me, I have a hot date with my bed!

The life of a globetrotter - or the peeing boy

2010-11-26T00:26:00.000+01:00

A while ago my sister celebrated her birthday! She came the evening before and slept at our house.

I went all out. We're talking homemade cinnamon rolls, breakfast rolls and vanilla muffins, birthday banner, flags, gifts in funky wrapping and the famous birthday tablecloth.

(You can tell I compensating for the last birthdays I totally missed. Sorry babysitter-Lisbeth, sorry nephew Rasmus and sorry mother-in-law who even turned 70! I am so embarrassed)

There was even two charming little boys who were delighted to wake up to find their Aunt Anne there.

Oh, the joy!

We spent a relaxed morning together, went out for lunch and then she left us. She was off to catch a flight to Bruxelles to spend the rest of her birthday.

Globetrotter-Anne!

And yes, I am totally envious. The most excitement I have nowadays is a trainride around Copenhagen. In my past the excitement was a trainride from Russia to China.

Okay, moving on!

Anyway she spent a nice weekend in Bruxelles and returned home with these.

Two of the heads had fallen off
- and I ate them right away! That's the kinda girl I am.

What is this, you might ask?

Well, let's get closer.

From left; White chocolate, pistacchio, and strawberry flavoured.

Obviously it's chocolate versions of Manneken Pis, the famous Belgian fountain.

I think that is a great souvenir. They didn't last too long, though. But they were quite tasty.

Apart from the orange-flavoured one. That wasn't very good. Half of it ended up in my trash can. But the other ones dissapeared pretty fast.

I think the idea of having a peeing boy as a national symbol is fairly strange. We have a mermaid which is also kinda odd, but compared to the peeing boy, the Belgians win, hands down.

However, my sister told me something that absolutely made my day, possibly even my week.

The little darling, Mr. Pis, actually have outfits.

Yes, it is true. Not only do the Belgians have a peeing boy, but they also dress him out.

Manneken Pis as Santa.
That is not that scary, right?

Supposedly there is a museum near the fountain where they store all the different outfits the little one have. Needless to say I am very fascinated, and I wish my sister would have visited armed with her camera.

Oh, The pictures, the pictures.

I guess I have to settle for this. My favorite is the firemans outfit!

Ha ha ha ha ha ...

Whew!

2010-11-22T22:35:00.000+01:00

Today I am dedicating my time to deal with my 2½ page long to-do-liste. I am thinking if I keep this speed I might be done sometime around christmas!

So give me a day or two and then I will be back with delightful things to share, among them lovely edible souvenirs.

They were quite tasty *burp*

A pink delight!

2010-11-21T20:18:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I got lost in this;

It was heaven!

I wonder how small, coloured pieces of plastic and glass can make me so happy and content? But they do. They really do.

I spent the evening finishing up the last of the four gifts for the daughters of my friend, Mona. And between me and you, I went all out in glitter, pink, and shiny, sparkly stuff. I made what I would have loved to have when I was 5 years old. Strangely it seems that I didn't change that much because I am still a little bit in love with the things I made for them.

I think it is a good thing I don't have any girls. I have no willpower, absolutely no willpower, when it comes to girly-princessy things, and the poor girl would live in a little bubble convinced that nothing else existed apart from pink, shiny items.

It is maybe not surprising that I do not feel the same way about robots, trains, cars, cranes, the colours blue, green and brown? I mean, I do like all that too. I just don't love it in the "stay up late to do it, ignore the dirty dishes in the sink, smile with glee and dream about it at night"-way that I feel about girly things.

So while I put up trains on the wall, point out all the trailers on our walks, read books about policecars and planes with Samuel, then I am very grateful that I have friends that have girls. It is so nice to be allowed to spend a few hours in a pink, sparkly princess universe every once in a while. Thank you!

And besides it gives me a reason to use some of all the crafting items I have laying around! *Sigh*

The amount of things I have is shocking. Shocking! Unfortunately that didn't stop me from buying just a few more things then I happened to pass by the crafting store a few days ago. Maybe it is some sort of addiction? Or sickness?

No?

2010-11-19T13:26:00.000+01:00

I love, love, love pilates. It is amazing!

Although I fear that I might not be able to move a single muscle tomorrow.
Should that worry me?

Reflections from a tired stay-at-home mother

2010-11-18T20:36:00.000+01:00

Two small people enjoying life in their swing.

Two days ago as I was putting Samuel to bed, he insisted that I sang him a song about trains. As I didn't know any train-songs I had to make something up on the spot.

It wasn't pretty, but it seemed to satisfy him.

Yesterday I was asked to sing the train-song again. As I was singing it for the third time, still trying to get the words for the second verse right, I thought, enough is enough. So I got the kids ready, packed a bag, and headed towards the nearest train station.

Samuel almost passed out with excitement when we got there. So many trains!

We took a train up north, looked at all the things we passed, the water, ships, cars and trailers, cranes, other trains. Magnus took a nap in the buggy, and we changed to a southbound train.

Samuel was in train heaven. He was pointing in all directions and commenting on everything we passed. Seeing his delight and joy made me happy too. And the people around us seemed to feel the same way.

The world looks different, better, through the eyes of a child.

We did a few errands, before we got on the last train taking us home. I don't think Samuel could have been happier.

The rest of the day I kept seeing flickers of happiness in both Samuel and me. What a great day!

Today I didn't want to be outdone by yesterday, so we ended up with a full schedule as well. It was fun and hectic and great.

The blackboard on our front door.
So Mike knew where to find us.

As we were marvelling over a huge chimpanzee that picked up tiny sunflower seeds with his big hands, as we were playing with balloons and flags from a store opening and as Magnus and Samuel laid in the swing together, all cuddled up and cozy, I thought how incredible fortunate I am to be able to spend everyday with these two kids.

Todays dinner.
All healthy fruit and organic yoghurt - oh, and whip cream.

Being a stay-at-home mother is a crazy life, it is tiresome at times, it tries my patience, it is frustrating, but it is rewarding and amazing like nothing else I have ever done.

I love watching them learn new things, discover the world and fall in love with it over and over again.

I feel so very blessed.

Monkeys

2010-11-17T11:36:00.001+01:00

Yesterday Samuel and me had the following conversation.

Samuel: Magnus likes monkeys.
Me: Huh? Okay.
Samuel: Magnus likes tons of monkeys.
Me: ... okay then.

Where does that come from? Where?

Crafting night

2010-11-16T22:35:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the weekly crafting night. And unlike last week, some people came over. I had missed it so, and I was honestly beyond excited.

I love crafting, and my head is always full of great ideas and funky projects. I always have quite a big list of things I want to do and I keep adding to that list. Since it seems that my head thinks up new projects faster than my hands can finish them, I guess the big list isn't going away any day soon.

Yesterday my head was all abuzz with ideas for different projects. Christmas decorations, Butterfly pillows, pink necklaces, more christmas decorations, pom poms, a garland and gift tags. I wanted to do them all.

I managed to do one. *sigh*

The pink necklaces as modelled here by Samuel.

He was watching Postman Pat while I took the pictures. I could have made him wear a crown, drawn a moustache, and added a few bracelets and a ring and he wouldn't have cared.

Oh, and here is Magnus right next to his brother. No reason really, I just thought he looked darn cute and wanted to share the cuteness with you.

Okay, back to the necklaces. They are not for me, as someone actually thought yesterday. I am still a little appalled that someone thought I made them for me. I love pink and sparkly things as much as the next girl, but still ...

Anyway the necklaces are for three little girls, and little girls can get away with wearing pink, sparkly, plastic necklaces. I can't.

I almost wish I could, though.

Why am I making necklaces for little girls, you might wonder.

The explanation is as follows. I offered my friend to make some gifts for her daughters adventcalender - as a mother of two boys, I need outside help to get my fix of everything girly, even if it means volunteering to make gifts - and besided I happened to have some pink beads laying around.

I actually have so many crafting materials laying around that I at times feel a little overwhelmed. And since it would break my heart to throw it out, I am trying to use it up instead. I realise it will take me a decade or five to use it all up, but I am trying. You got to start somewhere, right?

So if anyone else needs a pink necklace, let me know. I have plenty of beads left.

I won! I won! I won!

2010-11-14T23:14:00.000+01:00

I just found out that I won an online giveaway. 6 packages of Pampers diapers. Yeah!

Diapers: Do you know how much they cost? Do you know how many my kids use? The answer to both questions are "A lot".

I am very thrilled. My household budget is even more thrilled.

Does my excitement make me seem a little geeky, too stay-at-home-mom'ish and overly child-focused? Do not worry. The free diapers means more money for me to buy cool things like ... like ...

erhm ...

you know ...

if only I knew what was cool nowadays.

*Sigh*

Love,
a geeky, overly-child focused, stay-at-home-mom

Just so you know ...

2010-11-14T11:33:00.001+01:00

Samuel is busy drawing flowers on the blackboard. That is easy to tell, right?

He is in a drawing phase right now. He draws flowers, ice creams, shoes, planes, trucks and garbage trucks. And the occasional wheel.

Apart from the wheels and the flowers it all looks the same to the untrained eye, meaning me.

This little guy just got his 7th tooth and number 8 is just around the corner.

And I spent most of the afternoon kissing his soft cheeks. That is what mothers should do. And that kid is totally delicious. I really had no choice.

When he gets excited he claps his little hands or waves them around. And if you clap, then he will immediately start clapping. I am thinking some career in music - or maybe a fitness instructor.

Two awesome kids ... am I the only one thinking they should have matching pacifiers?

No?

Getting really cozy ...

2010-11-13T21:21:00.000+01:00

So often things happen in my house to which I have absolutely no explanation. I believe that the recent "bowls in bathtub" incident is a good example of that.

And might I also add that the amount of those incidents have greatly increased after I had childen. I am not pointing fingers at anyone. Just making an observation ...

When I came into the livingroom the other day and saw this -

I was ready to add this to the list of unexplainables.

My husband on all four on the couchtable, bum pointing up? Maybe I should even add it to a list of "I'd really rather not know".

However, for once there was an explanation.

Mike was reading a book with Samuel who was very comfortable underneath the couchtables.

It looked so cozy I was wanting to squeeze in there too. I think it must be pretty nice to be a small person all cuddled up, great litterature and the undivided attention and love of a parent. I hope he feels that way too.

2010-11-12T23:32:00.000+01:00

Do you know what this is?

If you've answered "all the bowls from the kitchen cupboard inside a baby bathtub" you are correct.

And now, if any of you can explain what it is doing there, I would love to know. Because I have no idea.

Craftnight - or not!

2010-11-10T22:47:00.000+01:00

Today as we were getting the kids ready for bed, Mike asked me whether today wasn't my weekly crafting night with my friends.

He asked because there were no friends present, just him and me and two charming boys.

He is right. Today is my crafting night and I had a few cool projects planned ... it is almost christmas after all! But there was no one to craft with.

One sweet girl, also known as the important miss Lawperson, were celebrating a special occasion with her boyfriend and some guests. They were having duck for dinner. I had an egg sandwich. I was so very envious of her while I was eating. Especially because I have a hint that her fianceé, mr bombguy, had prepared most of the meal. Nothing beats a homecooked meal - that you didn't cook yourself!

One woman, also known as the super sowing woman, is very busy. Among other projects she is taking a class in woodwork for beekeepers. It is true. Such classes really exist. Hmm, maybe you can say she is busy like a bee right now.
Hopefully her schedule will clear and we'll see her again soon, because she is dearly missed here.

And finally we are missing my wonderful sister and the super babysitter. They are actually so wonderful that they came to our house while we were sick. They changed diapers, did dishes, made sandwiches and porridge, changed some more diapers, did laundry, entertained kids and entertained me. And in return we gave them the virus we had. I am very, very sorry.

To make matters worse our super babysitter even came over on her birthday to take care of us, there was no flags up, no birthday song, no gifts, no nothing. All she got was two tired children and dirty diapers. Yup, happy birthday to you!

I can easily understand if they fire me after this.

Anyway this leads me back to me, being alone on a crafting night.

I ended up doing the dishes, going grocery shopping after the kids were tucked in and even folding a little laundry. There was no crafting.

I miss it!

And so I am really looking forward to our next craftnight. Lots of crafting will happen. Of course also a lot of talking, giggling, eating and solving all the problems of the world. While I wait for next week, I might sneak a peak at these handcrafted lovelies over here.

I would like one of each, please.

2010-11-08T21:11:00.000+01:00

We've been sick. All of us.

It wasn't pretty.

I'll spare you the details.

Give us a day or two to recover and we'll be right back.

In the meantime, watch this little film.

It will make you smile, wear your Sunday best and ride a horse to work. It is not your usual film, as you can tell!

Gourmet food

2010-11-04T22:33:00.000+01:00

Rustic autumn salad
From Chef Samuel

Watch out, Rene Redzepi, watch out!

2010-11-03T22:27:00.001+01:00

You know what "being sick" looks like?

It looks something like this.

Little Magnus fast asleep in the swing.

Today was a quiet day. Or at least quiet for the kids.

I was busy changing shocking amounts of diapers, bedlinnen, and clothes on both the kids and me, doing laundry, washing the floor a few times and being grateful that today was the day Lisbeth, the best and loveliest babysitter had decided to come by for a visit.

She rocked Magnus in the swing, built a huge traintrack with Samuel, wiped up yucky things from the floor and sat with a little warm, tired and sick boy.

What would you do without Lisbeths?

Fortunately the kids are now fast asleep, and they seem to be better.

Please keep your fingers crossed that they'll get well again soon.

Thoughts on birthdays

2010-11-01T22:46:00.000+01:00

I am very grateful for good friends.

Especially for good friends who, when the kids and I came by for a playdate, serves heartshaped homemade icecream for me. Complete with a little birthdayflag in honour of my recent birthday.

Awwwww!

It is not so much the icecream itself, I guess, even though it was absolutely tasty. For me it was the thought behind it and the feeling that someone took time out of their busy schedule to do something special for me.

I felt like a very fortunate woman.

And on a sidenote. My birthday wasn't all that. Too much porridge, bad planning and by 3 pm all I had was two stale rolls, some grapes and a nap. We ended the night at a fancy restaurant where we had frog legs.

I am not sure whether they made my day better or not. They were fried in a doughnut dough and tasted mostly of oil. Again, not sure whether that improved my day or not. At least now I can add frogleg-eater to my CV.

I do, however, know that the foie gras with pickled plums, the creme bruleé, the lemon icecream with burnt white chocolate and the creamy chocolate cake definitly improved my day. Oh, did they ever!

And the gift from Mike.

Among other things he gave me three days without kids. Yes, you know you are truly and fully a stay-at-home mom when that is one of the best gifts you've ever received.

And the heartshaped birthday icecream. I already said that, but it was so sweet that it counts twice.

The Zoo, brunch and a train

2010-10-31T22:36:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we took the kids out for brunch. It was a belated birthday celebration for yours truly. I even got to sleep in too.

It was heaven. Heaven with bacon and eggs.

When Samuel was done eating his brunch, he slid of his chair and laid down on the floor. He was very content down there, but he was also pretty tired.

The day before had been action packed. To the max.

We started out with a long visit with his best friend, Anne Sofie, with loads of great activities. Afterwards there was a quick sandwich which his mother claimed was dinner. And then we went out the door again, this time for the halloween special at the zoo.

You know what. It is actually pretty difficult to see the animals when it is pitch black. We did however see a sleeping monkey, which Samuel spent quite a while talking about, a yawning crocodile and the shadows of some elephants. Mike, Samuel and me all touched a snake, and I held a huge insect on the palm of my hand. Mike was filming it from a safe distance since it appears that he is a little worried about the creepy crawlers.

The more adventurous could also eat deepfried insects which apparently tasted just like popcorn, watch giant spiders up close or see a lady cut up bats. I am not sure the reason for it, but she had a lot of dead bats in front of her.

Saturday morning we had very tired children. Over-stimulated, tired children. They behaved like a dream at the cafe where we had brunch.

I think they were too tired to do otherwise.

As we were getting ready to leave, Samuel said this to me: Ajwangonesain. I obviously had no idea what that meant. So I asked whether he was still hungry or thirsty. No, was the answer.

He kept on saying "Ajwangonesain". And after hearing it a few times, or ten, it finally clicked on me what he wanted.

I want to go on a train.

Where does that come from? The kid have been laying on the floor the last 15 minutes, chilling, head on my bag, and now suddenly he wants to go for a ride on the train?

I am thinking that another time, I might skip the night-zoo, the standing in line for 30 minutes, the sore and tired feet and the screaming Magnus who refused to sleep in his buggy, the 10,000 others who also thought the halloween zoo was a great idea and the absolute lack of anything edible in there. Deepfried bugs doesn't count.

Instead we'll take a nice and quiet train ride.

Visiting the hippo
Annesofie and her mum, Samuel and Lisbeth

Maybe there will even be a dog we can pet on the train, or we'll see some birds or cows out the window.

It will be almost the same thing.

Pumpkin day recipes

2010-10-30T20:59:00.002+02:00

I have come to love pumpkins! Never thought I would say that, but I do. Pumpkins are friendly, lovely creatures.

Not only do they look charming on a doorstep, they are also great fun to carve, the flesh is excellent in soups and cakes, and the seeds are fantastic roasted and seasoned.

We started our pumpkin day with pumpkin soup and bread from a local baker. Obviously it would have been cooler to bake it myself, but some days I am just too lazy. The bread contained pumpkin seeds, so that must count for something, right?

Pumpkin soup:
1 hokkaido pumpkin, cut in cubes
300 ml applejuice
300 ml vegetable stock
200 ml cream
spices to taste, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, salt, pepper

Boil the pumpkin with applejuice and vegetable stock untill tender. Blend the soup and add spices to taste.

Add the cream, and you are ready to taste heaven!

I sprinkled on some roasted pumpkin seeds and added a little olive oil. If you are very cool, you would follow the original recipe from the lovely von Selchow Family and add pumpkin seed oil and green coriander. I just couldn't find either at my supermarked.

Cakes! Oh, lovely, lovely pumpkin cakes.

My sweet friend, Mona, who unfortunately couldn't come, was the woman behind this recipe. And for this I will always be grateful.

It is tasty stuff!

Pumpkin cake with frosting:
1 cup is approximately 250 ml.

2 cups of flour
1 cup of plain pil
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of pumpkinpure (either storebought or homemade)

Mix egg and sugar. Add oil. In a seperate bowl mix the other ingredients apart from the pumpkin, and add to the egg and sugar. Then add the pumpkin.

In a 200 degrees varm oven bake the cake for .... a while. Monas recipe claims 1 hour and 15 min., but I baked mine for 45 minutes. So keep an eye on the cake.

Frosting:
1/2 cup of soft butter
1 package creamcheese (200 ml)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar

Beat the first three ingredients with a mixer, and then add the brown sugar. Add more sugar, if needed.

When the cake has cooled, put the frosting on top and eat.

And use all your willpower not to eat it all before the guests arrive ... not that I would have that problem, but I am sure some would.

We had some small people in attendence that day, and I let them decorate the frosted cakes with different sprinkles. It was a great hit, sprinkles everywhere, two content children and an added little bit of crunch to the cakes.

I don't have any pictures of the decorating event since I was too busy trying to prevent my living room from being covered in sprinkles.

I also made some iced pumpkin cookies.

Goodness gracious me, they were nice, and easy to make and something completely different from what I normally make. Try them someday! Please, do that for me.

Naturally we also made some roasted pumpkin seeds. I made some sweet and some savoury. Super easy to make, I had all the ingredients at hand, and they were very well received.

There was also a lot of carving going on. Emma made this masterpiece.

That is of course nothing to what she did two years ago, alone and armed only with a knife.

Next year we are definitly having another day where we celebrate harvest time, dig into great pumpkins, drink grape juice, eat cakes and spend time in the best company.

On a final note, though, today Samuel were looking through a book and he was pointing to something, saying "pumpkin, pumpkin". Unfortunately what he was pointing at in the book was a picture of the sun.

I am thinking, that maybe you can also do to much with pumpkins.

Oldies but goldies ...

2010-10-29T10:32:00.001+02:00

I just found this website where you can generate "old" versions of your pictures. I am a little intrigued, and I can already see myself spending hours uploading pictures to the website.

Oh the posibilities, the posibities!

The "old" version from the website

The original

The eyes in the "old" version. They still freak me out a little.

"Sains"

2010-10-28T22:24:00.001+02:00

The one thing I want in this house is the "interior decoration power". I want this more than anything else. Mike is reluctant to let me have it. He claims it will then be all purple and chandeliers.

He says that like it is a bad thing!

Strangely enough, today it was Samuel who had it. And he even did a good job at it.

So the story goes, one of the first things Samuel said today was "sains". I was at a complete loss as to what he wanted. What is a "sain"?

Fortunately, the little one helped me by pointing to the train wall decorations I bought the day before.

Even though he claims it was a gift from Lisbeth. Ungrateful little person! He was even with me when I bought it.

Okay, putting my issues aside and moving on! After his nap I wanted to put up the train decoration on one of the walls in his room. Mike and me had a lengthy discussion as to whether to put them down by the panels or higher up.

Samuel had no patience for that, so while standing in his bed, he grabbed one of the trains from my hand, put it up on the opposite wall over his bed. He accidentally dropped it behind the bed, but that did not stop him. He merely leaned over and grabbed another of the train wagons from my hand and put it up over the side of the bed again.

It looked better than our suggestions. And so, a few minutes later I was busy gluing them onto the wall. And he likes them! A lot!

And who can blame him? I am a little in love with them myself.

I wonder how they would look over my bed?

Pumpkin day

2010-10-27T23:18:00.001+02:00

The ever so important preparations - playing with the pumpkins

Friday morning I loaded up Samuel and the stroller and went out to get a few essentials for the pumpkin party the following day. The essentials included 3 big pumpkins.

I had a child and a stroller with me and I live on 5th floor. I am still wondering why I thought it was a good idea to buy 3 pumpkins.

However somehow I managed to balance them, the stroller and a few bags of groceries all the way to the house. Mike kindly carried them upstairs for which I will be eternally grateful. Eternally!

We've never really done anything with pumpkins before, and for Samuel it was quite a novelty. When I got the first pumpkin at the store, Samuel claimed that it was a ball.

Close, honey, but not quite.

When we came home, the pumpkin were checked and he decided they were great to sit on, but not suitable as balls. Anything is more a less a novelty to Magnus, but he was still pretty unimpressed.

Mike carved a pumpkin that night, and we boiled the insides to use for cookies and cakes for the party. Because it wasn't enough I also baked one to make more pumpkin pure.

The house smelled divine, but at the same time I wondered whether it was a smart idea to bake a big pumpkin piece by piece in my small oven. All in all it took me 3 hours.

In addition to a lift to my apartment, for the days where I buy pumpkins, I also would like to have a bigger oven, please. Oh, and room for the bigger oven too.

If you are the proud and very fortunate owner of a big oven, then try it sometime. It is super easy to do and all the results were great!

Including the roasted pumpkin seeds we made. Some were with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar and some with coriander, salt, and pepper. Highly recommendably and very tasty!

I could get used to this pumpkin stuff, even if it doesn't work well as a ball.

If anyone have great pumpkin recipes to share, please leave a comment. I need a reason to drag home more of those orange coloured wonders.

2010-10-27T23:01:00.000+02:00

I wonder at how we managed to get such awesome, cool and absolutely adorably children.

Seriously, look at them. I just want to squeeze them, and kiss them and cuddle them all the time.

I took these pictures the last time we were at the Zoo. 95% of the pictures are of them, and 5% are of the animals.

I just stole a picture ....

2010-10-26T22:32:00.000+02:00

This weekend we had a pumpkin-harvest-fall day at our house. It was a blast.

I'll post some of the recipes later. Uhm, yummy pumpkin soup. Soft cookies and moist pumpkin cake. It was pretty good stuff.

For now I just wanted to share this picture, that I coldbloodedly (is that a word?) stole from Emmas blog.

I think Samuels t-shirt with the cookie monster on is very appropriate.

Happy harvest : )

Godness gracious me

2010-10-25T22:24:00.000+02:00

It is not very often that I see something that really, really horrifies me. But yesterday my sister sent me a link to a clip on YouTube and when I watched that, I was truly horrified.

Poor, poor Jane Austen!

What on earth did they do to her book? It is actually quite an unacceptable behaviour from BBC.

I should issue a warning because this is scary stuff! Don't watch this if you are faint at heart.

If you want to see the same scene anno 2007, then here you go.

Much better, much, much better.

Thank you, BBC, for redoing that film.

Ms. Jane Austen. Yes please!

2010-10-20T23:55:00.000+02:00

My sister came by today for a short visit. Before she left she managed to wake my huge and everlasting love for all things Jane Austen.

Evil, evil sister.

And so, instead of sterilising bottles, hanging up laundry and picking up the house, I watched Persuasion, the new version. And a few selected scenes from the old version.

And I managed to squeeze in an episode of the new Emma series. I LOVE IT!

My favorite line from that episode: "That man is so full of himself that I am surprised he can stay on that horse."

How can you not love a film where a sentence of such charm is being uttered. You gotta love Jane Austen.

I suggest you watch this instead of doing laundry. It is much more fun!

Moving on to something different ....

2010-10-19T23:02:00.000+02:00

Flags hanging over Samuels bed.

Mr. Elephant made by yours truly.

Do you know that feeling when you start a project, and you work at it, you work at it, you work at it, but you don't really feel that things are happening?

Yes? No?

Made from a discarded piece of a bookshelf.
We believe in recycling.

That is how I feel with the mini-medium-maxi-move. I greatly enjoy the changes we've done so far, but I've lost a little of the initial energy and excitement. There are still so many piles of things to sort out, things to be put away, moved or organized differently.

I guess I am not going to be bored any time soon!

A little while ago I felt like this about my crafting.

I love doing things with my hands. It relaxes me, and I enjoy seeing an item evolve from a little idea to the finished product. But I felt like I wasn't really doing any crafting. My to-do-project list was just getting longer and longer.

Growing to-do-lists are not very motivating. At all.

So to keep up the excitement - and to prove to myself that I actually do things - I took pictures of some of the projects I'd finished recently.

I made Bill, Samuels teddybear.
I also made Samuel, but that is another story.

Maybe I should do the same with my cupboards? I know I would totally love a picture of my cupboard full of neatly stacked color-coordinated fabric.

Is that very strange?

It is, isn't it?

Fabric just makes me happy, I have no explanation.

Anyway, while I consider taking pictures of my cupboards, I'll fill this post with proof that I at least get some crafting done.

I also made this guy, and I am so glad that I did. He was totally worth it.

And completely beside the point - his two upper front teeth came out today, totalling 5 teeth now.

I also did the pants. I love them and almost wish I had some my size.

Brandt Family

Christmas and New Years Eve

Christmas

I seem to have lost my brain - around the time I became a mother

The New Art Installation

As promised - a calorie overdose

Computer games

Band aids

The end of the weekend

My Family

Still ...

I went on vacation

Nothing a pair of rubber boots and a washing machine can't handle

I fear - I fear much!

This weekend

The pictures of Mikes gift

A pretty perfect gift

Goodness gracious me

Happy Fathers Day

And mr Magnus too - with updates!

Updates from Samuel

My boy, the princess

We love firemen

randoms

My washing machine ...

On video

He walks!

BIG NEWS!

My child - the genius

I have no title for this ...

Please excuse us ...

The pacifier

My mommy superpowers

Meatloaf

Visiting doctor Nir

Perfect days

Balloons

Meeting mother nature

Nighttime ritual - or not

Checking out the view

Zoo in the sun

Big brother Samuel

I'm still here ...

Being sick

potty time

Wise words

Magnus

Happy Birthday

Feel the force

Say Moooohhh!

The sickness - a status

4 years - and counting!

One trip ...

My dad

Please welcome Mr. Magnus Brandt

*Thump*

No, Magnus!

It was just a miniature birthday party

*Thumb*

Hurray!

Tomorrow

Finally ...

It's just going to take a little while

So this is what 2011 feels like

New Years Eve - and making christmas treats ages ago

The haircut

Christmas 2010

Christmas

I'm baaaaacccckkkk

Isn't it strange?

Warning! View at your own risk!

I love my to-do-list

Merry December 1st

*Yawnnnnnn*

The life of a globetrotter - or the peeing boy

Whew!

A pink delight!

Reflections from a tired stay-at-home mother

Monkeys

Crafting night

Thump

Thumb

Yawnnnnnn