Visit From the South

Friends from Athens, Georgia visiting last week during one of the many Minnesota cold spells this winter!

Stella, Hazel, Halvor, Jack, Daisy, Lyle and Graham

Not everyone can keep their eyes open at this point...it was a late night!

Do you think that 6 kids could all sit still at one time?

The kids went outside on Wednesday night to view the lunar eclipse. I ended up staying out with the girls and Jack while the took turns sledding down the snow piles at the end of our driveway! It was bitterly cold, like -10F at that point in the evening, but they just kept going. They had as much fun as they could in that lack of sledding space and the frigid temps! Ah, the joys of childhood.

Haakon

Haakon sleeping on the couch with Lionel

Such a pretty boy!

Haakon and Graham 12/06

Meet Halvor/Halvar

This lovely feline decided to head North today and live with a bunch of his own kind- Norwegians in St. Cloud. We just got back from Petco in West St. Paul with Halvor/Halvar a 3-year old Norwegian Forest Cat.

He came from Last Hope in Farmington MN- but the foster mom was set up at the West St. Paul Petco today for adpotions. I called her yesterday and we emailed about our interest in him. We've been looking for a Norwegian Forest Cat or Weegie (affectionate nickname for this breed because of their "triangle" shaped face...or is it because "wegi" is in the name Norwegian, now I'm not sure) for quite some time.

When we got him home he was very smelly and had a dingleberry- I found when bathing him. He didn't care to have a bath, yet was still 100X better than our old cat Bob when we had to bathe him after an enema. Then, he let me brush and brush and brush him. He purrrrrrrr-urrrrr-urrrred and rubbed/pushed into his new grooming brush. Now he's cleaning himself right behind me in the chair. He needed to get a ton of mats out and the foster Mom had bathed and brushed his mats when she got him. He'll have several more days of cleaning, brushing and washing to get his coat to that lovely feel and look that Wedgies are know for.


So, now I'm a female in a house with 3 male humans and 2 male felines- Wow!
And, why a Norwegian? I guess because they are so lovely and it's like having something from the old land, though I'm not even one bit Scandanvian!


Oh, and the spelling is still up in the air (as far as I'm concerned). Since he is a Norwegian, Halvor is the proper spelling. However, the name Halvar comes from a book Jack just finished a book called Viki Viking (but the English translation from the German version about a Swedish Viking boy...got that?).


So, Jack's suggestion was Halvar, which is a great name and he gets to take credit for naming him. Chris and I told him that it's so cool to pick out a great name and that will stick with him forever. He'll remember what the day was like, what he liked to do and how he got the name Halvar long after he is grown and Halvar has gone to Valhalla. Well, at least that's what we think, based on our own lives, feeling and memories. Chris' named his cat Fred; as in Fred Flintstone. Well, you can guess our age-range! Yes, The Flintstones, The Brady Bunch and The Six Million Dollar Man have shaped our lives. Graham and Jack's lives are shaped by SpongeBob. So it goes.

Another cold day out there!

Jack is staying home today- both boys are coughing, sneezing and blowing their noses.

I'm trying to ge them to drink some herbal tea to help with their respiratory system, but they have refused so far. I didn't like tea when I was little either. My dad used to make us hot teas with lemon, honey and brandy when we were all stuffed up and sickly. And, I drank it because I knew that it would make me feel better. Ah, the days when you could give your kid alcohol and not ende up in trouble with family protection services!

eBay find!!!!

I have a very famous artise neighbour that has just put on the finale for his major masterpiece. He has used a very symbolic pallet, of mostly green. Very urbane and characteristic of his surroundings.

His work

He has managed to procure the necessary resources to expound on his inital, primative idea. I believe he has reached a new plateau. Time is of the essence~this has taken him days, if not a week to accomplish. Not sure how much higher he should shoot and if he stops at this point, will it sabotage his hopes for taking his work off street? Not sure, but for now I'm supporting him in all his efforts!