Two Years Old Today!

Celebrating Harald's 2nd birthday this morning. Celebrations will continue tonight and on Saturday.

Harald is a little "livsnjutare" (enjoying life), especially food and drink :)

Our all-inclusive holiday last autumn was a hit; unlimited access to fruit (melon), ice cream and hot dogs!

Expert on smart tools already

Happy despite completely spotty from chicken pox

Simply happy most of the time (this was before his very overdue haircut)!

Showing his fashion sense (and his big belly...)

With bestie E.

Thursday in September

Almost a month since I last wrote. What have we been up to?

• Isolde started school again. She's in the same class as little friendbours V. and E., which is very nice and convenient for drop-offs and pick-ups but also has its disadvantage, e.g if one or two of the others get picked up early but not Isolde, but that's part of learning how to deal with life I guess. Isolde likes school and has fun there but it is certainly not the super-positive attitude that we had last autumn (guess the novelty has wore off). In the morning she says she doesn't want to go but once we're on the way she's usually excited...until we reach the classroom and she doesn't want to let go and is sometimes upset (though sometimes "crocodile tears") but usually accepts to go to her teacher's arms, albeit a bit reluctantly. If E. is upset, Isolde will also start crying, or vice versa, as they trigger each other. As I said she seems to have fun and be content once there but in the morning I think that she in that moment prefers to stay on the comfy couch and watching telly. And not having to get dressed. Our little lazy girl :)

Isolde's classroom. To the left of this picture they have a playhouse and some more toys.

• It took Harald about three weeks or so to get used to his new daily routine at the Pas à pas crèche. After about three weeks he caught a cold and was home for little over a week. The last two days before he got sick was the first days that he didn't cry when we dropped him off, but after that week away I thought we would be back to square one. But it seems that he has actually missed them and he wanted to go to one of the teachers right away and he put his head on her shoulder and cuddled for a long time. So this was really a sign that he's really happy there and also a good "grade" for them. There's such a good atmosphere there. When I dropped Harald off Wednesday this week they were playing the guitar and singing and I just wanted to stay there instead of going to work!
• We have done some gardening, even though most weekends and evenings we have priorised other things. We have tried to get rid of some persistent weed (dandellion type) in the grass, the environmentally-friendly way, and sown new grass, but now we'll have to buy some chemicals. I have also continued the weeding of the flower beds that my mum started when she was here, and we have also evened out some parts of the grass both on the front and back of the house by putting new soil and sown grass.
• I started studying French - two hours twice per week during work hours, one of the perks of working for the European Commission.
• We tried online food shopping from Colruyt and we will probably continue this habit, if not every week but every other, with the usual complimentary shopping from the smaller supermarkets in the neighbourhood. Colruyt is a discount supermarket that is not really a great shopping experience if you actually go there - reminded me of Ö&B/Överskottsbolaget in Sweden - but in terms of the produce and products it sells it is very good. It has a very large range of organic products and Colruyt also has another supermarket, BioPlanet, that only sells bioproducts.

• We bought a new table for the living room. You may remember that our old one broke... We tried to find another table we liked but in the end we bought one almost exactly the same as our old glass table, only slightly smaller. We also bought a new carpet for the kids' room. As always, Ikea is the place to go. Well, not the table as that is from Habitat.

• We had a crayfish party together with the extended friendbour circle, including also the family we rented the flat from our first year in Brussels, who are now back in town. We ate crayfish for lunch and then had a barbeque in the evening. We actually got a babysitter to entertain the kids in the evening so we could actually have a sit-down dinner. Worked pretty well even though you are not completely off duty since they are still in the house.

• What else? We celebrated V's third birthday and Ellna's first, and their dad turned 40. We tried to take advantage of the mild September evenings before it starts getting dark too early (though most of the time, September has been chillier than last year, but better than August) by taking walks in our lovely neighbourhood. We also visited one of those indoor playgrounds for children for the first time. We were there early so we had the place almost to ourselves. Only bad thing was that we got some sort of stomach bug but it could also have been the lunch at Pizza Hut afterwards... We made a visit to the Natural History Museum. Last week we went to three different playgrounds in the same day. You have to make the most of the weekends, especially when the weather is nice!

Pajama walk

Little palaeontologists in action

• Peter has gone climbing twice with the husband of a colleague of mine (they came to our drink in March) and the plan is that they will go regularly. After the first session Peter's climbing shoes got mysteriously missing - we think we must have thrown them out with the rubbish, possibly with Harald's help... but luckily they were too tight and he needed new ones anyway. By funny coincidence my colleague's husband, whose name is also Peter, also went to Essex university like my Peter (he did a one-year Master's there) and it was there both of them tried climbing for the first time (and my Peter hasn't really climbed since then). Both Peters have also spent a long time at home with their children (their daughter is around the same age as Isolde) and the other Peter works 80% and is also the one who usually picks from crèche/school. We're also going to try to get the whole families together soon.
• Oh, and there was the Swedish election of course. There is so much I would like to write about it but I haven't had time to really sit down and have a serious think. For now, I will only write that despite the disappointment of the success of the Sweden Democrats that of course bedimmed the evening, Petra and I had a good time at the election coverage event organised by the group Svenskar i Bryssel.

Summer in Sweden in Bullets

• one tic (Harald)
• two wasp stings (Isolde)
• many, many mosquito bites (Peter, Isolde)
• temperature in the lake: 26
• sleeping temperature: 27
• 40 mm rain in one night during one of the many thunder storms of the hot summer
• one child-free evening (well, Peter had two more with friends, but I also had the ten days in Brussels on my own before coming to Sweden plus one evening in Stockholm)
• 2 pair of shoes purchased, otherwise no shopping unfortunately (but Peter bought some running shoes and I had made some online shopping for the children that was delivered as we arrived and also bought a few further items for the kids, including books)
• 25+ friends plus family and relatives seen
• one art exhibition
• one climber in the family (Harald) and one talker (Isolde - no stop to it sometimes!)
• so many, many laughs when reading old "letter books" between my childhood friends (still my friends) and me after I had cleaned out the my part of the attic at my parents (so many funny memorabilia discovered!)
• one doll and one doll bed as well as lots of doll clothes and other little toys moved from my old attic to Brussels
• one wedding - they sort of eloped but we were able to surprise them with a little "honeymoon package" in their hotel and we continued the celebrations when they arrived home!
• tons of fruit and berries in Harald's tummy
• one work badge returned (goodbyes saved for later), as I resigned from job in Sweden
• flat in Sweden sublet, so don't have to worry about that for a while
• two vaccination shots (Harald both)
• one visit to the child health centre for 18-month check-up (Harald) and doctor's appointments (ear problem for Peter and routine check-up for me)
• three babies on the way among friends in the next few months
• three haircuts (all except Isolde - though Harald's was a homemade, improvised one)
• 20+ swims from the jetty to the raft (Isolde with one or two parents)
• two new Marabou chocolate flavours tried (Bisquit and Oreos)
• one batch of new potatoes harvested in grandpa's greenhouse (Isolde)
• some not so good karaoke singing (me)
• swimming in three lakes and the sea
• one day of work, as I was called in for some meetings
• one visit to Tom Tits science museum with grandma (Isolde)
• two big bags of random stuff we cannot find in Brussels purchased, ranging from minipacks of raisins to dishcloths
• zero episodes of Midsumer Murders watched and not a single movie either
• four summer knees and many bruises and scratches (the kids), just the way it should be! And summer feet!
• hours and hours of play with the neighbour girl at mormor and morfar's (Isolde)
• and much, much more!

Harald 18 Months!

Already one and a half years old, our little rascal!

This marks the return of the blog! I have a few posts planned: a recap of our life over the last few months, our summer holiday in Sweden and a "Harald report" that is well overdue. Please check back here in a few days!

March Points in April

Oops, over a month since I last wrote. Time sure flies. Will try to sum up what has happened this past month.

• We have had several instances of very nice weather. A weekend of 20 degrees a few weeks ago and then again this whole week. I'm very envious of Peter who is not working and is free to spend all day outside if he wants to. The kids seem to enjoy all the time outdoors too, and not having to wear a jacket.

  

  Harald at our local playground

Nature's beauty

• Peter's sister with family visited in mid-March (unfortunately it was pretty cold on the Saturday but Sunday was pretty nice). It was the first time they visited us (not Brussels though) so it was nice to show them our home here and our neighbourhood. Isolde and cousin Olivia (2 years old) played really well together, and Harald was almost keeping up with their pace (it will be fun to see all three of them play together in the summer when Harald is a bit older).

  

  Three cousins and little artists

In March we made several visits to Parc Malou playground with the neighbours and also hung out at each other's place, including tapas lunch at their place and waffles at ours. P. and I also try to take the metro home from work together (in the morning she leaves earlier than me as I drop off Isolde at school).

Hanging with the neighbours in Parc Malou



Parc Malou



Buddies

Waffles!

Our get-to-know-new-people drink on 8 March was a success. I think we were 22 adults and 12 children (under the age of four) in the end. It looked like people were enjoying themselves and I have played family match-maker following the event. I took some pictures with the regular camera (all photos in this post are with the iPhone) but haven't not uploaded them yet.

I went on an overnight work trip to Sweden and there was no storms or other mishaps this time! That is fortunate because otherwise I'm not sure the Commissioner would want to travel with me again! We stayed at a beautiful hotel in Uppsala that I can really recommend. Very nice name too ;)

My room had a cosy window niche with views of Uppsala cathedral

Peter attended a job hunting seminar the Commission organises for spouses and met some new people at the same time. If we stay here after this year, which we hope to do, he will need to find a job here (but working remotely for his present employer could also be an option). I had the day off to take care of Harald and I chose a day of beautiful weather with 20 degrees - the next day it was miserable and raining!

Magnolia blossom on my day off

Our flat in Sweden is free now from April and we're looking for a new tenant in case anyone is interested?!

My mother visited the very last weekend of March. My aunt was supposed to come along but unfortunately she has problems with her back and needs surgery and had to cancel. Hopefully she can visit in the autumn instead. My mum arrived on Thursday evening (a bit delayed after having been rebooked via Copenhagen) and Friday she was home with Peter and the kids (I had to work unfortunately), and while Peter took Harald for his weekly swimming session she baked cinnamon buns with Isolde. Isolde had been talking about baking with grandma for weeks, so she was very happy. They also made some Easter crafts and went to the playground. Saturday we went to Gent, a town about an hour's drive from Brussels. It was a lovely day weatherwise so perfect for an excursion. We had lunch outdoors at one of the restaurants in the square by Saint Bavo cathedral. Sunday we checked out Bois de la Cambre, another big park in Brussels, and then spent the rest of the day in our regular haunt Parc Malou where we were also joined by the neighbours.

 

Story time with mormor in the balcony



Pretty canals and houses in Gent



More houses along canals



A bottle in a barrel of ice can be lots of fun!

Isolde went to her first proper birthday party last month! She has of course celebrated little friends' birthdays before but I mean the first real kid party where she's invited and parents are only invited as chaperones really. Her classmate Félix had invited Isolde and one other girl from the class. Félix's mother tried to do a few games with them - and I was surprised that Isolde accepted to be blindfolded for one of them! - but mostly they just wanted to play freely. Isolde lasted about 75 minutes and then she wanted to go home :)  I'm really happy she was invited and I hope to organise a playdate or get-together again soon. Félix's parents seem very nice, and it would be good to know some Belgians as well (the father is Belgian and the mothre German but moved her as a child or teenager).

We were thinking of booking some holiday activities, so-called stages, for Isolde for next week, the first week of the Easter holiday, in order to try what it is like as we will probably need it during the summer when school's out (mainly August as we'll be in Sweden in July - school starts again in September) and Peter will have started working. However, in the end we thought about it a bit late and the most obvious one, which is held at Isolde's school (which I just found out about actually), was fully booked. So she will stay home with Peter and they will have to think of some activities on their own. 

 

Last time I wrote that we were going to do a daytrip on one of my days off, but we ended up having colds all of us so we stayed at home and also missed a colleague's carnival party. We did pop into our neighbours for their "neighbours' fika" for their friends living in (or soon moving into) our building or in the neighbourhood. Now we have at least been to Gent but we still want to go a bit further away and stay overnight somewhere. Top three on our list I think is the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Haarlem and the Hague), Luxembourg and Champagne in France. And it looks like we will be doing a roadtrip to Münich in Germany with our neighbours over the Ascension weekend at the end of May.

Harald is completely CRAZY about computers and he has already broken the screen of Peter's work laptop and both iPad screens, one of which had to be fixed but the other one is just a crack underneath the glass in one corner. He gets absolutely miserable if he can't play with them. It is annoying and cute at the same time. He also really likes to help out with the cleaning :)

Favourite toy

My friend H. who I actually met for the first time here in Brussels almost 12 years ago was here for a work trip again and we went back to the pub where we met!

Lately Isolde has not wanted me to leave when I drop her off at school in the morning, but at the same time she is very happy about going to school while we are still at home in the morning and also on the way there, and everyday she tells me "it is fun in school, mummy", so I assume it is just a matter of missing me and finding it a bit difficult to say bye, even if it is just for a few hours. She's been in a very cuddly mood lately and telling me she loves me. They have a substitute teacher right now as well, who seems to be very good, but she doesn't help the children to stand in the window to wave to the parents like the regular teacher used to do. However, this week Isolde has been Miss Mischief at home and has also had trouble sleeping (I think it is partly growing pains), but she doesn't mind me leaving her at school in the morning. Maybe she's tired of us and just happy to be away from us parents for a few hours, these parents who try to rule over her and tell what she can and can't do! :)

Bois de la Cambre

Finishing with a picture of Harald and me!

Promenade Verte

February Points

• Last days of February! It already feels like spring in Brussels (and a few days ago we had 12-13 degrees even) and when March comes it will be spring for real! I would have liked a bit more winter, at least a few days of snow, but otherwise I like living in a place with a bit milder climate than Stockholm.  And both the autumn and winter have been milder and sunnier and less rainy than normal Brussels weather, as I understand (and remember from my internship days here in 2002/2003).
• Harald turned ONE this month!  Poor Harald didn't get much of a celebration on his birthday except for brief singing in the morning and a few presents at night, but Harald himself didn't really care :)  We celebrated his birthday again last weekend when farmor & farfar (Peter's parents) visited and will do the same when my mum and my aunt visit at the end of March. When Isolde turned 1 and also 2 we had big birthday parties to which we invited many friends with or without children, but here we don't know that many people yet, and our main set of friends here were both away around Harald's birthday (and afterwards the kids have had colds, and the time passed). So he will get his big party next year instead! 
• Speaking of friends, we have invited friends, colleagues and acquaintances to a drink at our place next weekend.  We have asked each guest to bring with them another friend/family, as a way to get to know more people.  It is not mandatory of course but it would be fun to meet new people and it looks like most people liked our idea!

• We have booked two sets of plane tickets to Sweden, first over Easter when we will be in Sweden 11-21 April, and then for a weekend in May, 22-25th, when my mum turns 60 (22nd). We are also going to book tickets for the summer soon - I think we will spend four weeks in Sweden, probably 7 July - 1 August, give or take a few days.
• Peter has done EXTENSIVE research on cars but we have not made any definite decisions yet, and at the moment it looks like we will wait and see whether Peter would get a company car with his new job (which he will start looking for soon), as it seems like a rather common benefit in Belgium. And even if he doesn't, by then a few new models will have come out which may be worth waiting for.
• Harald is now enrolled at the crèche that we visited and I wrote about earlier, and will start on 11 August. It seems very good and they actually seem to go outside even in the winter, which is not very common in this country. And guess what, our neighbour's little girl E. will start there in September (and her brother V. will go to Isolde's school but not in the same class)!
• We are looking forward to having Peter's sister and family here for the first time in a few weeks' time.  Two weeks later my mum and aunt come, and two weeks after that we go to Sweden for Easter.  So a lot of family time coming up! Two friends are also coming again for work in March and will either stay the night with us or at least meet up for dinner, but one of them I might miss, as I may have to go to Sweden for work on that particular day.
• Tomorrow I have the day off. Originally we planned to go somewhere for an overnight stay (around 2 hours away is France, Luxembourg and Germany and Netherlands is even closer), but now Peter also has the cold Isolde had last week and Harald has had this week, so we have decided just to do some sightseeing in Brussels tomorrow and just do a daytrip somewhere nearby (on hour's drive at the most) on Saturday. It is so nice with an extra day to the weekend, especially since I have been working a lot lately.
• This weekend we also have some social activities to look forward to. We are invited to a colleague's carnival* lunch (she is Swedish and her sambo Portuguese and they have 2-year-old son) on Sunday, and after that we go directly to P & O's neighbours' coffee. As you know, they live in our building (and helped us found our flat) and now another family(Swedish-Welsh) they know are going to move in here too, and they have two other friends who live just around the corner.
• Isolde has already celebrated carnival at school this week but like Halloween time she only wanted to wear her costume for a minute. For that reason we only got her a very simple costume - a leopard mask - and she also wore a tiger t-shirt we already had at home. When we arrived to school and she saw all her little friends in their costumes she wanted to put the mask on, but just as quickly she wanted to take it off and she got a bit upset and didn't really believe me or her teacher that she didn't have to wear it if she didn't want to. I don't know if she wore it later - at Halloween she actually did wear her sceleton costume later in the day, at least long enough for photos - but she wanted to bring it again the next day. But in general, even though she's starting to get into dress-up game, she doesn't see the purpose of it, except for playing. Like us parents I guess who like dressing up for a dinner or party, but are not particularly fond of costumes or fancy dress/masquerade.
• I can't remember if I have mentioned it before, but since a couple of months back we are subscribing to the same "grocery bag"/"food bag" service we had in Sweden. It's the same recipes but here in Belgium it is called Smartmat instead of Middagsfrid. The produce is slightly better in Sweden but we're still really happy with it here, and since a few weeks back we do all vegetarian every other week.
• Have a great Friday and weekend!

* Celebration of the start of Lent. The Swedish equivalent is Shrove Tuesday when we eat semlor, but that is a very modest celebration compared to carnival.

Happy Birthday Harald!

This little charmtroll turns ONE today!

A whole year has passed since he surprised by arriving one month early!  This wonderful little person who gives us, his parents and sister, so much love and joy.  We love you so much!

Our little walker!

Thursday Again

Suddenly two weeks have passed since my last post (that is starting to sound familiar...). I'm quite busy at work at the moment and I don't have much free time to blog there ha ha :) Anyway, here's a recap:

• Our dear friends Jenny, Mauro & Leah as well as Maria & Daniel visited us for a long weekend in the middle of January. It was especially wonderful to have Jenny and her family here as they live in Brazil and don't come to Europe that often but this time they are in Sweden for three months and thus had time for a trip to Belgium as well (and we met them briefly in Sweden at Christmas). Isolde and Leah (20 months old) fought about toys from time to time but most of the time they really enjoyed each other's company. 

Isolde wasn't too keen to let Leah try her bike

Nice lunch at one of our favourite brasseries (since it has both an indoor play area and a playground outside) while two out of three children were napping.

• We were invited to a raclette dinner at our friends and neighbours P & O but they couldn't find the raclette :) Fortunately the food was still delicious and the company a pleasure as always. I'm so glad they are our neighbours!  At the moment they are in Sweden for a couple of weeks and we miss them!
• The following day (Sunday) O. and Peter went to the annual (?) Brussels car show and spent nine (!) hours there. We have the opportunity to buy a car VAT free here in Belgium and many auto dealers also offer "diplomatic discounts" and we want to take advantage of this of course. Peter is now doing very serious research with comparisons in excel and what not so it will be a well-informed decision once we take it. We will sell our current car once we have received the new one, no need for two cars! At the moment we are learning towards BMW, Volvo and Volkswagen Passat (our current car)  but we're also looking into SUVs or other cars that can take 7 passengers, which would be useful when we have visitors here in Belgium. 
• I celebrated my 38th (yikes!) birthday last week. It was a Tuesday and a work day (I wish birthdays were always a day off!) but we had a dinner (and overnight) guest actually! My cousin Fredrik was in the country for work (he has a new job since a few months back which usually takes him to Zeebrugge near the coast) and decided to come a day early to celebrate my birthday and see where we live, so that was nice. 

Cake from one of the local bakeries.

• The day before my birthday my friend and former colleague Mette was in town for work and came over for dinner. She's coming back in March and then we'll probably go out for dinner instead. Last week was a week when I was going to be away on a work trip in the second half of the week and Peter would be alone with the kids for two days, including three evenings, and I felt he didn't need an extra evening on his own on top of that. 
• The work trip was my second to Sweden since I started in September (and next one might be in March if it happens) but this one involved much more planning and preparation on my part as well as active participation by me during the actual visit.  We had quite a hectic meeting agenda but I had one free evening that I spent with a group of friends at one of the newer restaurants in town, Nosh & Chow.  I can really recommend it, both for the food and the atmosphere including the decor. 

• While in Sweden I just had to have a semla of course, and I had it at one of the new cafées in our old neighbourhood.

Semla at Karla café

• I caught a cold just before heading to Sweden unfortunately.  It wasn't that bad during my two days in Stockholm but then at the weekend my nose was pretty clogged up and on Monday I stayed home to recuperate with the result that on Tuesday I was much better.  I'm glad I didn't get the cough that I usually get when I have a cold.  Perhaps the higher humidity in Belgium helps?
• The day after returning from Sweden we attended our friend's Chris & Jacqui's daughter Emilie's baptism at their local (Catholic) church (where Jacqui also sings in the choir and lowers the average of the choir with about half..).  It was a nice little service followed by champagne, tea and cakes at their house. 

I like that they invite the children to be a part of, or at least come closer during, the ceremony.

• As for the children, Harald has started walking!  He prefers to crawl still but he walks more and more and also at his own initiative to get to one place to the other. 

• It looks like we have secured a place at a crèche (nursery) for Harald from July!  We will visit on Monday so I will know more then.  But it sounds like a good place (comes with recommendations) - it is just next to Isolde's school and the staff speaks English and one of them even Swedish! 
• What else? Isolde had a haircut (much needed as it was getting long and matted), we got a new fridge/freezer as the old one was leaking and we're very happy to have a cleaning lady who comes once a week (she isn't perhaps as thorough as I would want her to be but she's a nice girl, and most importantly, we don't need to quarrel (as much) over cleaning.

At the hairdresser

The result!

December Last

Thursday is bullet point day and since I haven't done one for a while I thought I'd restart this Thursday theme today.  I haven't blogged about our two weeks in Sweden over the holidays yet, nor about the weeks leading up to Christmas.  It is perhaps a bit overdue and not in anyone's interest to read about Advent and Christmas now, but for my own record here are some pics from December.

• My mum visited in early December (that weekend I got stuck in Copenhagen Thursday to Friday) and she performed her grandmother duties very well and baked both ginger cookies and saffron buns with Isolde (and I helped a little too). 

 

I brought some of the saffrons bun to work for the Christmas drink and another colleague made very delicious salmon and caviar treats = the Swedish contribution

 

• I think I mentioned this in a previous Thursday post but without any photos, so here is one of perhaps the cosiest holidays/celebrations of them all, Saint Lucia.  In Sweden we very rarely every go to church, except for weddings, christenings and funerals, and the occasional Advent or Christmas service, but when living abroad the church becomes a very important meeting place, and something that provides a sense of community and contributes to continuity of Swedish customs and cultural habits, whether or not you are a faithful believer or not.  Peter has started going to the church's playgroups, mainly with Harald on Tuesdays but sometimes also on Wednesdays with both children.

Saint Lucia with the children's choir at the Swedish Church in Brussels

• I participated in Emma's Christmas Gift Exchange again this year, and this year my Secret Santa was Petchie!  I don't know if Emma planned it this way, since she knows we are neighbours here in Brussels, or if it was just a happy coincidence :)  And I sent my gift to Emma - and it wasn't that secret for natural reasons since she organises the draw.  Well, the gift was a secret but she knew it would be from me :)  I hope she liked her present (this reminds me that I have to double-check that she received it)!

Petchie-Santa brought me a note book and a range of different cards.  She had read my letter to Santa carefully!  (Sorry about the feet in the picture!)

• In Sweden the tradition is to decorate the Christmas tree on the 23rd of December, just the day before Christmas (Christmas Eve being the most important day of Christmas in Sweden), but since we knew we were not going to stay in Belgium over the holidays, we got a tree already the second week of December so we could get into the Christmas mood (the anticipation of Christmas is the best part after all). I'm quite minimalist in terms of Christmas ornaments (the opposite of Annika haha), and we didn't bring all our Christmas stuff to Belgium anyway (though Peter brought a few additional baubles for the tree when he went home that same weekend my mum was here) so in addition to the tree we only had a few other decorations, mainly made by Isolde at school.
  

  

  A bit funny-looking, at least the top part, but it was good enough for us.

 

I really like this little Russian doll nativity set!

 

We received a handful of Christmas cards.  I wish more people would send them, but on the other hand it is better for the environment if they don't I guess.  We still send a real card, with pictures of the children.

One of Isolde's creations.  Harald was rather fascinated by it, maybe because it was even bigger than him!

Another of Isolde's creations from school, a Saint Nicholas and a mushroom (I need to google why toadstools are typical Christmas ornaments, it can't be only because they are red and white??)

And the prettiest Christmas ornaments signed Isolde, though this one I think we can use throughout the year as it is more pink than red.

• We also tried to take some Christmas portraits of the children but it was a bit difficult... In the end we opted for a Christmas card with photos from throughout the year instead.

Take 1

Take 2

Another day

Christmas card 2013