Long time, no blog...oh, well, we all need a break sometimes - you from reading, me from writing :)
Happy Halloween!
This week we were back to a seemingly normal schedule with all the usual things along with a few extras - the boys had haircuts, an evening school meeting, and we had several Halloween activities along with the final week of soccer and a pizza party.
Brendan's arm seems to be doing okay, although he did report hitting it very hard on the metal part of the desk one day at school - he said it really hurt for a while...what to do, what to do? I contemplated taking him in to the doctor, but in the end, he said it felt fine and we didn't follow through with an extra doctor visit.
Kyla has managed to get invited to swim two weekends in a row with her friend Anouk, so she has been quite pleased with that!
Spencer managed to get out of going to Oslo this week, so that was a plus for him and allowed for me to make haircut appointments for the boys on Wednesday.
I did my usual walking, yoga, volunteering things and also went to PWC coffee and showed my new friend, Wendy some stores in the area and had lunch with her. I also found time to hang out with my buddy, Dan for a bit on Thursday.
Friday evening the Halloween festivities began with the NATO Trunk-or-Treat on the base. We were invited onto the base by some of our soccer friends and had a great time visiting. The kids knew tons of the other kiddos and we barely saw them...they were treated to candy, hot dogs, a haunted house, games, etc. and Spencer found a buddy who took him over for a few beers at the bar on base - cheapest beer in town - only 18 kr!
Saturday morning was the final soccer game day and the games were followed by a pizza party and trophy reception. Although Brendan has not been able to play, we all went to cheer on his team and enjoyed watching the kids play. Brendan was just dying to get out there - feel bad that he couldn't play! I think his teammates missed him playing too!
Saturday afternoon, we had the ConocoPhillips Halloween party that was for employees and their families. The Spouses' Club hosts the event, so I did an activity table and baked for the cake walk. Spencer helped hand out security badges. It was a busy couple hours, but seemed to be quite a success (this is the 2nd year of the event.) Again, the kids had a great time running around with friends.
Today, we visited North Sea Baptist Church again. The kids have expressed a stronger interest in the activities and Sunday school here and Spencer and I find it to be a better fit for us, so this may be our Stavanger church home. We certainly met some wonderful people who were amazing sources of information at the International Church, but it just wasn't filling our spiritual needs.
After church, Spencer and I were both craving something for lunch that we could really sink our teeth into - something more American...so, we broke down and hit the McDonald's. Neither of us love it, but...I will say that greasy fast food smell felt like home and the burger was not too bad! The kids were thrilled with their Happy Meals, of course!
Shortly after that, Anouk and her mom and sister came over to play for a bit before we walked over for the Trunk-or-Treat in the parking lot by Stokka Lake. It was coordinated by some moms from the British school and another friend told us about it, so we all said we would be there for the kids to trick-or-treat and for us to hand out candy. Brendan and Kyla had a great time playing and hanging out with their friends again! Funny, but I think we did more here this Halloween than we usually do in Katy - go figure! They got to wear their costumes 3 times in 3 days and we collected quite a load of candy! I am attaching a couple pictures of the kids in costume!
Speaking of candy...we received a very "sweet" package from Dee Ann this week! Dee Ann is a former co-worker of Spencer's from United Space Alliance. What a sweetie! A while back she asked what our favorite candy was and she surprised us with a box with each of our favorites - Reeces PB cups for me, Smarties and M&Ms for the kids, and Dark Chocolate peanut M&Ms for Spencer - like heaven biting into that Reeces...thank you, thank you, Dee Ann!!!
I guess the only other interesting thing is the upcoming 4th grade trip to Gulligen for outdoor school. That is what the Thursday evening school meeting was about - information on the trip. Outdoor school is a Norwegian tradition that begins the 4th grade year. It is a 4 day/3 night trip to the mountains several hours and 2 ferry rides away. Depending on the weather the activities could either be hiking, fishing, etc., or if snow is on the ground, sledding and such...Brendan is excited at the prospect of going even if Mom isn't so sure...and Dad is okay with it. It is the week of Nov. 22-25 and we have Brendan's next doctor appointment on Nov. 19th for another x-ray and to hopefully get his cast off. So, he will either be newly cast free with a barely healed broken arm OR have a new cast because it isn't healed completely...both options concern me to be perfectly honest, not to mention the 10 other concerns I have...On the one hand, I know it will be an opportunity for him to grow and mature, but on the other hand, I am just not sure he will be able to keep it all together emotionally and mentally for that many days... Okay, I may not be able to keep it all together either...I may be a nervous wreck worrying about him! It is not absolutely mandatory for him to go, but the pressure for all the kids to go is pretty strong.
This week is just our usual, so hoping for a quieter week than the last few! I have to laugh because I figured I would have so much time here to do all my hobbies and had grand plans to catch up on scrapbooking, cross-stitch, read, etc. I have read quite a lot on my Kindle and done some digital scrapbooking, but no where near what I had expected to get done! I jumped right in here and am keeping myself pretty busy and have made lots of friends - all good things! Maybe being an expat suits me...who would have guessed? It has definitely made me more likely to approach someone and introduce myself...not a bad thing, I suppose :)
Hugs to all!
