Life as a Behney…

Well I suppose we are tourists in this country, so we have to do the tourist “things”….Wednesday we went to a large ski jump (I do not recall the name, but I do have pics) in Oslo. I got very car sick on the road. We also went to Vigslander Park? (or something like that) to view statues around the park. I have been there before so it was familiar…yet a good memory maker with Josh. I was car sick there too…TERRIBLE!!!

Today is Thursday and we went to a nice dinner with Katrine’s parents. It was great to spend time with them again. (I once stayed with them for 3 months here in Norway).

Tomorrow we will head to Tonsberg to visit the summer house. We will be ther until Monday, depending on the weather( it is around 70 degrees here yet very rainy).

I miss the kids and hope they are having a good time. See you soon…my pretty girls!

Love you—

Josh and I are visiting Norway right now. I am writing to fill my daughters in on some of the little details of our trip. I will share with you too. Thank you Mom and Mike for babysitting, we very much appreciate it!!!

We arrived safely in Oslo without much to tell about. Josh and I did not sleep much on the plane from LAX to Frankfurt so when we boarded the plane from Frankfurt to Oslo we slept like babies for the short flight. We were excited to be here so we couldn’t sleep.

We landed on time and were ready to find Katrine and get on with our vacation. We were just missing on thing…our luggage….

All two of my bags made it all the way. But only one of Josh’s (he has two). It was the one with all his clothing. It was officially lost. So we left the airport with only three of our four bags.

We went to Katrine’s apartment and I got cleaned up and changed. We were off  to find Josh some new clothes to wear until the airline  delivers his bag.  Wow I forgot how expensive things were here. It is alot like the prices in Hawaii.

We got him a couple shirts and jeans so he could last a couple days without his luggage, ordered some sushi to go and went back to her house to settle in.

It was a relaxing night and we did not go to bed until late. Katrines boyfriend Henrick came and visited too.

First thing this morning….

Lugggage for Josh! HOORAY!!

*Miss you little girls already! Have fun in Pismo with Lala and Papa! We love you!

its been a while…. we have been on 2 vacations since I last posted…I will update in a day or so……..and another vacation to come….lucky me!

so recently I applied at Madalyn’s school to be an Education Specialist. I figured what the heck with my degrees, need for a job and experience homeschooling it sounds like the perfect fit. I completed two interviews with the charter school, I felt the both went well. I found out today I was not hired. They found someone else better to fulfill the position. Of course I am upset.

My husband asked me, “do you think you are upset because you did not get the job or because ‘you’ did not get chosen?”

It took me a while to process this question…

I am upset I did not get picked…the whole pick me, pick me theory from grade school. Cause truthfully I am happy being home. I am happy not working. Secretly it might be a good thing I can do more of my husbands laundry (as he said). I like being there for the kids and Josh. But yes, I am upset I did not get “picked”…

so I will wait and see what comes next……..and try to forget that this is almost the only time I have never been picked…ouch that hurts…..sorry to all the kids I may have hurt in school years ago……………now I too know.

I called Regan in to her room today to clean it.

“Regan come here, look at this messy room…help me put your toys away”.

Regan says, “But mommy…I didn’t do it”

Mommy says, “Well who did it then?”

Regan says, “Jesus did it!”

Mommy, “What?”

Regan, “He flew down from the clouds and messed it up, so I would have to clean it”

Mommy, “Wow, Jesus is amazing”

(What do I say to that?)

there is so much to do and so little time…my life is a busy stressful mess…and my children are responding to my heightened level of stress by being nuts in return…ahhhhh…………….

but on a good note, one of my little brothers is returning to Southern California today from a couple years of living in Alabama. I can’t wait to see his little face!

My famous step-dad Mike took me and Regan to lunch the other day while Madalyn was in school. We had a great time…he is always spoiling me and treating me like the perfect daughter (well aren’t I??) Anyhow…he is really setting a HUGE precedent for my daughter’s future husbands…but that is not the point of this post…

Regan and I shared some clam chowder…and Regan thought chop sticks were a great soup eating tool…

so I grew up wearing little  sun block. As a teen and early 20’s I thought I needed to be tan so I would spend countless hours in the sun without sunblock trying to achieve that golden bronze look. Instead I only gained more freckles and future skin problems.

I now have countless suspicious sun spots/freckles/moles…throughout the past couple years I have had them frozen, burned, and cut off. Last year one was extra suspicious so the Dr had to cut extra out, leaving me with a 1 inch scar on my lower back. Within the last week I have had yet another one removed and sent to the lab…only to return with a negative result of “suspicious” (well that is what the Dr calls it) So I returned on Tuesday to have her cut yet more of my tramatized skin out…Leaving me this time with an 1 2/2 inch cut…on my upper back.

I have yet to find out these lab results…hopefully she got it all…

Now I am constantly reminded to use sunscreen on myself and my children…I do not leave the house without a 55spf on my face and yesterday I actually bought my first 70spf (yikes) And I actually find it odd because I still love the way I feel when I lay in the sun and feel its warmth on my skin…I love having my freckles get darker on my face and body…hmmm I suppose having skin cancer is a good cause to wear sun block ??

And I do believe it is a hereditary thing…my mom has a 5 inch scar on her tummy from a mole and my dad is regularly having skin cut off and biopsied…so my kids will hopefully NEVER experience a sunburn or the desire to be tan…I now believe in the tan in the bottle and hope to teach my daughters tan is not always beautiful!

ahh…I worked 5 days in a row last week and then one additional this week…what a wierd thing to go from stay home to working 5 days in a row (weekend broke it up, but still) Josh said, “I am so excited for this full time work thing to be over!” and it was only five sub days! Needless to say the house is still trying to recover…

Alas…it is Mother’s Day weekend…and I am heading to Auburn with my mom for my soon-to-be sister-in-laws bridal shower. We are flying tomorrow and then having a slumber party with Niki and mom, then flying home on Sunday. I am sure I will come home to a recovered house (typically a good mom’s day present?!?)

I am excited to spend some time with my mommy…we have not had too much time together since we did our Masters together…well we have but it seems like we haven’t. Anyhow…I will let you know how the slumber party and house turn out.

I found a random article on the net…I found it useful…maybe you will too…on a budget?…Earth friendly…

1. Baking soda: Acts as a scrub to remove hard water stains; polishes metal; deodorizes pretty much anything it touches (try stashing some in the fridge).

2. Borax: Mixed with three parts water, it makes a paste for cleaning carpet stains; mixed with ¼ part lemon juice, it cleans stainless steel and porcelain. (Note: although borax is a natural substance, you still shouldn’t eat it—and neither should your kids or pets.)

3. Lemon: Deodorizes and cuts grease on counter tops; rubbed on cutting boards, it bleaches stains and disinfects; combined with baking soda, it removes stains from plastic food storage containers.

4. Salt: Another natural scrubber—sprinkle it on cookware or oven surfaces, then rub; add citrus juice to turn it into an effective rust remover.

5. White vinegar: Deodorizes and disinfects; combine with water (and a little liquid soap—I know, it feels like cheating) to clean windows, mirrors, and floors; use at full strength in a spray bottle to fight mold and mildew.

6. Olive Oil: Mix two parts oil with one part lemon juice and use as a natural wood polish. (Save the really good stuff for dinner.)

One added bonus of using natural cleaners: as part of your spring cleaning regimen, you can now clear out all those bottles of specialized (and possibly toxic) potions.

Enjoy…