Young helper

A little help is always welcome. Wednesday we painted and Erik helped. He only had good clothes he argued, so he had to swing the roll topless. The main color is a greyish blue depending on the light. We will make a border around the room in a darker blue once the paint is done drying.

 

Patience

Things take time. Tuesday I only managed to put up wallpaper. It had to dry for 12 hours before painting! In the meantime I put up new outdoor lamps amongst other things. 

Small chores

I had an extra week of vacation which we decided should be spend doing "small" chores around the house. For one we really wanted to do something about the little restroom downstairs. This is how it has progressed so far.


Monday we stripped all the wallpaper and removed all the appliances. The kids panicked when I turned of the water in the house. I had to wait until they all had used the restroom at least once. The water is on now. But we only have the room upstairs. 

Beating them all

At church all the small children carried the gifts to the priest. There were so many that Rita didn't get to carry anything. She wasn't happy about it at all. So when it was time for Communion, Rita just had to be the first. She pushed Ellen to the side and made her way in to the alley and ran to Fr. Leo to get her blessing!

Thanks Uncle Paul

Uncle Paul gave Erik the Enterprise and 2 Klingon spaceships for Christmas. We've never had a model this challenging. It involves soldering and a higher degree in enginering. The spaceships are wired with microscopic fiber optic cables. The cables will light all the windows and engines on the spaceship. It's very cool. Hopefully we connect all the cables correctly. We will post a picture once far is done with the finer details :-)

Great gifts

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas. The tree was beautiful. The company great. We had wonderful food - both goose and roast pork. This year all the caramelised potatoes were eaten. I guess the children have come to like them like the rest of us. We all enjoyed our presents. There were plenty for all of us. Axel was quick to figure out his mobile phone and made this video of our dancing around the Christmas tree. You can see it here.

I know it's small - still searching for a good format for compression that all can view.

The finest Christmas tree ever

The trees at our usual plantation had grown. The trees that last year was 7 to 8 feet were now 10 to 12. After a lot of gazing in the air after the top of the trees, the Nordic lumber jacks got the finest tree ever.

Shoppinglist

We usually have a shopping list lying on the kitchen table. Yesterday we found an entry that was not from Ellen or me.

It turned out Rita was the author. She thought we needed "chocolate"!

Christmas traditions

It's not figgy pudding - but the setting of a great family tradition. Today we had Felicia, Edith, Merete and Farmor og Baba over to make Christmas candy. We rolled marcipan, dipped chocolates and mixed nuts. Ellen made her world famous bourbon balls. Yummy! 

Santa Lucia

In Ritas preschool they celebrated Santa Lucia last week. Rita was a very beautiful maiden. It was very special to see all the candles and hear their singing. We made a small video of the parade. You can see it here:
http://users.cybercity.dk/~dsl95374/NVEExport.0004.avi

Great visit

Conny and Elly-Britt visited us this weekend. The house now smells wonderfully of the gingerbread house Elly-Britt had made for the children. Let's see if it last until Christmas.

 

What a birthday

39! What a birthday. According to tradition the morning brought both birthday song, fresh baked bread rolls and gifts. Rita was the most excited of all of us. Erik had made me a coat hanger.


In the evening we had sushi! I've wanted to introduce the kids to it for a long time. The boys tasted and sampled it all. Rita just drank soda!

Book show

We went to visit the annual book show in Copenhagen yesterday. The show presents an opportunity to meet authors and view the newest titles on books in print.

The kids were really excited to meet the blind Danish story teller - Rune T. Kidde. He mesmerised all 3 with his new interpretation of The little red riding hood.

After the presentation Erik got the authors autograph!














At the museum workshop Erik, Rita and Axel had the opportunity to write with paper quill and ink. Rita is getting quite good to write her own name. 

Weekend activities

Axel on scout camp and Rita ready to do gymnastics for a group of Germans from our Danish friendship city. 

Happy Halloween

Axel made Darth Vader! 

FCK in pink

Rita and Ellen had won tickets for a FCK game this evening. The game was sponsored by the Cancer Society. In order to raise awareness about breast cancer FCK played in pink! Rita loved being with us and was just thrilled when the score ended 3-0 to FCK.

Erik the sailor

Eriks class had a day course in how to sail 3-person sailboats. Erik learned how to sail and maneuver the boat by himself. 

Camp

Rita on camp with preschool. 3 days away from home alone. 

We are back online

After 2 unbearable weeks we are now online again. It sure takes a lot of time reconstructing the old computer.

Father weekend

Axel and I went on Father Weekend with his class last weekend. We had a lot of fun. Saturday we went on an adventure hike in the forrest. One of the trials was to taste and guess (garlic, vinegar, corn flakes etc.).

The children also had to entertain in the evening. Axel's group made a song. You can see it here.
http://fam.qvistgaard.homepage.dk/Axel.mpg

The file is large (7 M) 

Finally Erik's team won

They have been loosing all season but for one game where they tied but tonight Erik's soccerteam won 8-3. It was happiness all around and chocolate bars to the players. The team has now advanced in the list of standings:
http://www.sbu.dbu.dk/sr/position.aspx?poolid=35916 

Bastrup bike race

We participated in the Bastrup bike race in the weekend. We followed the Tarzan route which was 10 miles. We all made it. Erik came in as number 10. Check the results here::
http://www.bsr.dk/files/2006tarzan.pdf

Axels birtday cake

This is the cake Ellen made for Axels 9th birthday