a bit of a relief

For the past six weeks we've been dealing with a leaky floor heater and its related problems. Just last week we were told that fixing it would mean that we'd have to move out of our apartment temporarily. But they couldn't tell us when they'd be finished and we'd get to move back into our apartment. And that's not to mention the cigarette smoke smells coming through our ventilation system into our storage closet.

So as much as I hate to leave our gorgeous view and our short walk to town, we decided to move.

After an extensive online search, bicycle drive-bys, and actually viewing only one house, our rental offer was accepted earlier this afternoon. Whew. A bit of a relief.

But now we have to pack (well, mostly have our stuff packed) and actually move. And probably move into a temporary apartment/hotel. All the while Stepler is crazy-busy at work and Rory and I are headed to Georgia for three weeks.

We'll be working on getting settled in before 1) we go on our vacation the second week of August and 2) our dear friends arrive at the end of August!

We'll get a yard! and more space! and a quiet neighborhood. So there are definitely some positives. The house is currently occupied so I wasn't able to take pictures, but I will do so once we're settled in.

a little list

Since my last blog post:

• The Easter Bunny visited Rory
• We went to Prague
• Rory started swim lessons
• Milk now comes in 1.75 L containers (still less than half a gallon, but the biggest we can get)
• While playing with her Toy Story characters Rory (speaking for Rex the dinosaur) told Buzz Lightyear, I'm going to eat you for my tea.
• Tomatoes vs. tomatoes (the British pronunciation most often wins out with Rory)
• Cruise boats have begun arriving in the harbor again
• We celebrated my birthday
• Rory can pretty much dress herself now
• We had some beautiful weather in late April and early May
• But lately we've had some hard rain too
• We celebrated our third May 17th this week

two years

Saturday (4/16) marked two years of living in Norway. We celebrated by taking Rory bowling for the first time. She was excited about it. And she seemed to have a good time. There was one point when her score was better than mine. There is a restaurant at the bowling alley and we ate there after we finished our game.

slowly, slowly, slowly

all smiles

you have to push the ball hard

still smiling

On our walk home Rory wanted to have her picture taken in the hat.

at a park close to home

Sunday we dyed Easter eggs. Rory was excited about that too. But they may have been because she wanted to eat one of the eggs. But only the white part.

getting started

our finished eggs

coolest egg ever

Snow White?

Rory picked out her own clothes today. And then dressed herself. It turned out pretty well. According to Rory she looks like Snow White because of the headband(you can see it in the mirror). It's true, Snow White does wear a headband.

she only wants to wear short sleeves these days

I dressed myself

We went to the library today. And then went shopping for a gift to take to a birthday party on Thursday. When we got home we had lunch and baked cookies for an Easter party tomorrow. 

She's recovering from pink eye and a cold. She got antibiotic drops at the doctor yesterday and her eyes are looking much better now. 

Stepler and I just booked a trip to Prague! We leave next Thursday for the long Easter weekend. 

cross-country skiing

We all have our own cross-country skis now. Rory and I got ours in the sales this year. Stepler got his last year.

Rory's skis are pink

having fun skiing on the carpet

Yesterday we tried them out in Stavtjørn. It was a little more than an hour away from Stavanger and there was lots of snow. It was a beautiful sunny day.

There were a few falls. And I definitely like the flat parts best. But we all had a good time. Next weekend we'll try it again on the Marathon family ski trip.

. 

cupcakes!

Rory and I made rainbow cupcakes today in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Fun times. We also downloaded Over the Rainbow (Glee Cast Version). We wore green. And Rory was totally excited about St. Patrick's Day.  

not totally excited about having her photo taken

up close

all that was left on Rory's plate

vacay

Last week was winter break here in Norway and we went to Grand Canary for the week. Sunshine! Warmth! Sandals! Shorts!

Okay, so it wasn't as warm as I would really have liked for a beach-y vacation, but it was a wonderful escape from the Norwegian winter. We all enjoyed just being outside in the sun. I got a bit of a tan. And read five books. (I love my Kindle and traveling was the big reason why I wanted it.) Rory and Stepler swam in the pools most days. There was a playground at the hotel. Rory enjoyed Mini Disco in the evenings.  We'd planned on going to a water park, but it just wasn't warm enough for that. So we went to a zoo instead. And on Thursday we rode a camel through the sand dunes. 

It was an easy five-hour, non-stop flight from Stavanger. Our hotel was quite nice. The buffet had way too many choices. Unlikely that we'll go back though, as there are so many other places to explore. 

Negro the camel had one hump

big girl bed

We FINALLY got Rory a big girl bed.  Never once did we catch her trying to climb out of her crib.  And she liked to sleep in the very corner of her crib.  So it seemed like there were no good reasons to get her a big girl bed and good reasons to keep her in the crib.

Then one day we read the instructions that came along with the crib.  It recommended that when your child reached 35 inches she be taken out of the crib.  Oops.  Rory was almost 38 inches.  So it was time to get her a big girl bed.

Rory was excited to help pick out her new bed at Ikea.  The following Saturday morning she helped take apart the crib and put the new bed together and couldn't wait for it to be finished.  She was so proud to have a big girl bed.

She's been in the big girl bed for more than two weeks now and (knock on wood) it's going really well.  Night times have been good since the beginning.  She hasn't fallen out of the bed and has gotten in our bed only once (when she had a cold).  The worst of it has been being called into her room to fix her comforter and that has decreased in the past few days.

Afternoon naps were a bit more of a challenge to begin with, but most days she's taken a nap, in her bed.  She's had several days when she's stayed in her room playing and then fallen asleep, but she's napped.  And that's really all she needs, an hour or so of sleep, any longer and it takes her too long to fall asleep at night.

ready for bed on her first night

hair cut

The other day Rory said her hair was shaggy.  Today she said Mommy, when will I get my hair cut again?  Today's question my have been prompted because I got a hair cut yesterday and Stepler cut his on Sunday.  But it's just as likely that she was asking because she needed a hair cut.  I knew she needed one and I'd been thinking that I'd cut her bangs and that would be the end of it.  But since she asked, I decided maybe we should get it done at a salon by someone with training and experience cutting hair.

We had some errands to run this morning so we stopped by the salon in the shopping center closest to our house to see if someone there could cut it.  I was able to get an appointment for about an hour later so we had time to run our errands (all in that shopping center) and go back for the cut.

Rory was very good and patient while getting her hair cut.  She was slightly distracted by the cartoon character on her smock with big beehive hair, the person across from her getting her hair colored, and the people who got their hair washed at the nearby sinks.  But all in all, really good.  The woman who did the cutting was very careful and thorough and I think Rory's hair looks quite cute!  She did too, smiling big at herself in the mirror when the stylist took her smock off.

A successful hair cut in Norway!  Actually two, I'm pleased with my cut also.

the greatest show on earth

The past two weeks in Rory's class were circus-themed.  While in school they've sung circus songs, read circus books, and made circus-related crafts.  The unit concluded on Friday with a circus performance for the parents.

On Friday, Rory's teacher was dressed as the ring master and welcomed us all to the big top (a parachute hung from the ceiling).  The class was dressed as clowns and acrobats.  Most everyone had their nose and cheeks painted red.

singing a circus song

balancing act

a lion jumping through a ring of fire

strong man act

Rory and her classmates were all very excited about the circus show.  And they all knew they were getting popcorn at the end, if they sang nicely.  Not loudly, but nicely, as Rory let me know on Thursday before the show.  Rory quickly finished her first cup and asked for a second.

too much fun

Sledding.  Ballet class.  Pre-school.

Things Rory has deemed too much fun.  Not sure where this comes from.  Or exactly what she means.

We're going to Grand Canaria for winter break in March.  Hope that's not too much fun!  Looking forward to getting away from the cold, rain, and snow.  Yay!

Rory's got a day off from school next month so we want to go somewhere then too.  I narrowed it down to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Aberdeen because we can fly directly there from here.  Based on ticket prices it looks like we should go to Amsterdam.  We've flown through there several times, but never stopped more than a few hours.  So we'll see what's there.

Rory's favorite words

Who
What
Where
When
Why

In no particular order.  But those are definitely the top five right now.

a little smelly

This morning Rory and I took our car in for its annual service.  Because it would take about five hours, Rory and I took a taxi home.

A few hours later we were talking about how we were going to take a taxi back to pick up the car.  Rory said that she wanted to take a different taxi because the one this morning was a little smelly.

Indeed it was.  It reeked of cigarette smoke.  I'm glad Rory thought it was smelly too.

Update:  This afternoon when we were waiting outside the apartment for the taxi to take us to pick up our car, Rory said, I hope this taxi isn't smelly.   That other taxi was a little smelly.  With a scrunched up nose when saying smelly.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to YOU!

I resolve to write more often in 2011!