Look alikes

August sent this photo to me this morning. It's of Liv as a little girl holding her doll Hanna. Campbelle thought it was very fun to see it. I can definitely see some similarities.

It was nearly impossible to get Campbelle to recreate this look without smiling and laughing. After several pictures and giggles, she finally said "Wow, Farmor was a very serious kid!"

Blueberry Cake

I had my girlfriends over for a playdate and lunch on Tuesday to celebrate my friend Stefanie's birthday. For dessert I made a blueberry cake that comes from my mother-in-law Liv. It was shared with me in Norwegian, so I'll do my best to translate it here. I don't know the conversion to metric measurements, but check your measuring cups - I'm sure you'll find deciliters printed somewhere.

This is easy easy easy. Trust me. I mean it!

4 egg whites
3 dl sugar
1 dl flour
3 dl heavy whipping cream
2 containers blueberries - frozen (about 4 dl)
chocolate syrup - for garnish

Set oven to 350 degrees. Whisk egg whites until stiff - adding sugar slowly while mixing. Fold in flour gently but until thoroughly mixed.Line a 11x14 baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the meringue mixture over the paper so it is evenly distributed. (You'll be rolling this after it's baked, so make sure it’s a nice shape.)

Bake for 15-17 minutes.

Meanwhile, whip cream and a bit of sugar until good consistency. Take cake out and let cool for just a few minutes. Transfer to another piece of parchment paper. Spread the cream over the top of the meringue and sprinkle with the frozen blueberries.

While the meringue is still pliable, begin to roll at one end to create a cylinder.
Wrap in foil and freeze for a few hours.

To serve, take the cake out of freezer about 1 hour before serving and drizzle something fancy on the plate with the chocolate and/or sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Enjoy.

Trust me, you'll thank me once you make this! It is sooooo good.

Photography favorite

This is another photo I took for my photography class. I think its the best one I took this time. We had to pay particular attention to shapes - triangles and lines. This captures them both. Plus a sweet, but angry little kid headed back to the car after being rained out at the park. :-)

Robbers of Cardamom Town and Trader Joes

 

We have been reading the famous Norwegian book "The Robbers of Cardamon Town" to the kids each night for the past several nights. I read it in English and then we listen to the music in Norwegian.  Leif has fond memories of listening to this story on the radio as a kid and our kids have really liked the story as well and can hardly wait for bedtime each night to see what happens next.  (18 chapters, we read 1 a night).

The book is about three robbers that go into town and steal anything they need from the local stores.  This has brought up a great deal of discussion around stealing and robbing and paying for goods, etc... so much that Christian has become overly concerned about who pays and who doesn't.  Well I had thought we'd done a good job of explaining to him that stealing is really a terrible thing and you could get in big trouble.  Etc...  But apparently he is still unsure of how it all works. 

Today we were at Trader Joes.  I pulled up to the checkout and started to make chit-chat with the checkout guy when Christian comes up and boldly announces to the guy (and for that matter anyone within about 3 aisles of us) "We are going to rob you!"  As if it was a stick up!!

I get a bit panic-y and politely explain that I have money and we have no intention of robbing anything.  But Christian continues to tell the guy that we plan to rob them.  I am feeling like a terrible parent as I realize everyone around is listening to this conversation and so I try to explain that we've been reading this book about robbers and that Christian has had all sorts of questions, etc. etc..  The check-out guy (thankfully he was very cool) just looked at Christian and asked if he like some stickers instead of robbing them.  And thankfully Christian agreed!

Yikes!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a sweetheart meme from Leah's blog.  Kinda sweet.

How long have you been together?
Married: Will be 7 years in June
Dating/friends: I fell in love and dated Leif for 1 year across the ocean and dated 1 year in the same country before we got married.
How long did you date? almost 2 years

How old is he? 38
Who eats more? He does - but that would depend entirely on what's being eaten - especially since he doesn't eat much chocolate and sweets.
Who said ‘i love you’ first? I did.  Orlando.
Who is taller? He is, by about 4 inches
Who is smarter? I'll admit it, he is.  He really should be on some tv game show!!
Who does the laundry? It's a good split. 
Who does the dishes? I do.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? It's never a matter of left or right, but he always sleeps closest to the door.

Who pays the bills? He does.
Who mows the lawn? We share that responsibility.

Who cooks dinner? I do.  He used to cook more often, and he is really very good. 
Who is more stubborn? Without a doubt me.
Who kissed who first? Oh, that was a night to remember.  I'm pretty sure it was a mutual kiss.

Who asked who out? Leif called one day a few months after we first met and asked if I wanted to meet him in NYC for the weekend.  That was really our first official date.
Who proposed? He did. Christmas Day - after a really beautiful, romantic talk.
Who is more sensitive? We are both pretty sensitive.
Who has more friends? I would say we both have about the same. Leif has great friends that remain close from childhood.

Who has more siblings? Leif has one brother and I have two sisters.

5:29

Valentine's Cake

This weekend we went to the local grocery store for another cake decorating event.  It has been good practice for Campbelle's decorating abilities and even better practice for me in refraining myself from 'fixing' some of the frosting issues I see.  Maybe it's the compulsive side of me, or some type of perfectionist quality thing I have going on - but it takes nearly every bit of strength to not help her fix the big lumps and get the cake evenly smoothed. 

In the end, she frosted and decorated it entirely herself.  And even though I had to 'bit my lip' a bit - I was glad I did when I saw her expression when she was all finished.   A masterpiece indeed.

 

It tasted like a masterpiece as well.... plate licking going on and everything.  And truth be told, my serving happen to come from the place that had an extra big lump of frosting on it - and I certainly didn't complain!!

Winter Blues

I wake this morning, to yet again the sound of rain drops on our roof.

I close my eyes and wish myself to someplace sunny.

Anyplace sunny.

If it's sunny and Siberia - I would go.

Honestly I would.

This is the weather forecast for the next 10 days.  Looks very similar to what we had the past 10 days as well.

 

Feb 10

Hi: 45° Lo: 35°

Sprinkles

Feb 11

Hi: 45° Lo: 35°

Sprinkles

Feb 12
Sprinkles

Hi: 45° Lo: 35°

Feb 13
Sprinkles

Hi: 46° Lo: 36°

Feb 14
Sprinkles

Hi: 46° Lo: 36°

Feb 15
Sprinkles

Hi: 47° Lo: 36°

Feb 16
Sprinkles

Hi: 47° Lo: 27°

Feb 17
Cloudy / Sprinkles

Hi: 41° Lo: 30°

Feb 18
PM Rain

Hi: 42° Lo: 36°

Feb 19
PM Rain

Hi: 45° Lo: 30°

I know everyone in the Midwest is thinking you have it bad with all your cold weather and snow. And granted, -17 degrees is damn cold. 

I am seriously deprived of Vitamin D, people!

For Valentine's Day, I'm wishing for a Happy Light.

So I close now, to find my rain coat and trudge out into this dreary damp weather.  Because life goes on and there's only so many days in a row I can stay inside, curled up reading a book and still feel like a functioning being.

Here's hoping the sun is shining on you wherever you are!!

:-)

A Boy Obsessed

Seriously, this kid is so obsessed with his hair - you would hardly believe it.  I wonder sometimes if he looks at his own, very thick, nice wavy, amazingly highlighted head of good hair and then looks at his father's and thinks he better treat it good while it's there... or if he's getting a jump start at being a ladies man... or what?!?!  He will literally comb and discuss his hair at great lengths throughout the day.  He'll wet it down and comb perfect little rows and when it dries, he'll start all over.  Just recently, he's gotten into my hair gel which gave him a really cool look (where was my camera then!  Oh wait, I was too mad to want to capture that moment).  When he's wearing the right pants - he will often times keep his comb tucked into his back pocket so he can whip it out whenever he feels - like the Fonz on Happy Days.   He's been known to throw full blown fits when he is rushed through this combing process - which everyone at the gym witnessed on Saturday as Leif finally dragged him from the locker room as he screamed that he wanted to finish his hair style!  Oh Lord, tell me I have nothing to worry about and that this is just a faze!!

Father-Daughter Dance

On Saturday night, Leif took Campbelle to a Father-Daughter Dance that was sponsored by the Snoqualmie Ridge Association.  They had a blast dancing the night away.  Campbelle came home with balloons, a goodie bag full of jewelry, candy treats and tattoos that said "It's Fun being a Girl" (which she generously let Christian have one and wore it with pride).

It sounded like they really had a fun night.  Campbelle told me her favorite part was "Just dancing with Pappa!"

Band Meme

Here's a Meme from Tammy.   It's pretty fun, and we sure could have used this when naming our xBox Rock Band!!

Through a random search, you come up with your bands name, the title of your album and the album cover photo.
You can't keep refreshing the link. Ya gotta work with what you get. :)
Let's make a band:
1. Click here. The first article title is the name of your band.
2. Click here. The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
3. Click here. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Take your photo, add the band name and title, then post it.

Here's what I got out of the mix:

 

Name of my Band:   Ipiaşul de Sus

... (its a river in Romania, kinda catchy though)

Album Title:  And You will Succeed

Album Cover looks like this: