Skiing day

Well...
I guess it is more like skiing afternoon..but I'll stick to the skiing day...Since those skiing days does not happen often, to be exact - once a year...Last year was with Tamara..this year..just alone :)

Anyways...
Kids were spending time with grandparents visiting Heiðmörk (an Icelandic forest), hubby working..so, I got the time to be all by myself and was suggested to go skiing...

Weather was nice, not too much wind and the ski resort was open. So, Bláfjöll, here I come!

Eldar Leo almost 22 months old...

So...just some words on Eldar Leo's development since would be interesting to read and remember when he is Tamara's age...

He is still not speaking much...Just very basic words...yes, no, fell, mama, papa...He can make sounds of the car - very well! Dogs adn cats as well...But it is easy to understand him if there is something that he wants or does not like:).

He is still at "day nanny" from 8 am to 4 pm. We have received the letter that he will be admitted to kindergarten in the August of 2013. Not a very happy news...Wanted to get him in now...Since he is very bored at day nanny's place.

Almost Spring 2013

So..Christmas is over...New Year celebration has finished...Bondadagur and Konudagur are over too...Time flies these days...

But 8th of March is still yet to come in a little over than a week...so I am planning to take Mom to a nice dinner at the restaurant in downtown Reykjavik.

We also had a nice women's retreat with colleagues from my work for two days in a summer house :). It was great! Nice food, nice chatting and relaxing...

Middle of December and other things...

So, Christmas is only 10 days away....scary!

 Well..at least, I have already bought most of the presents, have sent the Christmas cards abroad, got news dresses for Tamara and myself for Christmas, main dish for Christmas Eve is taken care of...so...most of the important staff is finished...

But if you think of that, actually all those things are a part of the Christmas - buying and packing the gifts, making lists, cleaning the house, planning the dinner, so...the only way to get through all of it is just to embrace it and enjoy it!

Anyways....Tamara Lind lost her second tooth yesterday. So, she told us that the day/night will be the happiest for her since she would get a visit from the tooth fairy and also from one of the Icelandic yule lads :) Fun fun...Though, sometimes, I get sooo frustrated with how much she is concentrated on the things that she wants to get, what she has and what she does not have....well...what can we do? This is the era of consumerism...I was probably behaving the same way when I was little...

Tomorrow is the New Year celebration for kids at the Russian Embassy, so will be some gathering. Then, for Icelandic Christmas celebration, there was something organized at Flensborg school but Tamara refused to go there with her granny. She only wants to go with her Dad to his work for annual Christmas celebration there.....

So, Mom and Oli finally made it safely to the other part of the world, Australia.

Eldar Leo 18 months old / Eldar Leó at a glance...

So, wanted to write about Eldar for a while now...finally got the laziness away from my body and got down to it!

So, here he is, our cute Eldar Leo at a glance together with his Daddy:

So, the boy is 18 months old, well almost 19 months after 10 days :)

Tamara Lind at a glance

So...since I am not updating Tamara's journal on her growth, etc...then better to add something here so it would be fun to read after 5 years time :)

Here is the picture of Tamara that I took today, on November 6th before going to kindergarten:

Tamara was putting away this Lotta toy - some kindergarten game they have - each of the kid can get this Lotta (a rabbit toy) to take home for one night - and spend time playing, dressing, or whatever they want ..and there is also a notebook where a parent writes on what happened during the day and the child paints, puts stickers...or something else....Lotta has some clothes and also a sleeping bag. We have also given her a cute hat!

Time flies

Wow...time flies indeed...
Last time I have posted at entry on August 10th..and now October is almost over and Christmas is near!

So..what has been happening during these times?

I have pictures from our vacation on my desktop computer at work  - picture gadget - so it is nice to look at them occasionally during these rainy days of Autumn or even nice sunny days of Autumn...

Though we have not had snow yet in Reykjavik...so my search for perfect winter tires continues...

Summer is almost over

So..vacation is over...Two weeks in July in Spain went by too fast :)

It was quite a nice relaxing holiday. Hotel / apartamentos were nice. Food half board was excellent. Beach was just 300 meters away. There were ways sometimes a little bit too much but still sun was available most of the time to be enjoyed :)

Flight to Almeria from Iceland was about 4,5 hours. Kids behaved all right. No major crisis.
On the way back it was a little bit more difficult. Tamara was difficult, demanding this and that...Eldar was cranky and wanted to walk all the time..So...Conclusion - next time summer travel will be in two years...So I can rest as well...

Here are some pictures:

This is the view from the hotel room - nice swimming pool.

Here is Eldar Leó enjoying the water melon on our balcony. We ate quite a lot of them :)

Tamara Lind is trying to eat hew dinner. Usually it took us at least ah hour to eat dinner..First half an hour she was playing with whatever she found on the table, then she was eating very fast, and after she was finished with her food, she was allowed to eat ice-cream - it was a selection every evening..ice cream, sauces for it and little candies...Paradise for kids....

Our last evening - we went for a walk on the promenade and dropped in some hotel to take a picture...During the vacation time our schedule shifted a little bit :) Tamara went to be late, we were eating dinner late...And usually tried to go for an evening walk on the beach promenade...Was nice...

So...can't wait for a next holiday season / in two years...Hopefully Iceland will resume its routes to Greek islands...

Social networking

Ok..so..last time that I put an entry into the journal - was long long time ago...Not good...I admit Facebooking is taking my attention so...I will try from now on to update a journal at least once a week...

So...what is new?
Baby boy is not a baby boy anymore but becoming a toddler - already 13 months old.

Here is the picture from celebration of his BD on May 10th...

Tamara Lind is now 5 years old. I had a nice party organized for her birthday on June 18th.

 We have chosen the Princess theme this year, etc. (Last year it was all about Hello Kitty). Took some time to do some research on themes, decorations, games and other preparations...

Spent lots of money on decorations, ingredients for the cake, etc. Here are some photos...

This is the cake that we created with Raggi. He did the flags..I did the rest.

Here is another side...Cake was nice. tasted great, etc. However, one of the girls tried it and did not like it...Said it was bad...so all the rest of the girls did not want to eat any more of it...
Of course - i was disappointed...I tried not to take it close up personal...But still it left a sour feeling...

Here is the princess herself - new outfit - dress created by a talented grandma Tamara...wings and tiara - new, bought by dearest Mommy :)

The beautiful decorated table.

 Morning of Tamara Lind's BD....We filled the room with the balloons...

 Eldar Leó is participating too...

Mom the Queen, daughter the Princess....

So...on the overall picture, the BD celebration went well...But maybe considering all the emotional and financial costs involved, next year maybe we will just order time at "Adventure Club" for kids and have the celebration there...

What else - today we went to apply for the passport for Eldar Leó for our upcoming vacation trip to Spain in July for 2 weeks...Passport for kids and elderly is much cheaper than for adults. Wait is 2 weeks,hope to get it in the beginning of July :)

That's all for today...

Baby boy is 3 moths and 7 days old

So....yesterday, we went for a regular 3 months old check-up to the local health clinic. The baby boy is now 6.270 gr....and 62 cm...Growing well...right on his "curve". Going to be a real viking.

Also...he had his first two shots/vaccines....Poor boy...So after that, he had a fever later in the night...So, we had to give him some paracetamol...now feels better!

Sleeping habits: Usually during the day, the boy is awake for 1,5-2 hours and then needs his sleep - 1 to 2 hours....At night - it still varies...Can be sleeping from 10 pm til 5 am without waking up....or can wake up once... But sometimes he also wakes up at 2 am or 4 am....then sleeps til 6 am...

Tamara is going to kindergarten as usual...Looks like the kindergartens teachers are planning to strike on Monday, August 22nd...so she will probably stay home of course...that would be fun again....

Who we are....

I have found this through a friend on the Facebook, in Russian, and decided to translate it in English and add to my journal so the English speaking people would be also read this and enjoy/criticize or comment:). Also, I am adding some of my comments as well just to make it more fun…Comments by a Russian residing in Iceland…

(Taken from the Business Journal, here is a link)

A Canadian, a teacher of English language, residing in Moscow, made these interesting observations.

1. Russians do not trust cheap things. True

2. An English word “bargain” cannot be translated adequately into Russian language. True

3. Despite the fact that Russians do not trust cheap things, they still love “free lunch”. Very true to Americans and Icelanders as well!

4. A Russian person, who has acquired a certain level of power, feels that it is his/her responsibility to press those who are below him/her.

5. In Russia, it is common to call for a lazy waitress by referring to her with an aggressive scream “Devushka”!

6. It is necessary to have good skills of working with your elbows while using Moscow subway system.

7. In Russia, you can drink beer seating on a bench in a park without being arrested (probably not anymore due to some new laws on beer…)

8. Russians love to get together in the kitchen and talk late about “life”. Very true

9. Russians usually avoid talking about work.

10. During any meeting or some gathering in Russia, people usually split right away according to the gender.

11. There are lots of policemen in Russia, most of which don’t do anything.

12. Russians don’t throw away anything. Never.

13. However, if a Russian throws half of his things, nobody will notice.

14. A stranger usually refers to you by a “man” or a “woman”.

15. It is not customary to say “thank you” and “please” among Russians. True indeed

16. A Russian saying “Impudence – is a second happiness (in life)” cannot be translated into English adequately.

17. Russians drink lost of vodka. It is not a myth.

18. You don’t have to be afraid for your life while walking in Moscow at night time.

19. Russian men believe that feminism caused the collapse of the West and the historical mission of Russia is to resist.

20. Myth about myth: Russians believe that Americans think that bears walk on streets of Moscow. But that myth is just a pure Russian invention. In reality, Americans think that all bears in Russia are long dead. Very funny

21. Russians completely do not comprehend when a foreigner from the West comes to have a permanent residence in Russia. Very true..cannot understand…

22. Dentists in Russia are surprised when you come just for a routine check-up. The same goes for doctors.

23. Russians drink tea with a whole centimeter of sugar on the bottom of the cup. Very true, have nknown people like that…

24. All Russians, from youth to old, abuse the usage of smiley. J Very true, love using it!

25. Number of parenthesis in email message or in SMS relates to the importance of the message. E.g., “Birthday celebration is tonight)” means simple birthday, but “Birthday celebration is tonight ))))))” – means something fabulous and fantastic. Not sure..

26. Moscow has the best subway system in the world. Probably…

27. Despite the best subway system in the world, there are million of Muscovites that refuse to use it and spend half of their lives in traffic jams.

28. Russians will use any little excuse in order to offer chocolate – “your birthday is in 4 months? Wow….Chocolate for everybody!” Not sure about that..

29. People who speak other language than Russian automatically become suspicious.

30. Don’t be surprised if you are invited to a New Year’s celebration at 11.30 PM. They drink champagne, cognac; eat herring salad, salad “olivje” in the kitchen and then, the celebration lasts for another 3 days. Very true!

31. The only alcohol-free zone in Moscow – McDonald’s.
32. A smile without the reason makes Russians angry. Very true!

33. Borsch, golubtsu and pirogi are actually Ukrainian food.

34. Russians do not put their older parents into homes for elderly and do not send their kids away when they are 18, instead, they all live together in one-room apartment.

35. Despite the fact that the roads are narrow and horrible traffic jams, Russians still buy gigantic jeeps.

36. Sushi is more popular in Russia than in Japan.

37. In fact, Japan is more popular in Russia than in Japan itself.

38. Russians are very friendly, if you only know then for 10 minutes. If you know some Russian for at least a week, then you will get invited to his house and be introduced to his family. Very true

39. Russians are quite emotional and passionate people, even though they do not show emotions in public, they cry, laugh and scream and play more than Italians.

40. Russians are much more concerned about the philosophical side of life than the material side. They have songs for any life situation. True indeed.

41. Most of Russians are quite superstitious, and superstition is in fashion among the young. True indeed..I am one of them…

42. Russians are passionate lovers, in public places they argue like bitter enemies and kiss and hug as porno stars.

43. Russians love to criticize its own country, but are awfully offended when a foreigner does that.

44. If a cashier did not break anything during scanning of your groceries, then you got a good service.

45. Russians love McDonald’s, KFC, Subway and Burger King more than Americans.

46. Russians spoil their children and then hope that when the kids are 18 they magically start behaving accordingly.

47. Even if Russians eat more fast food than people in the West, Russians are still healthier.

48. Russians cannot maneuver while backing up. An average Russian driver may take up to 10 minutes in order to make a parallel parking. True, it took me time to learn how to do it well in the States…

49. Winter in Russian is indeed beautiful and Russians fantastically drive cars in the winter conditions. True indeed
50. In reality, Russians are freer than people in the West; there are less laws here and social limitations, and still, the crime level is lower than in the USA or the UK. Not sure now…

An update…

Spring is here in Iceland…well..it is supposed to be summer already since we did have the first day of summer already on April 21st…it was warm last week but this week it is cold and feels like winter, anyways…

Last week Raggi and I went to Akureyri – with the choir to sing in the church for an orthodox special service – Easter…It went well…We left our daughter with my Mom, since we did not want to ride with her for about 400 km each way; it was the first time to leave her for two days .

Here is the choir signing:

Here is the most of our group in front of the van that we rented to drive to Akureyri and Raggi was driving it since he has license to drive 12 passengers.

A husband of one girl from the choir works for the ice cream company, so he invited us to visit the warehouse and offered us ice cream..it was great!

Then, more updates with pictures...

We went to the wedding of a friend in April, here are some photos:

Tamara was behaving all right in the church...for the reception we left her home with the baby-sitter.

The party is starting...

With the bride at the reception.

A choir retreat to a summer house

So...finally, we did something together again with our international choir "Manasija". We have been rehearsing for two times a week now for about two months already, we are preparing for the Palm Sunday service and the Orthodox Easter service....Just to boost ourselves, we decided to get away from the metropolitan city of Reykjavik and go to the country/summer house...

It was a great idea - to get everyone together, relax, sing, eat and socialize....A little bit hard when you have 2 girls of almost 22 months old and a boy who is almost 9 months old...But as usual, mothers take care of the kids and fathers are having fun...But anyways, it was nice to get away, enjoy the scenery and the nature....We rented two summer houses on the lake, right on the lake, there were some green trees around our house and it reminded me of "Twilight", so it made my day :)

Here we are having fun with Tamara (there is a lake in the background):

It was mostly raining all the time, only once we had a chance to be outside for half an hour...then it started to snow and rain at the same time :)

And here is a cute picture of Tamara...


As you can see, snow is gone but the green grass is yet to come...so, things are kind of gray for now...but it is light and still Spring is in the air!

Snow and horses

We went for a walk during last weekend, checked out horses that stay close to our area...

Last day of January

So, we have snow..lots of snow. It is snowing right now. But it is fun for kids, all ages...So, yesterday in spite of my sore throat and headache, I went outside with our girl and enjoyed some vitamin D, that does not come often during winter time in Iceland. She enojyed it as well, she was riding in a snow sledge that we got from Raggi's parents. She was singing and quite happy.

Then we went to some playground and I took some pictures.

Here you can see a little bit of the city of Kopavogur, the Tower, some other buildings.
And here is a short video of her palying in the snow.

Last week of January

So, the New Year has arrived, was a great celebration.

Now, the month of January is almost over. Time goes fast. Financial crisis is still on in Iceland, people are protesting and I hope it brings some change to the politics of Iceland.

We are doing fine, girl is growing, learning some new words. We have got her a new bed that will last her for at least 5 year, I hope and she has been sleeping there for two nights. Well, she does not sleep in her new bed through the whole night yet, but we hope soon she will :)

Yesterday we had a visit form Raggi's aunt and his brother. It happened that Raggi and his brother Ingvar were wearing the sweaters that their Mom got them, so they almost looked like twins :)

Here is the photo of them:

Int he background, there is a painting by my Mom.
And here is a fresh picture of Tamara Lind, Jon Aron, her older brother put her in his sweatshirt, and she enjoyed it a lot:

Christmases are over for some time :)

So....the new year has started, the Russian Christmas is over. We can embrace the New Year with all of our open hearts.

It was a great time, lots of good food, relaxation time and singing in the Russian church as well. I want to say thank you to all of my friends who are so nice and always send us their greetings and nice Christmas cards.

A Serbian bishop who resides in Stockholm, came to present a special service on the 6th of January, at 19.00, so we took Tamara Lind to church with us since kids were supposed to get some presents...I was a little bit worried about her behaviour but it turned out - I was worried for nothing. She behaved so well...quite a nice surprise to her parents. She even was singing a little bit when our choir was performing. I was holding her and I admit, was a little bit difficult to hold her and to sing, but I managed...So, it was great.

Here I have some photos from the Christmas celebration at my Mom's house. Here is Raggi and Tamara Lind, then myself and her again :)

Then, a picture of a sweet couple, who got engaged over Christmas time.

And that was Tamara trying to play the Russian dudochka :)

Christmas is all around us...

So..we had a great Christmas dinner with my coworkers. It was at the nice place with some great traditional Icelandic/Scandinavian Christmas food. Here are some pictures, so , here it goes:

First, is the picture of myself...the beautiful Marina :)



Here is the picture of all our staff...we are very few, only 7 people at the moment, 3 of us were working for the company more than 7 years already...such a long time...



This is just a picture of Helga, myself and Magnús.

And here is a great picture of the food...

It is the second hot/cold appetizers course. Includes nicely baked beef tongue, reindeer pate, chicken salad, swedish meatballs, beef carpaccio, pork and smoked lamb.


And then - here is the picture of the main hot course.
It included - turkey, salted baked cod, baked pork with the glaze, and beef. Plus some gratin potato, red cabbage and salad.
And then was some dessert but I was too full and almost was not able to move any more... :) So, it was a great dinner party, put me in a very nice holiday spirit.

Month of December

So..as I promised..I am making a new post each month! Wow...such an achievement...

Anyways...December is here, snow has arrived to Iceland and the cold weather as well...So..real Christmas weather outside, makes you not want to go outside but sit home in front of the computer and waste the time on Facebook.com...And I was doing it for some time now :) Not too proud of myself.

A year is almost over..time flies so fast...And there are still so many things to do before Christmas - finish buying all those gifts, sending the cards...But it only makes things better - I already baked some cookies - called "the mother's cookies" and a great thing is that I am a mother now, so it really suits me!!!!

So..next to another post..this one is finished. new topic new post :)

The 4 things

4 Random Things About Me:

1. I was born in the country that doesn’t exist any more– Soviet Union.
2. Lived, studied and worked in the United States for 5 years.
3. Took driving tests and exams and - passed in three countries - Russia, the USA and Iceland.
4. Had a 12-hour stay on the nice island of Cyprus.

4 Guilty Pleasures:

1. Chocolate fountain!
2. Swiss chocolate.
3. Hot Icelandic drinking chocolate.
4. Grilled Icelandic lamb.

4 Things I Am Drawn To Buy Even When I Don't Need Them:

1. Nice boots/shoes for myself
2. All types of clothes for my girl :)
3. Clothes for myself
4. Accessories.

4 Challenges I Face On A Daily/ Weekly Basis:

1. Patience with the little child and the big one called my man.
2. Keeping up my friends' busy lives.
3. Keeping up with house cleaning.
4. Not knowing what to cook for the little child and the big one as well :).

4 Books That Have Helped/Inspired Me This Year:

1. Harry Potter 1
2. Harry Potter 2
3. Harry Potter 3
4. and so on…all seven of them.
   Ok, it was not that inspiring maybe, but I was quite impressed and entertained.