Creme Brulee

So, Creme Brulee´ is one of our favourite desserts.

For quite some time Hubby and I have been keeping our eyes open for the perfect dishes for this lovely treat.  When we finally found them for a reasonable price, we scooped up 10 of them.

Previously Hubby had invested in a blowtorch, to keep handy for when you need to melt the sugar on top of the creme brulee´... (he did use it for starting up fires in our fireplace as well, while I prefer a traditional match stick for that purpose).  Hubby and our little boy think that the torch is majorly cool!

Anyway.

After several months of wanting to make this dish, we finally had all the componets handy to make it possible.

They sell a ready mix in the store that you just need to heat up, pour in to the dishes, chill and serve.

But of course, before serving you need to add the sugar that you need the -"ta-da"- BLOW TORCH for!

This was a few months ago, and I captured the moment...

Sprinkling sugar on top.
We used brown sugar, but when we made them the 2nd time a while back,
we used white sugar, which worked better.

Eager audience waiting for the fire action!

"Stand back citizens, we have here the powerful flame thrower!"
(never mind my dear Hubby's powerful long john's...)

Action.  Melting sugar!!

Action.  Eating the delicious dessert...
Yummmmmmmm....

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???

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!"

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??

Just a day in our lives!

Mostly our lives are just everyday days.
In the last weeks it seems like our life has been like that a lot.
Nothing too exciting going on, but at the same time, a LOT going on!
My Hubby is working 1½ hrs away, so his days are long, and so are mine at home alone with the kids.
As our kids are getting older, it's not so bad thou.
I really enjoy spending time chatting with the kids and I think it's important for the kids to have that time with me, just taking and hanging out.
Their lives are so busy, and they see and hear so many things from so many sources, so having a good base to come home to after school is so crucial.

Our 2nd oldest, who I often refer to as my voice of reasoning, (she's 12 btw), had one of those "Blah!" days this last week.
After school things just seemed boring and yukky.
Nothing bad in specific, but just, you know
"I don't know what to do, I'm bored, I'm sick of everything and nothing and I'm not sure why".
That's how I feel too this time of year.
It feels like my energy is drained from a long winter, and now I'm over due for some spring, warmer weather, flowers etc.
Anyway, as my daughter and I chatted away, she vented about this and that.
She told me how a girl in her class has had to live in foster care because of her parents problems, and now when she's back with her mom she's not happy since her mother is so strict (mean) to her.
I got shivers and felt so bad for the girl.
I told my daughter that maybe this girl could come and live with us!!
My daughter agreed that it sure would be nice if we could help all of those less fortunate once.
Then after some more chit-chatting she said
"You know mom, I think I have the best home out of all my school friends!"
Aaaaw..
Then she added
"And mom, I'm glad I have you, you always know how to make me feel better!"
*tear*
Well kiddo, it's not just me, all I did was to listen to you.
I allowed you to feel let down, bored and out of sorts.
I didn't try to correct your feelings.
I know that life is mostly "average" days, and I'm not trying to sugarcoat everything, making you believe that life is always great.
Just talking.  And having somebody listen.  Can mean so much.

So... the last weeks have been filled with dentist appointments, running errands, work, school, picking kids up from school, day care, visiting, birthday parties, having company, chores, homework, housework, car repairs, construction...
But here and there I find small moments to cherish.
Watching and listening to our youngest kids can be extremely amusing.
Hanging out with the older kids is fun and educating.
Spending time with my Hubby is always a good time.
There are moments I wish I could take a week off and fly to a far away, warm and sunny island.
Just me.
Then there are moments I look at my life... and I get so full of love it actually hurts.
I agree with my daughter.
We have a wonderful, wonderful life.

We have great friends and a great social life.
We are content with little.
Today Hubby and I went bowling together.
Just an hour of our time, but so well worth it.
Coming home the kids and I cleaned the house while Hubby put up trim upstairs.
Little by little our house is getting all the finishing touches done.
It's easy to get cought up in all the details in life, and forget to stop and smell the roses...
When we do thou, we get reminded of our great wealth.
We have a rich, full life.
We are truly blessed.  Even on our "boring" everyday days!

Angry Birds take the cake!

Here it is. 
The cake I made for our oldest daughter and her friends last Friday.
I can't remember last time I made a cake,
or took the time to decorate one,
but I sure enjoyed this little project!



It tasted good too!!



My talented daughter!

Happy early birthday girl! 
14 on Sunday - WOW!
So far you are turning out ok, not too much fuss having a "teen" in the house.
But we are not quite "done" yet... :)
With 6 girls in a row... there's still much drama, many tears, arguments, loves, heartbreaks etc in the future.
Well, I went through all that too, so I know what's "normal" (= nothing!!).
I feel worse for my Hubby... But he's survived me for almost 15 years, so I think he'll be just fine.
Kind of.

Well.  Our 1st born has never waited for anything.
She's a real "go getter" .
It's comforting to know that I will never need to think for her or make up her mind.
She has her own plans, ideas and talents.  Lots of talents.
One of them is making her mom pull out her own hair...
At times I feel like putting my foot on the break.  Hard.  But at the same time her ideas peek my curiosity...
I want to SEE what she's creating in her head.
And if I always said no, I think her brain would suffocate.

From the day she was born she has known what she wanted.
I tried to wrap her tight in a baby blanket... only to watch her fight her way out.
She rolled around on the floor at 2 months.
Crawled on all 4 at five months.
Walked along furniture at 6....
When she was a toddler she just did what she wanted, and got what she wanted, one way or another.
There's always a way to get on top of the fridge.... (where I'd stash anything she should NOT have)
In JR Kindergarten, at age 4, she illustrated pictures to the new song they had learned.
Her teacher actually copied her illustrations and printed out a set for each child! :)
Further up in the grades when she was recognized as a "gifted" student, she was given special assignments at school.
In grade 6 she got to plan and hold classes with the younger grades.
She was the person the principal called to the office to guide a visitor to the right room.
Well... the list could go on and on... and on.
I sometimes wish I would have taken more pictures and written down some of the projects that she has come up with... so today I'm sharing some of her productions.
Her true passion these days is baking.
It's not only the decoration (although that's her favourite part of course), but she also comes up with interesting fillings etc.
She has made up a few cakes from scratch.
I know most people don't like to listen to other parents "gush" about their kids, but as a parent of this kid, I have to say that I often stand on the sidelines and watch with my mouth open!
The funny part is that she compares herself to me many times.
Wanting to be at the same level in some ways...
Well dear... you'll have time to be all grown up too.
For now, enjoy being young.
Keep being talented, creative and fun.
Even if it drives me a bit bonkers at times... I wouldn't want you any other way!
And thank you for being a great kid.
Really.

A smoothie is not just a smoothie.
It's an occation.

One of her talents, being a good big sister, in awe of her Little Brother... (and HIS talents!!)

Aaawww....  Cupcakes.

A cheesecake she made for her cousin's baptism

A cake she made in honor of the Swedish Crown princess' new baby girl

She made all the decorations from fondant for this cute birthday cake

When her grandparents visited from Sweden she made these fruitbowls as a dinner side dish the last day of their visit!

And for her Birthday she "needed" to make these Angry Bird cupcakes for her friends at school!!