Aug 23

8 years today

by Astrid

4 comments

This little one was born 8 years ago today. She is 1 week old in the picture below.

And rather chubby almost a year later…

Almost 2 – and charming her way through life.

Nearly 3, on her way to becoming a big sister.

And then Frida came – one month early. The sense of responsibility, love, and awe was shining from her eyes.

4 years old and fond of cupcakes.

Almost 5, and getting to like the camera…

Almost 6, and sooooo ready for school!

Later that same year – learning to sail with Anna.

Last summer during our sail trip – so big.

And now.

Ronja, you’re giving us such a ride. You love riding, and you’re starting dance class, which has been a wish of yours. You really like school, and you have many good friends. You have started reading books – really reading, which I think is so great. Something I recognize from when I was your age. You’re a wonderful person to be around – caring, fun, inspiring, creative, curious, eager to learn, and a good friend.

Happy Birthday, Ronja!

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Jun 3

Ring On My Finger

by Astrid

28 comments

Guess you don’t hear much from me at the moment. But I mean – WOW… Life is so busy at the moment. This here below is one of the few breathing spaces Mads and I have taken lately.

The picture is from a minicriuse Mads and I took to Oslo in Norway, without kids. DFDS Seaways have a route from Copenhagen to Oslo, and we booked a cruise for our 10 years boyfriend-girlfriend anniversary. It was a wonderful trip. The girls had their grandmother looking after them, and Mads and I could enjoy a few days of total relaxation in each others company. The first evening, we had dinner in a restaurant aboard the boat with a panoramic view of the sea and the setting sun, and Mads totally topped it off by taking me to the deck later on and breaking out that question, you know…!

Even though we were limited to 7 hours in Oslo, we enjoyed every minute of them. Walking across Oslo to Bogstadveien, taking the bus up to Holmenkollen (the ski jumping hill) with the amazing view of the Oslo bay, admiring the sculptures of the Vigeland Park, and drinking latte in the sun every chance we got. We had sunshine and high temperatures, and we really had nothing to complain about – as dull as it may seem.

Today it is Mads’ birthday and he is not even here – he is working in Hull, England.

So Mads – lots of kisses from your girls – HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

By the way, Mads got his ‘yes’ without too much trouble.

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Sep 30

Belated Happy Birthday

by Astrid

13 comments

Monday was Frida’s birthday – she is 2 years old now. It’s incredible how quickly time passes.

This cheeky, headstrong, won’t-take-no-for-an-answer, yet completely charming little girl with the sun in her eyes has been with us now for 2 years. She is one of a kind.

Here she is with some of her presents – Mads and I gave her the sweet little kitchen from IKEA, for which she also received several other things. She loved it – and now at least she has a kitchen!

We also made her a little book from Fidipus.dk with pictures of our family, house, garden, and the things that mean something to her – including a few pages about the cleft palate. It’s a huge hit, and I will say that I can warmly recommend the site to anyone wanting to make a personal, yet cool book for their child. Also I received great customer service during my work with the book, which is something I’m always impressed with.

We celebrated Frida’s birthday Sunday, and she was celebrated again at the nursery Monday. I think she enjoyed her birthday for sure – she talks so much now, and she has been talking a lot about presents, birthday and so on.

On a different note, we have been really busy around here, which is why the blog has been kind of quiet. Quite honestly, I just haven’t had the surplus energy to write. For several weekends, we have had plans, and I have had a work development, which is keeping me on my toes, and at the same time, we have all been having sore throats and runny noses. I’m still not rid of it, but I sure hope I will be soon!

The kitchen-situation is improving, but not having been home during the weekends, time spent there has been limited. What you see below is the wall towards the living room.

I hope I will be able to show you more shortly. This coming weekend the calendar is clear – and I’m really looking forward to spending some relaxed time with the girls, while Mads is doing his thing in the kitchen-to-be.

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Sep 2

No Place Like…

by Astrid

10 comments

Home

We’re back home! Moved back Sunday after two weeks in the Bed & Breakfast, and let me tell you: Two weeks of four people living in a one-room B&B can work if it needs to, but it’s not something I would do for fun. Even though we have nothing but a raw concrete floor in the kitchen area of our house at the moment, I just love being back home!

So what did you miss? Let me see – oh yes, Ronja had a wonderful birthday, and thank you so much for all your sweet birthday wishes!

We celebrated her birthday morning as usual, waking her up with a birthday song, presents, and breakfast. After breakfast we had to hurry outside, because Ronja got roller skates as well as a big trampoline (together with Frida who will be 2 in a month) – it all had to be tried, of course. Mads had set up the trampoline in our garden the day before, and even though it was still wet from dew, it was a huge hit with both Ronja and Frida. She caught on to the roller skating easier than what I would have thought, but it was still a bigger challenge than what it appears below…

Back in our house, Mads has been working hard. We now have a concrete floor in the kitchen, and yesterday after work we went to choose some tiles for the floor. We’re already pretty much decided on what kitchen we want, and finding the domestic appliances is coming along slowly – we don’t want the kitchen to get too expensive, so we’re trying to get us some good bargains, as we would rather not compromise too much on quality or design. For those of you who are dealing with similar projects, there are so many people out there who bought something for their house, and then realized they made a mistake for some reason. That way, you can get new stuff relatively cheap (25-50 % off compared to the price in the shops) at places like eBay or the like – in Denmark we have DBA.dk. Mads and I use that a lot.

I have added a few pictures from the process below, but if you’d like to see more – go here. It seems that you guys have as much faith in Mads as I do, so let’s see how quickly our kitchen will take shape.