…I got my water back. Two hours ago I was still out of water and I was feeling stressed out thinking about going to work without being able to shower Outside I found a guy to ask and he was surprised to hear that I had a different connection than the rest of the building. If I hadn`t asked I could have been without water for the rest of the weekend. Than would have been fun.

This was almost two weeks ago. Kristian enjoying the snow the first Sunday in advent. There are no snow left to play in now. I do not know who to blame for that, but I hop the big shots talk together in Copenhagen today.

Last January the kids had snow to play in…

I remember a lot of snow in December from my childhood, but my brother says the most of the snow came after Christmas. I guess he is right about that. Still I wish the kids had snow to play in.

Now – thankful for the water I will have a shower before going into work:)

This is the second winter I am feeling my way up the stairs in the dark. I have no idea why I thought I needed a man to put in a new lightbulb in the lamp:)  I had to go downstairs to buy a new lightbulb twice and I had to juggle on a chair, but I did it. Yes I can!

I did not have a good day. The machines were digging almost through the doors in the store today. For moments ours customers did not have access at all. I`m really working hard to deal with this and I do know it will be over with soon. (Even if I have no idea when).

Tracking my time I discovered that I had 40 hours of sleep during the week. Is that why I fall asleep at my desk at Wednesday afternoon? Already I can see that I need to put in one more hour of sleep. I can do that. I think?

I`m playing Christmas songs and I can feel the Christmas spirit.

Last Christmas – December 26. Elin is leading Kristian in the “dentist – doctor - patient” roll play. She very much wants to be in the lead here but he is resisting. They settle on using grandma`s doll as the patiant:)

                                Here`s to a better tomorrow!

… The last Sunday before the advent celebration start. The last Sunday wasting time. But, I have enjoyed myself wasting time. And in my book that has to count for something. I have travelled the world blog hopping. Starting in Australia and back again to Australia. I had so much fun reading all these new blogs and looking out the window all over the world. If you haven`t taken the trip you can go to Helena where it all start. I promise you will enjoy your trip.

Yesterday I wrote that few American knew where Norway was. I was not talking about the American Scrapbookers. They travel the world all the time through online classes, forums and blogs. We do learn a lot connecting with each other, don`t we?

Even if I did make a Christmas journal last December I have lots of photos that need to make it into the albums. And I enjoy playing with the Christmas papers. I have never done much of that. Always thought it was a wast of money buying all that Christmas stash. Now – I couldn`t help it, I just had to get some of the goodies. And I am working to get some layouts from last years Christmas into the albums.

Second Sunday in advent 2008. The kids are beginning to feel the excitement of Christmas.

Christmas Eve. For baby Kristian tools where a big hit last year. He is such a boy. He is crazy about tools.

Ella Publishing have a page call. They challenge you to take one of their sketches and rework them into a two page layout. Both sizes and cards are welcome. So – if you want to get published the submission date are December 1. I liked the sketches so I`m using one of them for some Christmas photos. Almost finished, but it`s dark and almost impossible to take a good photo at this time of the day.

Thanks to everyone doing Shimelle`s blogging class. It has been so educating and fun.

…so – do you think I can learn to play this beast again?

It has been 30 years and I have to honest here. I had a really hard time making a sound.  It is a little hard to accept that everything I knew about this instrument are gone. All of it. I have forgotten the notes and the scales. I think I will make this a challenge for myself. Anyone having kids playing the trumpet and can give a pep talk here?

We did buy the trumpet hoping that the kids would take an interest in playing, but it`s way to early for any of them to blow the horn. Eager? We? Noooo….

This girl is far more interested in the cleaning department:

Or, she is sulking for not getting what she want. She can put up the most saddest face if there is something she is unhappy about. My guess is that she is not happy about her baby brother getting the attention from grandma:) I can understand that. I do remember that from my own childhood. Fighting for attention…

I was browsing the french blogs today and found this great sketch @kesi-art . Love that it is so easy to make many different layouts from the same sketch.

I`m going back – practising my scales. Oh – and I need to plan for my posting for our blog – train on Saturday. Join us for a blog around the world tour.

…as a Norwegian it is difficult for me to recognise good writing in English. Today I read a blog post that made an impression on me. It make me feel sad that I am not able to comment on this post because my English is not good enough to describe how I feel about her words. Not only in today`s post but on her blog generally. She is such a beautiful person. A great artist, photographer, teacher, mother and writer. I will never get tired of reading her words and admiring her sweet kids. Her blog posts often resonate with me and she is one of the few brave bloggers out there who have the courage to be honest about her every day life – without being funny about it.

If you were to visit only one blog today, you should stop by Karen.

I am working on the kids album, without finishing anything today. Sometime there are a lot of photos from one event. Okay – it don`t have to be an event. It can be a totally ordinary Thursday afternoon. Like November 8. 2008:

 Sketch – May Flaum. The paper is from Lain Ehmann`s Summer Loving kit.

But, before he got grandma to help with the balloon, Kristian had fun watching TV with his grandma:

And before that he his mother fed him fruit:

sometimes I just can`t let go of any of the photos. Love these page protectors that gives me the choice on how I want to display the photos without going crazy with paper and stash all the time. 

…my English may not be good, but I am not a coward, so I did make a comment on Karen`s blog anyway. Are you?

…Sometimes I want to kick some ass. I have been removing photos from magnetic albums. Mostly from albums covering my nephew’s childhood. Very carefully I removed the photos. Scanned every photo and put them into files under year on the computer and I filed the actual photo in a photo box. I wrote the year on the back of the photo.

But…there are no words in the album. Nothing. Nada. I might forgive my sister in law because she is no writer, but my albums are almost as bad as hers. I am no writer, but I love to write so I don`t have any excuse. My mother was blessed with a good memory and I was stupid enough to believe that she would live forever. She did not. So – what do I know about this man?

 Torvald – my grandfather. A photo with no names and no words. I remember my grandfather, but I do not know any of the things I would like to know about him. The really bad thing is that it is my own fault that I don`t know.

So – what now? How do you know what story to tell?

In 2050 – what does this little boy want to read about in his album? Does he want to know the date? The place? Why  he was there? Who was there with him? How we felt about him? 

A lot of questions, and maybe it is time to think about why I scrapbook and how I do it…

…Lain Ehmann knows how to give away prizes. Everyone who uploaded a digital layout on Friday won a free download from Pixel Gypsy designs . It is hard to say no thank you to a free download, even if I try to. Mixed up with yesterday`s cute photos of Kristian and Cathy Zielske`s template number 2:

Kristian wanted to go home after dinner. He had no time to waste. He wanted to go home with his daddy. Because his daddy had promised him that he could help him working outside. At two – he is already eager to spend time with his dad.

I had no inspiration when I started working on today`s layout for Load. We are half way there and the energy level is hitting rock bottom. I surfed for inspiration and found a sketch at Ella Publishing. It is a page call, so you might want to start working on it. It is one of my favourites. I made mine with only cardstock – a first time for me. The scanner killed it but it looks good in real life.

Tomorrow is the big dayat Ella. They are publishing their new e-book written by Lain Ehmann and Stacy Julian. Can`t wait to read that e-book. With the two of them together it is bound to be a lot of happy and colourful content.

…can fall asleep all over the place. Like on the kitchen counter:

Or – he can fall asleep while the dinner getting served:

A long and active day in kindergarten can do this to you…:)

Yesterday`s Load page :

It is time to start working with the photos from Tor Magnus baptism. Sometimes it is hard to get going with the major events. Playing with the everyday photos is far more fun. Like the summer shots…

It is Friday afternoon and time for work.

…I love everything about fall. The colours, the feeling of starting fresh, the smell of crisp air…only, this fall is not like any normal fall. Summer ended the first week in August and it has been all rain and storm ever since. Now winter is peaking around the corner and I think we missed out on the fall season. Except today. Today we have had a beautiful day even if I spend most of it at work.

I was playing with Stacy Julian`s colour inspiration using photos I took when I came home this afternoon. Using Jessica Sprague`s template. The final result is not what I planned it to be. Not at all. But, sometime you have to go with the flow…

Today`s Load layout is about nephew Tor. I found these two photos from the last weekend in August and I realized that he is an adult. I have treated him as a grown up for years, but he is an adult man now – starting his own family. It is time to dig out those cute baby photos and make some cute and funny layouts

Oh, I have a lot of cute pics of this guy…

…at least it was when I climbed out of bed. Knowing that this is the last day of my rather short vacation week, forced me out of bed early. Because this is the day to do everything I had on my to do list when the week started. I am just saying – it is a long list.

I made my layout for the Load challenge early yesterday:

No baby colours for baby Tor Magnus. He will be the youngest of three siblings and I decided he needed strong colours.

A good thing I made my layout early because my brother came to help putting together my Expedit. Thanks to his wife we managed to get it right. I am very proud of myself for doing the drawers all by myself.

I did clean and organize my room last night, but I still have some organizing left to do. Even with a lot of new shelving there is still not enough space. But, the most important thing is to know where to find what I need,and easy access to my storage albums and category drawers.

Kristian and his dad came to see us on their way home from the doctor. Young Kristian had an unpleasant meeting with a table and needed some stitching.

He was a trooper about it all. At least he was doing fine after digging into my chocolate stash…If he is anything like his dad, this will not be the last time he needs stitches.

I had to document the first stitches, and since Designer digital launched Cathy Zielske`s first layered templates today I just had to buy that one. I did try to resist, but I am weak when it comes to CZ`s design.

Template – Cathy Zielske. Paper – Bohemian kit, Mindy Terasawa.

Loved working with this template. Changing the Here & Now title to the Norwegian Her & Nå probebly would be the right thing to do but it did not look so good…:) And Here & Now is pretty universal and understood by everyone.

At last – todays Load layout. Yes I am early. You know – the to do list is next.

Snapshots from the window. I have had those photos on my desk for some time now. They are not the best shots, but they do tell a story. She may consider her self to be a good doll mother, but getting the mail is more important. She is a persistent young girl – I will giver her that…

Now – the to do list…