Emma Ósk is 3 Years Old
[Photos from 12 February 2016, posted on 16 February 2016. It’s light out until 6:30 pm!]
Our adorable munchkin is now 3 years old! (9 images total)
Daycare sent us this fun image of Emma!
Early February: In Sickness and in Health
[Photos from Wednesdays 10-17 February 2016, posted on 17 February 2016. It’s late though, might not make it.]
It’s been a slightly unusual week in casa del Fjallalind. We began with Ash Wednesday (sort of our Halloween), where photos were taken of the big siblings in costumes, but adorable little BuzzEmma Lightyear slipped past her daddy’s camera. On Thursday, both toilets needed fixing. On Friday was Emma’s 3rd birthday, which sadly ended with her getting a stomach bug.
On Saturday, Finnur had a big day and evening planned with some friends, so we’d arranged for sleepovers for both Emma and Bjarki. (Yes, Finnur’s parents, also known as The Saints, took Emma on with a dodgy stomach. Adda & co. also deserve applause for taking on a child from a stomach-bugged home.) Shortly after they left, Anna went to visit a friend, which left me all alone, yet again. And then my grandmother Hrefna called from our parking lot to see if we were home, and then I wasn’t alone anymore!
Sunday was a quiet day, but Monday saw Anna being sent home from school with a dodgy stomach. She never vomited, but came close a couple of times. She stayed home Tuesday, and today, Wednesday, Emma was sent home from daycare with a nasty persistent cough. Finnur took her to the health clinic, and although she does not appear to have pneumonia, she has ‘something’, so she’ll be taking zithromax (commonly given for the ‘walking pneumonia’ among other things) for the next couple of days.
On to some photos! (13 images total)
Emma today (17 Feb), after drinking yogurt from a cup.
Cream-Puff Day Prep 2015
[Photos from Sunday 7 February 2016, posted online 8 February 2016. It’s a nice day out!]
With cream-puff day (bolludagur) looming, it was time to make cream-puffs! Anna and I made the puffs themselves, while Finnur and Anna did the filling and topping.
We used the following recipe, re-posted from here, and translated to English:
4 dl water
160 g butter
250 g flour
0.25 tsp baking powder (some recipes use salt and no baking powder)
5 eggs if molding with spoons, 6 if squeezing out of a tubePut water and butter in a pot, and bring to a boil, melting all the butter. Meanwhile, mix together flour and baking powder. When the water and butter start boiling, remove from heat, and mix in the flour and baking powder. Stir vigorously with a spatula until the dough is smooth and consistent, and does not stick to the pot.
COOL the dough well, you don’t want to cook the eggs when you put them in! Put one egg in at a time, stirring it well into the dough. The end result should hold its shape pretty well. If it’s liquidy, you’re probably in trouble.
Mold with two spoons and put on a baking plate. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 210°C (200°C if using blow). Do not open the oven until the puffs are almost done, or they may deflate.
So, with that out of the way, here are some photos! (12 photos total)
The end result. Yum!
Parental Meetings at School
[Photos from 03 February 2016, posted on 05 February 2016. No more melty-snowstorm.]
I expected to get more done on the blogging front but a) my brain was hijacked by a new book series, which I’m having a very hard time putting down, and b) we had parental meetings this week, and my energy levels are apparently good for “one thing per day”. Also, going to the school on crutches was So. Much. Fun! (Not!)
The parental meetings at school went well. Both Bjarki and Anna seem happy at school, and are generally doing well. Anna is actually doing extremely well, scoring 9-10 out of 10 in every single subject. Her teacher describes her as even-keeled, and we struggled to find stuff to talk about.
Bjarki is reading fast, as he’s already achieved a reading speed two grades up. When he’s interested, he also understands what he’s reading. We see this in him as he’s now storming through Harry Potter (he’s on book #3). He’s also started to become a little more interested in interacting with the boys in his class, when up until now, he’s mostly focused on boys a grade below himself, possibly because two of them live on our street. He still has his strengths and weaknesses, but is definitely moving forwards.
Overall, both teachers sounded very positive, so that was good.
So yes, I’m made it out of the house lately, but now I’m back on the couch. Here, have some photos! (5 images total)
The couch is where it’s at!
The End of January … From the Couch
[Photos from 28-31 January 2016, posted online 4 February. Lots of snow coming down, with wind. Oh fun!]
Since I’m stuck on the couch, this blog is stuck on the couch. Deal with it.
Yes, here follow more photos taken from my corner on the couch. It mostly just the kids, but we did entertain Saturday dinner guests, which was nice. The biggest news was probably Anna winning a bronze medal in Shot Put (kúluvarp) in her age group, during her first track and field meet ever. (15 images total)
Thursday 28 January 2016
Bjarki, hunched over a screen of some kind.
Photos From the Couch
[Photos taken on 27 January, posted on 27 January 2016. Good sign?]
I got Finnur to hand me the big camera, and took a few photos from my permanent position on the couch. Yes, I’m booooored! Only 8 more weeks until I can fully step on my foot.
Yesterday morning I went to the hospital and the nurse removed all the sutures. I took before photos (nothing much has changed), but she didn’t want me to photograph her working, and then the doctor came to chat, so I have no photos of a suture-free foot.
Instead, I now have a “walking cast”, meaning I’m allowed to put the foot down, but not put pressure on it. Four weeks from now the cast will be removed, and then I will be allowed to put my foot down a little, but not fully. Apparently there’s a screw in there which I can break if I’m not careful, and if it breaks, they can’t fully remove it. Oh joy!
But yes, photos from the couch. Here you go! (16 images total)
My new cast, with detachable sole.
Bournemouth-ers Visit
[Photos from 4 January 2016, posted online 27 January 2016. Finally got the big camera into my grubby hands!]
My brother, Pétur, and his wife, Signý, are both doing their masters degrees at the University of Bournemouth. They decided to come home for Christmas, and freshen up on why living abroad isn’t such a bad deal, with all the light, and warmth, compared to Iceland!
As always, the holiday went by in a blur, and all of a sudden they were about to leave, and we’d hardly seen them! We managed to coax mom, Pétur and Fannar over for dinner, but Signý was busy writing a paper. Aw shucks! But I did remember to take a few photos to prove they were here! (7 images total)
Bjarki envisioning Fannar being in a lot of trouble soon!
New Year’s Eve – 2015 Edition
[Some photos from New Year’s Eve 31 December 2015, pre-and post-midnight. Put online on 24 January 2016. The snow seems to be retreating a bit, I can see grass.]
We spent this past New Year’s Eve with Finnur’s family, as has been our habit lately. This year, Finnur’s uncle and his wife hosted a lovely party, a hop and a skip away from us, with tons of fantastic food.
Shortly before 9 pm, I dragged a few people (mostly kids) with me on a short walk to check out two ‘proper’ fireworks-displays. They’re hosted by the ICE-SAR units in Kópavogur and Garðabær, respectively, and always feature the big-bada-boom fireworks. It so happens that if you stand on the ridge that separates Kópavogur and Garðabær, you can watch the two shows.
Back at the party, we chatted more, ate more, and watched the annual comedy hour, which was somewhat meh this year. Then it was 23:30 and we went outside to shoot up some fireworks and witness the neighbors go bonkers with theirs.
All pretty standard stuff, but it was fun anyway! ALL THE PHOTOS ARE HERE, if anybody’s interested. Here are a few as well: (28 images total)
The five of us! In one photo!
Anna 12 Years Old and Yuletide Party
[Originally posted 25 December 2015. Updated 26 January 2016, with more photos below the fold.]
Anna Sólrún turned 12 years old today! How’d that happen?!
We also visited Finnur’s parents as usual for a family yuletide party, ate a lovely meal, and then played a whist tournament… And I WON! For the first time in 21 years of participating! Which shows that it has more to do with luck than with skill. 🙂
Now, as much as I’d like to dump a gazillion photos in here, there is no time, so JUST CLICK HERE FOR ALL OF THE PHOTOS!! (24 images total on this page)
Ms. Anna, all grown up!
Christmas Eve
[Photos from 24 December 2015, posted online 27 January 2016. Yes, I’m working my way backwards.]
The day everybody had been waiting for finally materialized, Christmas Eve (aðfangadagur as we call it), although really it’s just Christmas, or jól. It’s the day where we eat a nice dinner at 6 pm, and then open presents.
The day went by fairly painlessly, as we’d already drawn up what we expected the day to look like for Bjarki, who doesn’t deal well with nebulously defined days where something extremely exciting is supposed to happen at some point. The biggest hick-up was me fighting for too long on the computer to figure out how to give a DRM (Digital Rights Management, it’s a locking thing) protected e-book I’d bought to somebody else, which meant I was late driving out the last presents, and left Finnur all by his lonesome self in the kitchen for the critical last hour before dinner. Thankfully Anna stepped in, and I expect snide remarks about my absence for the foreseeable future.
Other than that, we decided people could wear whatever they chose, and furthermore to just let the kids open all their presents as quickly as they could, to get them to bed on time. Yes, this means I’m not entirely sure who gave whom what, although I have a fair idea for most of the things. We do thank everybody for the lovely gifts, and hope your Yule was a good one too! (18 images total)
Kids in front of the all-important pile of presents!