Some more about Iceland

My new country is strange. And cool. And always finding new ways to amaze me. I think it is time I started to share some of this amazing weirdness with you poor unfortunate souls who have never been here, or have not had the pleasure to live here year-round...

So when the rest of the world is celebrating Fat Tuesday/Mardis Gras/President´s Day (if you are American) in Iceland, we do things a little differently. On Monday this week (the 7th week before Easter...or whatever....) we eat puffy buns filled with cream and topped with chocolate. They are luscious. Then on Tuesday, we eat nummynummy salty meat and bean soup until we explode. On Wednesday (known in more pious places as Ash Wednesday) little Icelandic children dress up in costumes and go to local business establishments and sing silly songs and get candy...like trick-or-treating on Halloween, without the death and scariness factor.

Elsa dressed up for the first time as a Barcelona FC supporter. She was very cute. Maybe someone in Tumi´s family will finally share his love of the game?

She is sick, which was expected since she has started at a new school with all new germs. We are just trying to delay passing her illness on to her little brother...it will happen soon enough I am sure.

Feverish Elsa snuggled up with Sushi the tiger on the couch. Feels so yucky to be sick!

All of my most favorite people!

Made some blueberry pancakes last weekend for breakfast and Huckleberry Finn enjoyed them on his face and in his mouth.

Bathtime!
Why, yes Mamma; I do enjoy reading. And my sideways hat makes me look so very handsomish...

My menfolk.

She does love that little Sushi tiger!

Finnurface!

The joys of childcare

Today was a big day for our little family. Elsa started at a new playschool, and Finn went to his ´daymamma´for the first time. I think it is a miracle that both kids landed in good child-care situations...let me expand upon the wonderful series of coincidences that led us to this good fortune.

Elsa´s current playschool only has kids up to 2 years old, so she was on the wait list at several ´big kid´schools in the area. A few weeks ago, we got a call from Skerjagarður, a lovely playschool that said they could offer a place to Elsa. We let her current playschool know that she would be leaving, and they said we may need to play for all of February if they didn´t get a child to take her place from a daymamma. A few days passed, and they let me know that they had gotten a kid from somewhere, so Elsa could leave in the middle of the month. That night, I got a call form daymamma down the street saying they had a place for Finn! I hadn´t expected him to find a place until at earliest the summer....Apparently, the little boy who was leaving their place was going to Elsa´s old playschool and filling her old space!!! The childcare ecosystem aligned in such a way that that totally benefited our family. I am happy.

Now we are in an adjustment period. Tumi will go with Elsa the next few days, and I will go with Finn while they get used to being in their new places. I hope they will both be happy...I think we´ve found them good fits.

Cool new video of Elsa and Finn on the piano!

We just had a visit from Ryan and Kyle. Finn taught them how to play football

Elsa showing Martin her favorite videos while Anna and Finn chat together!

See Finn´s new beautiful sweater that Gunnhildur made? Handsome guys!

I showed Elsa how she looked with her glowing suit...this is the face she made knowing how shiny she was in her cool outfit.

Elsa´s friend Moritz came over for dinner!

He´s a virtuoso!

Cheeze ham face.