Something to think about.....

I found the above video on facebook last night. Thought it was really good. A reminder of the important things in life, things to remember to do, or to be in the New Year.

A picnic in -15 temperatures.....

...now that´s what I call crazy!!!

But that´s what my husband does every December with a group of other crazy men. They meet in the forest and talk about the year that has gone and their plans for the year ahead. (I think they cover alot of other subjects through out the evening, but wives are not let in on that information!!) The main thing is that they have a great time! They do it no matter what the weather´s like and last night it was -15 here!

Around 8pm Kristian was all set to go. He had his layers of clothing, a blanket, a bag full of goodies and loads of coffee to drink. Oh yeah, and a big smile on his face:-)

As usual they had a great evening. Kristian arrived home sometime around 3.30am!! I have said it before and I´ll say it again - CRAZY MEN!!!!

A penny for their thoughts....I think the fire has hypnotised them!

So relaxing....

This Christmas holiday has been soooo relaxng. Just what we needed!! We have done nothing but watch films, eat, go on facebook and eat some more!! It has been sooo wonderful to take time out from reality and just lock ourselves away in our wee apartment.

Yesterday I decided to paint. I needed a painting for my kitchen/dining room wall, so I decided to do something about that. I spent the afternoon painting and below you can see the result. I now want to paint two smaller ones for the other wall that so desperately needs something on it.

(The guy whose painting I copied is called Tim Gagnon. Check out his web, he is a fanatastic painter. I found him through youtube. He had a video where he painted the above picture in speed time...like in 3 minutes. I watched the video and got an idea of how he created the effect and then tried to guess the colours etc. I have now checked out his website where you can buy lessons. I am very tempted to buy some of his lessons. I just love his work. Check it out for yourselves.... http://www.timgagnonstudio.com )

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas from all of us!

Finally Christmas day has arrived. I hope that you are enjoying your day no matter where in the world you are. We have had a wonderful day - so far! We have just eaten the biggest and most delicious Christmas dinner ever - (even without the brussel sprouts and stuffing, it was delicious!) We soooo enjoyed it. Now we are all lazying around relaxing, each one of us in his/her own way. It´s wonderful!

For the Danes the big day to exchange gifts was yesterday - the 24th so late yesterday afternoon we headed down to Kristian´s sister to celebrate with his family. His other sister was there, and his brother with his family. We were 21 all together and we had a fantastic evening.

It was then home and to bed for "the real" Christmas day! I could hardly wait!! I had bought Kristian a really good present this year, something he needed but would never dream that I would buy him for Christmas. I had such a hard time not telling him about it, but I kept the surprise right to the end. So what did I buy him? A Nikon D5000 camera with an extra zoom lense. I got a bargin and I can´t resist a bargin so I just had to buy it! haha (Now my dentist money is gone so I have to start saving again, just hope the bill doesn´t come in January! haha)

Want to see Kristian´s reaction to his present? Then check out the video below...you´ll get a taste of Christmas morning at The Rasmussens!! Merry Christmas everyone!

Still no brussel sprouts....

...and the supermarket guy promised me they would have them today. A new delivery was expected:-( Then again, it was late afternoon when I went to town, so maybe they got a delivery and sold out very quickly!! Do people really LOVE brussel sprouts that much??!! Another more probable reason was the weather! We had a big snow storm last night so the roads have been awful to drive on. There have been delays and chaos everywhere. The delivery probably never arrived. Anyway I will, for the first time in years, have a Christmas dinner without brussels sprouts. I also don´t have any stuffing or Bisto gravy! What is the world coming too?!!!! Ah well, I´m sure I will survive! I´m actually sooooo looking forward to my Christmas dinner:-)

This evening Leah and I did some baking. The Chrsitmas music went on and we went mad in the kitchen. We made rice crispie buns, wee buns (or muffins as they are called over here) and lemon squares, half of which we ate this evening!

When Sara arrived home from work we all gathered in the living room and stuffed our faces, while watching Home Alone. It´s been years since we´ve seen that film. We really enjoyed it.

Now the big day awaits. Tomorrow we celebrate Christmas! Just hope the snow lets up so we can get to Hannes (Kristian´s sister) and then get back home again without any problems.

Busy,busy, busy....

...but so is everyone!! There is deadline to meet!! Ours is the 24th December!!

Yesterday was my first day off school and what a day I had planned! I didn´t manage to do everything I had planned but I got the cupboards cleared out in the living room and kitchen (yes again!! where do we get all the stuff?!!) I got our hall sorted out too! The coats and shoes that were piled out there was ridiculous! That´s all sorted now! And those 3 rooms are totally clean.

I got the food shopping done too. There was a big snow storm coming in over Denmark so I decided to do my food shopping late yesterday afternoon, just in case I couldn´t get out today.

I wanted to get in and out of town as quickly as possible.... but it wasn´t that easy. First the shop didn´t have any brussel sprouts left!! How can you run out of brussel sprouts?? I know I LOVE them but I thought I was the only one!! Apartently not!!

Then I couldn´t find a turkey breast!! None left - PANIC!! so I bought some roastbeef instead. I got a ham too, we always have ham at Christmas. However the missing turkey would not leave me alone. Is it really a Christmas dinner without turkey??? This question niggled away at my brain as I shopped. I had to find a turkey breast!!! So I did something that I didn´t want to do, I drove to different supermarkets just to check out their freezers. I finally found one!! A wee 900 gram turkey breast, not much, but at least we will all get a mouthful of the bird to make our Christmas dinner perfect!!

While I was gone Sara and Leah decided to clear up and clean out their rooms.

Sara ironed her clothes and sorted out everything in her room. She started by throwing everything outside her bedroom door, cleaned the room and then she sorted through the pile. Must say she did a good job but I wonder how long it will last, knowing Sara NOT LONG!! Usually a few hours later it´s impossible to see the floor again!

Leah did exactly the same with her room. Everything got taken down so she could clean.

She just piled everything on our bed while she cleaned and organised.

Her wardrobe was in need of help. It looked like a bomb had exploded in there. So out came all the clothes, they got folded and oragnised and now she has a beautiful, organised wardrobe...but for how long?

I was beginning to panic about not having a Christmas tree. We were meant to get it on Saturday but Kristian wasn´t feeling the best so we dropped that idea. I had gone to a few places on Monday evening to see what they had, but they only had small trees, ones that came just above your knee. The good trees were gone!! The kids were also getting rather worried that we wouldn´t have a tree this year.

But Kristian saved the day! Yesterday on the way home from work he called into a place and got the last big tree they had. We are soooo happy to have a tree even if it is an ugly old thing!!

We decorated it last night. It´s amazing what a few lights and a bit of decoration can do for a tree. It now doesn´t look sooooo bad.

Now I have another busy day ahead!! Today is our last shopping day, tomorrow the celebrations begin!! oh I can hardly wait!!!

Christmas holidays!!

...at last, the Christmas holidays are here! Today we stopped school. For the next 12 days I don´t have to get up at 5.45am in the morning!! I can do whatever I want, whenever I want (well, within reason!!) and sleep as long as I want (that´s the joy of having big kids!)

The next few days are all planned out. Tomorrow is clearing out and cleaning up day! Along with the cleaning I have one major goal - to buy a Christmas tree. We were meant to buy it on Saturday but Kristian wasn´t feeling well (let´s blame it all on him!!).I have never been without a Christmas tree this close to Christmas! I can feel the PANIC starting to set in!!

Thursday Leah and I have planned a baking day! NO - IT`S NOT A JOKE!!! We are going to bake lots of different goodies for us to eat over the Christmas period! The Christmas music will be blasting from the CD and we will filling the house with wonderful smells! (Well, at least that´s the plan, lets see how it goes, my plans never seem to work out!)

Yesterday afternoon, Leah and I went to visit my friend Laura and her daughter Mia. It has been months since we last got together. It was sooooo great to see them and catch up with what has been happening in their lives. One big bit of news was the kittens! A few weeks ago they got 2 new kittens. They are just soooo adorable! Leah and I fell for them and they seemed to like us too!

The one jumped up to Leah and fell asleep in her arms and later on in her lap. The other jumped up and fell asleep in my arms. It was sooooo wonderful! It didn´t take much for us to fall in love with them!

An early Christmas....

Every December we try to hold a mini, early Christmas with our friends Jette and Filip. So yesterday afternoon we headed out to visit them.

We exchanged gifts. The gifts we give each other are silly ones, usually from the pound shop, or else from our own cupboards, something we have had that we want rid off.

It was fun exchanging the gifts. Sara got a couple of lamps (Jette`s old lamps) for her room. They are lovely and Sara was all pleased with them.

Andrew got a pair of roller skates! (Filip´s old ones that he hasn´t used in years!) Andrew was all chuffed.

I got a new scarf and Kristian got a Wok, which he quickly gave to me!! (Jette was clearing out her kitchen cupboards. I was over the moon - needed another Wok!) Leah got a DVD....so all in all we did really well.

Jette´s children each got one of Leah´s "old" cuddly bears, a book to share and a couple of cars. They loved them! Jette got a DVD from the pound shop and Filip got a few of Kristians old Top Gear DVDs.

After exchanging gifts there was time for playing

There was also time for chatting and catching up!

And also time for a cuddle!

Unfortunately Kristian got a fever during the evening. His body started to ache and he just looked like he needed to sleep. Jette had also been sick all week, so she also, at times, looked like she needed a bed!

We had planned to make Christmas sweets, see a Christmas film, go out on the sleigh and play a game of cards. We didn´t do any of it. After a delicious dinner we all just lay around the living room talking. We were all tired and had no energy! Around 10.3opm we headed home so Kristian could get to bed. (Poor wee man was just not himself!)

Even though we didn´t do all that we planned, we still had a great evening. Jette and Filip are just great to hang out with!! So down to earth and easy going!

Kristian has now been in bed all day. He thinks he feels a bit better, so hopefully these 24 hours in the warmth with loads of sleep has helped!

Time for an update.....

...Two years ago when I started this blog it was to be my diary. I love to keep a diary about the things I get up to, the thoughts I have etc, but I hate to write. However I do LOVE to type, so having a blog seemed like the perfect solution. These past few weeks I have been getting a little bit lazy with the blog. It´s not because I`m too busy to type, I´m not! It´s like I said - just laziness!

I thought I better update tonight before I forget what I have been up too over the last few days.

Last Friday was our Christmas dinner at work. We had a great night with loads of food. I had been asked to help set the table for dinner, so after work I stayed and got things ready, along with 2 others. We turned the place into a Christmas wonderland with candles, decorations, lights and table settings. It looked really well - (even if I say so myself!!haha)

When we sat down to eat, I misunderstood the menu (and so did a few others) We thought it was a main meal, followed by dessert, so I went up and filled my plate. There was chicken and bacon salad, salmon, prawn mousse, tomatoe salad, a green salad and bread. It tasted soooo good.

I did think it was a bit strange that there were no potatoes or meat, but then again it was actually nice to get something different. I ate my first plate and went up and took another plate. I filled it even more than the first one. When I was one mouthful away from finishing that plate, one of my colleagues stood up and said "Now the main course will be served!" WHAT??!!!!!! I was nearly full!!! hahaha Boy did I struggle through the main course and dessert!!! I think I put 2 kgs on that night!! But it was a great night, filled with a lot of laughter!

On Monday evening I was out eating again. This time I met my "old" friend Genny and we went to our favourite Mexican restaurant. It´s been about 9 months since we last got together! We spent the evening eating from the buffet and having a good long chat! We were the only two in the resturant. I wish I had more money! I would support the local restaurants by going out and eating in them every night of the week!! haha I was so glad I got to see Genny. We had a great evening together!

Over here, Monday night was soooo cold! Genny and I shivered our way home and then realised why we were the only people in the restaurant! We were the only two brave enough to venture out in the cold weather! (others might say we were the only two crazy enough!!)

Tuesday evening we held a Christmas party for our junior club. We had 17 kids between the age of 9-12 years. We started by meeting at 5pm at the church. We ate "Risengrød" (something the Danes love to eat at this time of the year!) It´s just rice pudding with a knob of butter, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Anne made it, and it was delicious! We played a few games before heading out to the bowling centre to end the evening bowling. When the 3 hours were finished, so were we!!!! We had a great night though, and not just us two, the kids enjoyed it too!!

Today (Wednesday) I have been to another concert with Leah´s choir. This time it was just for the parents. We were able to sit and enjoy some coffee, tea or soda, while the girls sang for us. A good way to end the choir season. No more choir till January:-(

Food, fun and fellowship...

On Tuesday my friend Rhona had a birthday! Since I was off on Wednesday we decided to go out and celebrate her birthday. We went for brunch. It was soooo good!! We had delicious food, good fun and loads of things to talk about.

According to Rhona, the coffee was good too, I don´t like the stuff!!! I think we have now found a new place to hang out!

We had a lovely view from where we sat. (Well, when the vans finally moved we had a lovely view!!) It really was a great day out, the time went by too fast! I am now soooo looking forward to going on the pension! I then can hang out like this more often.

Despite the snow.....

....life is good!

I have had a busy but good weekend. Saturday I was out shopping with my friend Audry. A few years ago we started a tradition to go Christmas shopping together. We usually take a day off work, but this time we decided to shop on a Saturday.


We drove to a big shopping centre on the outskirts of Copenhagen. We had a blast! Shops, shops and more shops!! What´s not to like?!! We arrived at 11am (the shops over here open at 10am) and we shopped till 5pm when the shops closed.


While eating lunch we realised that we didn´t have much time left for shopping! Usually the shops close on a Saturday at 4pm, and we had totally forgotten about that! We were totally disappointed until a message came over the loud speaker that the shops were open an extra hour!! What joy! You would have thought someone gave us £100! hahaha


All the Christmas shopping is now nearly done. Only one present left to buy and that´s me all organised! The rest of December can be spent just being cosy.





Sunday afternoon was spent decorating the house. We usually decorate on the 1st December, so the kids were complaining about having no decorations around the place. We got that sorted out on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday evening we went to a concert with Leah´s choir, who were together with the adult Gospel choir. Signe (Kristian´s sister) was the guest singer and Kristian was playing his sax. It was a brilliant concert! Gospel really puts you in a good mood. I was high when I came home, couldn´t get to sleep! The result of that was that I slept in Monday morning. I woke at 6.47am !! I am usually on my way to work by this time! Aaargggghhhhh! Hate when that happens.


A taste of the concert.....

Not again!

.....another week has passed without a word from me! (I am getting really bad at this "diary" update!)

So what has been going on in the Rasmussen household? Let me think....hhhmmm.....I suppose I should begin way back last Sunday. It was there that we had our Christmas Bazar, in church, to raise money to give to a charity that help women who are in an abusive relationship. I had the responsiblity of organising a "fishing" booth. The children could buy a ticket to come and fish up a present. (All the gifts were sponsored by friends and colleagues!) I spent my Saturday packing 50 gifts in, while Kristian made the fishing rods.

The game was a great success! The kids loved it! We raised £50 at our booth!

Monday evening just after I went to bed I was awakened by Leah. She was sick and boy was she sick! She threw up all night! Literally every hour! There was not much sleep got by either of us. In the middle of one of her throwing up fits, Andrew arrived out in the bathroom. He had cramps and diarre! There was suddenly competition for the toilet! haha To top it all off, Sara woke up with fever and a sore throat. I was in no fit state for work so I took the day off. I ended up at the doctors with Sara again. A new course of penicillin was prescribed is now being taken. There is a big improvement!

Last night (Friday) I met up with my "old" friend Rhona and we headed out to a carol service. It was lovely. We sang our hearts out in Danish and English. There are some beautiful Danish carols but I sooo enjoyed when we sang the English carols. It was just a really lovely evening and it was great to catch up with Rhona. When I came home Winnie was here for the evening. It was also lovely to see her too.

Today (Saturday) I have been out with my other "old" friend Audry. Three years ago we started a tradition to go Christmas shopping together, so today was set aside for that. We drove to the outskirts of Copenhagen to a big shopping centre. (Glad to say we got there and home again in one piece! It was me driving and I am not too keen on driving anywhere slightly near Copenhagen! So I am slightly relieved to have a car and a body still in one piece!) The day went too fast! We were there from 11am and leaving at 5pm when the shops closed, yet it just felt like we had been there a couple of hours. Next year we are going to shop on a week day as the shops stay open a little longer!! haha

Below is a clip from the Christmas Bazar. A group of young fellas from the church got together and sang. This was recorded at the rehersal. I think they sound soooo good. So give it up for the newest boy band in Denmark!! haha