Back to school!

1st day of school here in our town.
The 4 oldest happily hopped in the car this morning for their drive to their bilingual school. (Finnish/English)
It felt good to see them all happy and excited about going.  Excited about seeing their friends again after a busy summer. Our oldest is starting 7th grade, meaning she's going to a different school for kids grade 7 to 9.  It's smart to keep those ages separate from the rest of the world, I think (age 13 to 16), as this might be some of the hardest years in a kids life.  She'll be with all the same kids from her old class, so everything isn't new, but many things will be different, and some new subjects will be added to her schedule.  Good luck #1, you get to try everything 1st!! 

A year ago they were a lot more nervous going to a new school in a new country for the 1st time.  Now they know a lot more of the language, they have friends and things have become familiar.  My hubby stuck around for a bit when he dropped them off, to see if anyone needed help finding their way, but after a few minutes he realized he had been left in the dust as the 4 of them all went on their merry way!

Good luck to all of you!  Have a great 2nd year of school in this new country of ours...

For the 3 at home I have some plans too.  Our youngest will be at home with me for now, he's not even 2 and I can't imagine leaving him with some stranger :( but for the 2 girls, who are 5½ and almost 4, I really feel they need to learn Finnish.  And it won't come from me!!  So, we have signed them up for ½ days, alternating 2 or 3 days a week, starting in a month or so, at a daycare nearby!  They are very excited, and I'm excited for them!  1st time for both of them to do anything away from home and mom!  At their ages I bet they'll catch on fast with the language, which will make it so much easier for them to get to know new friends in various situations!  (and then they can teach me a word or two!!)  Good luck to them as well!

Hubby is keeping busy around our house, trying to get the outside done, as well as some attic stuff.  He's also working with his brothers, and they have many things going on, so he won't be bored any time soon!!
Little Guy LOVES being outside with my husband, watching him work.  How can a dad get any cooler than working with loud tools, climbing on ladders and building things with his hands? 

So what am I doing??  The same as usual.  Keeping the fort down.  Making sure everything is in order at home and at school.  I'm getting more and more boxes out of the way, and soon I can get started on the boxes that we haven't touched since moving overseas last year!  I bet a lot will end up in my donation stash, as I after a year in an apartment have come to realize how little you need to "survive"!  Of course there are many neat things I will want to keep as well, so it might be kind of fun going through it all!  A trip to IKEA is definitely a must. I need more bookshelves and cabinets in order for me to properly organize anything from outdoor clothes, games and books and art stuff as well as our nice china... What else?  I'm considering continuing Finn class in the fall, but we'll see how it fits in with our busy schedule!!

Well, I did get a new camera too btw, so soon I'll post some more pictures as well!  Tudelu till then!

A messy reward

The last week, month, year has been a true whirlwind of events.  A year ago I was neck deep in moving boxes, and what seemed like a thousand things that needed to get done in time for the move.  Our house was technically sold, but we were waiting for all the nitty gritty details to get ironed out, before we could put that magic "SOLD" sign in front of the house.  I was still asking myself at times "what in the world are we doing?".
But as you know we made it here, and now it's been almost 11 months since we touched down in Helsinki.  Our house is at the last stages of construction before we can move in.  So, soon I have to pack up this apartment (piece of cake compared to last years move), and the circle will come to an end for now...

I have been at the house as often as possible, I really enjoy helping out there.  It's the perfect date for me and Big Guy.  We get stuff done together, on something that benefits the whole family, it doesn't cost anything (well, the house isn't free, but no "dating" costs) and we can talk uninterrupted with no audience.  The big girls have been of great help, and they are keeping a tally on hours worked, smiling about the upcoming reward.  Speaking of which.  I'm getting a reward too!!

I have felt that I have been running on spare for a while now.  When I leave the house it's to pick up kids from school, go to the groceriestore, or to K-Rauta (Home Depot), w. Big Guy for yet more house stuff.  That can be fun, but at times it's nothing too exhilirating.  (plumbling and balconyposts is not THAT exciting, while picking out the tile and flooring is of course fun).  Other than that I rarely venture out for any "me" time.  So on Tuesday evening when I was helping hubby to clean out a bunch of garbage in the garage and breezeway at the house (we are hoping the get the floor poured there soon), I got a call from one of my local friends!  She carefully explained how she is looking for someone who might be interested in going for a mudpack-sauna-spa this Friday.  (she tried to make it sound less messy than it is, in case I would get a bit grossed out), when I practically yelled "Sandy" I LOVE playing in mud!"  That made my day!  I hadn't had a very good one, but the thought of that Northern Finnish muddy stuff, generously spread out all over me, sounded like a perfect thing to brighten up my day!  (no added anything to that stuff, the real thing only, so I guess I'll go a few skin shades darker for a while after...)  When the treatment is over, we'll enjoy some healthy tea and goodies.  I can hardly wait!

Sandy asked me to do a cleansing before the mudpack to help me get the full effect from the mess.  So I'm doing a 1 ½ day cleansing, meaning I'm ONLY eating frutis and veggies.  And some mineralsalt spiked water.  I'm aiming to get the pipes cleaned as well as my skin rejuvenated from all that mud!  I'll let you know how it goes... If I'm daring enough I might bring my camera for some action shots.........   I feel that I need and deserve this night out.  In a woodburning sauna, all covered in mud, somewhere in Finland... very close to the Russian border :)  Sounds like the perfect night out.

April Sun brings May Snow???

Hm.  Interesting.  I'm used to April being the month with rain one moment sun the next and then wind and hail, but this April has been gorgeous, sunny and warm.  The snow melted, flowers bloomed and the trees got green, all in a matter of a few weeks.  Well.  Now it's May!  And we woke up to snow in the air!  It doesn't seem to stick to the ground, fine w. me!!, but still...  Ah well.  It's just weather, and I assume this is just the winter's last "Hurrah!" before summer comes...  ;) Right??

Last Saturday I spent working at our house alongside Big Guy!  Fun!!  Our oldest girls helped out watching the younger ones for the day, and we got in about 6½ hrs of work.  I did mostly cleaning, but I also helped with some actual construction stuff as well as carrying a bunch of bricks inside for our fireplace.  At the end of our workday we stopped by at McDonald's for a quick dinner on our way home.  I felt like "one of the guys" in my dusty clothes and scratched up hands!  (any guy who's reading this is probably rolling their eys, but I did enjoy myself, and it was a great time to just hang out w. my Hubby!!)

At home things had gone well.  Our 2nd oldest had organized a picnic lunch outside, and our oldest girl had been her buys self.  She had ironed "the pile", hung up laundry, reorganized the whole livingroom, reorganized and cleaned our bedroom as well as taking care of and putting our Little Guy to sleep...
Wow!  Pretty amazing I think!  We sure appreaciate their helpfulness.  I guess they want the house to get done as much as we do.... 
Today my cousin is starting to build the fireplace, the mudder and sander guy is in full swing, Big Guy is finishing up some drywall stuff downstairs... and yeah, it's getting done!!

And Oh!!  Our 2nd oldest, who'll find any animal anywhere (she's spotted lizards on our property already) cought a glimps of a Viper on the neighbours lot!!  Yikes....  I guess I'm gonna see if there are some plants we could grow that keep those suckers away!!  :(  Anyway... Off to another Monday, have a good one folks!  Yes, I'll see if I can get some more pictures on here soon....

Happy Birthday Big Guy!!

Well, I have a little tradition going here.  I've written about my 5 year old as well as Miss 13 on their birthdays, and today is my Dear Hubby's big day, so I guess the turn is his.
This is his last year in his 30ies.  The kids think he's, well, OLD!  I think it's wierd to be married to a guy twice my age!!!  Or did time just fly???  I bet his parents feel like he just became their age... He's the oldest of 7. 

Well.  This summer it's 15 years since our eyes first locked, and the bystanders heard an audiable "click"!
Or whatever the sound is when 2 people just fall in love with no warning.
I was the least romantic girl I knew, I thought all those romantic stories about "Love at 1st site" was a bunch of "Hooey".  Stuff like that doesn't happen in real life.  And I was very much real and alive.  So of course it happened to me!  I was almost mad when I realized that my mind was totally toast.  I had a hard time focusing on anything else than Mr.  And I talked about him.  All the time.  My poor friends.... (I thought LUCKY THEM that get to hear about this amazing person!!!) 
The biggest hurdle for us was that I lived in Sweden and he in Canada.
No fun.
So, 11 months after our first meeting, we tied the knot in Sweden, and then I was officially imported into The land of  Moose, Maples and Hockey players. 

9 months later our 1st daughter was born.  Our souvenier from our Greek Honeymoon.... 
When she was 6 months old, Big Guy graduated from University with  a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Around this time I became a Landed Immigrant in this great nation, and I was allowed to work.
I held a job at Pizza Hut while Big Guy was looking for his 1st job suiting his degree.  Until then he'd worked construction, part time at Chrysler as well as a personal financial advisor.  He landed his 1st "real" job with an apartment management firm in Detroit, doing accounting for them.  This meant crossing the border every day.  He patiently stayed with this company for almost 10 years, during which time we dealt with the aftermath of 9-11 in 2001 (I was 8 month pregnant w. child #3).  For several months he had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to beat the traffic on the way in to the States.  The customs was extra cautious after the terrible terrorist attacks, so all the cars were searched on a daily basis.  You have your 6000 something daily commuters, many crossing around the same time each morning... so you can imagine the lineups!!!
This is also the busies international bordercrossing for commercial traffic in the world, so the trucks would line up for hours on end .

I don't know how Big Guy dealt with this all those years.  He's a very patiend man, let me tell ya!!
He switched jobs in Sept. 2008, still working in Detroit, but this was better in several ways, and he sure needed a change.  That following spring, he went to Finland to help one of his brothers build his house, and he so enjoyed himself, he felt that THIS is what he really wanted to do!
He was sick of the commute, and the office ho-hum.  I sure don't blame him.
He wanted to bulid a house too, and I said, "Sure, but only if we also move there, it has to be an experience for the whole family!"
This is 2 years ago, and now we've lived here for almost a year!
Big Guy is truly enjoying the change of work.  No more sitting on your butt all day.
At times the weather has been pretty brutal (just before Christmas they had a deadline to meet, and they were out in -25 C, not being able to use the powertools, they were too cold.  I joked and said that using the hammers will keep you warmer at least!), but then he has thought about the option of sitting stuck in traffic, or dealing with various people that know how to NOT make your day... and the cold all of a sudden seemed perfectly fine!!!

What else????  I could ramble on and on about this guy, and mostly it would be really good stuff.  I don't know a person who does not like my hubby!!  He's an easygoing dude, who gets along well with everybody.  He smiles quickly and is a great listener.  He's a  fun dad, who sometimes talks in extremes...  He likes to explain how things work, and is a great math teacher.  I love his humor, and in any situation he'd be the person I'd take with me.  He's truly my best friend, and I thank God he's mine!!!  And I'm praying for many, many years together.  Happy Birthday my dear Hubby, I Love you forever and always!!!!

Gold Nuggets

Well.  After rain comes sun.  Also this time.

3 things that make me happy right now is:

1.Suburban is on the road again!  Yes.  Makes our life so much easier.

2.The spring here is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! Where we had a foot of snow just 10 days ago, are now blooming crocuses in it's place!!!  WOW!  The sun is so warm, and the evenings are long and sunny.  YUM!

3. Today I picked up our 4 oldest after school, and because the weather is so juicy, we decided to bring an icy treat for Big Guy, (he's doing some dusty, dingy work right now, insulating between the 2 floors... yukk, yukk and tripel yukk!, getting covered in that yellow insulation stuff....)  So we got some Mars Icecream bars and some Juicy ones as well, then we all sat in the sun slurping them as fast as we could!

Life is great.