Trick or Treat

We started our Halloween tradition with scooping out and carving the pumpkin. This year it was slightly different as we had the 'online'company of cousin T. - Tim and T. facetime so much that I practically feel he is always in my house;)

Then the artistic inspiration of Tim kicked in. This year he wanted a happy, friendly pumpkin:)

Obviously the 12 year old genes kicked in too!!

He was very happy with the result and I was very happy with the pumpkin soup I made out of the scooped out guts:)

This is the first year Tae has actually understood the idea of Trick ot Treat. When I explained he could dress up and knock on doors and recieve sweeties he was all in and very excited.

Tim's friend B. came over and they got dressed together. They decided to be Zombies this year! They created their costumes and make up themselves. Not a bad effort for two 12 year old boys. 

Halloween in Norway is much 'darker' than the UK and USA. Children tend to be more spooky once they hit around 8 yrs old.

When it was time to head out, they were all excited.

I was pleased that Tim was quite happy for his little brother to tag along this year and I followed too. Tae and I did 4 houses with the boys before we went home to show Farmor all of his sweeties. I figured that was enough for his first year and his big brother could continue having fun and being 'cool' with his friend without us;)

 Tae was thrilled that people handed out sweeties and was very good at remembering to say thank you at each door.

Tim will do the rounds of houses he has been visiting for that last 7 years with B. They then head back to B's house to finish the night off with eating sweeties and drinking hot chocolate. As they discussed earlier, this is the tradition they started way back in Grade 1!!

Wordless Wednesday - Celebrating Pappa

Parent Conference

This boy had his parent conference this week!

I am a very proud mummy!

He is continuing to do really well - thank goodness he has his Pappa's brains. 

His teacher said he is well above average across all subjects and performed extremely well on the latest literacy and numeracy tests he just took!

He is a strong student, he learns concepts quickly and has a very wide range of knowledge that is much deeper than the rest of his peers. He also has a sharp eye to identify and understand the bigger picture or the hidden messages in texts.

Phew!! I was really worried how he was coping with school this year as I know he is tired and somewhat distracted;) 

It really helps that he has a great teacher who supports and understands him too.

He turned to Tim and told him that as long as he continues working hard for the next three years, he could have his choice of which college he wants to attend!!

Yay!! Not completely screwed him up yet;)

Wordless Wednesday - Jigsaw Time (1500 pieces of it)

Birthday Wishes

Today is Stig's birthday...

It's a tough day....

It just hurts too much right now to write more...

miss you

love you

forever yours 

xox

Wordless Wednesday - Tim in the middle of putting his socks on.....

Tae and Farmor

Tae had a great time visiting Farmor.

At times it is impossible to take photos of him.

He is one very cheeky chappie!

I love his teasing looks as I did my best to get a pic of him with Farmor!

Autumn Break

Last week was Autumn break. On Friday evening, the boys and I packed up and took the boat to visit my MIL.

Both boys like travelling and it is not too often they get to take ferry boat trips. The trip was just over 4 hours. But I had snacks ready and the iPad fully charged.

Once there, the boys just hung out and relaxed. Tae must have grown quite a bit as this was the first time his feet touched the pedals and he could actually 'ride' Farmor's exercise bike.

Wheile we were there they had a local crab festival, which Tae of course loved:)

There was lots of relaxing, wrestling and messing around to be had.

Tim disappeared a few times and visited with one of Tig's closest friends. He had great fun at their house in their jacuzzi and out crab fishing. So much fun, he slept over one night:)

When at Farmor's Tim spent quite a bit of time on his laptop playing games.

But he did find some time to hang out with Farmor:)

Tantrums and Love!

We have had a few tough weeks. It is obviously a challenge as we adjust to life as a family of three.

It is not all laughter and smiles.

We all grieve differently and express this in our unique ways.

Tae likes to talk about what happend - Tim does not.

Tae likes to visit Tig's grave - Tim does not.

Tim likes to talk about Tig - Tae does not.

Both boys want to sleep in my bed in pappa's place.

There has been sadness, anger, tantrums and tears - from all 3 of us!

Plus a signifcant dose of winding up and arguing between these 2 (this is a new occurance). 

But we stay strong together - or at least we try.

After an especially difficult few days I recieved a call from Tim while on my way home from work asking when I'd get home (I panicked a little at first, but his happy voice eliminated that quickly).

He told me he had a surprise for me.

When I came though the door, a note was sitting for me on the kitchen table with a clue!

He had made a treasure hunt for me to follow. Loved that his second clue was taped to Tae's rocking horses bottom!! 12 yr old boys at their best:)

After a tour of the downstairs of my house including the the wine shelf, the playroom and a pile of clean washing, I eventually found my treasure!!

Seriously... love... him!!

He had gone on his bike to the local shop on his way home from school and bought these delicious chocolate hearts with his own money - for me.

Yes, we have tough days, like really wanting to scream very loudly outloud days -  but acts like this -  make taking one day at a time (plus a little attitude) easier.

Wordless Wednesday - Flashback to Summer Cousin Fun