Christmas Part Two

The day after Christmas, the clan from Philadelphia arrived and I simply have to share some pictures.

Nana holding court over the second round of present opening. 

Uncle Chris excited about his new Moods of Norway pink tractor underwear. 

Reading time with Bella

And of course, we had to go to Ficco's.  Candlepin bowling is part of our cultural heritage in Massachusetts.  A dying art that must be passed on to our children if it is to be saved.

Nana and Jaiden go head to head while Madden referees.

Four girl pile on!

Candids from when Madden "borrowed" my phone.


And then my sweaters froze outside when I left them out "to dry".  (You'd think I didn't live in Norway.)  The children were amused.  I was left with a limited wardrobe.

We loved our time with the Philadelphia 6!  Crazy hectic fun! (And no, I will not show the pictures from our karaoke night with Chris and Robin.  Something are best left in memories.)

The rest of Christmas....

I fell off the blogging wagon.....I did.  We really did have a great rest of Advent though.  On the 19th day of Advent Marshall and I flew to Massachusetts to join Will and Josie.  And I have to brag.  My children are amazing travelers.  Whenever we talk about our trips, inevitably people ask, "How are the flights with the kids?"  Honestly, I don't even think about it now.  They read, they watch movies, we eat snacks.....they get bored, I get bored, but it's not a crisis.  It just is. And then we watch another show.  (Because screen time rules don't apply when you are on an airplane.)

Marshall always likes to read the safety guide thoroughly.

Happy and excited travelers!

Look what Marshall noticed on our engine.  Rolls Royce....traveling in style!

When we got to Massachusetts, we got haircuts the very first day.  (Norwegian haircuts, while stylish, are incredibly expensive.)

And we met up with my cousin Sarah, Brett, Jonas, and new baby Lillian.  I love holding newborn babies! (I also like to pretend I am the baby whisperer when it comes to new babies.  However, that's easy when you can give them back the minute they get fussy.)

And we also got to see Nick and Lori.  (What kind of strange people wear hats like that to a restaurant? I am totally surprised we are friends with them.)

We did lots of fun stuff like:

• Read Dad and Uncle Chris's old Encyclopedia Brown books

• Hike to Joe's Rock with Nana and Papa 

• Go to Sean's Super Hero Birthday Party with the children of my friends from high school.  Old friends, new friends.....brilliant! (And delightfully fun chaos because while the first generation of friends was merely 5 girls, the second generation is 9 boys and 2 girls.)

• Make lots and lots of food, including lobster and scallop bisque for Christmas Eve.  (I love my cooking lobster from scratch husband!)

• Use the aforementioned lobster to scare the patooty out of 4 people playing Trouble

(We actually dropped it right in the middle of the game playing circle, thus Josie's fearful reaction.  We are cruel, cruel parents.  And slightly inhumane lobster eaters.)

But of course, on Christmas Eve, we went to church, ate a FABULOUS dinner of seafood, and read "The Night Before Christmas" popup book, per our family tradition.

And left cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.

And Christmas morning was full of joy!  

Opening stockings on Nana and Papa's bed.  (A Roberts' family tradition.)

"Hey look! Santa ate the cookies and wrote us a letter!"

This is the moment right after Josie and Marshall exchanged the presents they had bought each other.  They were so excited to give them and to give their daddy the present they bought him together.  (It's the Alligator Chopper, famous from the video for the Alligator Chopper playing continuously at Clas Ohlsen.  They knew it was the perfect gift for Dad. :))

Opening the scarves my grandmother knit all four of us and reading about the significance of the different pins she put on them.

It was a wonderful day!  (Whew, now the blogging pressure is off. :))

The Three Parts of Christmas according to Marshall

"Mom, I think that the middle part of Christmas is my favorite."

"Really?  What's the middle part?"

"You know, the feast."

"Okay.  But Marsh, what's the first part?"

"The joy of giving."

"And the last part?"

"Umm......singing.  You know, Christmas carols.....around the Christmas tree."

"Oh, of course!"

"Yeah, and then you go to bed and wait for a couple days for New Year's Eve."

What? You didn't know about the three parts of Christmas?

13-9 Days before Christmas

Day 12 of Advent: Play Scrabble!

I never thought to play with Marshall before until I saw a friend's picture on Facebook.  And then it dawned on me, of course he can play!  I mean, let's be honest, the majority of the words I play are in the 3-4 letter range anyway.

And we had a great time! For a little while.  After a while he got tired.  But frankly, Scrabble can only hold my attention for a little bit too.  Unless I am winning.  (Which I was.....Sorry, I'm not one of those moms who lets her kids win.  I mean, I helped him out a lot, but heck, I got the opportunity to use a Z on a double word tile.  What kind of example would I be setting if I didn't seize that one?  How will he ever know how to play?)  In any case, Marshall and I are perfect Scrabble partners. (And to his credit, he was only losing by about 10 points.)

Day 13 of Advent: Sankta Lucia Day!

Our first Sankta Lucia Day in Norway.  It was lovely with a procession to the school and a play organized by the Norwegian teacher.  Marshall was a poor person.  He was very proud of his role. :) But he thought that Trygve was the star.  He was the governor that killed Lucia with his sword after the flames parted and didn't burn her, only to trip and fall on his own sword while walking away.  I asked Marshall if he didn't think that Tiril (who was actually Sankta Lucia) was the star, but he insisted that nope, it was indeed Trygve.  (I think it was the plastic sword, Halloween cape, and painted moustache that sealed the deal for him.

(pictures to follow once they are retrieved from the school camera I was using)

Day 14 of Advent:  Movie Night with Tone

Tone is our wonderful babysitter.  Every time she comes the kids go batty with excitement.  And frankly, so do mom and dad.  So basically it's a win-win for everyone.

But tonight she was here to watch Marshall while I attended the AaIS julebord! I love my colleagues and we had a splendid time.  So much laughing and story telling.  And I made them sing.  (Of course I did.  I was told that at julebord people traditionally stand up and sing something or give a speech.  And am I ever one to back down from a challenge?  So I made up a slightly amusing twist on the 12 Days of Christmas.  Don't you worry colleagues, I'm already thinking about how to improve for next year.)

Ms. Aniva fell in love with the cat and the little girl.

Day 15 of Advent:  The Big Night out in Ålesund

For a special treat,  Marshall and I spent Saturday night at a hotel in downtown Ålesund.  Now those that know Ålesund and where we live were quite perplexed by our choice, but it really did make sense.  We were thinking about going to some fancy ski resort for a night, just the two of us.  Something special to celebrate our mother-son week.  But they were so far away and time started running short.  And that's when I realized that the draw for the resort was a) the indoor pool and b) the overnight at a hotel.  And heck, I can do that right here in Ålesund and the drive time is about 15 minutes.  Why add stress to a holiday season when you don't need to, right?

And Marshall was ecstatic.  He had the whole evening planned out.  First we would go swimming.  (No pictures of this, but trust me, Marshall went swimming.  I stood bravely for a long time and did one lap for him.  Despite being indoors, the water was very very cold.)

Next we would head to the Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Then we would walk around the city a bit.

Look! High fashion Bunad.  Bunad Blue Steel, if you will.

Finally, we would sit in bed and read for a while.

And to top it all off (and vying for first place in Marshall's opinion), a buffet breakfast in the morning.

We had a great night.  I love that Marshall is still so enthusiastic over the little things.  "Mom, the bathroom comes with FREE toilet paper!!!" I love that we can keep it simple and still plan an evening of his dreams.

Day 16 of Advent: Play Christmas Connect Four

What makes it Christmas Connect Four?

CLEARLY, a Santa Hat.

A Pause

I am ready to post about our next days of Advent, but I need to document the pause.

The pause from holiday hilarity and festivity....

The pause from good cheer and Christmas lights and present planning...

The pause from packing and excitement....

Because for us it is just a pause.  A horrific event which shakes us to the core and makes us question why, why.....

But we can move on. We can continue and finish this Advent season, hugging our little angels even closer than before, thanking those who take care of our children day in and day out even more sincerely....

But for so many families in Connecticut, there is no pause, but a full stop.  Period.  Finality but yet completely open ended.  Because how does one move on from something like this?  I imagine, eventually you must for the sake of your other children, your family....Selfishly, I hope and pray I never have to navigate those waters.

So while I will move on documenting our days of Christmas joy, I acknowledge that I am forever changed.  That my prayers go to those families in Connecticut because that's the only thing I can conceive of to do.  And mostly I pray that they find a compass to lead them toward some sort of healing.

21-14 Days Until Christmas

(And here's a quick recap....)

Day 4 of Advent:

Read a new Christmas book

(No this isn't an advent picture, but this was the beautiful sunrise that morning.  This picture was taken about 10 am.)

Day 5 of Advent:

Watch some Christmas movies

(Alright these first ones are lame.  I'll own that. But hey after a full day of work and school, no one is in the mood for a big project.)

Day 6 of Advent: 

Learn some Christmas Jokes! 

My favorite: Q: What did one snowman say to the other snowman?

                    A:  Do you smell carrots?

HA HA HA HA.....the children did not appreciate the full humor of this one.

(And for your enjoyment: Josie's sassy look.  I'm thinking it's like Blue Steel.)

Day 7 of Advent: 

Watch a Christmas movie

We introduced Marshall to Elf with Will Farrell.  Goodness, I love that movie.  I say we introduced Marshall because about a quarter of the way through Josie decided it was way to scary for her.  Actually, my little norsk speaker said it was veldig skummelt.   Sigh, I have such different children, but both of them have issues with movies.  Marshall still has trouble with any thing that is mildly scary (as in bad-guy/zombie scary) and Josie can't handle emotional turmoil.  She really had major issues with the fact that Buddy's dad didn't want him and was on the naughty list.

But that's okay.  It gave me time to snuggle and read books with her upstairs.  Especially given the impending arrival of Day 11 of Advent.

Day 8 of Advent:

Go to the Julemarked in downtown Ålesund

Typical. I left my camera in the car.  (Because it's also my phone.)  Will and the kids and Nalu walked down to downtown Ålesund and to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.  (Despite the negative temperature....remember, there is no bad weather only bad clothing!)  I met them there and we walked around the crowded Julemarked downtown.  (Again, I'm not translating......this one's not tough people.)  There was the typical knitted items, handmade jewelry, sausages, and smoked fish.  A very festive atmosphere.  But it was crowded and the children were very cold by this point.  So what did we purchase at the Julemarked?  What we purchase at EVERY norsk street fair.  Thai Food, of course!  Varmrul, I think they call them here, but it's basically a fried spring roll and it is oh so good.  And there's a carrot sliver or two in there, so I can count it as a vegetable for the kids right? :)

Nalu chilling with Marshall on the way home.

But the BEST part of the day (and I think everyone would agree on this one), was when we shipped both kids off to a sleepover at a friend's house.  (It is always helpful to find friends with two children who are approximately the same age as your two children.  I recommend this highly.)  This was Marshall and Josie's first sleepover at someone else's house.  And BOY were they excited.  They were packed with coats, hats, and boots on at least a half hour before we were supposed to leave.  And it went well from what I heard.  Marshall only had misgivings right before bed and my friend was able to convince him to try falling asleep and VOILA, problem solved!

And then Will and I got to go ON A DATE! Woo Hoo!  Normally finding a dinner restaurant reservation in Ålesund is a piece of cake, so we didn't think anything of trying to find a spot the afternoon of our date.  But we underestimated the power of the Julebord!  Julebord is basically a company (or as we found out, family, neighborhood, etc.) Christmas party.  And people come out in full force.  Luckily we were able to find a spot at the julebuffet of a hotel in town.  I was thrilled!  I had never had norsk julemat (Christmas food) before and now I got to try a little of everything.....okay, okay.....a lot of everything.  I mean, it was a buffet.

Look at how unusual it was for only two people to be going out to dinner. (We felt special....and slightly under dressed.  Note to self: norsk mennesker go all out for julebord.)

So here's a recap of what I ate:

lutefisk: Not that bad.  Actually it wasn't that big of a deal at all.  It was just fish prepared a little differently.  I honestly don't see what all the hubbub is all about.

Christmas pork:  HOLY MOLEY!  That was delicious.  With red sauerkraut.  Oh my, that was delicious.  But after two servings, Will announced that he had reached his pork fat limit.  I didn't think that was possible.

julepolse (Christmas sausage): Delicious.  Will doesn't care for the cardamom flavor in it, but I really thought it was great.

pinekjøtt (dried, salted lamb ribs): Will loved them.  Not my favorite

And a whole bunch of desserts including this cake that Ingrid make for us before.  It's like a type of meringue with cream filling.  TO DIE FOR!  I need to get that recipe.

Day 9 of Advent:

Bake Pepperkake!

After we picked up our two incredible cranky kids from their sleepover, we decided to bake pepperkake.  (I figured I would appease them with sugar.  That always makes things better, right?)

Now, I say "bake" pepperkake instead of "make" pepperkake (which by the way is the norsk equivalent of gingerbread) because it had been a busy day.  I was in the kitchen a lot making this:

(Stop drooling Seattle friends.....someday you will get our Christmas granola again....)

In any case, I cheesed out and bought the pepperkake dough.  It comes in a container like this.

And I can't decide if it's genius or scary.  Because if you have ever made gingerbread from scratch, you know it's kind of a pain, with all the chilling of dough, etc.  You really have to have some forethought in order to make the cookies.  And with this, you just buy it and leave it in the cupboard.  Genius!  But that's the scary part too.....because that's right, you read correctly, you leave it in the CUPBOARD. As in, this pre-made dough doesn't need to be refrigerated.  (Their cake mixes here are the same way.  Not refrigerated.  Just open the sack and pour into a pan.  No mixing of additional ingredients required.)  And that freaks me out.  What do they put in there that makes it so it doesn't have to be refrigerated?

But clearly, not freaked out enough to not take a short cut and buy the pre-made dough this year. :)  Ignorance is bliss, right?

(No, Josie does not have a bloody lip.  My lipstick was left on the bathroom counter from my preparations for dinner the night before.  She just couldn't help herself.)

 Day 10 of Advent:

Read a new Christmas Book

We were a little busy preparing for day 11.

Day 11 of Advent:

Josie and Daddy fly to Massachusetts

Right now I am thinking, how could I do this?  My baby is leaving me!  (Oh, and her dad too.....)

But someone was super excited to travel by herself with Daddy and then spend time with Nana and Papa in Massachusetts.

Sometimes a mom has to let go.

(Plus, it's going to be a little fun hanging out with just Marshall for a week until we head off to Massachusetts too!)