From our little corner

Ever since the Corona virus hit Norway earlier this month, the Norwegian government has put Norway “on pause”. Schools have been closed and those who can, work from home.. We have also been encouraged to social distancing and limiting human interaction as much as possible.

We are now in week 2 of the national lock down and things are still spinning. I see many  frustrated posts on social media about kids/youth/parents not respecting the need for social distancing to limit the spread of the Corona virus. With kids, it can be hard. The kids cannot sit inside all day watching tv and playing on the ipad. They need fresh air and movement. Luckily, the girls have each other to play with. I can’t imaging how the days a panning out for the only child…

SweetieS’ wonderful teachers have put together a daily plan for us to follow from home during these weeks. For SweetieL the day to day life is harder. While SweetieS is having “schooltime” there is not a plan for us to follow from her kindergarten. There is only so much fun in coloring, activity sheets, perler beads and games. Especially when we have to limit the noise, so SweetieS can concentrate on her schoolwork. Nevertheless we are getting thru the days…however slow they sometimes pan out.

The slow pace in our day-to-day life have made me appreciate the smaller things. Today I saw that my orchids have actually created sprouts! So maybe my fingers aren’t that brown after all. One can only hope.

not one, but two sprouts

I hear that many Norwegians are using the extra time at home to do some Spring-cleaning. We are just enjoying the low pased life before everything goes back to the normal stressful everyday life.

- how are you spending your days during the Corona season?
- what do you do to keep your kids occupied?

Welcome to the world baby Emily

This past Easter baby Emily came into this world like a comet. Well her birth was long awaited and when the time came for her birth it was over almost before it began. And now my sisters family has added another girl to the family roster. Welcome Emily, wishing you a wonderful life blessed with love and fun!

I had to knit something for little Emily, so this time I opted for a blanket. From my experience with the girls, I made a baby blanket larger than the usual baby size. I went for more junior size,  the blanket ended up being around 80x100cm in size. I like the idea that the blanket can be used beyond the baby days/years.

I used a cloth pattern by Bitta Mikkelborg called Tusenfryd as a starting point. Did some calculations and ended up with this blanket. Did you know that tusenfryd is Norwegian for daisy?

a field of daisies

I have already started on another blanket, this time for another baby coming very soon. Pictures will be posted when it is given to the recipient..

-how did you spend your Easter?

I “heart” NY

Just a few days ago I wrapped up my annual New York (US?) trip with mummy dearest.

This time around we actually had time to both do some sightseeing and shopping. Not like last time, were my suitcase suit case tok a few rounds extra around the world (read its story here).

I had in advanced ordered the New York Pass. These passes are great if you plan on doing some sightseeing over a few days, or even just one day. If you download the app, you can plan in advance. The app had a nice feature for setting up an agenda for the day and gives a calculated savings overview. Great to check if it is worth investing in a pass at all. I recommend starting out early the sightseeing day(s), a lot of time is wasted in ticket queues and (airportlike) security checks. Oh and pick up your pass in advance! so you don’t waste time queing for the pass. The pass is activated upon the first attraction.

With my hands full

The past weekend has been a hectic weekend @casaR. With DaddyO on a weekend trip with a few KGB members, I had my hands full with BabyL and SweetieS. Luckily my mother had time, so she came over and lent me a couple of hands. Mums are the greatest! Thank you!
With the girls gone to bed and DaddyO back home. I can put my feet up and enjoy the rest of the evening. This will be a quick post just jotting down a few thoughts… I want to relax the rest of the evening before it’s gone….so if you have any questions about any of my projects, feel free to leave comment and I'll try my best to answer.
My latest knitting projects have been finished (I’ve been literally knitting up a storm) and I can now post pictures…
A Skappelgenser for myself. So wonderfully soft and light. It’s knitted with Drops Alpaca and Drops Vivaldi.

ignore the loose threads, I took the picture before I had cut them…

I googled around to find the pattern, and made some adjustments. So my finished sweater is much more fitted than the original. Wasn’t my intention, so I plan on making another one in the future.
With yarn I had laying around (Drops Eskimo and Lang yarns Andina) I finally finished a pair of cozy socks, mittens for myself  and a head band for SweetieS. The head band went off with SweetieS before a managed to snap a picture..

Now off to start my next project, a Skappelgenser for SweetieS.
- what have you done this weekend?

Ascension day @CasaR

The day started early, as any other weekday, at around 6.30 (yes, that’s AM). When do kids start sleeping in???

After consuming breakfast I started the task I’ve been planning the last week. Redoing my office/crafts corner…(just realized I forgot to take a before picture…oh well, just imagine clutter…) I started moving furniture around and came to the conclusion that I need a new desk. My old desk just isn’t using the space it takes up very efficiently. So hopefully within a few days I will have time for another IKEA trip.

I’m lucky to have great neighbors, after lunch and a few text messages (and BabyL taking a nap) we went to Ekeberg Hysdyrpark. There SweetieS got to pet/feed all kinds of farm animals – cows, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits, they even have peacocks! And if fur coats isn’t you thing they have a play area with seesaws, trampolines and slides – and big open areas to just run off any extra energy the kids might have bottled inside…

Now that the girls have gone to bed I got time for another project of mine. A few weeks ago I ordered myself a pair of cheapy-cheap sneakers. Nothing special about them other than comfortable and light weight. SweetieS has a pair of Kangaroo sneakers I’ve kinda been envious over. SweetieS seems so carefree when wearing them. So when I came over a recommendation on my Facebook group for Ebay recommended buys (it’s a Norwegian group, and its called “Ebay for jenter/kvinner”), I thought I would give it a try. A pair of comfortable everyday sneakers for under 150NOK is worth a try. They are available here. I’m normally a Norwegian/European size 36, buy I bought a size 37 as recommended by both the Ebay seller and on the Facebook group.

Yesterday my pair of sneakers came in the mail…smelling like new plastic I left them in the hallway over night to “air out”. Inspired by another Facebook group (thank you to Trine Aas and Mona Hagelund over @”Ebay Hobby”), I had to add some bling to my shoes.

The sneakers arrived looking like this…(doesn’t come in a shoe box, but not squashed in any way)

not my picture, I just “borrowed” online as I forgot to take a picture after I unpacked them

I pulled off the little triangle on the logo as it just looked misplaced – using my fingers, just pull hard when you have a good hold and it comes off nice and clean. Too used to seeing another logo perhaps? So now my pair of shoes looked more like this…

don’t mind the mess, I’m getting ready to glue on some bling

Half an hour later and a neck somewhat stiffer, I had my pair of bling’d sneakers. Just need the glue to set over night…

not sure the picture does the bling justice…

In case you are wondering about what I used…
I used this bling (2mm flatback rhinestones), from Ebay – used approx 50 pieces per shoe
This glue (E6000), from Ebay. You only need a small amount of this glue, so I recommend buying the small tubes rather than one big tube. My experience is that glue caps tend to glue shut after a while, so less wasted if/when that happens)
As the rhinestones a quite small and difficult to apply by hand, I used this tool to apply the rhinestones. Bought on sale @Panduro Hobby ages ago…

Now off to start the evenings next project – one gets so much done when one is up at the early hours! Next project: Start knitting a pair for pants for SweetieS…

- what have you been up to this sunny day off work?

Early bird?

(a little screenie from a fun phone game/app – cutie)

The other day my brother-in-law asked me what our Christmas gift wishes were. He thought he would be an early bird this year, and get his Christmas shopping over with already. Only problem…I have no idea what we need/want yet.

So time to start thinking….

- have you started your Christmas shopping

I’m back

It’s been a few full weeks here at CasaR. With BabyS taking a few weeks Summer vacation from kindergarten I’ve had my hands full with BabyS and BabyL. The plan was for DaddyO to take a few weeks off from work simultaneously, but had to change his plans when there was some lousy vacation planning on his colleagues part. So DaddyO had to “work from home” while BabyS was home. In other words, hectic days.

On the plus side…we have been blessed with super fantastic weather here in Oslo, Norway. With temperature well into the thirties. No need to travel anywhere for Mediterranean forecasts.Sunny days and poolside lounging, no complaints here.

Now that BabyS is back in kindergarten I get naptime back so I might even have time to do some blogging again. Though I have to admit…I have had time to do some Ebaying lately. After joining the Facebook group Ebay Baby & Barn I get many great tips on stuff to buy for my two sweeties.

The arrival of BabyL on BabyS 2 year birthday hasn’t given me time to reflect over the fact that my “little BabyS” is becoming a big girl. Just a few weeks ago she “moved” from her cot over to a full size bed – after a diaper mishap we used as an excuse to move the cot out of her room. The cot is now in “quarantine” before moving in to BabyLs room – so that BabyS doesn’t feel she’s loosing her bed to her baby sister. These last weeks I’ve noticed her growing personality, and her temper... her vocabulary is growing and how talkative she is several times a day. The other day I realized that I have to talk more Cantonese to her, if I want her to master the art of Chinese…So note to self – say everything in both Cantonese and Norwegian. It’s fun to see how she loves to try things out herself now. Think it’s time to give BabyS a new nick on my blog – how does “SweetieS” sound?

- have you given your children cyber nicknames?
- how has your Summer been so far?

Hipp, hipp hurra

hurra hurra!

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

Happy May 17^th

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….

Gradually returning to work

These days I’m slowly realizing that my maternity leave is soon over. Last week I had the first of my two-days-a-week workweek. Which is the start of my gradual return to work. While I’m at work DaddyO will be at home with BabyS. Over the course of a few months I will be slowly increasing my work days as DaddyO increases his off-days.

It’s great to get more out amongst “normal” people…but while at work I miss BabyS.

While I was on maternity leave my office space has been occupied by a consultant that has been working on a project for my employer. Today I realized it’s time to claim my space back!

- New computer, check!
Tomorrow I do the upgrade of my desktops and put up some of “my stuff”. Maybe a picture of BabyS on my desk?

my new Lenovo X1 Ultrabook, sweet!

Gong Hay Fat Choy

This Sunday we enter the year of the snake.Yes, it is Chinese New Year! So time to brush up on some Chinese well-wishing phrases.

Found these online (with Mandarin):
(xīn nián kuài lè) Happy New Year!
(nián nián yǒu yú) Always get more than you wish for (a wish for surplus and bountiful harvests every year)
(shēn tǐ jiàn kāng) Enjoy good health
(gōng zuò shùn lì) Everything goes well with your work
(mǎ dào chéng gōng) Success immediately upon arrival (usually to express a wish to succeed in doing something, such as taking part in an examination, a presentation, a negotiation, or a competition)
Most important of all:

Gong Hay Fat Choy - Happy and prosperous

BabyS has picked up something with Chinese New Year and conveniently folds her hands as she lifts them up and down. Almost looks like she is wishing everybody “Gong Hay, Gong Hay”.

now if I could get BabyS to do it on command….then the lei sees will be pouring in

CasaR has been decorated for the event…

well-wishes and the colors red and gold…that’s CNY

With BabyS enriching our lives I now want to make CNY celebrating a tradition. Hopefully I will follow up next year…and we can call it a tradition. Last years celebration was done in Singapore…old school with lots of family visits.

This years CNY dinner will be held @CasaR with my family members that live in Norway. We have planned a simple steamboat dinner with an abundance of food…just as a CNY dinner should be. I’ll try and post some pictures after the event.

- what are your plans for Chinese New Year?
- have you prepared a bunch of lei sees for all the your ones?

Now off to clean up  BabyS toys from all over…

A surprise for little, ol’ me

DaddyOs granny visited from Ørsta last weekend, and brought me a little surprise…A while back I posted about wanting a Marius patterned dress. Well when we visited Ørsta I had put in an order with Granny about knitting me one. Thanks to Der solen alltid skinner for the knitting pattern.

While Granny was here in Oslo she brought me the finished dresses, yes plural. Both MommyS and BabyS got a dress each! What can I say, I’m spoiled with having a great extended family. Thank you Granny!

I Marius.

A little art in the nursery

Other than the vinyl decals I posted about in this post on the nursery walls, they have been left pretty naked.

When I made a handprint and a footprint of baby S, I was creatively inspired.

When asking my mother about vital data round my birth I’ve always gotten an approximate reply. This way baby S will always know exactly when she was born and her “size”.

I used my Cuttlebug and cut out pink letters using the Quickutz Harvest alphabet. I used Spellbinders Labels Three squares for the hand- and footprint (I used Versamark ink and some white – unbranded - embossing powder for the prints). The flourish is from the Jazzy swirls stamp set by Autumn leaves. All done with pink and brown colored cardstock from Creative Company. Final step, put in a nice frame, I used IKEAs Virserum frame in white.

Yes, the rocking chair is from IKEA – ideal for relaxing with baby S.

Today I signed up for beta testing of inlinkz, exited to try it out. See the result at the bottom of my post.

IKEA Viserum frame	Spellbinders Label Three dies	*Versamark WATERMARK Rubber Stamp Emboss Chalk Resist INK PAD	Cuttlebug machine	Quickutz Harvest alphabet 4x8 die
Creative company cardstock - Brown	Creative Company cardstock - Pastels	Autumn Leaves stamp - Jazzy swirls	IKEA Poäng rocking chair

InLinkz.com

There’s a new sheriff in town

Sorry for my blog absence lately…there’s a new sheriff in town.

Thursday 24^th  didn’t start off quite as I had expected…with my water breaking. Within hours contractions had begun and we were off to the hospital.

5AM the following morning little Sophie had entered our lives. So these days we are adjusting to all the changes. Hopefully we will soon have some grasp of the does and don’ts of our new family addition.

More nursery stuff

When I ordered the butterfly decals for the babys nursery I also ordered another one. One with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

Tonight I finally I had time to put it up…not too bad if I say so myself

 

My sister-in-law gave us their old baby cot for the nursery. She had mentioned that her son had left some teething marks on the rails, but if we wanted it, it was ours.

I tried a little dab of paint to make the marks less visible, but soon realized that it was a loosing battle. Thanks to a tip from my friend I gave it a more creative angle…

before

after

I just stamped some strips of paper with stamps from “In the Garden” 12 x 12 stamp set from Fancy Pants. The Distress ink I used is “Seedless Preserves”  from the the Ranger seasonal fall set. The strips are than fastened to the cot using Noga teething rail for cots from IKEA. I was planning on doing this to all the sides, but I only have rails for one side.

Typically my luck, this rail is not available in any of the IKEA stores in the Oslo area. Now where am I gonna get two more Noga rails???

If you happen to live by any IKEA store that has this rail in stock, please contact me Thanx

My super sweet sister

My sister and the her boyfriend came over for dinner this past weekend. And as sweet as she is, she brought a little gift…

A beautiful orchid…

Thank you sis, hope my brown fingers don’t kill it.