Monday update

We had a visitor from New Zealand last week, whom the kids and I took up to the Folgefonna glacier. Beautiful, clear skies, icy cold, fresh water. It was an amazing experience even for me.

lea in our garden, picking apples, or alternately snails, is a favorite past time.

Apple picking season has just started. They are still a little sour, but perfect for cakes and juice.

Anders and teh children were up in Fitjadalen while I was away with a couple of couchsurfers (recommendable, check it out on couchsurfers.org) and built a fairyhouse, for the little gnomes by the lake.

Rasberry season is sadly enough over, but the freezer is full and the winters jam is secured.

The days are whizzing by here with us. Autumn has definitely arrived, in a sort of melancholic sneaky way, just acknowledging that summer has passed and no more swimming in the sea was a quite a blow. Living in this area is absolutely fantastic, but the summers are not predictable. On the flip side, darker evenings, rain and cold has it's magic. We are outside just as much, picking berries, digging in numerous sandboxes in the area. Noa likes to find the biggest puddles and lay in them, and then have a handful of mud and sand to go with it.

We can light more candles, have more cosy inside time. make more breads and food that take time, since we don't have to run to the beach at every possible ray of sun.

Mondays are now my study day here at home. I have made a fantastic arrangement with a friend of mine to take turns taking care of each others kids. She takes Noa and Lea Mondays, i get little Elias on Fridays. I think she got the worst end of that deal... Lea is a little unhappy about me leaving, but i am back by 2pm, and all is well and happy.

I have started actively the Kindergarten here at home, and will be posting specifically what i do, to document what and where and why. Doing story time with Jasmin is still a challenge with the twins around, they distract her, and me. And doing circle songs and such are a challenge with Jasmin, as she is SOOO rough with them. The ages are so close, but yet so far apart. I am hoping the magic of repetition and Jasmin being more home with me will solve all the crying and delays. These days are also MY learning experiences, dealing with discipline, implementing structure and routine, song and crafts. Much more challenging then writing a masters theses I tell you. Beyond doubt.