I have not been good at updating my blog during December. I almost never am, although I always hope to be. But there are just so much going on. This year it ended up being too much for me in my real world as well, so for the last couple of weeks I have been on sick leave for half my time at work (or something like that; not easy to cut down on things to do when it is Christmas season). Especially since I love this time of year and love my work in church. But then it is also true that i love my son and that he needs a mama that have some energy left over, so we can have some fun together too. I think those few things that I took away from my regular work schedule helped a lot. I feel like I have a bit more energy now. And then when the results of the blood work came (from the doctor) he told me to get hold of some Vitamin D, since I had too little of that in my system. Reading about what a lack of this does to the body and mind is like reading just how I’ve felt like for a long time. I really hope that it will help me feel more like my self again. Eventually, one little white tablet a day….

Anyhow. We still had and lived good days and made some sweet stories to put in my December Daily album and fodder for my scrap book pages to come. I want to celebrate and enjoy what in fact have been done instead of using up my energy blaming my self for not doing all that I wish I could have done (and to be honest, I guess I never will be able to do all that I want! It is just too much, so thinking hard and long about my projects and work hours right now; what will stay; what have to go!?).

2011 have had it’s great days and it’s bad days, but most of it have been somewhere in between. I like the in-between everyday kind of stuff. I want to catch the beauty of our little life as it happens, the big and grand, but mostly the small. That is what it is most of anyway.

I have big HOPES for 2012. Currently I am searching for a new one little word. I love the idea of having a word, even though I don’t do much about it. But it is there, following me year round. Shaping me, challenging me, sooting me.

I want the word for the year to come to be a active word. I want it to challenge and to shape and to inspire me to get things done. In a good way. I have always struggled with finishing things up. With putting my last few words down. With giving happenings in my life closure. I need (no pun intended) to wrap up a few things next year. I am not looking forward to all of that, so I need a word that can help me do it and still make me feel good.

Today we’ll say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new. I LOVE New Years. I love the new beginnings. The clean slate. The fresh year. I think there will be lots of good things happening.

PS: all photos are taken with my phone using the instagram app. see more at my flickr.

My December Daily album is slowly worked on when ever I can find a few spare moments. I’m feeling a little bit whiped out right now, but hoping a little sleep and a loong day at work tomorrow will get me back in the groove.

I just wanted to share a few photos from the last few days. One of these days I’ll share the album as well, but I need some decent light and some time in the middle of the day to shot photos of the pages first. I think it is this that makes me love digi so much. But then I love the making of an album from scratch also, with traditional papers and glue.

Anyway, here the photos. Thanks for looking! (and if you want to read a little about the days, click the image and jump over to flickr to read), Saturday we baked and decorated gingerbread cookies, Sunday we went chasing snow and found it up high in the mountain:

Today I haven’t been snapping away like I did on Saturday and Sunday. But if you want to see what I see on a daily basis now in December keep an eye on my December Daily set at flickr.

Enjoy the Season!!

This year December came to us warm and moist. Last year we had 18 cold degrees below Celcius, today we had 5 warm degrees above Celcius – that is quite a difference, for sure!

Because I had to go to the mountain for a day with my fellow pastors of the area; I got to see and feel snow. Nice. We were at this cool old hotel and I had to snap a few photos of the rooms and displays, not sure how many of these that will make it into the album, but a few for sure!

We ended our day together with a little service in the local church. Loved that altar painting.

This afternoon it was time for our Thursday Sunday School (I know it doesn’t quite sound right, but everyone knows what a sunday school in church is, more or less, so even though we have moved it to Thursdays we wanted to keep the name..). This time we had about Moses, and we made heart shaped cards to give to people we loved. Kiddo made two cards, one for each of his cousins. So sweet.

When we got home it was time for the second happening on his Today-card: make snow flakes from papers while listening to me reading a couple more chapters from Harry Potter book #3. We could hardly put the book down after reading into the evening, but we had too; he needs his sleep and mummy needs some mom-time

It was fun to hear that MT have told the class that he had this cool calendar at home that he got to read each morning. So great that he still fell the excitement and thrill about it. He was actually a little worried about me forgetting to put something in for him to find tomorrow. ‘There will be a card tomorrow as well, will there not?!‘, he said while going to bed. Oh, yes, my son. Off course there will. I love this calendar as much as you do!

I am reminded that even though he sometimes is a bit grumpy about not having enough cool stuff, it is the things we do that he really loves; the simple excitement before he reads the card of the day, the happy feeling he has all day at scool because he knows when he gets home we are going to do something together.

We had a filled-to-the-brim + nice day. How did your day go?!

December is here. It is hard to believe. No snow. No cold weather. It is almost like a long long fall around here. But the date is here for sure. MT have told me over and over. He can not wait to go down tomorrow to find the Advent calendar I made a couple years ago (thanks to a blog post from Stacy. Thank you Stacy! This has been a favorite of ours, I have even made a few gifts like this to friends and family too. So fun!).

In this calendar we each day have a snippet of the Christmas story on one tag and on the other tag there is a Today sentement and the a couple of things we are going to do. Mostly these are things that we are going to do together.

On December 1st we are going to church for Sunday School on a Thursday and later we are going to find some thin sheets of paper and make snow flakes to put up in our kitchen window to give this not-so-ready-for-the-season-to-begin-house a flying start I guess that it is MT that is going to do the major part of the snow flake creation as I plan to read out loud to him from one of the last chapters of Harry Potter and the prisoner from Azkaban.

My orginal plan was to start reading one of our favorite Advent book as soon as Dec. 1st rolled around, but we just can not put down the Harry Potter book right now, we (as in MT, I have already read it three times since the book was published) need to know how it will end! And then we can find the Advent book and use the Sunday (that is my one weekend off before New Years weekend) to read us up a few chapters, no worries if we miss a day or two.

I know MT love this calendar. But he also loves to get a little something too, so every day later in the day (after school) he is going to find a bag hidden somewhere in the house (he has to work some, don’t you think) for him to find and once in a while there are going to be candy or a little gift in there, most days there are going to be a figure from our nativity and there might also be something he need to finish the task of the day. I hope that he will find it just as fun as he has found it earlier year. And this way I don’t have to have it all planned out from the start of the month, and can make it happen as we go along.

I have also my December Daily to work on and take photos for. I’m sure I’m going to fall behind, but last year I almost got it finished (still have a few pages to get in place, but are planning to finish that up while I go along with the other album for this December), so I have big hopes for this year too. I know I will fall behind, though, that is just what I tend to do, at least when it comes to blogging about it. But I will embrace that and be joyfully happy for every word and every photo that get put in the album on this busy season. Wish me luck will you?

And if you are doing December Daily as well (I know a lot are doing that!) please do not be shy putting a link to your blog or photos here, there are always so much inspiration in looking how others are celebrating the season and documenting their every day at this time of the year.

I feel almost ready to welcome the season right now. Snow or no snow!

The last few days have been filled with things to do in my real life, so I’m getting back to my thankful posts soon – but right now I’m just thankful for getting through my days and for everything I’m able to cross off my list. LOL. I’m still writing a few words in my thankful book and snapping a few photos each day (more or less), so I will eventually have some things to share here online as well – although not tonight.

But I have something else to share; above and below are instagram photos from the moments where I got to stand still for a couple seconds and snap a face, some lines, a thing or a light that made me happy over the last few days – and look; we have still no snow! I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad about that, but it makes our life so much easier and warmer. So I’m quite okay with the winter being a bit late this year. My kid might not share my feelings on this, though!

Thanks for looking! (Click images if you want to read a tiny bit about them.) Do you use instagram? I can always use a few more folks to follow, so leave your addy in the comments if you’d like. Wish you all a blessed week, and Happy Thanksgiving to you if you celebrate that!

Soon we’re heading in to the holiday season as well. Taking deep breaths here. I love the season though and I’m hoping to enjoy it.

It so white and beautiful outside right now. It’s not yet snow, but the cold weather we’re having the last few days have covered everything in ice crystals and rime. I love it and it makes our early dark afternoon so much lighter too.

Today I’ve been to our old house to get a few things. It is like walking down memory line to be there, I still love the house – but it feels like it belonged to so long ago…. and in a way that is what it does. I’m so glad for where we are right now, for the changes we had to make to live a happier life – but there is also something good that was left behind. Something I wish we still had.

Apparently I feel a little moody tonight. So glad I have a webinar with Katrina Kennedy to attend in the middle of the night (yep, I do that kind of crazy things every now and then) – listening to photo talk for an hour will make me so much more happier. And maybe I also can find some sollutions for the low light situation we have going here. I sure miss the sunlight during the winter (for four months the sun doesn’t shine on our house because of the low sun and a hill to the south of us. Not a fan of that!).

So how are your day going?

Thankful. That is what I try to remember to be now in November. Or, really, I try to be it all year roud, but this month I planned on doing a real effort of documenting my gratefulness; writing it down and taking some photos. We are now in the middle of the month, and what do I have to show?

• A book that is more or less filled with words of thankfullness. Not all of the words that I wanted to get in there are there, but quite a few. (This mini book is the The Goods Mini Book by Amy Tangerine (American Crafts)).
• Almost a photo each day, designated to its own day and explaned with a few words on Flickr and in my gallery at Capture Your 365. (I love it there, you should visit!)
• A blog post for each of the first 6 days of the month…

I was wery good at writing blog post in the beginning of the month. The rest of the days….. so good! Frankly I haven’t written anything. So with this post I am planning to do something about that! Even thought I can’t document as much from my day as I wanted in this way (as I can when I blog from each day by it self). It is so much better than nothing. And I love any exuse to use lots of photos anyway. So here we go, the photos, the words, the thankfulness of the days 7 – 15 of November 2011:

November 7th

I am thankful for the luxury of having a Macbook to capture and save the memories of our little family. I’m thankful for having the luxury of a fast internet connection and a international word wide scrapbook and memory keeping community to belong to as well.

November 8th

I am thankful for having this kid in my life. Often I think back to the day when we first met, he was 2,5 years old and I had traveled all the way down to Addis Abeba i Ethiopia. It was one of those days that I’ll never forget. It changed my life in a really good way!

Heart you right back my kid!

November 9th

I am thankful for joy and happiness shared with family. I am especially thankful for the bond between my kid and my dad. I love when both of them smiles and they have time to indulge the photographer for a little second.

November 10th

I am thankful for my love of reading. And even though I don’t read as many books each year as I did when I was younger I still read quite a few. This summer I read I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power by Brené  Brown – and it was amazing, and an eye opener as well. I’m so thankful for having this book on my shelf and for the things it taught me. Living with my whole heart that is what I want to do.

November 11th

So happy to have had documented this special day of my life. I got lucky taking a photo with my iPhone right on the very minute too. 11.11.11. 11:11. So thankful for living this day mindful of it being a rare date that I want to remember, even though it also was a very regular Friday in our home. With work and school and the routine of our every day life. (I plan on doing more with the photos from this day, I even shot some video with my phone, I just need a little more time… or a lot!)

November 12th

Pasta with red sauce is our favorite comfort food. We often eat it on Fridays, but sometimes we eat it other times of the week as well. Ususally we eat it once a week. Not often more, but sometimes less. If you’ll ask MT what his favorite food is – he will answer this one and then he will add a few more, because he loves good food preferably with plenty of onion, chili and garlic in it. Yum.

November 13th

I am thankful for the colors in my life. I love colors and I need to be surrounded by them to feel happy. For ages blue have been my favorite color, but for the last year orange have gotten dearer and nearer to my heart and is a color I am so happy to use as often as I can; to make something dull filled with life and fun.

November 14th

This little thing with color lights that he begged me for this summer was found in the frozen grass today. And it is still so much fun! Especially in the dark afternoon. I love the lines of the light here and can tolerate the blurriness of MT as he moves too fast for the shutter speed to grasp. Just imagine all the SMILES this brought today. I love when MT smiles. It’s the best thing there is!

November 15th

I am thankful for the technology that enables us to document our life (blog, photos, scrapbooks and more!) and that it also is a way for MT to watch a movie or a TV program online. Here he is enjoying a science program for kids (he love the Newton show aired on Nrk i Norway).

Thank you for reading and looking!!
How are you doing? Do you have something to be grateful for today?
(I sure hope so, and would love to hear about it!)

Until next time; have a wonderful day!

00:10
Taken in the bathroom right before I went to bed. It was after midnight as usual. I am a night owl for sure!

11:11
So glad I nailed it I almost forgot, I had plenty of other things on my mind. (Glad I didn’t had to pick it down from the wall and stage the time to get it right!!)

14:50
A couple got married in church today. They were excited about having 11.11.11 as their wedding date. I would be too.

21:35
About time for him to go to bed. I should not have used the flash on this one, though, but his bedroom is kind of dark and he had switched the cameras without me noticing until later tonight.

22:29
And as usual, a perfect ending to my day with a cup of tea and some time on my macbook.

How did you celebrate this day?! I loved Katie’s mention of eating straight looking food for dinner today. Did you do that? I’m sorry to say that we did not manage to do it, though. MT had a friend over and they wanted taco for dinner

Please jump over to One Day On Earth for more 11.11.11 inspiration, photos and words.

I see a slightly messy kitchen, hoping for some time to clear and clean tomorrow afternoon.

I plan to take MT out in the woods some time over the weekend. We plan to meet up with my brother and his family and I think we are going to build a fire and eat our lunches outside. It will be so nice. And if we are really lucky we will find a Christmas tree for our living room as well (we are not going to take it with us right now, we decorate our three at December 23rd , so no need to rush. But great to find it now when there are no snow on the ground).

I hear music as I play Spotify. I started with Christmas music, but right now there are some other songs playing. Think I need to go back to the Christmas tunes. I love those.

I feel tired after a long day of work. I also feel cold because I did not manage to find the energy to light up our wood fire. I think I need to find a blanket or something soon.

I do need some sleep. I really do. Hoping to go to bed before midnight tonight.

I smile about the fact that MT already have picked a name for the dog he will get a day several years from now. Glad he loves the thought of having an animal that much!

I love the comments received on my 10 on the tenth post from this morning. Thank you!

How are your day going?