Girls are going to school!

Yes, we finally got the word late yesterday that the girls will be attending school in Gilleleje, a town not far from us. I guess the schools have had an unexpected increase in the amount of students in these reception classes, so they didn’t have the resources lined up. Hanna, Eden and I have a meeting at the school this afternoon to get them registered and to meet the teacher and head master. Then, bright and early Monday morning, off they go! Now, the next problem we need to solve is how to get them there! I'm not sure if they will be going by bus or train or what. We still haven't leased a car yet because we were waiting on an answer from the school (hate to get a car if we need to move back to the US!) so I can't drive them. And besides, Andreas would need to take the car to work to cut his commuting time in half. But I'm sure we'll get all the details today. I'm so happy! I was really starting to worry. I'm still a little concerned for Hanna since my home schooling efforts proved to be more than challenging. The long summer has done nothing for her math skills. We should have been practicing flash cards all summer. And she needs to get in to see a doctor here who can get her the meds she was taking for ADD. They help her concentration and focus IMMENSELY. This is another problem that comes with not having their CPR numbers yet, they won't be insured under the state-run health system. In Denmark, if you live here and pay taxes, you'll be insured. No separate health insurance fees have to be paid. But apparently, you also need to have your CPR number first. We might have to get some private health insurance for them until the numbers come.

School

We still have NOT heard anything from the teacher in Gilleleje. So as not to let the girls slip too far out of the loop I've been trying my hand at home schooling. Um, yeah, I couldn't do it on a long term basis. It's kind of fun playing teacher but they don't take it very seriously and get burnt out quickly. I think we got only 4 worksheets done today. Oh well, I'm trying. I hope I can get these girls into school by the end of the week or I'm going to have to send them home. They will have a slow start here the way it is being thrown into the Danish school system. I don't know what else to do. It's stressing me out a bit right now.

Grapes from our greenhouse

Dave, Andreas said he'd stomp on the grapes himself for your homemade wine.

Happy Birthday to Eden!!

Today is Eden's 6th birthday! She has requested that I make a Barbie cake for her. Naturally, I was very excited about the idea. I figured we'd use a bundt pan since it already had a hole in the middle and it would make for a pretty dress bottom. One problem, one cake mix did not grow big enough for a full dress for Barbie. So, we decided to use a round pyrex bowl for one layer and a tube pan for the second layer. We picked the silver white cake recipe and so far the first cake is in the oven. It smells great and the batter tastes great. Can't wait to see how this turns out! Should be fun! I'll also get to use my cake decorating skills with the frosting. Eden picked purple for the dress. I've looked at some examples online so I have some idea what to do. While searching I found out they actually make barbie cake pans. Nice tall pans perfect for a dress. Too bad there is no Micheal's here!

Evening at the park

We have a house

We are all very excited about moving out of this apartment next week. Sounds like Thursday will be the day we get the keys. And our furniture will be here by that time as well. Looking at houses was fun but I'm glad it's over. I'm excited to cook with my own pans and use my own dishes (without cracks and chips) and having more than 3 glasses to drink from is going to be great! I appreciate that we had a roof over our heads the past month and I don't mean to whine constantly about everything that's wrong with this place. The girls will finally be in school and I'll have the house to myself during the day (Emma too). Things are really falling into place. We went out for dinner last night to celebrate. We were going to go Italian but we came upon a Chinese restaurant and ate there instead. It was fantastic! Then, we topped it off with some tiramisu from a small Italian deli just around the corner. One thing I will miss about being in the city is all the fantastic little shops and eateries. The town of Græsted is very quaint and lovely. The main street has 2 "major" grocery stores and a little pizzeria and various other shops. The girls will be able to walk or bike to school. The town is small and situated conveniently among rolling hills and wooded areas. Plenty of horses around so Hanna is thrilled at the prospect of riding lessons. Anyway, that's all for now. Our address will be:
Skovhusvej 35, 3230 Græsted, Denmark

Motherhood

I LOVE my girls and I really enjoy my job as a full time mom, but these days I could reeeeeeeeeeally use a drop in day care. Save 1 day, I've been with the girls every hour of every day since we left and Mama Bear is in need of a break. I'm starting to want a house for different reasons now. School!! The girls can't start until we find a house so we know the location of the school they would attend. Furthermore, we don't have our CPR numbers yet which, I'm told, is a necessity for attending school. You would think it would be easy, that they would just play toys. But fighting is more fun. I'm not a mom, I'm a mediator. And the arguments can be SO STUPID. Who argues over who's Olympic pick is prettier? Or, who farts more? And my all-time favorite, if crack spackle and wing-dang-doodle are swear words. Sometimes it's entertaining just listening to them and their reasoning when it comes to backing up their opinions. Until the screaming outbursts that is. And no one is better than the champion of the world.....Emma. She could be eating breakfast in a certain chair and come lunch time, if you sit in this same chair, eardrums are tested. Or simply being an arm's length away from her is dangerous at times. From out of the blue, for no reason at all, or just to be mean, comes "the slap". I'm still trying to figure out if it's voluntary or involuntary, like a tic, because it has such a robotic quality to it. Here's what I imagine her brain is saying to her body:[Standing...standing...observing...sensing living being approaching...feeling threatened...attackmode...commensing attack...ATTACK...ATTACK...
ATTACK...end attack...look cute as though nothing happened...give evil eye as warning to intruder of personal space that they will get a double dose if they don't back off!...cry if scolded]. Not that she doesn't have a loving side. She does indeed love to snuggle up to you and hog the entire bed (pillow included) when she awakens in the night to discover "I'm not in my bed, what is the meaning of this", gets up and crawls into our bed.