Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

 Since I've been here, I've had the opportunity to explore some with cooking. Here's a collection of some of my favorites... Just click the pictures to take you to the recipes.  Salmon with avocado salsa    I was glad to find this good,  healthy  salmon recipe since most of mine have soy sauce, brown sugar, and maple... Here's to healthy!  Brunswick stew Served with cornbread, of course.  Brown sugar and balsamic glazes pork loin Top favorite.  Sweet potato medallions with rosemary butter sauce  Soo yummy.  Balsamic maple glazed pork chops I just cooked this last night, first time cooking pork chops, and it was quite tasty! I added thyme, rosemary, and didn't bother with the whole "removing pork chops and deglazing pan" bit and it worked fine. Crispy coconut chicken  Favorite of the kiddos.  Honey chicken

  I realized I don't actually have many posts about what I do as an au pair on the reg... Since today was pretty busy and I feel accomplished, here's what I did: Woke up at 6:45 for the usual morning routine. (Feed kids, brush teeth, get ready for school, clean up, air out rooms and duvets, make beds, tidy up)  Did a 5 hour cleaning job  Went for a 6.5mile run (A beautiful one too. Love trails).  Squeezed in an episode of Grey's.  Picked up the kiddos. (An hour of walking required) Quick grocery run.  Made dinna.  Cleaned up dinna.  Made lunches.  Finished more laundry. (4 loads today) Ironed.  Vacuumed (again).  Looked up more cute puppy and cat pictures.  Blog.   Despite it's many downfalls (5+hour cleaning jobs and more) this job has given me confidence and empowerment in conquering family life like a champ... Preparing all meals including full on awesome dinners, library, errands and grocery runs, picking up kids, cleaning like a motha f]%{*_' (won't be put...

   Just look at that absolute cuteness.  Even after a super busy, slightly annoying day due to cleaning, cooking, and her siblings, this little one brightened my day in an instant. From just walking in saying hey to me, wanting to brush my hair (the pictures), her perfect face replications (she's so good at that), then wanting to help me with the dishes and making lunches...  She is SUCH a sweetheart.  And it warms my heart every time she calls me "min søde Abby."  My sweet Abby.  Oh, and a funny thing today was when she got my hair tangled in the brush, she gave a very genuine, sympathy "ow."  Love this sweet precious angel baby. Copyright Katie Fleming ;) 

    Finally, this morning, after days of thinking about it and saying it over in my head,  I told Lotte,  "J eg tror vi skal tale mere på dansk nu, så jeg kan lære mere. "  Whats the mean?! What's that mean?! No, I didn't tell her I was done scrubbing floors, or I wouldn't clean the bathroom three times in two days, or wash the attic floor...  Nothing so dramatic... I'm not ready to leave Denmark yet. No, instead, this was me finally  getting the nerve, motivation, and initiate to say, "I think we should talk more in Danish now so I can learn more."         I'd realized I wished we'd been talking more in Danish this whole time a couple weeks ago, but was even too nervous to say something like that phrase to start the motion. I think speaking in another language, Danish in particular, can be so nerve racking. You, of course, want to use the write grammar, the write words, and also pronounce it in a way where they don't instantly know you...

That beautiful time of the year, with lights, decorations, candles, presents and that awesome Christmas spirit is here! I'm experiencing it in a different way than ever before... It's a dream-like Christmas in Copenhagen with lights all around the city, store windows filled with beautifully decorated displays and of course the snow-covered land. It's beyond beautiful.     This snow has just been unreal to me. When it first fell, I kept being surprised when in the corner of my eye I'd catch white stuff covering the ground outside. Cycling around, I felt like I was riding through one of Dad's Christmas villages he always sets up so nicely. Then while cleaning the other day, I kept having to stop and just watch it fall. Listening to Christmas music with this incredible snow falling outside made cleaning so much better. I just love it. Except when the snowflakes attack my eyes while cycling. That can suck.              The first d...

Copenhagen Zoo The old elephant house There were lots of elephants to admire.  And this one even did a little dance.  Sibling love at the zoo! These polar bears were HUUGE. Really cool to watch too. Always LOVE the chimps. They're so entertaining and human-like. There was a lively bunch too, with some pouncing on others, one kicked another, they kept throwing the lettuce from the top of the cage into the audience... Rowdy bunch.  I don't think one could be more relaxed... A knights anole. I want it!!

After a full day of celebrating Christopher's birthday... We had Mischa's going away party at good ol' Charlie's.  So many people came out, with everyone in good spirits.  Mark, one of the English bartenders, played his cover songs with his country accent that I later told him to ditch.  Eventually, we moved to The Viking, where we got special treatment and could stay after hours... At least I think that's what happened.  We added a Danish Maria and a cool Polish girl, Ewelina, to the group of friends.   Climbed through Mischa's windows (mainly for the effect) at 7:30am  Conclusions : Copenhagen is great so far. I've met so many awesome people already, and even at 5am, this city is still well alive with people on the streets. The next day...  we met up with Anne-Lise for a chill day at Christiania Followed by a very entertaining night ride (extra thanks to Christiana), sitting in the front of the Metro. We felt like little ...

   So I'm about 3 weeks behind now and so much has happened. For Christopher's birthday, we went to this Frilandmuseet which is like a 5 minute bike from the house, where they took houses from all over Denmark and all different time periods and reconstructed them here for everyone to see. It was so interesting seeing how differently they lived, both in different times as well as for different statuses. Some were from the rich and some the poor, so you'd see some where FIVE people lived in a tiny one room building and some with fancy dresses and china. We had a picnic lunch and rode a horse carriage to see the large amount of ground we didn't cover. This museum was huge.    Back at the house, we had afternoon tea, coffee and cake, and I actually made apple crisp which turned out great! A successful meal or dessert is always rewarding. I had made chocolate chip cookies with m&ms as well that I'd made the night before for their Disney Sjov. Everyone loved those. ...

   T his is gonna be a collection of random cute things my baby Danes do. There's a good chance it might bore some of you, but it's also for me so I can remember all these little moments. But maybe they can bring you some positive thinking, a smile, or some entertainment.     Starting with last night at dinner... Christopher started counting to 10 in English. As if I wasn't proud enough that he initiated it and did so well, he then told me it was my turn. As reward for getting them right, I was surprised with 10 kisses.     Christopher is definitely the most lovey of the kids. I could tell that from the first day when he sat on my lap right away for tv time.     This morning, it made me happy when Eva Kirstine layed back to cuddle with me too. Then tonight... Christopher came in from swimming lessons very excited to see me and just plopped right down on my stomach while I was watching tv. Kind of like Brantley style. For those of you that don't know Brantley, he's m...

   This weekend, I went to Jutland, an area about 3 hours west of Copenhagen, to experience Legoland for Christopher's birthday. We stayed with Claus' parents' house, who are so nice. Their house is one of the most beautiful houses I've seen and is right by the ocean in the countryside.    Legoland was quite an interesting place, with areas of Denmark, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and some of the US recreated into little Lego worlds. The Kennedy Space Center was also on display, making me feel "almost at home" as Claus said. There were a lot of rides but none too scary, as Legoland is pretty geared toward the youngins.    Time spent with Claus' parents feels like scenes you'd read about in novels; Afternoon tea and cake on the patio overlooking the incredible ocean view, playing around on the beach with the little ones, delicious meals followed by more coffee and cake... YES, PLEASE. And all around the house are spectacular flowers from their g...

A lot of people have been asking about recipes here, so here are a few I've done. There'll be more to come!     Now, Danes are the biggest meat consumers in the WORLD, so if you're a vegetarian, you might not find too many recipes to try here. These first two maybe but very few others. Apple porridge delicious for a snack, breakfast, in your oatmeal, etc. And super simple .  Ingredients: Apples (however many you want. Maybe start with like 15) Water (~3-5 cups) Vanilla (sticks of vanilla are good so it continues to give more and more flavor) Sugar (~2 cups) Soo... Skin all the apples.  Chop em all up into bite-sized pieces. Make sure all the hard pieces are off the core. Throw em in a big pot with the water, sugar and vanilla.  Let those babies soak until they get soft enough to smoosh.  Mush em all up and let cool, keep in the fridge and enjoy! Fiske Frikadeller  (definitely a favorite) You can get the meat mixture pre-made here, but here is the recipe for the Americans. I...

         Adding another great week to the list for my time in Denmark. Last Tuesday, I went to an international gathering for students at DTU (Denmark Technical Institute) at the Cellar Bar. I met a couple cool people there from Belgium (Ruben), Canada, France, and Denmark and met back up with a couple of them on Friday night. We went to see one of their Spanish friends play a Latin set at a bar in the city. On our way there, we were a bit worried at how this place would be considering it was on the street well known for its... Services. But we got to the Luna Bar and it wound up being really fun. The band was actually excellent , and had everyone dancing. Ruben and his friends were a lot of fun to hang out with.          On Saturday, I went to Tivoli, the second oldest theme park, with the family and met Claus' parents and sister there. It's no wonder Tivoli inspired Walt Disney to do his own thing. It's a beautiful  amusement par...

Over the last week, I've explored some of the city of Copenhagen, went on the prettiest run in trails near the lake right by the house, had relaxing afternoons laying out (European style) on the dock by the lake, drinking coffee on the patio enjoying the Danish air, riding my bike everywhere to try to learn my way around, trying my best to learn some Danish, went on a bike ride and had a picnic by the lake with the youngest two and Lotte, tried some delicious Danish meals, and much more. Everything seems more fun/relaxing/enjoyable. Their strawberries are like twenty times better than American strawberries, their apples, eggs, potatoes, and water all seem to taste better. Well, definitely their water compared to Jacksonville's. Even cleaning is more enjoyable... Opening all the windows and doors to enjoy the cool air, airing the blankets and pillows out on the balcony, taking breaks to sit on the patio... Going to pick up Clara Louise and Christopher from school t...