Kárahnjúkar

Amazing to go and see this place - the amount of building (and environmental distrucion!) cannot be described in a short blog.

The trip was truly great, nice flight to and from Egilsstaðir and my fellow tour guides were all on good form. We drove all over the place, into tunnels in the mountains, upto the damn itself and into the valley where the new lake will form. Enjoyed lunch at the workers' main camp and had coffee and cake in another camp. Lots of snow, rendeers and geese :) Yet another great day out.

The kids also had a lovely day - they told me of their bike trip with their dad to the coast and a lovely dinner! Birta the labrador was pampered at my parents' house so it was only the cat that had to stay at home and look after the place!

A day off tomorrrow...

Le weekend!

Printed but not quite ready. Will get it done on Monday and hand in on Tuesday. This weekend will be great for relaxing.

Going to Kárahnjúkar in East Iceland on Sunday to see the new Hydro-electric powerplant (and the environmental distruction it is causing...) Will be an interesting day!

Update later. Have a great weekend folks :o)

Second draft is off!

Now all I need is for my advisor to read over my thesis so that I can make the final corrections, print and hand in :)

Kids were very happy to spend the late afternoon and evening with their grandparents. Last night afi made homemade BBQ hamburgers and the kids were on the verge of bursting when they came home. Sandra will be going to her classmate's birthdayparty after school today and we were busy this morning picking out the best dress to wear and shoes to mach. She really loves to dress up!

Busy weekend ahead - can't be bad!

Fingers crossed!

I hope to finish the second draft of my B.Ed thesis after work today. My parents will pick up the kids and I will have several hours in peace and quiet to work on the second draft. Then press the send button and hope my advisor has time tomorrow to read it through! Crossing fingers and toes at this moment in time :)

Winter or summer?

Finally got the summer tires on the car - thanks to my dad. He is the best!!! It is illegal to drive on winter tires (with metal studs) after April 15th. Something to do with the tarmac... It is, however, still snowing outside. Amazing!

Reykjanes! Pictures from Pétur Gauti!

Check them out at: http://pgv.smugmug.com/gallery/1397993/1/66104046

Sunday

Did some research for my thesis this morning :o) The writing in the afternoon was fine, but not as interesting... Getting closer to handing in the final paper - that will be a good excuse for a large celebration!

Great day at Reykjanes!

I so enjoyed todays trip to Reykjanes with my fellow tour guides. We visited the artist studios of Straumur and learnt a lot about the old norse mythology! Then on to Reykjanes peninsula for some refreshing walks, a visit to the Saltfish Museum, a lunch at Salthúsið in Grindavík and after a few more even more refreshing walks we ended having a coffee at Kaffitár Cafe in Keflavík. Lots of activities, information and good company. We will hopefully visit Kárahnjúkar Power plant in East Iceland next weekend so there is plenty to look forward to at this point in time.

Tomorrow is thesis time again...

Hmm - I should perhaps stop trying these quizzes...

Who Should Paint You: Alfred Gockel

All American yet funky, you inspire an artist's imagination And while not everyone will understand your portrait, you will!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

First day of summer!

Gleðilegt sumar!

Believe it or not - today is the offical first day of summer um Iceland (always the third Thursday in April), rain or shine - or even in snow! It's always a great day, firstly because we have the day off from work and school and secondly because of the parades and things to do for kids in the neighbourhood. I spent the afternoon revising my BEd thesis with my advisor at KHI, Rebekka went to work and small kids went to the parades with amma Sigrun. An active day!

Nice kids!

Sandra, Sigga, Steinþór and Eiríkur at the dinner party on Saturday! Great evening! Thanks for the photos Steini!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you Anna!!!! Til lukku með daginn!!!!

B.Ed. thesis

Sitting inside with the sun shining through my window trying hard to finish my BEd theses - "Children's Literature in the Language Classroom". Rebekka and I did go out for a little walk in the mountains this morning just to get some oxygen and small kids are spending the day with their grandparents. I hope to send the first draft off to my teacher tonight! Fingers crossed :o)

Easter Sunday!

We made an Easter hunt using a secret code - from the book of Dragonology we are reading now as the bed time story (the code was Old Norse Rune!). Kids were over the moon to crack the code and get the eggs as a reward! Now tummies are full of sweets and chocolates.

We will have dinner with grandparents - something a little more healthy than what kids had for breakfast! Happy Easter everyone!

Thank you!

After a long day of marathon writing it was nice to have a lovely dinner with friends in Meltröð. Eiríkur spent the whole day with them, Rebekka was working at Notaun but Sandra played with Silja at Anna's house. Thank you for a lovely dinner and nice evening.

Easter Sunday tomorrow and kids excited about their Easter eggs!

Good Friday

I am working on my BEd thesis today and kids are visiting grandparents in Vesturberg. I will have dinner with them tonight at my parents house, hopefullt a well earned break. We have tidied up after yeserdays party - the family was there and we had great fun, two boys stayed behind and had pizza for dinner with Eirikur and they played until ten in the evening! Eirikur had a lovely day and is happy being 11 years old!

Sandra's poem for Eiríkur!

Hamígu með amælið Eiríkur
þú ert besti bróðir í heimi
og þú ert skemmtilegur.

Til Eiríkur.
Frá Söndru.

Eiríkur's 11th Birthday!

It is Eiríkur's birthday and we have enjoyed the day so far. I was up early and baked a chocolate cake which we all eat wearing our pyjamas on my bed! Eiríkur opened his presents and then we looked at his baby photos. He was so pleased with all the attention. He wanted to list up his presents so here it goes:

*Tickets to the Curtis Adams show and a box of Legos from mum
*Watercolours from daddy
*A book of dragons from Sandra and a poem
*Playstation Game from Rebekka
*A stand for his music sheets from amma and afi in Vesturberg

Party later on today :)

Congratulations Rebekka!

Rebekka's got her driving license today :)

Well done dearest - and yes you may borrow the car!

Home with the kids!

Really nice day spent with the kids. Made about 50 pancakes for Eiríkur and two of his friends, also Sandra and Silja and of course my sweet nephew Axel. The boys went into an eating competition and Eirikur's friend won after eating 12 pancakes! Pretty good! I then took the two girls for a swim whilest Eirikur earned 200 kronur babysitting his cousin. They watched a video together and continued with their eating. Rebekka was a real darling and took Birta out to see Sonja and Karri - and then went to work at Noatun. Tomorrow is going to spent on my BEd thesis and kids will be with their grandparents. Then it is Eirikur's 11th birthday!

Kári

It was Kári's confirmation yesterday and his parents and extended family had prepared a wonderful feast for everyone to celebrate his big day with him. I went to church to witness his confirmation, he is so much like one of my kids :o) Then I offered Dora's friend from Denmark a little tour of Reykjavik while Dora and family finalized everything for the party and I spoke Danish for the first time in my life I think. A very strange version of my schoolday Danish with a lot of German, English and Icelandic thrown in for good measure! But we had fun and it was nice to get to know them.

The party was great, kids played their instruments for us to enjoy, there was some singing but no dancing (!) and we all enjoyed the video clips of Kári his father had put together - from being a new born crying baby to the handsome 13 year old he is today. Congratulations Kári!

Chiffon and Champagne!

This is the theme for my friend Margaret's 40th birthday party! I think it will be great fun :o) Cheers everyone!

Eiríkur's birthday

Wow Eiríkur's 11th birthday is just around the corner and the celebrations are starting this weekend! I gave him his birthday present last night - two tickets for The Curtis Adams´ Magic Show tonight. He was over the moon with the whole idea. Tomorrow he will celebrate with his two schoolfriends Snorri and Hallgrimur by going to the movies and having a burger at the mall - and then later on we will have a little family and friends coffee party at Hringbraut. He is growing up far too quickly!

The Ballet :)

Sandra's ballet was wonderful and we all enjoyed ourselves very much. Poor Sandra was very tired at the end of the evening and it shows on the pictures! But here is the ballerina!

Sad but true....

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Black Comedy

In your life, things are so twisted that you just have to laugh. You may end up insane, but you'll have fun on the way to the asylum. Your best movie matches: Being John Malkovich, The Royal Tenenbaums, American Psycho

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Ballet

Sandra's ballet show is tonight at Borgarleikhús. We are all so excited - on her behalf! David is getting the roses for his princess and amma Sigrun and I will do the hair before going to the theatre. Sandra woke up extra early this morning, singing all the time and dancing whilest getting ready for school.

Rebekka is going to miss the show because of her social scedule... a dress up party at school. She has dug up Anna's old 80's clothes and my only question was "did we really think we looked cool wearing these clothes????"

Sunday was good!

Kids were feeling much better and my parents came over to help clean up the "hospital ward"! Sandra had an extra ballet lesson to prepare for her performance on Tuesday and then the two of us went to visit Berglind and family. Lovely friends :o)

Rebekka and Eirikur were still recovering at home, both on the sofa with blankets happily watching tv when we came home.

The evening was spent with Dora at the theatre, we saw an Icelandic play called "Eldhús eftir máli" (Designer Kitchen???) and I must say that I really enjoyed myself. Jamm - the feminist is still there somewhere!

Eirikur's performance!

We so enjoyed Eirikur's performance at Borgarleikhúsið today. He was great at his acting, singing and dancing in the play "The Time Machine". Big applaud from all of us!!!

The whole family ended up at Vesturberg for a celebration - and some more good news - everyone is getting healthier by the minute so the flag is coming down!