Delightful Denmark!

A quick photo tour. I have a lot I want to write about regarding this trip but it will have to be done in bits and pieces. Here's a sampling:



The boys are standing in a field of rape seed (canola), which is a major source of food grade oil. We were absolutley stunned by the beauty of these fields. The yellow blossoms of the plant stood out in contrast to the surrounding lush green hills and trees.



We drove all day from Stockholm to Koge, Denmark. This was #1 of the 2 bed and breakfasts we had planned to stay at. A retired couple own this home and have opened their doors to guests for the past 5 years. We had a huge upstairs room all to ourselves. We had a typical Danish breakfast and soaked up the delightful conversation with our hosts and one other guest.



This is one of the many fantastic Lego sights to be found in Legoland! Millions of Legos were used to recreate famous places around the world. We saw airports with airplanes actually rolling down the runways, harbors with ships in the waterways, castles, skyscrapers, scenic neighborhoods in Holland and Denmark, etc. etc. All of it was mind-boggling and fascinating, to say the least.



Hubby and the boys (under the blue archway) at the Legoland entrance. It was sunny but the wind was blowing and the air was a frigid 45 degrees. I was only warm when I was carrying a foam cup full of coffee! Thankfully, we checked the weather before we left home and knew it wasn't going to be warm so we were prepared with all our layers of clothing.



Denmark is actually three islands. We crossed a gigantic bridge to get to the middle island. It took us 10 minutes driving 70 mph to get across. We spent a couple hours goofing off in a city called Odense, and we ate at Froggy's Cafe.

Sorry that's all I got time for now. Consider that a little teaser.

Rejoicing Evermore,
Marla

Checking out for awhile

This may be the last post until next week. We're headed off to the Land of Legos, to explore southern Sweden and take a look at the Danish countryside. Can't wait!

The school cookbook, that I have diligently been working on since the beginning of time (so it seems), is finally OUT. Wow, what a relief. Later, I'll post a picture of this baby, that has been in gestation for the past nine months and has finally been delivered. It's a culinary tour of the world and will definitely give me a chance to broaden my cooking horizons. There are a few recipes which I suspect I will never, ever try, like blood pudding, and some other specialties that are just too weird and foreign for my meat and potatoes family!

The past couple weeks have seen me sitting in front of Microsoft Publisher, trying to crank out a digital class yearbook for my son's 4th grade class. I have really enjoyed working on it. Today is the big test though. I'm trying to convert the Publisher document to Adobe Acrobat reader. IF, (and that's a big IF), it works, I'll burn copies of the yearbook onto CD and give each student one. I have never converted anything to the Acrobat reader, and the whole project hangs on this miracle being performed. The yearbook, as it stands at this point, is about 60 MB. So we're transferring it to shrink it and also make it readable for EVERYONE, since supposedly, EVERYONE has access to the Acrobat reader.... I have a list of technical gurus whom I'll be approaching within the next few hours if I don't succeed on my own. (Which is very likely.)

I leave you with this.



Notice how the dog is hanging out of the bun.... Now that's a (Swedish) hot dog!!

Have a great week and remember to
Rejoice Evermore!
Marla

Miscellaneous Musings

Here I sit, coffee cup beside me. I've been thinking about blogging, but thinking about it hasn't got the job done. While I have a few moments, I'll jot down some thoughts.

First, Spring in Sweden is absolutely gloooorious! Enough said.

Today, the boys and I will go get tick shots. Yeah, tick shots. I know about ticks, having grown up in Missouri where they can be a problem, but I've never heard of a tick shot till we moved here. Ticks are pretty bad around here and after the boys have been outside we need to check their little bodies for the disgusting little critters. I hate trying to pull a tick off. Ugh.

I finished reading Cane River. The author, Lalita Tademy, quit her job as vice president of Sun Microsystems to immerse herself in researching her family tree. She then put all her research into the form of historical fiction and she's done a fine job. I could hardly put the book down-- I took it with me everywhere, and I could be found reading when I should have been doing _______________ (fill in the blank with any household chore.) Included in her book are pictures of 4 generations of women, African American women who grew up on plantations in Lousiana as slaves, and who later "grapple with the contradictions of emancipation."

I was particularly interested in a comment relating to the education of children, made by Narcisse, one of the Frenchmen in the book who finally has his first son, born to his white wife. He is excited about teaching his son to hunt and fish, farm and dance, how to live. Narcisse had other children but they were born to a slave. His white child could be openly brought to town, and he looked forward to starting him out with a private tutor.

"Narcisse didn't hold to the notion the carpetbagger government pushed, that all children should attend a public school set up in the parish, regardless of their color, race or previous condition of servitude, mixing indiscriminately. No good could come from that. It was wrongheaded to expect his taxes to pay for children he didn't know and had no responsibility for, whose parents couldn't pay for their education. Everyone should take care of their own. He had engaged tutors for all of his children, white or colored."

Hmmm. Vwery interwesting.....

And yet another very interesting thing to share with you. We receive a weekly newsletter, written in English, from my husband's workplace. On the very back page of the newsletter was an ad describing the Boy Scouts "Lone Scout" program. At the end of the ad was a person's name and phone number to contact for more info. So I called. After I introduced who I was and what I was calling about, this lady began to share with me about the Boy Scout program and casually mentioned that she homeschools! (Jaw hits the floor and makes a thumping sound.) Excitedly, I tell her we are about to begin homeschooling! And she says they use a Christian curriculum... And I'm thinking, Lord, Thank you for intervening in this way and encouraging me with another sister IN SWEDEN who believes in You AND homeschools!!! Now, the bad part. She lives 8 hours away. I might as well be in Texas and she in Missouri. BUT, we traded email and phone numbers and who knows! Maybe we can help each other in some way. Just knowing someone else out there who is homeschooling in this non-homeschooling land is an encouragement to me. Coincidence? I think not.

13 1/2 days of school left and I'm
Rejoicing Evermore!

Marla

"Sometimes while you wait for what you think is better, what is good enough slips away."
--words of wisdom from Philomene, "Cane River"

I suppose I should...

write something here. Let's see if my brain is still in working order or if its out to lunch, like it has been lately....

Our 8 year old joined a Swedish futboll (aka soccer) team. He's the only English speaking boy on the team. Swedes begin to learn English in school at about this age, but they are not confident enough to speak it yet. They had their first soccer game (they call it a "match") last week, which they won. It was quite interesting to see how the Swedish boys treated my son. I was worried that they would ignore him and leave him out, but it was quite the opposite. They passed the ball to him, they celebrated with him when they scored and have attempted to communicate with him. I am pleased with the whole situation.

We ventured out today to the local greenhouse to buy some flowers (white and purple pansies), dandelion killer, garden gloves, top soil, a tomato plant (just for hubby since he's the only one who really likes tomatoes) and several packages of seeds. The boys picked out some things they wanted to grow. ~N~ wanted to try pumpkin seeds. Don't know what we'll do with them all. I thought we'd give them away if we end up with a bunch.

The cookbook project I've been helping with ever since the beginning of the school year is finally reaching its climax. The cookbook will be back from the printer on Tuesday and ready to sell this week. We also have two launch parties scheduled for this week - one for all the sponsors and another at the school in the form of an international dinner for all the parents. I don't think I ever want to be part of a cookbook committee again. This one turned out to be very time intensive and full of assorted problems. What a headache, but I do look forward to seeing the result of our labors.

This month we are excited about our trip to Denmark. We have reservations to stay at 2 bed and breakfasts and spend a couple days at Legoland. Both my boys are nuts about Legos and I'm sure we'll be awestruck by all the fantastic Lego creations in Legoland!



I'm anxious for school to be over and for us to transition into homeschool mode. I simply can't wait. I ordered a copy of "Educating the Whole Hearted Child." I remember first seeing this book at Samantha's house and knew I wanted a copy of it. What a great book! I've been thinking about turning one of our rooms into a "learning room." I haven't figured out how I want to do that yet, but its fun to think about. I feel pretty good about my curriculum choices and will probably order them soon. I wish I had the opportunity to go to these curriculum fairs so I could see the stuff before I buy it. But the internet has been almost just as good, with sample pages to view and comments from experienced homeschoolers abound on the blogs and homeschool review web sites. The boys have 17 1/2 days of school left. Hooray! I can't wait for summer and the chance to unwind with them.

Rejoicing in the Swedish sunshine,
Marla

Jesus, our Redeemer and King...

He who is the Bread of Life began His ministry hungering.
He who is the Water of Life ended His ministry thirsting.
Christ hungered as a man, yet fed the hungry as God.
He was weary, yet He is our rest.
He paid tribute, yet He is the King.
He was called a devil, but He cast out demons.
He prayed, yet He hears prayers.
He wept, and He dries our tears.
He was sold for 30 pieces of silver, yet He redeems sinners.
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
He gave His life, and by dying He destroyed death.

Jesus, a Man of striking contrasts.
Jesus, the Sovereign Lord of the Universe!

Rejoicing in His Name,
Marla