Living at Sævik - Vi såm levvi på Sevvi

Princess is feeding little Prince Charming
as his big sister is watching.

17th of May 2008. You can see three women dressed in National costumes;
Nordlandsbunaden, Solrun in the green version of Trønderbunaden and me in the blue
version of Trønderbudnaden.

Have you seen Calvin and Hobbes? Pinky knows how to make a real Calvin grimace!

... how it was, having small children. I´m a child minder for a wonderful baby boy
and his sweet sister. I just love it! And my children also love it. The photo is taken
on Monday. Lison, Princess and I went for a walk with our friends and Pinky in
the strollers. I just love having the kids here! Lison as well! She is an angel! And
I´m so happy that the children enjoy being here, too! My children are sooo kind
and caring towards their new friends!

This easter Princess got a friend - a boy who is five years older
than her. She cried as he left last Sunday. She was very sad! 

On Monday I told her that his birthday is in April. She decided to
give him a birhday present. She bought candy for him, and she 
also gave him a hand made present.

I wanted to help her writing his name on the envelope, but she
insisted on doing it on her own. It´s the cutest hand written address
I have ever seen. I should have showed you, but unfortunately I
can´t publish his name and address on the Internet. In this photo
you can see the name of the sender on the reverse. Isn´t it cute?
She even wrote the birthday card herself. She told me what to write
on a piece of paper, and then she wrote all letters on the card herself.

I´m sure her friend was happy to receive her parcel. I think he 
understands that this was made with love.

I´m so happy that our kids have good triends!

On Thursday we placed all our shoes on the kitchen floor. 160 pairs, my
oldest son said. He didn´t count Sonjas shoes. 14 feet need a lot of shoes, but
160 is far too much. :-P Then we picked out summer shoes for everybody and
put all the other shoes back in the store room.



Then we put all outdoor clothes on the (clean) kitchen floor and picked out 
the clothes that will fit us this summer. Afterwards I washed winter clothes 
before I put them back in the store room again.  

On Friday my kids had to go by bicycle to school without mittens. I had
washed all mittens and they were WET.... Poor kids. They all survived the
cold bike trip on Friday morning.... :-)

Today we went to a café consert in Namsos.

Namdal symphony orchestra (Namdal Symfoniorkester) played together with young soloists and "100 violins".

My three fiddlers have taken part in the "100 violins" project through their violin education. It was a wonderful experience to see and hear them. Did you find them in this photo? You can also see two of their cousins - Håkon and Isak.

My friend Marianne gave me a challenge: find FOLDER NUMBER 6 in your photo cataloge ("catalogue" if you prefer the English spelling) and pick out PHOTO NUMBER 6. I was also supposed to write the story behind this photo. Well, here it is. It is taken in May 2001. Our oldest son was 23 months, and he had recently become big brother of twins! His mother and father´s attention should be shared with two little creatures, claiming comfort day and night. He was our big boy, but at the same time he needed comfort and care. He was my little assistant as time passed by, giving bottle milk to "Ellolo" as I feeded "Isa". That´s what he called them - Ellolo and Isa. Years have passed by, and now his twin siblings have become his best friends. He is bored when his brother is not at home. I´m so happy that my sons have a brother and that my daughters have a sister! That is a great gift! I think that his looks has changed a lot since he was 23 months. Well, I don´t know who to challenge, but please tell me if you want to give this a try on your blog!

I read a wonderful poem this morning, and I would like to share it with you. First in Norwegian: "Ikke før veven er stanset og skyttelen holdt opp å slå, skal Gud trekke teppet til side og la oss til fulle forstå, hvorfor de mørke tråde så vel som de lyse bånd, var like såre nødvendig fra Mesterens dyktige hånd". I´m so sorry for my poor language skills, which makes this poem lose something in my English translation: "Not before the weaving has stopped and the shuttle has stopped beating, God will draw the curtains back and let us understand why the dark threads as well as the light ribbons were sorely necessary from the hand of our Master". Sometimes I wonder why God gave me my weeknesses, which are too many to count. They are often a great burden for me. I still have to thank him for everything. He did this to save me. He did this to avoid that I shall trust in myself. God did this to make me dependant of his mercy. Everything that happens in my life is a part of His plan to save me!

I´m sure that you think of holocaust as a tragedy for the history of mankind. I watched the movie "Schindler´s list" last christmas, and I was touched by the story of the 6 million Jews that had to die - because they were Jews. Innocent human beings with their own personal dreams and abilities were brutally murdered. We must never forget this! A comment from my dear husband made me think of this theme lately: who has the right to be alive? A lot of human beings are killed today - in Norway in February 2009 - for different reasons. They have never seen the daylight! Their mother and father decided that this child shall not be alive. I understand that being young and pregnant must be a great shock and a great burden! Dreams are broken. Having a child changes every day in your future. You can not do exactly as you please. The child is dependant of you and your care. And I´m not able to understand how it is, having a child with a serious disability. My children are able to run, eat, drink, go to the toilet, talk to me... etc. That is a great gift from God! But - who has the right to decide that an other human being should not be alive? In my opinion, God is the only one to decide! According to Norwegian laws, parents can decide that their child shall not be alive! And this little human being can not complain! In my opinion, every human being has the right to be alive, no matter which abilities you are given! For those who regret an abortion, God is there to comfort you when you ask him for forgiveness! Read Psalms 86,5: "For thou, Lord, [art] good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee". God is ready to forgive!

Yesterday Princess, Pinky and I went to school to spend time with our oldest children and their classmates. They invited parents and siblings to a day in the snow. Well, I´m happy that I was in a good mood yesterday: Pinky cried for hours... Her feet and fingers were cold, but that wasn´t the main problem. The only silence break was when she drank cocoa and ate sausages. I managed to keep my good mood :-P A noisy mother doesn´t make the day brighter... These days Princess has got a good self esteem according to skiing. She went skiing with the pupils and had a very good time! To her, this was a wonderful experience. Tris (me) and Pinky could have had much more fun at home...

Some days ago our princess celebrated her 5th birthday! She had invited some of her good friends, and she had decided what to eat and what to do. She was 100 % satisfied with her birthday party, which had been planned for months. For some reasons she got a lot of pink presents - butterfly wings, jacket, socks, a ring, princess drinking bottle, money, a teddy bear cat and much more girls stuff! The day after, she received a big parcel from Geir and Anita - my brother and his girlfriend - a princess castle. S U C C E S S!

Last Friday 1.st to 4th. grade at Bjørkly school went to Prestvikmyra, a bog area not far from us, to go skating! I also went there with Ingrid, Mathea and Lison. I didn´t bring my skates because I thought it would be enough work for me, keeping Ingrid and Mathea warm and happy. I was right. Ingrid was skating and playing with the other kids, but Mathea... We had a wonderful day, though. Skating on the bog was perfect - roads everywhere and we didn´t have to worry about open channels...

Halvor has been at home this week. Last Thursday he cut his finger with a knife at work. If he does any hard work, his finger starts bleeding. This photo, which was taken yesterday, looks awful, but his finger looks much better today...

Yesterday evening Halvor celebrated his birthday with 17 friends. I made a delicious buffet supper. Afterwards they had coffee and cakes. It was a very nice evening for Halvor, and I am sure his guests also had a good time. Having good christian friends is a great gift! Halvor got very nice presents! The rest of this weekend Halvor and I are home alone!

January and February are two busy months celebrating birthdays here at Sævik. Halvor is first, then Sonja, Ingrid and Mathea. Ellinor took a lot of photos when we were celebrating yesterday, and here are three out of at least fourty :





Number one: Halvor, number two: Anne Randi (my mother) and number three: Elsa and Eirik; parents of Halvor.

We just LOVE fruit! In December we ate 100 kilograms of clementines! In this photo you can see nine out of ten boxes. Right now we eat apples and oranges. I buy fruit very often, and when fruit is cheap, I buy a lot. Apples and oranges keep well in our food cellar. Right now our children eat carrots all of the time. They eat two kilograms of carrots every day! Just like a bunch of rabbits :-)

Today I woke up with a 40 years old man by my side. Well, waking up with him was not different today. Halvor is still young, patient, kind, handsome, fit and powerful. And I am completely objective :-) His birthday will be celebrated with our family today and with good friends on Friday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HALVOR!

This photo was taken on the 28th of June 1997. Marrying Halvor is the smartest thing that I have ever done! We´ve been married for 11,5 years now! In November Halvor one day noticed that his wedding ring was gone! He has been looking for it ever since, but there has been a lot of snow. Right now the snow has melted for the xx time... and he was able to look for the ring again. He didn´t know where he had lost it, but he knew he had worked outside the firm Schenker the day when the ring was gone. The reason why he lost the ring, was that he wore it on the wrong finger. Saturday evening Halvor looked for the ring with my father´s metal detector. And HE FOUND IT! He found it where he had been standing cutting wood - at Schenker! We are so happy that he found his ring. He could have bought a new one, but the old one is the one with the good memories!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him. John 3,16-17.

We wish you all a happy new year! May this new year bring joy, friendship and peace! The salvation of Jesus is enough for everyone of us this year, too. We can face the new year, being sure that we´re safe. Whatever happens, God will be there with us. He knows what´s best for you and me.

Once more we have been celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ by giving each other parcels, eating delicious food and reading the Bible. Jesus Christ is given to us as the greatest gift of all. We have got salvation and everlasting life.

Håvard, Ingrid and Geir Eivind eating turkey. We celebrated christmas with my two brothers and my parents. We were 12 persons gathered in our cozy christmas home - just like last christmas.

American turkey dinner tastes just perfect at christmas. I don´t miss the pork meat that we used to have.

Sonja made a delicious pumpkin pai for us. Yummi!

Before we open the parcels we have to read from the Bible and take photos of the children in front of the christmas tree.

Ellinor drew christmas tree decorations for me this year. Usually we never do like this, but I could not say no as she made these for me. The photo is not sharp, but I guess you can see that she has made this with love.

This is our christmas tree. Green, long needles and not perfect at all. Perfect for us. You can see the charming christmas decorations that Ellinor made for me. My favourite is the red sheep :-)

Uncle Geir got a christmas decoration from one of our kids. Very nice!

Halvor built two ginger bread houses in December. As the days have passed by, the houses have fallen down - with no help from balls, toys or hands. They´ve fallen down by themselves. I said to Halvor that I thought he was educated as a carpenter. He answered: "I usually don´t build houses without nails!" :-D

We celebrated christmas at Bjørkly school on Friday. Ellinor was a shepherd and Elias was one of the wise men - the one with the gold (blue and purple). Johannes was an angel.

On Friday we went to Namsos airport to meet my brother Geir Eivind, who lives in Homborsund in the southern part of Norway with his girlfriend. Ingrid and Mathea wanted to help him, carrying his suitcases...

I´m not ready for christmas yet. I have written the last christmas letters, and I have made lefse and ginger bread... I have three more christmas presents to buy, and I have bought almost all the meat and sweets that we need. I´m sure that we`ll have a wonderful christmas, though I still have a lot to do. Exciting presents, delicious food, friends and family is important. Letting Jesus into our lives is more important. Jesus is the reason why we celebrate. May this christmas not be the time of abundance and materialism. May we take more time to talk about - , sing about - and read about Him, who is our salvation! An eternal saviour is born, and he is mine. Jesus is also yours if you let him in! At this photo you can see the childrens choir "young voices". Our four oldest children sing in this choir, and they love it! The photo is taken on Sunday at the "prayer house" (church) in Fossbrenna.

Saturday Sonja and I went skiing with the kids on the field by our house. It was only a short trip, as Sonja had to do more homework, and I had to write christmas letters :-) but my children had a good time.

Here I am with my five children :-) Mathea doesn´t like skiing, so we had to carry her around :-) She is so spoiled! :-)

The white house in the background belongs to us :-) Our little home!

Ingrid loves to wear pink clothes. This year she has started skiing. Earlier she cried all the time, like Mathea does right now... which means that Mathea in a couple of years will stop crying and go skiing :-)

I must confess that this snow has now soon disappeared. The last days it has been 3-4 degrees celsius. The nature was cold, white and beautiful last Saturday. Now its warmer, dark and wet - and slippery. Today it was dark at 3 PM! Well, I´m still dreaming about a white christmas like this. And the weather forecast gives me a reason to hope for colder days. Today I was scared two times as our car almost slipped off the road when I drove in the forest. Ouch - scary! Snow is better :-)



Mathea is our little princess. It must be wonderful being carried around like this... At least she´s got skis on her feet, though...

Our children love making ginger bread for christmas. Today was the day. These photos are taken as they had just started. Now the kitchen table is full of ginger bread. Yummy! Making ginger bread horses is no tradition, but my mother found a box full of My little Pony cake tins... Normally we make men, women, pigs, christmas trees and angels...