American in Norway

At iHeartFaces - Sharing Photography of Faces the theme this week is - POUTING ... I knew in an instance which picture I wanted to use ... This is Dane when he was 4.... I had been taking pictures of him when he decided ENOUGH was ENOUGH ..... "NO MORE PICTURES !!" ( this shot still makes me laugh )

It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Frid ay!!! YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again this week .So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing thi s week!!! I found this picture I had taken a few years ago while on a ferry going from Sweden over to Estonia.... Storm over the Baltic Sea... Everytime I look at this picture though... it just screams FAITH... I can't look at this picture whithout just knowing that there is something bigger than all of us out there....

So how did I get to spend my day off yesterday? Sitting out on my veranda sipping coffee in the Norwegian Spring sun..... Nooooooooooooooo... I spent the morning at the dentist... I like my dentist.... he is a very nice guy...& kindda cute to boot... but I can't remember the last time I wanted to kick a man in his PRIVATES... (ouch!) He asked me if I wanted to be numb before we started.... Ummm ... Y E S... Hello ? actually, I would prefer to be put under...but apparently, that wasn't an option. What kind of FREAK doesn't want to be numb before someone starts drilling on your teeth? ( Turns out that FREAK would be my husband...(or so he says....) because it is FASTER...) whatever ... Just so you are not thinking I am a big, funky, ROT mouth.... I had to have 2 fillings replaced.... I left EXHAUSTED... Not sure if I was more tired from the procedure... or from my mind going 150 miles an hour.... I am pretty sure after the conversations I was having with myself (in my...

I Love Faces - No Flash At I Love Faces the theme this week is - No Flash Taking natural light photos is my FAVORITE... the hard part was choosing which picture of the kids I wanted to use.... This is my big child- Husband... the day wasn't as clear/nice as the photo above of Eva... but I liked the pink bubble gum & his blue eyes.. : )

So, as I already mentioned ROME was fabulous... just what we needed. The sun... the sites, the food.. the GELATO... (despite walking about 50 miles in 4 days..i didn't lose a single pound thanks to the COCONUT GELATO...) Having said Rome was fabulous... the old Travel agent in me... thought I would compile list of the good & the not so good... ( I can't say BAD... it was ROME after all..) One of the benefits to living in one of the worlds most EXPENSIVE countries (Norway) anytime you travel out of the country, you can count on getting a good deal.... it is always cheaper to go out & eat & drink & shop... hotels....looks like Rome is the exception... I have to say I did very NO planning for this trip. (Normally I am a FREAK when it comes to planning... I think it is FUN... to learn everything about the place I am going... & have everything planned out... with backup plans.... have I told you I used to be a KICK BUTT travel agent?) But, ...

Friday Foto Fiesta.. My FAVORITE FOTO from ROME ..... It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Frid ay!!! YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again this week .So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing thi s week!!! I snapped this from the top of a double decker bus... & knew as soon as I saw the old men standing together... on the water, that this would probably be my favorite picture from Rome.... I was right...

I'mmmmmmmmmmmm Baaaaack! Did y'all miss me? To say that I /WE needed this was an UNDERSTATEMENT... We had the BEST time.... For 4 days/3 nights... we did whatever we wanted or did not want. The weather, wine & Italian ice cream were PERFECT... It was so nice to leave the Norwegian winter behind us, & be thrust into springtime in Rome... (I think this acutally beats spring in Paris..) after seeing the kids being pulled through the Roman ruins, I am sooo GLAD we went without the kids.... small kids whining/teenagers yawning... But is was so nice to put my mommy hat on the shelf & just be ME.... we had so much fun, wondering all over the city, sipping on wine & being on no timetable... This was my 3rd time to Rome... but I almost felt like it was my first.... Rome has changed in the 15 years since I was last there... then again, perhaps it was more a change in myself..... It was a big difference to see the city as an adult vs. the backpacking college student... I c...

We are going. to Rome. this weekend. NO kids.... (sigh) Bj & I realized that it has been almost 5 years since we last got away without children.... & the last time we did get away, I was pregnant with Eva.. & sick... so does that even count? 5 years? How does that happen? We used to be sooo good about getting away.. once-twice a year.... it helped that we only had one child, we lived close to my parents who LOVED having Dane, & I worked as a Travel agent & had access to cheap/free get aways.... So we are going to ROME.... we are going to RELAX...we are going to do whatever we want for the next 4 days-3 nights.... & I don't even feel bad... (much....) No word about Petter as of yet... it is something with his heart.... they think it is a virus...but they are meeting with a specialist today.... Cross your fingers/say a prayer for them... So now I am off to do all of the things I was too sick to do all week. What am I going to pack? eek... I have only had 6 mon...

I know y'all are going to think I am making this crap up.... but I am not.... First, I was kidding about not going because I was sick.... if they had to wheel me in the plane, because I was too sick to walk... I would go... I live to travel.... (I did make note of the mickey mouse ears ..& will ask for cups to cover my ears if I have a problem.....) So tonight, our friends that we are to go to Rome with called....their son is in the hospital... they aren't sure what is going on with him yet... so not sure if they are canceling... I guess they are going to wait until the last min. to decide... if he is ok, home & if they can go. So Bjørn & I had to decide if we are still going to go even if they don't.... eek.... I feel like a kind of crappy friend...but our travel insurance won't cover us for their son's illness.... Are we horrible for going anyway? We went back & forth on this all evening... if we don't go now... we can't go... So OK... we...

Is it possible for your head to pop off from a cold? I am seriously HOPING that this is just a cold & not some horrible sinus infection..... Had both kids home from school today... Eva the Polka Dot Princess.... (she is doing GREAT!) hope she can go back to school on Thursday... & Dane because he has gone pretty much deaf from his cold... the boy can't hear a thing, bless his heart.. He has had his hearing tested several times... Took him in to the Dr. to have his ears checked just to make sure there is no infection.... Nope... Just fluide behind his ears... suggested nose spray... Um, OK... hell I will try anything, just so he can go back to school..... Do you think I would have been smart enough to askthe Dr. if he thought I had more than a cold while I was in there? NO, I didn't want to bother him.... (We all have the same Dr.....) Sometimes I am such a dummy I feel like my eyes are about to pop out of the sockets... N-I-C-E- I know. Cross your fingers for...

I am playing again this week.... Sorry for those of you who follow my blog & have seen these pictures before...(yawn...) I know... But they are some of my all time favo rites... This week it is all about my favorite guys.... For my adult entry I choose one of my hubby Bjørn & son Dane.... Bjørn went to sea 2 weeks after Dane was born.... & the picture below was from their first morning together after 3 months.... I love how they are analyzing each other..... getting to know each other... This is Dane fast forward 6 years.... right out of the swimming pool, with the pink on his cheeks from a little too much sun & fun.... I love how all of his features just POP in the photo... his sweetheart mouth... his little nose & the real reason I love this picture is because of my baby's baby blues...... Go check out who else is playing iHeartFaces - Sharing Photography of Faces .... sooo many great photos!

Friday Foto Fiesta.. THE BERLIN WALL..... It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Frid ay!!! YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again this week .So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing thi s week!!! I have been thinking about starting yet ANOTHER blog documenting my travels... but who am I kidding? Like I have time for that? So instead, I am going to start posting my pictures here...(Lucky you...) This is Moi at the Berlin Wall...taken in 1990... (about 7 months after the wall came down...) I traveled to the Wall with a bunch of my "West" German friends.... It was such an awesome feeling..being right in the middle of EVERYTHI NG... I am standing in East Germany... while my friend Jochen was shooting from West Germany.... (we thought we were being so artsy fartsy "SHOOTING THROUGH THE WALL..." I am pretty sure that NEON tanks & jackets with my cuffed cut offs were pretty ...

So sorry to concern everyone...(I was VERY concerned....) after I heard that little miss PROBABLY had the FEVER...SCARLET FEVER.... I, like most of you, thought of the Old western movies about how Miss Kitty didn't make it to California because she had caught THE FEVER...... I tend to worry about the worst..... we did get into the Dr. today... & had to do blood tests... because her horrible break out didn't really "FIT" into anything... she had signs of some things... but it didn't add up to Scarlet Fever or RødHund (the RED DOG disease) heldigvis... (luckily) To make a LONG story short... looks like my baby girl has the Chicken Pox... (the, been vaccinated kind...) which means it isn't going to look like regular cases... Eva's teacher...(the one that I am not CRAZY about...) told me last week that the Pox were going around... where I smugly answered ... "No Worries, she has been vaccinated... In AMERICA ...we vaccinate our kids against them... hm...

Looks like little Miss Eva has come down with Scarlet Fever.... SCARLET FEVER??? Isn't that what people came down with in those old Western Movies? The CRAP that my kids have come down with since we moved over here is AMAZING... I would give you the list, but I wouldn't want y'all to think i am a bad mom... We woke up this morning & Eva is covered in DOTS... poor little thing Bjørn was pretty sure it was Ruebella /German Measles or as they call it in Norwegian RødHund with translates to the RED DOG Disease... NIIIIIICE ... But I am almost 90% sure she was vaccinated against it before we left the states.... Sigh... anyone with knowledge of Scarlet Fever? (I do have a Dr. appointment for her tomorrow..) They were trying to put me off until Friday so I had to pull the HYSTERICAL AMERICAN MOTHER card on them..... So how is your day? ( Polka Dot pictures to come... if Eva will sit still...)

Yes.. I am a W I N N E R ...but I guess y'all figured that already... : ) Seriously I NEVER win ANYTHING... however... last week I won a $25 gift certificate to TAR-JAY from Daily Gif Blog So I wanted to give a big shout out to Doublebanker who is my clickingbuddy .... (he gives me clicks...& I click him back.. Thanks Doublebanker .... (go give him a little clicky love for me!) MUAH - I am off to shop...

I am playing again this week.... This week it is all about the MESSY KID....gotta love it! Here is Eva chowing down on Nutella...a Norwegian favorite... Go check out who else is playing iHeartFaces - Sharing Photography of Faces .... sooo many great photos!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad. Wow, 46 years… that’s a long freaking time. xoxo, your REAL favorite (I can't believe my little sister stole this post from my blog.... gosh ALI, get a life....)

A lot of people have been email asking where I was.... (ok... LIE, no one has emailed or asked...) But just in case you are wondering... I am having TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES! I wasn't able to get online the entire day today....(I am working at the moment) ...-but as you all know I DO NOT BLOG at work...at all...ever...except for maybe RIGHT NOW...., because I am having SERIOUS withdrawls! Be back as soon as the stupid internet at home starts working.... Miss ya... MUUUUU-AH