Christmas - Part Trois

Noone can ever say that we did not celebrate Christmas the year we spent in Norway -at this point I'm feeling a bit Christmassed out!

Mid-morning following our late-night karaoke session, two parents, two grandparents, four boys, four DS consoles with various new games, six pairs of skis, six bum trays, seemingly endless pairs of mitts, gloves, snow pants and jackets were packed into two cars, and away we went to Cottage-land. Also known as Winter Wonderland.

Our cottage is situated in the mountains above the beautiful town of Ål, and is very popular for cross country skiing. Right outside our door are kilometers and kilometers of machine groomed trails, some lit, some not. There is also a downhill centre across the valley, and Norway's largest tobagganing hill is only a short drive away.

Arriving after sunset, we quickly threw together a dinner of leftover food from the day before the boys got into their outerwear, strapped on the cross country skis and went outside to test out the brand new head lights they'd received for Christmas.



Looks like they worked out pretty well!

The very next day, we woke up to very mild weather, and a touch of rain that quickly turned into snow. While my mother and I drove down the mountain for groceries, the boys played in the snow. My dad will tell you that he had no help whatsoever building his snowman, as the boys were far too busy making snow tunnels and having snowball fights.



Later that afternoon, Christopher, Mathias and I ventured out for what I thought was going to be a short skiing trip around the cottage. As it turns out, the boys had a 10k trek in mind. I finally managed to convince them, some 2-3 km in, that it was going to get pitch black soon, and we'd have to wait until the following day to venture any further away. As we were returning to the cottage, Mathias and I had a miscommunication in advance of skiing down a large hill, with the end result that I had to throw myself into the snow to avoid crashing into and possibly mortally wounding my little nephew with my Christmas-stuffed self.

This is me following my not-so-fluffy-and-soft encounter with the snow:



A bruised and swollen eye is the hot look for New Year's, dontcha know?

We did do the 10k trip the very next day, and it was an awesome outing - despite wearing sun glasses on a cloudy day to not scare off other skiers with my blooming eye.



That night, those heavy clouds became an increasingly intense snow storm, which we took full advantage of:





And here's what we woke up to this morning:



Thanks to the wonders of heavy duty snow removal services, we were able to pack our boys and their gear into our little car, wave goodbye to my nephews and parents who were staying on at the cottage, and make our way back home.

Which is where we are currently - and not without a touch of panic - cooking dinner for hungry boys, while doing laundry and packing in preparation for our trip to Manchester, England first thing tomorrow. That is, cooking, doing laundry, packing, and...ahem...blogging. Because no matter how busy I get, there always seems to be time for blogging.

Christmas - Part Deux

Christmas Eve turned out to be everything I'd hoped for - and more. The boys were incredibly excited to be celebrating with their cousins, and we were equally thrilled to be enjoying the evening with my parents and all my siblings and in-laws for the first time in many, many years. It was also a special treat to celebrate baby Emil's first ever Christmas with him.

• Highlights included my eldest nephew Joakim managing to hog 4 of the 11 almonds. Even though I ate an obscene serving of the dreaded rice cream, I still ended up with zero almonds. Thanks Joakim for sharing your bounty! Prizes this year were marzipan figures for the boys (which none of them likes - all the more for me and my ever expanding waistband), and brain teasers for the adults. Love these!



• Two of the largest prezzies under the tree were awesome snow racers for my boys from my sister and family. Check out the grins!



• My parents gave the boys new sports outfits from the local sports association, complete with name. The boys were beyond excited.



• Our present to my two eldest nephews was a trip on the Color Magic to Kiel, similar to the one we went on last November just with our boys. The kids are thrilled about the upcoming voyage, and have been talking about it continuously ever since.

• Baby Emil slept for almost 6 hours on Christmas Eve (so much for celebrating), despite a rather high commotion factor. We are now starting to think that he may thrive on more not less noise.


Happy baby after nice long nap


The very next day, the family gathered once again for a traditional Christmas Day lunch. This is the day where all we do is eat, eat, eat, following a Danish luncheon format (courtesy of my Danish mother).



We started our luncheon at 3:30 pm, and didn't end until after 1:30 am, including a couple of hours of impromptu karaoke in the basement, much to the chagrin of our children.



Hey, even the tone deaf have a right to work off all that food, right?!

It's (almost) Christmas!

Over the past 2 weeks, Benjamin has brought home not one, not two, or three, but six presents made at school. All but one of these presents were wrapped as he brought them home, and every time I've asked him "...so, who's this present for?" And each time he's replied, "This one is for Christopher." Six times I've heard that answer. It would have been lovely to hear that at least one of those presents was for either Mike or myself, but hey -- you can't blame a boy for adoring his older sibling.

Speaking of whom, Christopher did buy his presents by himself this year. We all drove to the mall to hit the hair dresser for another $60.00 trim for each of the boys. Then B boy, Mike and I went to the supermarket, while Christopher went Christmas shopping on his own. I confess to frequent calls to his cell phone to check up on him, but, truthfully, I needn't have bothered. He came through with flying colours and was positively glowing with pride and happiness when we met up with his gift-bearing self in front of the toy store. I asked if he wanted a celebratory hot dog, but he wasn't hungry, because he'd bought himself a 'family-sized M&M bag to snack on while shopping'. Clearly, we have a future power shopper on our hands.

The third man in the family did his Christmas shopping in Canada, and only had to wrap his own presents to yours truly. He struggled mightily with the ribbon on said presents, so much so, he actually brought the presents - wrapped - into the living room to do the ribbon while I watched. I almost offered to help, but stopped myself at the last second. I will not stoop to help wrap my own presents. That is a line I do not ever want to cross.

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Tomorrow, the clan will gather at our house in the late afternoon, for a really special Christmas with all of my immediate family. It's been years and years since we've been able to celebrate Christmas together, and I am so excited, I can hardly wait.

Everyone will arrive around 5 pm to a lit Christmas tree with stacks and stacks of presents underneath it. The adults will enjoy a glass of Sherry or Champagne, and the children some pop or juice to mark the official start of Christmas.

We will then sit down and enjoy a traditional Scandinavian Christmas roast dinner, followed by a rice cream dessert that we don't actually like. Traditionally, a single whole almond is hidden in the rice cream, and whoever is lucky enough to find it, wins a prize. We, however, will have not 1, but 12 almonds in our dessert. One for each member of the family. And although we all have to eat some of the rice cream (isn't that what tradition is all about?), there's a prize for everyone, whether you find an almond or not.

If you ask Mike, I'm sure he'd say the 12 almonds in the rice cream pretty much sums up my family. We are all about fair. Each year, we count our presents, to make sure all the kids get the same number, and we always have to spend roughly the same amount of money on each kid. Even if the child is 6 months old and really wouldn't know any different. Fair is fair, and that's just how it's always been done in our family.

After dessert, we'll wash up. Any family member under 13 will tell you this takes a very, very long time. We rinse, we wash and we dry. And then we do it again. We put dishes away, we wipe down all surfaces, including countertops and stove top. We sweep the floor. Heck, we may even wash the floor. Oh yes, the kitchen is cleaner after Christmas dinner than it is most days of the year.

And the reason for this feverish cleaning? Why, to make our kids suffer, of course! Because while we're washing up, they're looking more and more desperately at the pile of presents under the tree. Trying ever so discreetly to read the gift tags - is that large one mine? - knowing full well it is strictly forbidden to touch the presents yet. Their hands itchy with a desire to rip the wrapping off the packages. All while trying so hard not to whine, as whining is strictly forbidden on Christmas Eve. Everyone knows that Santa frowns upon whining.

Then...it is time to dance around the Christmas tree. We form a ring, hand in hand, and we walk around the tree, singing carols. This is done with great enthusiasm, if not a whole lot of singing talent. In fact, we may be the most off-key family you'll ever come across. But on Christmas Eve, that is completely and utterly irrelevant. I know I will see my children's eyes shine with joy as they sing their little hearts out.

The dance around the Christmas tree is the highlight of my evening. Though the anticipation is still heavy in the air, the songs are sung with such glorious happiness, it is absolutely infectious, and I will hop, skip and jump hand-in-hand with the people I love more than anyone on Earth. We all become like little children again, and to me, this is what Christmas is all about.

At long last, we will sit down to open our prezzies. The adults will usually find themselves a chair or a couch to sit on, but the kids just plop themselves on the floor and wait with unbridled excitement, as gifts are handed out one by one. We all make sure to oooohh and aaaahh over every present before moving on to the next one. Oh yes, we take gift unwrapping to a whole new slooooow level :)

By 10 pm or so, the presents will all have been handed out, and it will be time to bring out store bought chocolates and fruits, along with goodies made during the month of December, including gingerbread hearts and marzipan confection. We may even go outside and try out new skis or sleds, or stay inside and play a new game.



We usually last until midnight, at which point the kids are worn out from all the excitement, and fall asleep with huge grins on their faces from an evening that hopefully was a dream come true.

Ah.

That, my friends, is what we will be doing tomorrow. Is it any wonder that I can hardly contain myself?

I know most of you who do celebrate Christmas, will be doing so in the morning of the 25th. So from my family to yours, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas.

Pictures? You Want Pictures?

As one of my new and exciting bloggista friends, kim-d, so graciously pointed out, I did not post any pictures of our fabuloso ski trip yesterday.

You see, Kim, I am not Chief of the Camera. My role is limited to gently inquiring "Did you bring the camera?" To which I invariably hear a friendly, but ever-so-slightly exasperated "Of course!"

So it figures that the day I decide to trust, to let go of my control issues and believe...He.Forgets.The.Damn.Camera. I will not get into how utterly beautiful the day was. How the snow glistened like diamonds on the trees, how the sun rose just past the horizon to warm up noses and hands. How the hill was completely devoid of people and totally silent, and all we could hear were Benjamin's squeals of delight and the soft swoosh of the snow as we raced down the hills. (There's sound in photos, people. Work it. And say it with me -- his fault.)

But! My hubster did recover some good will when he managed to snap the following shots with his cell phone:





On the Christmas front, I am happy to report that Mike has been getting in touch with his crafty side. This is a truly wonderful thing, since I don't have such a side. I am craft-less. Crafts are best done with me on the sidelines, cheering from a safe distance. And documenting for my blog, of course.

So without further ado, I give you Monday's creation, courtesy of Mike and the boys:



The gingerbread house has retained its roof for 4 days now. A career best chez Viking Conquest.

This unexpected crafting success is taking my boys into bold, new, unexplored territory. Behold this evening's action:



The performance anxiety:



I know! It's getting downright scary. In fact, the kids quickly decided that PlayStation was a safer bet, leaving me with this:



I gotta love a guy who can make cute Santa decorations!

And speaking of cute, here's my B boy before going to the theatre with his Mormor last night:



Before you "awwww" too much, I should tell you that the pattern on the tie is all skulls. As in pirate skulls. Johnny Depp, take note!

And, for my Grand Finale, the gorgeous Swarowski crystal decoration my wonderful and incredibly kind friend Morag sent to me from Canada:



And that concludes the Picture Event.

Happy Weekend everyone! I'm hoping to squeeze in at least one more post before Christmas, but for those of you who are signing off from the blogosphere today - Happy Holidays!

'Tis The Season...

...to resolve the age old conflict between Darwinists and Creationists.

I present to you:

Benjamin's Theory Of Evolutionary Creation

B: "Do you know who created people, mamma?"
Me: "Do you?"
B: "The God of the Earth did."
Me: "Cool."
B: "Yes, he created a fish, and the fish went onto land and developed legs."
Me: "Oh, and then the fish became human?"
B: "Yeah."
Me: "You sure do know a lot!"

Benjamin is quiet for a little bit, and it's clear something's bothering him:

B (with disgust in his voice): "Except some people came from gorillas!"
Me (definitely not laughing): "But clearly not you."
B: "No, I came the fish way!"

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We took a mental health day yesterday, packed boys and gear into our little car and drove off to Kongsberg ski centre for a lovely day of downhill skiing. Our first time out this year. It was fantastic! Because we are the only bad-parents-who-let-our-kids-miss-school-to-ski in Norway, we essentially had the slopes to ourselves. Not once did we have to wait for a chair lift, and as we skied down, we rarely saw others on our way. Being bad parents is definitely the way to go, especially the week before Christmas, when it appears that all the children do at school is sing carols and talk about what they would like from Santa.

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In much less exciting news, I am absolutely inundated with work this week, which leads me to question why the need for Scandinavian translations always intensifies right before a holiday? Could it be because everyone knows that Heidi has not finished her Christmas shopping yet? And her house is a pigsty dearly in need of a good scrubbing down?

Because, really, deep down, I know the Universe is all about me, me, me, me.

And unfortunately, at the moment, not so much about you. I am sorry, my bloggy friends, that I haven't been able to visit you as much as I'd like to. I will definitely be making the rounds as soon as I can get these pesky assignments off my desk! And the shopping done. And the house cleaned. (And maybe just a teeny, tiny bit more skiing...)

Santa Lucia: To Sing And To Shop

Warning: Braggedy-braggy post ahead.

December 13th is Santa Lucia day in Scandinavia, and this morning my boys' school gathered their students in a darkened gym. There they waited until an elected girl, portraying St. Lucy, solemnly walked into the room dressed in white, wearing a crown of candles. She was followed by a procession of other little girls, also wearing white, each holding a single candle. They slowly made their way around the room, while singing hymns to Santa Lucia in their high children's voices.

I have vivid memories of being chosen as a candle girl at my school one year, and how my hands shook as I stood outside the door, waiting to go into the gym. I was fearful of the candle in my hands, and nervously excited about singing to the rest of the school. When the moment finally arrived, I recall being amazed at how quiet and enraptured my fellow students seemed as we entered the room, and what a lovely light the flickering candles cast in the gym. To an 8 year old girl, the experience was oddly moving.

Even though boys play no part in the Santa Lucia procession, I was excited for my children to experience the ceremony for the first time ever this year. What would they think of the singing? And the candles? Would they be overwhelmed by the feelings of peace and joy that I still clearly remember 30 years later, even though they'd be spectators and not participants?

I guess I'll have to ask Benjamin about that, since Christopher ended up being in the procession after all. And no, not as a girl - even though his much contested long hair might cause you to mistake him for one.

You see, recent discoveries apparently have it that, in addition to white-clad angels, Santa Lucia was also followed by a posse of Norwegian stable boys.*

Who knew?

As head stable boy, Christopher ended up singing - solo - in front of the entire school in this year's Lucia production, wearing the typical stable boy outfit of a traditional, knitted sweater, short pants and long red woolen socks.

Judging from his blank expression when I tried to share my own memories of Lucia with him this afternoon, I'm pretty sure he didn't feel all mystical and powerful, either.

He did, however, believe this to be a good first step on the way to his chosen career of "being famous." I guess that's something.

*Equal opportunity taken to a new level, clearly.

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In other Christopher news, my the-universe-revolves-around-me-eldest-born-child just came out of bed to ask me if I can drive him to a mall tomorrow and leave him there. He wants to go shopping for his Christmas presents by himself, because "this year I want you to be surprised, not like last year, when you knew all the presents ahead of time".

[Gulp]

That puddle you're standing in is my melting heart.

Christmas Concert

Last night we went to Benjamin's Christmas Show with all the grade 2s in his Norwegian school.

The children enthusiastically sang several songs for us, all the while demonstrating highly sophisticated scarf movements. Not always in tune, but never without gusto.

Many of them also had roles in a play. Unfortunately, I am unable to relay to you the riveting story of the play, but it definitely had something to do with...eh...Christmas?



When it came to delivering their lines, the children seemed to have three options:

A. Shout them loudly, thus making me worry that the sound system might implode.

B. Whisper them softly, so I wondered if the system had in fact shut down.

C. Use a normal voice, reassuring me that the sound system was OK, but speakveryveryquickly, leaving me none the wiser as to the plot of the story.

The show was high on adorability, if less so on actual ability. A great time was had by all, and we went home with an extremely proud 7 year old. Who - if I may brag - was one of the most enthusiastic singers of all, in Norwegian.

Wordless Wednesday

Being crafty is hard:





But on Advent Sunday we try:

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

We woke up to a lovely sight this morning:



Yes, I said lovely. For the last few weeks, it has been pitch black when we've woken up in the morning, but today, at 7 am, there was an ethereal, wintry glow peeking through the curtains:



The light dusting of snow had our boys super excited to go to school, planning elaborate forts and spooky snowball fights:



While we frolic in the snow this afternoon, we'll be sending happy thoughts to all you Americans out there celebrating Thanksgiving today.

Weekend Window

We had a lovely, lazy weekend with the boys.

That is, except for the frantic cleaning session I initiated on Saturday morning. You know how you get up, look around and realize everything is filthy? And then catch your blissfully unaware spouse eating cereal, reading the paper or doing some other non-cleaning-related activity?

Well, people, let me tell you - PhDs are not a waste of time! Somehow, Mike realized he was this close to being subjected to a full-on lecture on how Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness, and immediately fired up the vacuum. Yes sirree! Crisis averted at the last possible minute.

And not to worry, the rest of the weekend was spent at a much more leisurely pace. Our only attempt at exercise on Saturday was a nice long walk with the kids. The ground was covered with frost, and since the boys bring their scooters everywhere, they had fun sliding around on the ice. There was one or two wipe-outs, but no tears!

We finally made it home around 4 pm, at which point it was already getting dark. This, in my mind, is an invitation to light candles. Everywhere. The one good thing about having moved past the toddler years.

And speaking of candles, check out this Christmas Calendar Candle in the shape of Santa's hat, which we found in Copenhagen:



I'm having a hard time understanding why my boys are not going crazy with excitement about this candle. I mean, isn't it the cutest candle ever?

My nephew Joakim spent the weekend with us, and on Sunday morning, eager to show him that we can do other things than clean with desperation and light candles, we took the boys skating. Although the weather was mild, and even a little foggy, this didn't dampen Benjamin's enthusiasm:



Even when in his usual position:



Sadly, Benjamin is not the best of skaters. Neither am I, which is why you can probably tell that I am edging away from him, lest I be dragged down, too.

We wound down our Sunday with a visit to my parents' house for hot chocolate and home-made cake, before dropping Joakim off and heading home. All in all, a great November weekend.

The boys are asleep now, and I'm getting ready to pack for our Germany trip tomorrow. Yes, I know you feel sorry for me and my jet setting ways. All that packing is wearing me down!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Wonderful Copenhagen

Q. Is it possible to get up at 4 am with a smile on your face?

A. Yes, it is...

...if you're going to Copenhagen, Denmark for a 2 day pre-Christmas shopping trip without boys. Which is exactly what my mother and I did on Wednesday morning. We caught the 7 am flight, and 1.5 hours later we were checking into our hotel in Copenhagen's city centre.

Ah, the life of a European jet setter! Here's the view from our hotel room as the sun was rising:



We quickly deposited our bags and caught the metro to Strøget, the shopping district in Copenhagen. Strøget is actually a collection of streets, all cobblestoned pedestrian walkways, anchored by Kongen's Nytorv (King's New Square) in one end. This lovely old square dates back to the 1600s and houses the Royal Danish Theatre and some of the city's high end hotels. At the other end, Strøget connects with Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square), which sports a large statue of Hans Christian Andersen and also the main entrance to Tivoli Gardens, the oldest amusement park in Europe, if not the world.

But it's what's in between these two squares that counts - a veritable shopping mecca of everything from good old H&M, Top Shop and EB Games to high end boutiques such as Louis Vuitton, D&G, Bottega Veneta and Chanel, as well as the illustrious upscale Danish shopping centre of Magasin du Nord.

As we arrived on Wednesday morning, building facades everywhere were getting a make-over in time for the holidays. Lovely, large balsam fir trees were being hoisted, while display windows were framed with fir garlands. Here's a shot of another up-market Danish shopping centre - Illums Boligvarehus - all decked out in time for the Ho-Ho-Ho...



I am a huge fan of modern, minimalist Danish design (think Arne Jacobsen) and could have bought everything in sight, but airport baggage limitations and strict security measures limited our spree to essentials, such as fabulous Christmas decorations [Mike secretly thanks the powers-that-be for said luggage restrictions]. Thus, we spent a fair chunk of our time in the beautifully decorated Georg Jensen store, and were able to check off several items on our Christmas lists.

"Where there's a will, there's a way," mother said:



Along Strøget are hidden little courtyards exuding peace and quiet, some with high fashion ateliers and artisan shoppes, and others with cosy cafes where cups of hot chocolate and freshly baked crepes beckon to tired shoppers needing an escape from the shopping frenzy:





Needless to say, we didn't need to be asked twice.

The food in Copenhagen deserves a blog posting of its own, but suffice to say that it was outstanding. We had a delicious lunch platter of open-faced sandwiches at a lovingly restored restaurant in a cellar off Strøget, with Danish staples such as herring, gravlax, shrimp, pates and roast meat. To take advantage of Copenhagen's decidedly international flavour, we also managed a bit of hot spice courtesy of a superb Indian meal, complete with raita and naan.

Burnt Almonds - The Preferred Snack of Christmas Shoppers:



Another stop was to pick up delicious Danish pastries, all flaky and decadently chocolate-y. Believe me, the 'Danish' pastry in North America doesn't hold a candle to these babies.

Two days in Copenhagen just wasn't enough, which is why Mike and I are hoping to squeeze in another trip in the spring. I may allow the boys to join in the fun this time, providing we survive the much anticipated cruise to Kiel this coming Monday!