Party Central

Today it's finally time for Linnea's 5th birthday party! Yay!

To host a birthday party here in Brunei takes quite some preparation. I've mentioned several times before that there's no one-stop-shop here (the style of British Asda, Danish Bilka or Swedish Coop Forum), where you could go to get everything you need from lawn-movers to sports equipment to chicken breast. Here you have to drive around a lot, especially if you are after specific things.

This year we've opted to host Linnea's birthday party at the Yacht Club (just like when she turned 2, just slightly bigger...) so there's no thinking about food or entertainment really, it's all taken care of. Easy peasy.

Still, I've had to organize a (big enough) cake, and made sure it has the right decoration on it as requested by the Birthday Girl. I've also been busy most of the week trying to figure out what to put in the party bags. Past parties I've put DVDs which have proven a hit, with the parents above all - something to do when they get home after the party and might need some quiet time..!

I had an idea this year (that I won't reveal, might save it for Lucas' party in January!), but I couldn't find everything I needed in the right amounts unfortunately. This year, 24 little friends have RSVP their attendance, and add to that the odd sibling here and there... It'll be crowded!

I'm very pleased with what I got though. All the invited friends will get a book each, I got a huge variety so they all get different ones; plus sweets of course. I've also catered with small bags of sweets for any siblings that come along so they feel a bit included too.





I hope it'll be well received! The goodie bag is nearly the most important part of the party for these 5-year olds, and Linnea has made sure she gets one too, of course!

Smile!

When I downloaded photos off my point-and-shoot the other day, I discovered a photo that I certainly didn't remember taking..:



Our tech savvy daughter has really learned how to use the camera well! And she has long arms! :)

Round, round baby round, round...

YEEEESSS!!! I did it! Finally!!!
My knowledge in Photoshop is still quite limited, and even though I've spent the whole evening watching endless tutorials and reading tons of articles about animations - I couldn't get this to publish. (And that was once I finally managed to make it.)
But three hours (yes...) later, here it is - my first animated photo! *Proud*

(Reason for photo is the fresh haircut, of course!)

Reception Grand Ball

To celebrate the last day of school for this half-term and the end of the unit they've been studying, the Reception classes all had a Grand Ball today.
They were all dressed up as princes, princesses and knights and looked fabulous!

Princess Linnea and Ben the Knight:



Fairy Godmother Mrs Williamson & Princess Judie:



They had a feast with lots of food and did a little parade, and then they watched 'Shrek 3'.





What a great way to finish off before the holidays!

Thank you Thomas!

Finally Nathan has finished building this years Lego birthday gift from Denmark. It was a super cool blue Lamborghini Gallardo:





To be honest, it wasn't so much the construction itself that took time, it was more the fact that I'd forgotten I had been trusted with hiding this present until his birthday - and had forgotten about it! Oups!

Yi-Er-San

At dinnertime today Lucas showed off his language skills, counting to ten (and later beyond) in Chinese:



It seems like he is finally enjoying his Chinese a bit more. He's not hesitant sharing what he's learned, and nearly every time he comes home with a sticker or a stamp that shows he's been extra attentive in class!

And wait - Linnea can do it too!

Full-contact at the dojo

Today I started another something else I hadn't tried before - kickboxing!
I spent 1 1/2 hours at the dojo (yes, the same as for Lucas' karate) this morning with some good friends, skipping, boxing, kicking and making loud, grunting noises! :)




It was great fun. Quite different but I really enjoyed it! It's not exercise as snazzy-jazzy as at the gym, and the music is not as catchy - but it sure makes you get rid of all your aggressions!

First finished project!

Ta-daaa, here's my first finished mosaics creation!



I'm pretty pleased with these coasters, they came out great and I love the colours. You can see my coasters featured together with some of the other ladies' work on our teachers blog here, and here.

Since Paula, our teacher, is having a big exam coming up she has taken this week off from hosting classes. All of us ladies are having withdrawal symptoms so we've all picked up our current projects to work a bit on them at home.
I took my "gecko-bowl" outside for a bit yesterday to continue the cleaning process, and our amah came out and said surprised:
-"Oh, I though Linnea had made that at school!"

Thank... You... Very... Much..! I admit, it's a bit messy and not at all as pretty as some of the others (like Jo's bowl, which is absolutely gorgeous!) - but come on!!! Made by a 5-year old!?!
And no, I wont show it to you now anymore until it's completely finished...

A perfect ten

Since I'm a sucker for nice number combinations (I'm still disappointed Linnea wasn't born one day earlier, would've been 201005, or 051020 in Sweden, really cool numbers!) - I really like today's date! It's a shame nothing really special have happened, would've been easy to remember..! :)
101010... ultimately cool!

It's kind of just been another Sunday with another birthday party, quite normal weekend procedure. Here's the beautiful cake:



Daniel, Linnea and Ben, the three musketeers soon to become two:



Our Danish friends will be unfortunately be leaving Brunei for good at the end of the year. It's always sad to loose friends, and especially these.

Linnea will be ok, she's such a social butterfly she'll flutter on and enjoy other/new friends (she was too busy digging into the party bag to really take in the news too...). Us adults will be fine as well, there's Skype and email after all, and maybe we'll have to make an extra stop on our trip home next time, or in Denmark!
I'm a little bit worried about Lucas though, Malthe really is his best, best friend. They've know each other for more than half their lives already and they so enjoy each others company and play really nicely together. They share the same silly gene that always comes out whenever they are together!

It'll be hard to say goodbye (and it always sucks being the ones left behind), but we still have a couple of months to make the most of, to think about that just yet!

Bruneian drive-through

Nicole and I took a little drive yesterday. She had heard about this nursery that sold orchid on stems really cheap. Just when we drove up, heavy rain started and we didn't really feel like getting out of the car, we thought we would have to come back another day. But no, no problem, they didn't mind doing business with us through the car window!



Ta-da, 14 orchids on stems for only $10!

The neverending story

I'm in the middle of (yet another) huge tidy-up around the house. Mostly upstairs and to be more specific, mainly in the play area and in the kids' rooms.
It's amazing, but they have so much stuff they don't even play with 10% of it, because they forget it's even there! We also drown in all the pictures they paint and all the random toys they make (out of God knows what), it's just crazy. Toys, toys, toys. Everywhere. Toys.

With Linnea's birthday coming up, and just out of a general need, I've started a huge clear-out and tidy-up. I'm really, really doing all I can to facilitate the process of keeping their toys tidy; I've bought tons of storage boxes and I've labeled everything so that all their things and toys have their own "home".

We still have a long way to go though. The "tidy-up time" in the evening is not very popular and it's quite a struggle, but we are getting there. Sometimes they remember to clean their things up before they start another game, mostly not... But we are getting there, slowly.

Think pink - Did you know?

Do you know about Bisphenol A (BPA)?
It's a chemical that is really bad news. Long-term exposure to this has been widely linked to breast cancer! BPA ups the estrogen levels, which can prompt the growth of cancerous cells.

So what to do?
Start with ditching all products made with BPA, f.e plastic water bottles, something we all (well, at least out here in the tropics) use every day. Never, ever heat your left-overs in plastics in the microwave.
Even here in Brunei now, we can find lots of products labeled "BPA-free", yay! First step will be to swap out the kids' drinks bottles for school, and ours too.

Look after yourself.
Think pink.

(Source: Women's Health, October 2010 issue)

Glad som ett barnkalas!

(="Happy like a kids' birthday party").
No it's actually not a saying, not even in Swedish, but I heard this line in a song today and liked it. It is kind of how I feel, so suits well!

This year (as you know, "my" year start at the school start) is flying by! It's already October, where does time go?! Only 1 1/2 more weeks until another week of school holidays! It feels like the kids have hardly been at school so far, tons of public holidays and now already Midterms!

Nathan is busy planning all the training to be done before his trip down to NZ for the race in November, and also planning the trip of course. It'll be an only-guys-one this year, no families are coming along.
I'm sure the boys will have a blast and they can do all the riding (and beer-drinking... and fishing ;)...) they want without having to think about anyone else..!

And I'm happy (as a kids' party!) because I've finally got around to booking the kids' and my tickets back to Sweden for December! We're going back just for a couple of weeks, to get a taste of the very important Advent time in Sweden - and then back home for another Christmas in the tropics!
I'm so looking forward to wearing woolly jumpers, boots and scarves; going to Christmas markets, drinking glögg and eating pepparkakor; making Christmas crafts and listening to Lucia concerts; buying Christmas presents and admiring all the beautiful lights... Lovely!

Progress

I really enjoy my Thursday mornings at the Mosaics studio, fiddling away with tiles, glue and grout whilst having coffee and chatting with the other girls.
I'm not sure my bowl is going to turn out the way I want it to though... You can't properly see the mirror gecko anymore, it's drowning amongst all the white. It's hard to know before you've done the grouting but I might actually try and take some of the pieces off on Thursday and try another approach (my initial idea was to create a "pool-feeling", turquoise, light, water).



Here are a few of the other girls' projects, looking good:

Asian style

Just as normal as it is for you in Europe to get "knife, fork and spoon" when you buy cutlery sets for your kids - just as normal is it for our kids to have "spoon, fork and spoon"!

Think pink

October is the international Breast Cancer Awareness Month. During this month there are loads of different health campaigns being organized by major breast cancer charities all over the world; all to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure.

I show my support by turning the blog pink for this month of October! I'm also looking forward to "the Pink Run" coming up!
It's our Breast Cancer Awareness run we do at the Hash every October where we do our part and pass the kitty to show our support to this research that is so vital.

Think pink.

Ten years ago

Ten years ago was a Wednesday. Although it was in the middle of the week - it was actually party time!
The airline I worked for back then had a big party and me and a lot of my friends were really geared up for a good night.
I still remember what I was wearing (and I still have that dress..!). I still remember going to my friends before for a drink. I still remember getting the bus there. I still remember most things about that evening, it was indeed a very good night!

Amongst other things that happened, there was this pilot there who kind of stood out, because we didn't have any foreigners in our company and this one spoke English? Odd. Turned out he had been brought along by one of our pilots, and he actually worked for another airline.
However, he was dead annoying! He seemed to take a fancy to me and everywhere I went, he was just there - by the toilets, at the dance floor, between me and the bar - every time.

Nothing happened that night. I danced the night away, had a few too many "Brandbiler" & "Ragnar" and went home alone.
But, that was the beginning. That very annoying pilot who had crashed our party, that was Nathan. Ten years ago today, we met for the first time.
Ten years already - and look where we are today! ♥

Red carpet party

Ok, so last night was the night of another 40th birthday party here in the bubble. Our friend Rebecca celebrated with a star-studded party where she had invited only "celebrities"!
We had all got a character to impersonate, and since the invitation came out months ago, people had had plenty of time to make it work.
I must say, she really had thought long and hard about who everybody would resemble. She was spot on with most of the look-alikes!
All the celebs looked fabulous, and some of the dress-ups, costumes and make-overs were really, really good! My favourites were the Na'vi girl, Gene Simmons and of course - my neighbour Misuzu who had had the famous swan dress made as she was Björk.

I went as Charlize Theron, so, really, just a glammier version of myself! Not much "dress-up" involved there really. Nobody could spot who I was, and even when I told them, some didn't know her! Ah well, I looked goooood!
Nathan was working unfortunately, but he would have been going as Eric Bana. (I think she must have done that connection when he had his beard period?)

It was a great night and I'll share some of the photos here with you. Unfortunately my camera was playing up a bit, so some are a bit blurry, but I think you can spot the celebs anyway!
Apart from the stars in the slide show, I also mingled with Sandra Bullock, SATC Miranda, Tina Turner, Jack Nicholson, Joaquin Phoenix, Antonio Banderas, Beyoncé, SATC Carrie, Miley Cyrus, George Clooney, Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman, Claudia Schiffer, Bill Clinton, Seal and many more!

Channeling Charlize

After my "make-over light" yesterday. Who's who?

The stars come out to party

Tonight I'm off to a party where the guest list includes, amongst other famous people, these guys:



Exciting!
I'll be sure to get plenty of snapshots from the red carpet!