Christmas

Somehow it is December 30th already, and December has just flown by in so many ways.  I went on maternity  leave the 2nd of December and really enjoyed preparing for Christmas and enjoying some quiet days on the couch in front of the Christmas tree.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas preparations.

Advent sundays--Light a candle and get a present from Farmor

Mary's childrens choir singing in Skjern.

Making confections (Oatmeal balls)

Decorating the tree

37 weeks pregnant with the tree

Now fully done with a tree skirt

Risengrød!! Rice and cream for supper

Seeing if Santa left anything in my stocking I hung up at our bank

Christmas "hygge" at Gymnastics

Meeting the Skjern Handball Mascot

The almost finished product of over 40 hours in December...Just need the name and border! I also used time making cookies, recipes from Auntie Anne!

Video:  Silas went to a Christmas service at Church with his daycare.  They had been practicing an old hymn that they would sing that day.  One day during Christmas break, Silas found a card with a picture of them at church on it and began singing...It's crazy he can sing along to the complicated words of an old hymn....PS: He gets distracted by a picture of one of the cute girls from daycare at the end...Marie.

Christmas eve and day were also very wonderful.  I sang in church at 11am on Christmas eve day and played my horn as well.  I got to sing O Holy Night again this year, this time as a duet with another very talented singer at our church.  It was so much fun!  Søren's mom, Inger, was at church with us and afterwards we had a delicious lunch.  The afternoon consisted of relaxing and preparing for dinner.  We had a wonderful dinner and I found the almond again this year in the rice pudding.  After dinner we put the presents under the tree.  Silas was a big help, until he accidentally put his arm through the wrapping of one of the presents.  He then could see that there was a big tractor inside and he had to immediately open it.  He played contently with the tractor for a long time until we were ready to sing around the Christmas tree.  And even then we had to persuade him to put the tractor down to dance with us.  Before opening the presents we held each others hands and went dancing around the house singing "Now it's Chrismas again, Now's its Christmas again, and Christmas lasts until Easter."  Silas thought that was SO much fun!

Then it was time to open the presents. The four of us took turns opening presents, and Silas of course had to unpack all his presents and play with them before moving on.  But we had plenty of time and enjoyed watching him ooh and aah over all his new toys and really enjoy playing with them.  We all recieved wonderful presents and Silas was up playing with his until 10:15pm.  

Christmas Day brought a lot of relaxing and presents in our stockings.  There were quite a few so we split it up throughout the day.  It was so much fun just getting to watch Silas play with all his new toys.  He was completely entertained and only asked for us when he wanted to show us something cool he had figured out.  We all went to church in the afternoon where I played piano.  Afterwards Inger went home and the three of us just relaxed, as I was not feeling very well and was very worn down.   All in all we have had a wonderful Christmas time.  Remembering the real reason for the season, as we reflect on the miracle of Jesus' birth and what it means for us today.  We are so grateful for the hope we have in Jesus and it was especially touching for me this year to experience being pregnant and thinking of our Savior as a tiny baby in Mary's womb.  

Thank you for all the memories in 2013, we look forward to the ones to come in 2014!!

Silas 2½

Time for a concentrated Silas update.  He is growing and learning so much, it is hard to keep up with all the things that are changing. Luckily I have written down some of his quotes as he says them so we can remember.  Here are some of the noteworthy developments.

1) Has a growing interest in "little brother." When going somewhere Silas will say "And Far come too, and Mommy and little brother."  Silas also comes up and says hi to little brother and rubs my stomach.  The other day he said to me "little brother come out now."

2) He continues to do a great job being bilingual.  There are some Danish words or phrases that he puts into his English sentences pretty consistently. 1.  I gerne have that one Mommy  ("gerne have" means "to want") 2. Mommy spil that one on piano ("spil" means "play").  Sometimes he will say want or play, but many times these Danish words get mixed in.  I think it's pretty cute.  

3) Continuing with the 2 language thing: Silas has begun to automatically translate what I say to him, to whichever Dane he is talking to.  For example: At daycare I said to him "Say bye and see you later to Margit"...Silas then looks at  Margit and says "Hej hej, ses senere Margit." Which is the direct translation of what I just said to him.   Silas continues to speak English to me and will sometimes say things twice if both Søren and I are in the room.  "Mommy, I want an apple please." ..."Far jeg gerne have æble."

4) Started with a new breakfast routine.  He has eaten warm oatmeal since he was about 6 months old, every morning for breakfast.  But now he wants his oatmeal cold with milk in it, and some raisins.

5) Has a very polite way of speaking (when he's not throwing a tantrum). "More milk please Mommy."    "No thank you."  and the equivalents in Danish.  Also remembering to say "Tak for mad" (Thanks for the food) when he is done eating. 

6) "Hitting" other and sometimes random kids. It has become less the past few weeks, but Silas has had a tendency to go say "hi" in a bit hard manner.  The kids will just be standing there minding there own business and Silas will come an give them a smack. We are trying to show him the proper way to say hi instead, which is helping, but there is still work to be done there.

7) "Bye bye poo poo"...Silas has shown a slight interest in the toilet.  He will tell us that he wants to sit there, and then after a bit (and not actually producing something in the toilet) he will throw his toilet paper in in the toilet and say "bye bye poo poo" as I flush it down.

8) Sleeping game.  Everything and everyone has to sleep.  He especially likes to tuck his stuffed animals in with a pillow and blanket in  various parts of the house.  Then he say "shh, doggie is sleeping"...and then "wake up doggie! time to get up!"... Apparently they play that game a lot at daycare as well.  Sometimes I've overheard him singing goodnight songs or reading a book to his stuffed animals while putting them to sleep.

9) Sleeping with a night light and with the door open.  When we say goodnight to him and have just finished praying he starts whining until you ask him if he wants the door open a little.  He then says yes and rolls over to sleep.  Sometimes he asks us to open the door more and more...(I remember a little story of myself being quite picky about the door position as a child..right Mom?)

10) When picking him up from daycare he yells "That's my Mommy" and comes running, giving the biggest hug!

11) During the month of November, Silas was waking up around 5:15/5:30am...sometimes he would just turn on the light and play in his room.  He seemed completely awake, and we could rarely get him to fall back to sleep.  Luckily the time has now changed to around 6:30am, and we are so happy when the clock says 6 something and not 5.

12) Knows all the parent's  names of the kids at his daycare.

13) Sings songs and rhymes from daycare at the dinner table.  He knows a lot of them with actions and challenges us to sing along too.  He will start a rhyme and then say "Hvad kommer der så?" (What comes next?)....Probably just the way Margit says it to them!  He also repeats other things he has heard in daycare..."Kom så alle børn, vaske hænder." (Come on all you kids, wash your hands)  "EEh, altså"  (Oh wow/dear)

14) Picks the prayer song to sing at the dinner table.  He will say "Alle gode gaver, like at Margits!" He has begun to sing along to the songs as we are singing.  

15) Says that he loves things..."I love apples Mommy!"...."Jeg elsker brød, far."

Here are some of the Silas quotes I have written down

"Hyggelig lys" - meaning cozy candles.  When we light the advent calendars in the morning he will say this

"Hi little brother, lille bror"

"Not sleep ikke now" (saying not twice in one sentence "not" and "ikke" mean the same thing)

"Have to go to work soon"  -- and proceeds to go out to the car.

"Yes"...answers in a very enthusiastic way

"Look at my face." When he gets chocolate or something on it

"Banjo" There is now a difference between a guitar and  banjo

"Oh, who smells"  I ask, "oh was it Mickey?"...Silas: "No, my a little bit of tootsies."

"Oh, kinda smells like eggs." After somebody has let one rip...."Oh, kinda smells like Far"

Looking down at his fingers "I need to cut my nails"

At Margits during lunch where Silas is yawning a lot "Er du bare så søvnig Silas?"...."Nej, jeg er bare lidt træt".... (Are you just so sleepy Silas?.....No, I am just a bit tired."

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving has come and gone again this year.  But not without celebration in Denmark.

Already 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving we had our annual "American" group together for a day of fun and Thanksgiving food.  It was at our house this year, and we enjoyed having some fun chaos time with the kids and some adult time in the evening for games and giving thanks.

Then as tradition, we had some of our friends over for Thanksgiving.  Again this year we had 9 adults and 7 kids for the big feast.  It was quite chaotic, but that's what we love now-a-days. I decided to have some kids activites on hand this year, and it turned out it was great.  I tend to have some weird and crazy ideas, and this was no exception.  I had the kids make little "turkey's" out of a chocolate covered marshmallow (flødebolle), toothpicks and small pieces of candy.  The kids were so proud of their creations and they got to eat them afterwards. Silas made one too, and was so excited to show his far when he was done, that he wouldn't eat it until Søren saw it!

After all 7 kids were put to bed, we had pumpkin pie and a round of thanks.  I felt so thankful for the friends in my life as I listened to their genuine thanks. It is very wonderful to have a day of the year dedicated to remembering and not taking for granted all the blessings that we have.

A bit of this and that

I have not been so wonderful at updating the blog lately, but here comes a bit of this and that from the past few weeks.

1) Søren is super busy running for county council.  The election is next week (Nov 19th) so he has been very involved in debates, handing out flyers, and preparing "speeches."  He is having a great time, and I too think it is very fun to watch how passionate he is.  It is also amazing to see how much he has grown as a politician in the past month.  I am super proud of him and smile when I see big posters of his face on the light posts in town.  Just last night he was shown, quoted and referenced to on the national Danish television channel.  There are over 1.5 million views for that television program, so that was pretty cool that the media chose him to quote out of all the other candidates there were.  Today he was at a college debate, and they had a mock vote where Søren recieved 11% of all the votes when they were done.  (This is actually a really high amount, as elections are not at all the same as in the US...there are many more parties, so each party needs a smaller procent to get members in the council!)  Søren was also praised for one of  his debates by strangers while handing out flyers on the street last Saturday.

2) I only have 3 weeks left of work before I officially go on maternity leave.  I am looking forward to having time off in December to enjoy decorating, baking cookies, working on Silas' stocking and just staring at our Christmas tree.  My work schedule has been pretty light the past 3 weeks, so I am feeling great and actually have quite a bit of energy.  I have 2 pretty hard weeks ahead, but with maternity leave right around the corner, I think I'm going to make it! I feel kicks and sommersaults all day long, and it is such an amazing feeling. Just think, a brand new life, a brand new person is growing everyday, and soon we will get to meet him!

29 weeks

3) Silas is growing faster than ever. His langauge skills continue to be the largest area of growth.  He talks non-stop and says lots of funny things.  He continues to speak both langauges, and will often tell a story or sentence twice if both Søren and I are in the room.  He mixes up the languages a bit, but it is just cute right now.  For example he will not say "I would like to/I want to..."  Instead he says it in Danish I "vil gerne have" that cup there Mommy.  It never fails...every time "I vil gerne have..."

Another really fun thing lately is his singing.  He goes around the house singing and often gives a performance or two at the dinner table.  He sings along as we sing grace songs before eating, and in general can now sing along while we are singing. Just a month ago it was a lot more of filling in the word, or singing alone. It is fun to sing together with him and see how many songs he really knows.  Silas definitely has an ear for melodies. The other day I was playing the saxophone and I started playing a childrens song...without me every saying/singing a single word, Silas just started singing along.  He picked up the melodi from my mediocre saxophone playing.  I tried it with 4-5 songs and he could do it with them all.

Otherwise, Silas still really enjoys helping us make food, put away the silverware or scrub the dishes after dinner. He wants to be where we are, and is very curious about what we are doing.  He is beginning to be in that phase where he asks "What is that" all the time and I love watching his little brain process all the new information and words.  He is really polite and has learned to say please and thank you...most of the time without a reminder.  He can be a little rough with kids younger than himself, so we are working on being a bit more gentle, and helping him understand his strength and what is okay.

Silas makes us smile everyday with his happy go lucky mood and we are so grateful to get to experience this wonderful ride as his parents.