Full days today

Sidney starts full day school today. For the first two weeks, she has been on a half day schedule to get used to being back in school. She has done well so far, but occasionally could use a nap.

That also means I start full day work schedule today. There are days I could use a nap, too, as you may imagine what it can be like with 20 four-year-olds in the room together.


Our weekend went well, and we spent some time with Jinni again. We went to the candle factory and took a little drive Saturday. We then returned home and cooked an entire dinner on the grill "American Style". We had baby back ribs, corn on the cob, and grilled new potatoes. It was delicious! Here is Sidney eating a leftover rib Sunday.


We also finished celebrating Sidney's birthday Saturday night with a cake and ice cream. As Kimber was offshore for her actual birthday, and the mail sort of lets packages trickle in (Thank You Mr. Gerry and Mrs. Mary Kaye!), the celebration spread itself out over the week.






Here you see Sidney trying on one of her birthday gifts (she loves being a princess fairy), as well as when she saw what mom and dad gave her. She asked for a trampoline and got one, and it fits nicely in our playroom/office.













Our initial plan for the weekend had been to go to Kongeparken, and amusement park south of here. The weather did not hold up for us, and the rain that started last week continued through the weekend. At least the rain led to some spectacular waterfalls on our drive to and from the candle factory!

An appropriate homage

Some close to us know that just before we moved over to Norway, a dear friend of Kimber's was in an accident at his home. "Uncle Buck" was the person that taught Kimber to drive and rescued her many times in her first car when it had mechanical problems. Buck also was the original owner of our '55 Ford Fairlane and helped Kimber's family with their other restorations.

Kimber's folks sent us this article from the Colorado Springs Gazette, and we want to share it with you all. Buck and his wife Margaret are pictured on the right (from a car tour in 1992.)


ROUTE '66
By CARLYN RAY MITCHELL, CARLYN RAY MITCHELL; carlyn.mitchell@gazette.com
Publication: The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Date: Friday, July 17 2009

If a car can be family, this 1966 Pontiac Ventura is like a suave favorite uncle with nary a wrinkle to indicate his years.

But it is a bittersweet truth in the Shaver family that this car underwent an extensive face-lift after a March 30 accident that resulted in the death of the family patriarch, 82-year-old Herbert "Buck" Shaver.

Shaver was in his driveway working on another car when a fire ignited, setting him and the garage that stored the Pontiac on fire. He died a month later.

Shaver's friends and family knew the best way to pay tribute would be to restore the car he purchased new 43 years ago and had kept in mint condition ever since.

"We couldn't fix my dad, so the next thing to do was to fix the car," son Bob Shaver said.

A handful of members of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America's Pikes Peak chapter, Shaver's second family, was chosen for their talents - and love of Buck - to bring the Pontiac back to life.

Its paint was cracked and peeling from the heat of the fire. The windows and door panels were off. The new-car smell that had somehow remained for more than four decades was replaced with the heavy odor of smoke.

"It was pretty bare-bones," Bob Shaver said.

For six weeks, Bob Shaver, Lyle Pierson, Mike Davis, Bob Tittel, Herman Harder, Dan Daily and Harold Naber labored to have the car ready to show at this week's VMCCA Western National Tour, which brings a flood of classic cars to the region.

"Knowing him all these years, he would do anything for anybody in the car hobby," Pierson said. "He did so many cars for me - and engines - that I could never repay him. So I was happy to return the favor in a small way."

Had the group not pitched in, Bob Shaver estimated it would have cost as much as $8,000 for the restoration.

Buck Shaver was a lifelong mechanic who learned the trade while serving in the Philippines during World War II.

After returning to his native Colorado, he and his partner, Grier Manning, opened Shaver & Manning 66, a garage on South Nevada Avenue. Shaver then worked at Perkins Motors from the mid-1960s until his retirement.

"He was probably the best mechanic in the club," Davis said.

On the day of the fire, it is believed Shaver was installing a fuel pump on his son's car when it came in contact with a droplight. Gas squirted on Shaver, and there was a spark, igniting a fire, Bob Shaver said.

Buck's wife, Margaret, pulled off his shirt and called 911 while Buck moved a vehicle from the driveway so a firetruck could get to the blaze.

Buck instructed the firefighters to put out the fire in the garage before cans of paint exploded and sat himself on the gurney when paramedics arrived.

Buck Shaver remained in a medically induced coma through his 64th wedding anniversary a week later before he died of an infection.

Shaver's sons and grandchildren plan to continue displaying the car in Shaver's honor.

"That's part of the family. What do you want them to do with it?" Tittel asked.

Curly Sue?

I decided to put Sidney's hair in curlers last night. As you can tell from the first picture, it was a bit frizzy when I first took it out. I used a little of Kimber's Frizz Control mousse and it calmed down nicely.


Our first week of school went well. Sidney seems to be settling into the class routine. I also am getting used to being in class with a group of 4- and 5-year-olds. They are actually a lot of fun, though it does seem a bit like cat herding at times. I also am working on getting the medical supplies and facilities fixed up, and am enjoying that aspect of the work. This week I will begin doing the baseline assessments for the Reception class.

We attended a barbecue at our pastor's family's farmhouse yesterday. While there was rain most of the time, it was still a lot of fun, and the food was great. Sidney burned lots of energy running around, and everyone sang happy birthday as well. We roasted marshmallows and enjoyed the scenery in between rainstorms.


Sidney attended a birthday party this afternoon for a little girl from her class. The parents did a great job keeping 10 four-year-olds engaged and uninjured for two hours. We all had great fun, and it was nice to meet some of the parents I had not yet met.

Kimber is offshore until tomorrow, so we will be waiting to celebrate Sidney's 4th birthday until she returns. We plan on visiting Kongeparken (King's Park) next weekend. It is an amusement park, and seems to have several things that will work for Sidney. Jinni is here again and will be joining us. (Jinni also brought us jalapenos and serrano chilis - yes!)

First Day of School

Yesterday was Sidney's first day of school. I also started work at her school, though the student I will work with will not be there until late September. By the way, as I am writing this at 7:30 a.m. local time in Norway, it is actually published on "U.S." time, so Sidney did not start school on Sunday, as the dateline may lead you to believe.


We gave Sidney a "First Day of School" present - a Disney princess alarm clock. Here you see her turning it off after it went off. She had actually gotten up fifteen minutes earlier, but after realizing her new alarm clock hadn't gone off yet, insisted on going back to bed until it did.


After a healthy bowl of granola for breakfast (she wanted chocolate cereal, but I convinced her otherwise), she got dressed for school. We ordered her uniforms from Land's End and had a friend/co-worker of Kimber's bring them over, but they didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon. We had some of her uniform shirts we purchased last year, as well as her "tie" (which is actually on an elastic band), so we made do with a pair of navy blue pants for the day. She was not the only kid "out of uniform" as many other parents are still trying to get things ready for the year.


She was happy to see her friends again after the summer, and there was an immediate ear-piercing squeal when the girls all got together again. Sidney did well in class, but was a little disappointed she didn't get to go to childcare afterward and had to go home with me.

My day was pretty good as well, and the kids all seem to do pretty well with a male in the classroom. One thing that happened that I thought was pretty funny is that we have twin boys in the classes (one in my class and one in Sidney's.) I didn't realize it, but when the classes were all lined up beside each other, I was trying to get the one from Sindey's class to come over to my line. He kept telling me "But I'm (name here)", and I just thought I was mistaken on the name I was calling him. I figured it out shortly thereafter, and now have an identifying mark on my student so I can recognize him.

On a much sadder not, I received information this morning that my grandmother passed away last night. She had recently had some serious health issues, and things went down hill quickly starting last weekend. She died peacefully with her children, other family and her pastor at her bedside. She was 86 years old, and was an awesome person. Kimber, Sidney and I loved her very much, and will miss her greatly. She was a strong and faithful Christian and I know she is resting at peace with the Lord now.


As ex-pats, this is one of the times that is most difficult. When family emergencies occur back in the States, it is not as simple as just getting a plane ticket and flying back to be there. The one thing I can take solace in is that Granny believed very much in the spirit, and her spirit knows how much I cared for her and doesn't need me there to be with her body.

We love you, G.G.

Weekend at the museums

We finally visited some of the museums in Stavanger and were quite surprised at the quality of the exhibits. Stavanger is, after all, a relatively small town. I would say many of the exhibits were on par with, if not better than, some of the ones Sidney and I saw in Oslo. The museums were located in historic buildings, for the most part.

We visited the Petroleum Museum when we came for our house hunting trip back in March. There are several other museums, however, so we decided to do a single day ticket, which allowed us entry into up to five of them for a single price. We started with the Stavanger Museum, which is kind of a catch-all museum. It has animal and human skeletons, taxidermy of various animals and birds, information and displays on Stavanger history, and a special exhibit on animal behavior. The last item was a bit odd, as it discussed homosexuality in the animal kingdom. We, um... learned more than we needed to know, and we will leave it at that. I was a bit surprised that as much influence as WWII had on Norway that there wasn't much information at all on it in this museum.

Our next museum was the shipping museum. Stavanger has had five major "industries". Religion, while not really an industry, was the major draw to Stavanger when it was initially founded around the cathedral around 1000. Herring became the next major industry in the 1800's, then sardines took over when the herring disappeared. Sardines then disappeared, and oil became the big thing in the late 1970's to the present. The shipping industry has played a big part in the other four. We actually saw a really cool picture of rigs being built in the 80's where our apartment is now.


We then headed to the canning museum, which is set up in, what else, but an old cannery! There were displays of all parts of the canning process, as well as the making of "fish balls". They still do demonstrations and make fish balls a couple of times a week. I got Sidney a can of sardines here, and she loved them. She also enjoyed playing with the little plastic sardines that are used to display the process (the ones in the picture are plastic, not real!)


Our final museum was the Children's Museum. This was obviously Sidney's favorite. In addition to having displays of toys and other items from childhood, there are displays and toys with which kids can play. It is basically a free-for-all for the kids, and most parents just take a seat and let their kids have the run of the place. Sidney is seen here in the "girl's room" exhibit.





Kimber did a really nice job on Sidney's hair yesterday for church. Sidney wanted a French braid with a red bow, and Kimber was able to oblige. Also included is a picture of Sidney from the previous Sunday before church, and a couple of other gratuitous Sidney pictures.

We had a more relaxing Sunday, which (after church) included a nice bike ride. We stopped at a 4-H facility which has a lot of farm animals for kids to look at and pet. Sidney wanted to ride the pony, but he needed a break and we didn't want to wait around. It is close by, so we will visit again soon. We also stopped and picked raspberries along the roadside. These plants were in the sun, so they are getting close to being done for the year, but we still got about a cup to bring home in addition to what we ate. They will go into a nice smoothie or milkshake soon.




Sunrise was spectacular this morning. I thought I might share it with you.

As we approach 500 hits since I began keeping track about a month ago, I am happy to see that friends and others from all over the world have viewed our blog. It makes us happy and gives us a connection to you all that we can physically see on our map. We are also happy to see that we have had hits from five continents. If you know anyone that may have any interest in what we are doing here, you are more than welcome to share the blog address with them. Specifically, if you know anyone in Australia or Antarctica, it would be really cool to have hits from all seven continents!

A little "normalcy"

Our lives slowed a little this week, as we are home and trying to get back to the normal routine. Adding to the "normalcy" is the fact that Sidney is in Vacation Bible School this week from 9-12 every day. It is at the other international school, and there are a lot of Americans and Brits, as the Bible school is done in English. She gets to play with other kids her age, and it also is a nice prep for getting her ready for her regular school in a couple of weeks.

We also just finished ordering her uniforms for school. We ordered from Land's End and one of Kimber's friends is bringing them over just before school starts. Sidney will be pretty cute in a little school uniform, so we will include some pictures.

Finally, Sidney and I got our visas yesterday (after four months!) We still have to get our "person numbers", which are the Norwegian equivalent to a social security number, and that should take about one more month. The good news is I can start work now that I have my visa. I just can't get paid until I have my person number.