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Blogger Boss needs to decide what this is going to say about how crazy her life is & how she loves coffee & walks with her hubby.


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Spring has sprung!

April is almost gone, and so is FINALLY (almost) all the snow!!
I guess we can say that spring is here.
These little yellow flowers are all over the place (they look like tiny dandelions), and the kids are picking them and filling glasses and cups with beautiful bouquets.
The kids have so much fun outside this time of year.
Melting snow, water, mud and sand.
What else do you need for hours of fun?
I don't especially like the mess they drag inside, (sand is all over the place), but it's worth the time they spend outside.
And why buy outdoor clothes if they can't use them and get them dirty??

3 youngest hanging out.
Playing Angry Birds on my phone...

sign of spring!



At first it sure looks gray and drab,
but when you take time to look,
there are so many beautiful colours out there!



We have had a nice and busy month, and this whole winter we've all been quite healthy.
Some little colds and sniffles, but nothing major.  Thankfully!!

2 of my "BFF's" from home had baby boys two days apart!
I talked to one of them, and she and her new baby were doing well.
I so wish I could be there now and see their new little once...

Lately I've suffered some homesickness, more than I have in the past.
Maybe it's because I have had some time to think about friends and family back there.
When you go through a big change there are different stages you go through as well.
First the stress and anxiety of leaving everything you know and is familiar with, behind.
Then excitement and enthusiasm about all the new. You tend to see all the good in the new situation, while the things you weren't too pumped about in the past is still fresh in your mind.
It's kind of like falling in love, your mind is a bit numb and you can only see all the good stuff.

Right now I'm in the next stage when you start to get a more realistic view of the new (not in a bad way), and I'm starting to miss many things from home.
I'm weighing good and bad here compared to there.
Not sure what to make out of it.
I guess I don't have to make anything out of it at all, just let the feelings flow, and see what developes.
I am realizing thou that I feel more and more Canadian!
I was born in Sweden, and lived there for 22 years, so while I still feel "at home" in Sweden (after almost 15 years away), I don't feel very Swedish anymore.
My kids aren't Swedish, my Hubby isn't, I've been there 6 times since I moved from there, and I don't feel any desire to move there, although I love to visit there, of course!!
Living here I feel my Hubby's roots.  He's finnish and our kids are through him.
My dad is too, but growing up I was in Finland only a handful of times, and even if I now live here, I can't say I "feel" Finnish.
The one thing we all have in common is that we all are Canadians!
I used to have a hard time refering to Canada as "home", (since I don't have any family history there) but the longer I am away from there, the more I realize that Canada is the country that feels most like home.

Well.  It's good to think and ponder these things I guess.
And time will tell what happens.
Of course my feelings might change, and in a year I might feel very different, but when we left North America I was really worried we wouldn't return after 2-3 years as originally planned.
I don't feel as worried any more, as I now see how well we have it here, but at times I wonder....
Where should we be???

Monday, April 16, 2012

Happy 40!

My heart makes a skip and jump.
In a really good way.
It's getting close to 16 years since I first met this person, and our 15th wedding anniversary is only a few months away...
My heart still skips and jumps and grows bigger and almost brings pain in my chest when I think of HIM.
He's my husband.
That sounds so cold and formal thou.
He's so, so, so much more.
Just thinking of just HOW much more he really is, makes me dizzy and teary-eyed and happy.
My soulmate is turning 40 on Thursday.
You'd never believe it.
Really.
Not just through my rose coloured glasses does he look great, I really think he looks good in most peoples eyes.  And if they don't agree... they are just jealous!! :)

What can I do for him to celebrate him properly??
I know he'll think I'm super nerdy going on like this.
That's ok.
Nerdy comes easy to me.

Yesterday we had a houseful of friends and family.
I'm talking more than 45 people.
What a great great evening we had!
His parents are in town (from overseas), and I'm sure they find it hard to believe that their oldest kid is actually this "old". 
His only sister and one of his brothers, also from across the pond, were also here, so with the out of towners over, it made the day extra special.
Lots of laughs and memories and yummy food and cakes...
Just the way it should be!

In the evening my Hubby thanked me for arranging and holding the party.
He was really happy with his day.
A thought came to my mind
"Work done out of love is light work"
I enjoyed my day too.
I love having people over, and I truly love to do things for others, so for me it's almost like a "treat" to hold these kind of events!

So... I haven't got a real "gift" for him yet.
Don't know what to get either.
We are planning on going out for dinner together on his birthday, that'll be fun.
But I wish I could get him something that "shows" how much I love him.
We don't really have a whole lot of money to spend, so it surely won't be anything extravaganza...
Hmmmm.....
Looking back over our years together, and remembering all the good, great, fun, loving, sad, funny, crazy moments together, I don't recall any special things that were part of the fun.
It truly seems like the best time spent together, are times spent with each other.
And of course times spent with our kids.
But stuff??
Yeah, maybe doing Sudoku together...
Or reading something funny from a good book.
But it's all small things.
It's nice to realize that the best in life is free!

When it comes to stuff he or I need, we usually end up getting it anyway, so to go out and buy some new socks or a t-shirt for his birthday seem kind of pointless, he'd get that no matter what if he needed them!
To go and get something nice, just to get something, is kind of dumb too....
I need to be honest with myself and admit what I knew all along.
He doesn't want any gifts.
When he says he's happy with what he has, and that all he wants is to be with me and the kids, I believe him.
We are his gifts every day, and we sure keep on giving!
So much love, so much laughter.
Hugs, kisses, smiles...
When you have everything you need in the shape of love and people that truly love you, the need for stuff really goes away!
It's almost funny to think that getting an item somehow will represent what and how I feel for him.
I can show him that myself by keep doing what I've been doing for the last 15 years!
Loving him!

Happy Birthday my dear Hubby.
I will do my best to keep showing you how much you mean to me and how much I love you.
No batteries included?  No probelm.
I got what you need! :)
I hope and pray that God will keep us safe together for many many years to come.
Every day with you has been a blessing from above.
Thank you for being who you are.
And like I always say "You're a good man, and you are way cooler than Charlie Brown!"

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Hoppy Easter!

Easter weekend is past.
We are left with fun and beautiful memories.
Time spent with the kids dying eggs. 
Easter egg hunt.
Yummy food.  And candy...
Reading the Easter story with the kids.
Talking about Jesus dying for us.
Here are some pictures that give you a glimps of our last few weeks...


We'll start with a Finnish Easter tradition.
These are real egg shells filled with the most delicious chocolate.

I'm holding one of the eggs
to show you the hole where the egg stuff came out from
and where the chocolate went in.

How they make the eggs.....
In Finnish, Swedish and English.




Here are some of the eggs we dyed...

Here's one of the kids we dyed.
When he was done he looked like a Smurf!

A bowl full of dyed eggs.
(most of them are regular eggs,
since the chocolate once are A LOT more expensive...)

Our table set for 9.

My daughter made the place settings.  Cute!!

Our yummy buffeet.
Salmon with home made tzatziki, lamb roast with gravey,
deviled eggs, ham with mustard, potatoes and salad...

Mudcake for dessert!  Guess who helped decorate it??