Thursday, December 26, 2013

Happy holidays

FamilyR is spending this years holidays in Singapore. Taking a few moments to wish all my readers/followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Though the thought of a not so white Christmas in Singapore is a weird thought, I'm taking comfort in that the winter isn't very white back home either. With the mercury staying above zero degrees and the absense of snow a Christmas in the tropics isn't that bad.

Hope you and your family are enjoying your holidays where ever in the world you are spending it.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Cozy

The other day I went to IKEA for a little trip. Just to pick up a few necessities…

Usually when going to IKEA with DaddyO we rush through the aisles. But this time DaddyO had promised to let me have a little time to suck up all the Christmas spirit that was throughout the store.

Though there were no Christmas shopping on my part..except from some ginger bread dough. I did get my self an early Christmas present…for the cold days ahead…a knitted blanket from the Chalet Limited Collection of 2013. I didn’t see the whole collection, just parts of it. But I must say I liked the parts I did see.

IMG_1133[1]a blanket for MommyS

Finally a blanket for myself after knitting a few for babies all around. It’s called Höfjäril and measures 120x180 cm and is made of a wool, polyester and acryl blend. Sorry for not providing a link…but I can’t find it on IKEA webpage.

Off to enjoy an evening with warmth from the fireplace and me neatly placed under my new blanket.

- Have you been to IKEA lately and seen their Christmas collection for 2013?
- What do you do to pamper yourself?

Monday, October 14, 2013

Absence

Sorry for being so absent lately. Between being sick myself and BabyS being sick I don’t have much energy left over.

Just wanted to do a small post about the super cool lamp I bought for BabyS room.

It’s called Buddy Space and is part of the series MyKidsRoom by Philips. MyKidsRoom is a new series of lamps designed for kids rooms. The store I bought our Buddy told me they had only had this new series in stock for a week and where almost all sold out already. While I was paying for my lamp two more customers where in line to pay for lamps in the same series. Guess Philips hit the nail on the head with this design series.

 

BabyS’ new Space Buddy

(I don’t get paid to talk about products, just wanted to share)

collage
there are way more lamps in the series, but the Philips website was down when I was writing this post…

Now I just need to confirm a date with the electrican to have it installed…

- have you come over any laps you like lately?
- what do you think of the new series by Philips?

Friday, August 16, 2013

Like royalty

This week BabyS started kindergarden. So far it’s been a very plesant experience.

We started with being greeting by the sweetest employees. BabyS had gotten all the lockers and storage compartments labeled with her name.

IMG_0042[1]a personal welcome note

- The first day was a short stay. The employees that will be “handeling” BabyS observed her interaction with other children, adults and playtime. While us parents filled in forms and got alot of information.
- The second day BabyS stayed a few hours without parents. She stayed for lunch before we picked her up.
- Today she is having a longer stay, including naptime. The nap is still to come…so don’t know how that will turn out.

I must admit I had my doubts as to leave my baby in such a big kindergarten – approx. 150 babies/toddlers. I got my worries eased when I went for a visit. Eventhough the kindergarten is large, BabyS belongs to a “base” – the kindergarten is devided into bases – that is only 9 children, ages 1-2 years (at the moment its about 50/50 of 1 year and 2 year olds). With 3 employees in BabyS’ base, Akershus festning, the babies/toddlers should be taken good care of.

Read more about Barneslottet on their official site, here.
The kindergarten in itself is just a few years old, and before opening undervent major reconstruction. Can read more about that in this article.

It’s fun that they have their on monogram and crown logo…just like the royals!

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- how was it for your children to start kindergarten?

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Dropped by for a short visit

Yesterday my grandfather-in-law dropped by for a short visit. Old school as he is, he doesn’t like to come emptyhanded…
So these beauties found themselves their way to CasaR…
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- has somebody brighten up your day lately?
Have a continued wonderful day

Monday, August 12, 2013

A geo here, a cache there

This evening I found my first geocache! Along with my friend Lexipo we went hunting for a few caches around where we live. And guess what! we found not only one, but two! A good and healthy little hobby…fun looking for caches while getting in a little movement. Recommended! An alternative way to enjoy the wonderful nature around us.

Since I haven’t gotten myself an app for my iPhone, I’ll do my logging here Smile with tongue out

The two caches we found if you wanna give it a go…
Trolldalen@Hellerud
Klatring i Østmarka – Hellerud

Fun but also scary…as one cache required facing some fears – spiders, claustrophobia and heights… So good luck to you if you intend to give these a try.

Weird, the first time I read about geocaching I never thought I would try it out myself. But thanx Lexipo and Jens Voigt for introducing me to a fun new hobby.

- have your tried geocaching?
- how do you face your fears?

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Not forgotten

I know I haven’t been very good at posting lately…but I have a good excuse! I’ve been taking time off from work to take care of BabyS. Next week she starts kindergarten…and I’m back to work. With BabyS being so mobile, I’ve had my hands full.

I do have to admit I’m looking forward to BabyS beginning in kindergarten, and getting an outlet for all that energy she has. At the same time I’m gonna miss spending the days with her. It’s scary leaving your little baby with others. And possibly missing all the sweet/cute/quirky/strange things she does. Not being able to experience that, just being told what happened by someone else. You can say I have mixed feelings with BabyS beginning in kindergarten…Maybe that’s why I have put off sitting down and putting nametags on everything BabyS is to bring to her kindergarten?

In preparation for BabyS time in kindergarten I have done some shopping. One of the things is several pairs of soft leather shoes. And they come is SO many cute styles! I’ve bought mine from a store on Ebay. Very happy with the quality of the leather and the service is impeccable. If you are looking into getting your hold of a few of these, here’s the Ebay store I’ve used. Did I mention they’re dirt cheap too?

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aren’t these cute??? (pictures borrowed from the Ebay listing)

Another thing on the shopping list lately has been name labels. And I got labels with supercool Stitch – from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch. Hopefully there aren’t other kids with the same label…At NordicPrint you can upload pictures and design your own labels, and in color! How cool is that??? If you don’t want to create your own design, they have some cool designs to choose from.

imagehere are mine…

A tip I got from my wonderful sister-in-law is to get a mix of the sticker labels and the iron-on ones. With a hair straightener is should be a breeze to “iron on”. For that occasion I bought a mini straightener! I bought mine from Tinydeal.

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it’s so cute…

Another tip I got - online - with iron-on labels, when ironing on use greased food paper between the iron and label. Makes the labeling easier. To help remove iron-on labels use “sandwich paper”.

In the evenings we have been planning our holiday for the year. A trip to Singapore! Can’t wait to travel to the heat in the middle of the Norwegian winter. It’s gonna be a trip for firsts…BabyS first trip to Singapore, BabyS first long haul, our first time traveling with children, first time travelling with my sister and her boyfriend to mention a few….

The evenings have also gone to knitting. I finally finished my first garment for BabyS! But I’m still waiting for the buttons I ordered. So holding of posting pictures until I get them…

Well enough procrastinating and off to labels some stuff for kindergarten…

- how did you deal with your baby starting kindergarten?
- how have you spent your summer?

Friday, June 7, 2013

Hopefully no more slipping

A few months ago I got myself a real scare when I suddenly slipped on one of the steps in our stair case. Then and there I decided that I would mount anti slip tape on each step. The only challenge was to get a hold of transparent anti slip tape here in Norway. I looked far and wide with no luck…after finding and not being able to get it shipped to Norway I gave up looking for transparent tape.
I got a hold of some black anti slip tape…but just wouldn’t get myself to mount it. It would just show too much on our pine colored stairs.
But to my surprise I came over transparent anti slip tape @Biltema while looking for something else! Yay, I quickly bought myself 5 rolls…they came in 3 meter rolls. Today I gave the staircase a once over with soap and water before adhering the tape.
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before
after (the tape is very discrete, just the flash reflecting a lot)
Now I ‘m hoping for days ahead with no slipping…
IMG_3989BabyS seems to be very happy with the finished result
- have you ever slipped on your stairs?
- how do you prevent slipping accidents?

Thursday, June 6, 2013

In a galaxy not so far, far away…

An evening not so long ago I saw one of the Star Wars movies (The Empire Strikes Back for those of you wondering). On one of my surfs around the web I was inspired to do a Star Wars themed baby gift for one of my expecting friends…as the babys father is a huge  Star Wars fan….

Today I got the SMS that their little trooper had arrived…and tonight I finished her gift, a Storm pooper beanie..

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In the lack of a small head teddy bear Gunnar had to model the beanie for a picture…

Happy Birthday to baby Isolde!

The beanie was super easy, pattern from Garnstudio here.
The text I put together using a knitting alpha I found online, here.

Poor Gunnar looks a little tired…but not shabby for a 30 year old teddy. He was actually DaddyOs teddy when he was a kid…

- have you combined simple knitting patterns to make a great product?
- have your old teddies survived the wear and tear over the years?

Monday, June 3, 2013

Talk about knitting

As I mentioned in an earlier post….baby blankets for all my friends who have given birth lately. A few have still yet to be given their rightful owners…but I thought I would post these pictures while BabyS was sleeping and I don’t forget…

The pattern

The result

I used my favorite blanket pattern by Pickles
http://www.pickles.no/p-veg-helseteppe/

Knitted in Babyull by Viking
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I wanted to make a stars and stripes blanket, but couldn’t find a pattern. As I couldn’t decide which color I wanted as the main color I wound up making this one a reversible on, like the one I made for BabyS.

Also knitted in Babyull by Viking
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I’ve wanted to try out the pattern for Mor Signe blankets – knitted diagonally in stead of strait up…

While surfing, I came across this beautiful blanket.

Knitted in Ullteppegarn by Gjestal.
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And my latest creation, a simple blanket for sweet baby Maja.

This is a reinvented version of Garnstudios pattern Bundle of joy. Instead of the blackberry pattern I stayed to plain garter stich (I think it’s called)

To make the name part, I found a cool font on my computer, typed up the name and saved it as a picture. I then converted the picture into a pattern with knitPro – this is a super online tool! Makes a pattern from most pictures. Don’t remember who tipped me, but thank you!
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Hope the newly made families appreciate the blanket they receive. After making so many blankets the past few months I’m taking a break from my blanket producing days. For some reason I tried out the game Candy Crush Saga and I’m totally hooked!

- have you knitted any blankets lately?
- which model is your favorite?

So off to get me some Candy Crush….

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Phew…

Sorry for my absense latetly. Last weekend BabyS turned one year old. According to Chinese customs it needs to be celebrated, big time.

The last two weeks before the big day were spent om planning and organizing. With a control freak like me, nothing was left to chance. With my latent fear of not having enough food, large amounts of food were bought.

At the last minute I had decided to make tapas for BabyS celebration. Which in the beginning sounded like a good idea. I could make much of it advance and if the guests had any preferences they could just eat more of what they liked. With the big family dag being on Saturday I had my hands full on Friday with chopping and wrapping and frying and baking and so on…shortly put, I might have bitten a little more than I could chew…When I went to bed at midnight I was about halfway.

Despite a stressful morning at CasaR the celebration went of without a hitch. I just totally spaced and forgot to take a picture of the finished food…and the cakes. Have asked DaddyO to make a mental note, remember to take more pictures! Sorry BabyS, MommyS totally spaced….but you and everybody did enjoy yourself!

Some of my friends wondered about the food that was served, so here is a recap…

Tapas:
Foccacia (receipe here, thanx Gunhild for the link), I made mine without olives or sundried tomatoes
Baconwraped dates, note to self: use a whole slice of bacon instead of half a slice as many recommend
Pork nuggets
Chicken nuggets
Mozzarella with cherry tomatoes
BBQ chicken wings
Oven roasted potatoes, with tex mex herbs
Feta cheese
Garlic and chilli marinated scampi, plain and simple – marinated overnight
Bratwurst, barbequed
Knackwurst, barbequed
Fried rice w/chicken, my safe bet for children attending (thank you mummy for the help with this one)

Dessert:
Minipavlova, with cream, custard and all the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries you could eat
Pandan chiffon cake (see my earlier tries here)
Chocolate swiss role
Fruit screwers with marshmellows

Hmmm while writing this post it sound so little, compared to the work I put in…

The second celebration day for out little BabyS we added sushi and cupcakes to the menu.

Thank you friends and family for making BabyS one year birthday a wonderful experience. Love you all!

- bitten of more than you can chew lately?
- does your family have any traditions when it comes to babys’ first birthday?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Hipp, hipp hurra

hurra hurra!

Just dropped by to wish all fellow Norwegians a wonderful Constitution Day.

Happy May 17th

As BabyS is so little we decided to have a calm day at home, enjoying the wonderful sunshine on our pation with the TV on (switched to NRK2) to watch the children's parade in downtown Oslo.

- how did you spend you day?

and I’m off to enjoy some more ice cream….

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Hoping to win another giveaway

While surfing around the World Wide Web in Blogglandia, I came across a sweet Norwegian knitting blog. Check out Synnøves’ blogg ‘with 100% love’ and enter to win a little giveaway.

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- have you come across any blogs that caught your interest right away? 
- how do you find new blogs to follow?

Finally some order

Today I finally got a hold of the baskets I wanted for BabyS’ changing table. We have had a IKEA Gulliver changing table for BabyS since she came into our lives. In the beginning there wasn’t much stuff in the shelves. But after almost a year all necessities are covered (I think). Along with more stuff in the shelves beneath came more clutter. So happy to finally get the baskets I wanted from Jysk – they have been out of stock for months! – I totally forgot to take a before picture….I just started organizing…

IMG_3985now we finally have some order

The baskets measure 32 x 44 x 22 cm and are called Shire. I was actually lucky enough to get the baskets while they were on sale, so I got them for about half off what I had initially expected. Yay!

With the baskets being out of stock for so long, it has taken a long time to get all our stuff in order. Better late than never I guess…

- how have you organized your changing table?
- what do you have easily accessible by your changing table?

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Free stuff @iHerb

Once again I forgot to claim some free stuff when placing my iHerb order….

A while back I came across a blog mentioning the free samples when ordering from iHerb. Well everytime I do place an order I forget to check out the free samples. They add new products all the time. So here is a friendly reminder from me to you, remember to check out the free samples area here when placing an order. You might come across something great.

In need of a coupon code for a little discount on your first iHerb order?

iHerbWGB528here you go!

- what have you gotten in free samples from iHerb?

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A smiling bum?

The other day I received another Buzzador package. This time it consisted of a diaper rash cream for babies called Bepanthen.

I’ve tried this cream before and works wonders on BabyS. We have so far used it for diaper rashes, dry skin, irritated skin…with great results. If only BabyS would let the cream do its job instead of trying to wipe it onto others….

IMG_3941

With a pamphlet about the product and a bunch of small tubes of Bepanthen I’m ready to give away to my fellow baby friends. The small tubes are perfect to bring along in the diaper bag.

- have you tried Bepanthen, what do you think about it?
- let me know if you want to give this cream a try…

Keep smiling, and have a wonderful May 1st

Chic?

Shabby? or Shappy Chic? Today I finally put the finishing touches on a little project I’ve been playing around with for a while now.

A decoupage box for storing our parking permits. The parking lot for guests in our co-op is very strict on all cars needing a parking permit. No permit = a hefty fine!

It started out as a box of baby cereal…from Nestlé

Some free hand cutting until I was happy with the shape…
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I tore apart an old book – into different shapes, inked the edges with Ranger Distress Ink in the color “Tea Dye” before I decoupaged it onto the box with Mod Podge.  Added a book label on the front as a finishing touch.

And voila!
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Here with a few permits inside…
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It was fun playing around with decoupage. Only done it one time before, and that project I gave away…

Only downside is that you have to work with the Mod Podge in a well ventilated room, or as I did – took breaks often. So you might need some patients…

- have you done any decoupaging?
- do you live in a co-op with strict/“crazy” parking rules?

Monday, April 22, 2013

Glow in the dark cake

I finally got a hold of some pandan paste. Bought from this sweet Ebayer.

Here @CasaR Pandan bread is a favorite. Sweet and fragrant the Pandan buns don’t stand a chance. Pandan bread are widely available at Asian stores here in Oslo, in the freezer. But I thought it would be fun to be able to make them myself. So I went online and did some research. I didn’t find much about making Pandan buns, but lots of versions of Pandan Chiffon cake. That’s one tasty cake! I know from my tastings in Singapore of Pandan Kueh. So I thought I would give it a try…

Thank you to I at, I shoot, I post blog post with all his experience from making chiffon cakes. That post is here.

IMG_3866

My notes from this try:
- more pandan paste (you can’t taste the green coloring Smile with tongue out)
- if possible add pandan juice
- I did have some big bubbles in the cake, so maybe try getting more of them out before baking it in the oven

- Have you made a colored cake that looks strange but tastes great?
- What’s your favorite Pandan flavored food?

A blank canvas

As I wrote in an earlier post, during Easter we renovated our hallway. We finished in just under two weeks! Everything takes so much longer with BabyS in-house. Luckily my mother didn’t mind taking care of BabyS while we worked.

With redone walls and a new floor we now have a blank canvas to decorate. I mentioned how much we liked that the hallway felt more open with everything out. So I still have to find out how we want to furnish our renovated hallway…

Took a few pictures of the hallway before, during and after renovation.

GangCollagebefore - cluttered, during – progression, after – blank canvas

When we tore out the wall panels we found dark green painted walls. Well half way down the walls. No shocker…we have already found a blue kitchen, red living room…so a green hallway didn’t come as much of a surprise. Our new hallway is now painted in a plain cream color with Alloc Commercial Stone flooring in Skifer Grey. Don’t mind DaddyO and BabyS in the last picture…

With a blank canvas at hand it’s time to look at some storage solutions for our hallway that won’t make a big clutted hallway.

- Do you have smart ways to organize in your hallway?
- Have you renovated you hallway and want to share with me?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A little lighter

Today was the last day of my maternity leave…*sigh*…gonna miss spending my days with BabyS. Have the last weeks gradually returned to work. Today it dawned on me, no more maternity leave. Well I had planned a nice long stroller ride with BabyS in the wonderful weather that has come to Oslo the last few weeks, until I woke up to a gloomy grey day. So stroller ride cancelled and a relaxing day at home instead. No complaints from BabyS and we spent the day warm and cozy, playing in almost all the rooms in our home that is CasaR Smile with tongue out

I’ve been looking at new hairdos for a few days now and have been contemplating bangs. A change in my everyday life, why not a change in my hair? Today I took the plunge and cut it!

IMG_0018[1] IMG_0019[1]
before… after…

My new bangs are longer than in the picture….just out of the shower they wanted to stand straight up, only got them to cooperate a little before I snapped the picture. As always, after a haircut I still need time to adjust to the change Sarcastic smile 

- have you considered bang with your next hair cut?
- what has been your favorite moments in your maternity leave?

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Another dollar saved

Great news fellow iHerbers! Today I got an email informing me that iHerbs flat rate shipping option to Norway has been lowered from 6 US$ to 4 US$. Even more savings when ordering from iHerb.

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Haven’t ordered from iHerb yet? The website is www.iHerb.com
First time orderer? Here’s a coupon code for further savings WGB528

Monday, April 8, 2013

Signs of Spring

The trees and bushes outside have started sprouting, my Pumas have found their way out of storage and already taken their first steps outside. Ahhh Spring has arrived!

Though I did get a negative reminder of Spring this weekend too. With the snow melting out comes the turds dog walkers have left during the Winter. Please dog people, pick up after your pets!

Monday, March 25, 2013

A renovating Easter 2013 @CasaR


While most of Norway is spending their Easter at their mountain cabins we will be renovating. It’s the last room in the house that has stayed untouched. So we thought it was about time to take on this project.

The weekend has been spent tearing out everything. As with everything else in this house, there is always a surprise. This time we found cork tiles glued to the concrete floor when we removed the worn oak wood flooring. After crawling around on all four tearing up the tiles I feel sore all over.

Before starting on this room I thought I had planned the finished result in my head.With a big sliding door wardrobe on one side of the room. However after tearing everything out we liked the open airy feel the room got. So back to the drawing board.

The house has still not been decorated for Easter. But I still have time…


a little Easter inspiration borrowed from Flickr user Moline

- have you ever started a renovation project that didn’t end quite as planned?
- what’s your latest renovation project?
-
finally, as this is a Easter post, how do you decorate your house for Easter?

We @CasaR wish you all a Happy Easter

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Out with the old

and in with the new…

This week casaR got a new washer cum dryer. Our previous washer was also a dryer, but that function died a while back. But since the washer still worked we had decided to wait with getting a new one. But the other day while doing the laundry it decided to light up like a Christmas tree and just stop in it’s tracks, mid-wash.

With a baby in house we can’t be without a washer for many days before the mountains of laundry grows. So we went looking for a new washer. We have been very satisfied with a previous Ariston washer/dryer…so when we came across the upgraded version, we didn’t see any reason not to buy it.

IMG_3659the 8 year old Ariston AML125

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the brand spanking new Ariston Hotpoint Aqualtis

The new washer does bigger loads of laundry (the washer does up to 10 kg loads and dryer loads up to 7 kg) compared to our old washer that did up to 5 kg wash loads and 4 kg dryer load. The new dryer is therefor a little bigger in size, but still fits in our little corner. I do have to admit the new dryer does look a bit intimidating…

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Inside on the outside

Officially it’s called reversible double knitting…but when I saw this I had a hard time finding the technique as it has a number of names. But after doing some research I gave it a try and I am very happy with the result.

I made it bigger than a standard baby blanket as I wanted a blanket I could use in BabyS cot when her down duvet becomes too hot. So I wound up with a 72 x 94 cm blanket.

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It has stars sprinkled  all over, eventhough you can’t see it in this light. As I didn’t have a knitting pattern I just did some calculating and drawing on squared paper. I used the star pattern I previously used on my fire lighter box cover.

these stars are so versatile

I used a 100% wool yarn called “Ullteppegarn” by Gjestedal. For this blanket I used about 8 skeins – 4 of each of the two colors, grey and lilac.

It was super easy to do the double knitting, way easier than I thought at first. All the techniques you have to masker is knit and purl!

Here are some videos to help you get started;

A little intro to double knitting
This is just part 1 of 3–casting on
An alternative way to cast on
 

I finished the blanket a few weeks ago, but blogging about it always takes longer. BabyS wants to play on the computer too when it’s out.

Not a bad Tuesday…already taken a morning stroll with BabyS, knitted and blogged and it’s not even 2 PM. How has your Tuesday been so far?

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Baby boom

Here at CasaR we are still adapting to our new life. About a week ago BabyS turned 9 months. Time sure flies! With me slowly returning to work and DaddyO gradually staying more at home with BabyS, we are still adapting to new stuff all the time.

Barely over the shockwave caused by BabyS arrival, we are now seeing that all our friends are starting on their second round. Babies are literally popping out of the woodwork, with babies expected left and right. With the upcoming baby boom I’m hoping I have time to craft a gift to each baby.

When my friends were expecting their first child diaper cakes were all the craze. So I made a few for the coming parents. I thought that since they already had received a diaper cake, I didn’t want to make another one for them…I try to be a little original. If you are a close friend and expecting….stop reading now! These days I’m all about knitting, so this time around I thought I would knit a wool baby blanket.

I’ve decided that I will follow Pickles baby blanket pattern for a few, and a self made reverse double thread knit blanket for a few (will try to write up a post on that soon). The rest I haven’t decided yet…I know that each blanket will take some time to knit, so hopefully I will have enough time to make them all before the boom hits.

I’ve started on one blanket…and it sure is taking time when knitting on 2,5 mm knitting needles.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Kindergarten time

Today is the deadline for applying for a kindergarten spot for BabyS this fall. We put in the application a few weeks ago, with the option to make changes until the deadline today.

We sent our application in digitally thru the official website http://www.barnehager.oslo.kommune.no/oslobarnehagen/soke_og_bytte_barnehage/

There are MANY kindergartens in the city district we live in, so narrowing it down to max five - you can only apply to a maximum for five spots- takes some work. Not knowing what to look for, we sat down and did some research. Not finding much help online, I turned to friends with kids in kindergarten for advise.

Some of the advice we got were:
- does the kindergarten have pedagogical educated employees?
- ratio: children per caretaker
- is the kindergarten divided into “departments”?
- opening hours?
- geographical proximity (location, location, location)
- meals?
- how do they handle absence due to sickness amongst the employees?

Our process before applying for a kindergarten were as follows;
- With the above“criteria” at hand I made a spreadsheet and inputted the kindergartens we were considering.
- I read up on the kindergartens homepages – those who had.
- I contacted the kindergartens and asked if we could come by for a visit.

One of the most surprising things I learned during this process is that very few parents take the time to make a visit to kindergarten they consider placing their child in. Would you trust your child in the care of a complete stranger? Most parents are on maternity leave when the kindergarten application is due, why not take your baby for a stroll to the kindergartens your are considering?

After we had made a visit I also made a note in my spreadsheet about my gut feeling. Based on all the information in our spreadsheet we sent in our prioritized kindergarten application.

Now we just keep our fingers crossed that BabyS gets a spot in the kindergarten we had at the top of our list.

- how did you choose the kindergarten for your kids?
- did you get a spot in the kindergarten you had at the top of your list?

Simply amazing

Well my friends it’s almost time…for another season of Amazing Race Norway. Saw the trailer the other day and I’m excited.

Freddy dos Santos is again the host – hopefully this time he won’t spoil all the action with his contant talking. Last season he kept the viewers constantly updated on the teams whereabouts and how many minutes they were apart…spoiling some of the fun of not knowning.


the trailer shows this seasons teams

Was disappointed when I didn’t see my friend amongst the teams. Since I knew he had applied and went for several rounds of interviews last fall. Eventhough he had told me his team didn’t make the cut, I was secretly hoping…can’t win’em alll, hopefully he’ll apply for the next season.

So mark your calenders! The season premier is aired on Tv2 this Wednesday March 6th.
For those of you who want more updates, follow their FBpage here

- which of the teams are your cheering on?

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Show me your lunchbox…

…and I’ll show you mine. With BabyS starting kindergarten this fall I’ve started looking for fun ways to pack her lunchbox.

I looked into different kinds of solutions and concluded I wanted a box with some kind of compartments. That way I can mix different sizes of food in one meal with just one box. There are MANY different solutions “out there” but the one I liked the most is the IKEA Krus box. Plain and simple…


Here is an example I came across from June HS blogg

Love that the dividers can be taken out and thus creating bigger/smaller compartments. IKEA offer this box in three different sizes and the prices won’t bankrupt you either;

 

Size: 24 x 14 x 10 cm 24 x 19 x 13 cm 24 x 19 x 7 cm
Price: 49 NOK 59 NOK 49 NOK

I’ve also gone shopping for cool trinkets to help facilitate the creativity going into making BabyS lunchboxes more fun! I’m looking forward to playing with these…


boiled egg molds…

some of the cookie cutters I will be using for more than gingerbread cookies bought from Dealextreme

I’ve seen lots of pictures where cookie cutters have been used to cut out slices of cheese, “fish pudding”, cucumber…

- What kind of boxes do you use to pack your lunch?
- How do you pack your lunchboxes?

Now all I have to do is get my butt over to IKEA and buy the boxes…

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