Mother of the Millennium

Christmas is a busy time, but I don't seem to have the brain capacity to cope with all this hullabaloo. If ever there is a "Mother of the Millennium" I won't rank very high:

Saturday. I was doing the grocery shopping with Clara (our au pair, more about her later!) when it dawned on me that Risto was supposed to be at a friend's birthday party that had already started! I quickly called Timppa and asked him if he could take Risto. He was not happy about dressing up three boys and driving Risto to the party. But DH was quick and I doubt Risto even realized that he turned up late! The icing on the cake was that the birthday present was with me in the shop...

Monday. Jaakko's Christmas party at day care. I realized that he was the only one not dressed in christmasy clothes, unless you call a bright lime green t-shirt with a chameleon on it christmasy. Nor did he wear a red Christmas gnome hat like all the other kids. Plus the battery of our camera died.

Tuesday. Tuomas' Christmas party. Clean clothes, 1 point for that. But several minus points for not charging the battery of the afore mentioned camera!! That was a real shame since this time Tuomas participated in the singing and dancing and wore a costume. At the spring party he was not co-operating. And I didn't get his happy face recorded... luckily another mother promised to send me some pictures and also handed her camera to me to take some pictures myself.

Tuesday continues. I went to work after the party (I'm still here.... um... working), but forgot to turn on the sound on my mobile phone. When I finally remembered to turn it on I had several un-answered calls: one from Jaakko's day care and three from DH. Oops! Luckily DH was running errands with Clara and was close to the day care when they called him (since I didn't answer) about Jaakko having an eye infection and needing a doctor. 26 minutes (yes twenty-six!!) after DH got the call from the day care he walked out of the doctor's office with a prescription for antibiotics. TWENTY-SIX... it has to be a world record!

Now Clara, our Christmas angel i.e. au pair, is at home with Jaakko fixing dinner for us. Yesterday she cleaned the whole house, made delicious lieb-küchen (probably mis-spelled it, but German gingerbread with almonds, orange and lemon zest and oh-so-delicious!!), chocolate cookies and just helped with everything. We all love her. Jaakko calls her Kala (fish) or Kaala (since it's too difficult for him to pronounce) and Tuomas after a couple of days of calling her "the German" now manages to call her Craala. Close enough! In just the few days that she's been with us (she arrived on Friday and already at the airport took the boys in control!) she has proven to be the answer to our prayers. Great with the kids, wonderful help in the kitchen and around the house and also great company for us adults. I'm off to a rock concert with her on Wednesday!

So everything is fine!

Paris in November

I was in Paris last week on business from Tuesday to Thursday.

Just close your eyes.

Think about Paris around Christmas time.

Can you feel it?

You take the metro to your hotel, in Paris. Just keep the image of Paris behind your closed eyes. Ok? Ready to continue?

You walk to your hotel. In Paris. Christmas time (I think the end of November can be called Christmas time...)

You walk to your room. In Paris. Hear the jingle of Christmas bells?

Your draw the curtains.....

A room with a view.

I should've known that something bad would happend when I saw the view. I caught a terrible cold, I'm still wearing the same pyjamas I put on last Friday (did you really want to know that.....) and I haven't been this sick in months. Merci Paris! Well, it was nice, business-wise and leisure-wise.

Utility room, before and after

"Utility" room, before.
Utility room, after. I see a difference, a change for the better. And I just simply love it. Now, if I could only get a sewing room...... me want, me want, me want.

"Mothers of Three Sons" Club

Unfortunatel my sister won't be able to join this club, since this morning at 01:27 GMT+1 time she did something unheard of in our family. She gave birth to a

*************GIRL*******************************

"Felicia" weighed 3,7 kg and was approximately 50 cm tall. Apparently everything went well, since I spoke to my sister at 13:30 GMT+2 time and she was on her way home with her daughter!!!

Unfortunately no photos yet!

Baking

We baked again the other day. In the boys opinion the more raisins and flour you add, the better the result. I agree on the raisin part.

Tuomas concentrating on what part of the dough he'll eat.

Risto thinking......

Oooops, I hope whatever he picked from his nose/mouth didn't end up in the pulla!

The result before baking. Risto was quite upset that the raisins popped out during baking.

Jaakko 2 years!

Our baby turned 2 on Sunday! He's such a big boy! Just a couple of days before his birthday he said his first 3 word sentence "Ei juosta autotielle" i.e. don't run to the street (OK, all you wise guys.... 3 words in Finnish). And he looks very serious when he says it.

Jaakko was slightly confused of the attention he got first thing in the morning and he was quite grumpy. But big brothers were eager to help him open the gifts.Still grumpy.....

"Hey, I'm two!"

Jaakko on his christening day, January 15, 2006.

Art

Risto loves to draw. He informed me a week ago that he no longer does war drawings. Now it's mostly animals. The door to his room is covered with drawings of dinosaurs, quite good ones IMHO. Here's what he drew for me last week: As you can see, there are two bats, two birds (the grey coala bear looking creatures), a Russian flying squirrel above the cottage (note, it is NOT a house but a cottage), a bear climbing up the tree, me between the tree trunk and the hedgehog, a snake and a rabbit next to the cottage, three mushrooms and a fallen leaf and a fallen branch. And the green is not the grass but an underwater cave. He put a lot of effort into drawing all those leaves on the tree!

What else has happened?

1) Risto has now his own room, and he's very proud of it. And we've had the "this is my room and I'm the king here and nobody can come in if I don't want them to!" arguments. Before, the boys slept in one room and the spare bedroom was the play-room (now Tuomas' and Jaakko's room). Quite a few times Risto crept in the Jaakko's crib when they still slept in the same room.

2) Despite the hectic life, I managed to be creative. Our white walls scream for colour, but DH isn't interested in having orange walls and "real" art is pricey. So.... DIY! I bought canvases, mixed some acrylics, used child labour and ta-dah

Hand prints from left to right: Tuomas, Jaakko and Risto. I deliberately made them different shades, quite daring for an engineering mind that loves symmetry and harmony, but I knew I'd be ripping my hair off trying to get them the same colour. I'm happy with the result, my first acrylic paintings!

3) Jaakko still eats like a pig. How could he get yoghurt on his eyelashes...

4) DH backed into a car in the traffic lights just two hours ago. I had run to the grocery shop and the boys decided to drive around the block instead of waiting at the parking place. When I came outside, I didn't see the car, walked around and then saw our green Land Rover waiting in the traffic lights. DH saw me, switched into reverse so he could turn to the parking place, but didn't see the teeny-tiny little white car behind him. I couldn't wave my arms to tell him to stop, since my arms were full of groceries. "I looked, but I didn't see the car and I heard the parking radar beep and I took my foot off the gas pedal....." BUMP and I saw the hood of the teeny-tiny-little white car bend. Nobody was hurt, nobody was angry, I guess it was my fault since I didn't drop the groceries on the ground and wave DH to stop and I guess I shouldn't be blogging about this... but now I can quote DH "I didn't see it!" if I ever in a million-zillion years should do something sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid. Sorry, DH!

October was a busy month...

Yes, we're alive. DH survived my business trip to Belgium, my weekend in Barcelona and I survived his golf trip to Scotland. It was a busy October, no time nor energy to blog. I finally planted the last tulip bulbs yesterday. It was high time since it was snowing while I was doing my gardening! It's getting colder and darker and almost impossibly difficult to get up in the mornings, despite the help of 3 boys. It helps me to think about the clear, Catalan sky of Barcelona (see above), the warmth, a dear friend with me there. Oh, will it carry me through this winter?

Hopefully the coming week I'll be able to post "Before-and-After" pictures about our utility room. Things aren't running as smoothly as expected (does it ever with renovating), but we're able to wash our laundry now.

Jaakko a month ago at the computer. He'll turn 2 in just a couple of weeks, but has already turned into a little devil! The bites and throws things, rips his big brothers' hair and screams if things don't go his way! And gives the cutest hugs!
Jaakko with his huge lollipop from Barcelona.
Tuomas got one, too.

Risto could almost fit his in his mouth. He does have a BIG mouth..... in all respects....

Wise words

I subscribe to two daily e-mail letters and I highly recommend both. The first one is A Word A Day, a great chance to learn new words and their etymologies (in English) and the second one is Ajatusten Aamiainen, to give you a good feeling and a smile on your face every morning (in Finnish).

With AWAD comes a quote each time. I want to share today's quote:

Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are -- chaff and grain together -- certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. -George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans), novelist (1819-1880).

I'm lucky to have a DH and friends with whom I feel safe in this sense. And I know they get a lot of chaff to blow away :-)

Back home and leaving again

My trip to Belgium was wonderful. For 5 days I didn't have to think about cooking or cleaning, but enjoyed 4 course dinners, nice people, wonderful scenery, bicycling, walking and also the interesting topic of the conference. The boys survived my absence (and DH survived Tuomas throwing up one night...) and were happy to have me back. Tuomas and Risto stayed up late on Friday and waited for me (i.e. souvenirs...) to come home "hi-mom-what's-in-the-bag-anything-for-us".

The venue of the conference was Auberge de la Ferme, a place worth visiting.

The view from our village, Rochehaut, down to the village of Frahan.

The view down from Frahan towards Rochehaut.

The vineyard. Pinoit Noir on the right.

Tomorrow I'm leaving again. This time a trip of mere pleasure. I'm off to Barcelona with my friend on a mother-daughter trip. Since she and I are both mothers of three boys, i.e. there are no daughters to drag along, it's just going to be the two of us. Oh, what a shame..... I'll be back early Monday morning, relaxed and happy!

9th Wedding Anniversary

Ever since we go married, we decided that we'll return to our wedding church every anniversary and have our picture taken. Not by some professional, but just someone passing by. It's nice to look at these photos, see the change in us, first just the two of us, then a baby, then a toddler + a baby, then a little boy+toddler+ baby and now two bigger boys and a toddler. I think we'll stop at that and just watch these three howler monkies grow.

Tuomas was not in the mood for a picture, so this is the result. Just as we are :-)

I'm off to Belgium on a businsess trip. For five days I don't have to worry about cooking, cleaning, just my teeth I have to brush and if somebody stands up at dinner and shouts "I need to go to the bathroom, number two coming!" I don't need to pay attention. Back in October with more pictures and news!

"Guess what animal?"

Tuomas loves this game. He usually starts with:"Guess what animal lives in the African sea?" It sounds a lot more fun with his very strong French "r"! The answer can be anything from whale, giraffe, lion, fox, hummingbird shark (they can grow up to 200 m long, did you know that?), woodpecker shark (slightly smaller than the hummingbird shark) to anything. And as you can see, it doesn't have to live in the sea. Also guesses about fauna of the French Sea are popular. And if I ask for a hint he usually blurts out the answer straight away. Fun game.

Last night we played it again driving back home. It was my turn:

M:"This animal has four legs and people drink its milk?"
T:"WOMAN!" (technically correct, but not the answer I was thinking about)
M:"Not quite, it's an animal." (well, humans _are_ animals not plants)
T:"MOTHER!" (lately I've acted like one, so not a surprising answer, I guess)
M:"No, this one has horns."
T:"RHINO!" (I'm using capitals since he shouts his answers)
M:"No, this animal lives in Finland."
T:"FOX!" (must have forgotten the initial clue)
M:"It says 'mooooooo' "
T:"COW!"

He is a smart kid :-)

Achievements

Friday, Tuomas, nurse's appointment: age 3.5 years, height 111 cm, only 7 cm taller than Risto at the same age.

Sunday, Risto, swimminghall: Risto wanted to go jumping from 3 m to the pool. I said there was a big sign saying that one had to be able to swim 25 m without any help in order to be allowed into the big pool. So, he swam the 25 m, climbed up to 3 meters and jumped. And swam back with a huge smile and did it 10 times more.....

Sunday, Jaakko, livingroom: he found my knitting and the big needles, apparently used the needles as drums sticks (DH saw him do it, but before he was able to react somebody screamed or something similar that took his attention and being a typical non-knitting male forgot about Jaakko and the "drumsticks"). So now a have the knitting with the loose stitches and the needles are nowhere to be found.
Risto drew me a picture on Friday to cheer me up. DH, himself and me with my hair standing up. The boxes around the knees (as if you'd need to ask.... like I did) are shorts, obviously. There's an orange flower and grass (oh, BTW, Tuomas and Jaakko are at the summer place, that's why you can't see them!), our car with what seems like four steering wheels, the paved parking place, our white house i.e. the faint white line encircling the four barred windows. The picture did make me happy. Our Bionicle Family.

Theological questions, once again

"Mom, why is it that God never dies, but people do. It's so unfair!!!"

Sleep

I know that in families with small children finding your kids sleeping in odd positions and places is nothing new. But it still amazes me that kids manage to sleep everywhere….
Tuomas in our bed…. or half in our bed! I guess he fell from our bed and fell asleep half way climbing back.

Garden and the gardener

I think my little herb garden under the poor apple tree turned up quite nice. I've used a lot to the herbs in my cooking this summer. And we've had THREE strawberries so far (you see the pot behind the sage and oregano bushes?).

Mårbacka pelargoniums which Tuomas didn't rip into pieces, surprisingly. "Rainbow" seems to be upset since he's staring at the corner.
The gardener with his squirt gun. Jaakko was an eager helper whenever I watered the plants.

Reindeer

The boys the next morning after the baking session. They went downstairs, Risto got the fresh pulla from the kitchen and they were happily having a healthy breakfast when we finally got out of bed.
This is our little reindeer! Jaakko wears a bell around his neck like a reindeer. That way I can hear where he is. There are so many bushes and other places in which he can hide, so this is the best way to have some control over his roaming about. Tuomas wore the same bell when he was smaller. I've had so many comments about what a great idea (especially in a big play-ground when I have to keep an eye on three active boys...). You're welcome to copy the idea. Hopefully the sound of the bell is different from our, so that if we meet in a park we can tell the difference!

Summer and all

It's the third week back at the office for me and I seem not to have the time/energy to update the blog. But I do my best......

... to train my boys to be good house-husbands. In all honesty, Risto wanted to mop the floor which meant that Tuomas wanted, too. Luckily we have two of them. I handed them the squirt bottle with the mild washing detergent and the mops and went away in order to avoid seeing the mess they'd make. The floor ended up being quite slippery (you _don't_ want black tiles on your floor, every little piece of dirt, crumbs, sand etc. shows), I think there was a hollow *thump* when Jaakko slipped and hit his head on the floor. But actually the floor was pretty clean, the boys were happy "Mom, guess what? If you take the ends of the mop away you can use these as swords!!!".

Risto and me after the mopping session. (Photo taken by Tuomas)
Baking "pulla". The best part, in my opinion too, is eating the dough, especially if you're making cinnamon rolls and you have already spread the butter and sprinkled the sugar and cinnamon. And those yeasty burps afterwards..... Can't really deny the boys that joy since I like it, too (the eating part, not the burping!). Hmm, my hands look slightly odd in the background...
Before

After....

God sons

DH and I have 5 god sons. Our first is my cousin's third son, born in 7/01, just 5 months before Risto. The second one is DH's cousin's third son, 6/02, 6 months after Risto. Then comes Outi's son 2/05, then my sister's son 4/06 and finally our friends' son 11/06. (I hope I got the dates right and didn't forget anyone!!! Hmmm, maybe I should be in bed sleeping at 11:04PM rather than updating my blog and infesting it with typos....)Celebrating our first god son's 6th birthday in June. Ilari, the birthday boy is leaning to the table between Tuomas and Risto. DH and Jaakko waiting for their piece of the cake.

These five boys, our god sons, are all cute and small, but boy did I feel old when my god son from Norway came over for a short visit. When you have to look UP to see the eyes of your god son you know you're not a spring chicken any more. Here's Ole Markus, my Norwegian cousin's son, born 4/91, 180 cm tall.

First Risto wanted to take the picture of us, but he left our heads off the picture. So then he wanted to be in the picture itself.

Seeing Ole Markus gave me some idea what my life will be like with 3 sons. I know that in about 10 years or so I'll be looking UP at my boys.

But they'll always be my babies...

Even if they don't obey my "stay still" commands!

Summer, part II

And we spent a day with our friends in an activity park, Puuhamaa. This is how Tuomas will look like as an obese, fed-up teenagerI hope he'll never look like this! He was jumping on a trampoline! Funny what gravity can do to your cheeks!Looking better here! He was all red on his face by the time he stopped jumping.

Jumping up and down on a trampoline and throwing the ball to each other. It sounds like a running wheel for hamsters. But they loved it.

Jaakko and DH coming down a slide, a long but not too fast one. Risto wanted to go on this ride and I, stupid me, volunteered. Each of us had two buttons to choose from: either the cabin would turn up-side-down with your face first or with your back first. The first minute was fun, but the last 6 (it seemed to go on for ever!!) were not. But, boy, did Risto enjoy teasing his mother!

Summer

Summer is almost gone. DH has been back to work for a week, I'm back at the office on Monday and boys in day-care.
Our vacation was busy! We came back home Thursday last week (and he went to work the next day) and DH's comment was:"Great vacation. Next summer we'll stay at home!"

And what did we do:

Sister's family spent a couple of days with us. We took the boys (she has 2 boys, 5 and 1 year olds) to a farm yard. And what did they want to look at: Cousin Vincent and Risto on the vintage tractor.Jaakko played with this car for at least half an hour.

Tuomas was interested in the guinea pigs.

Axel, our god-son, 15months, on my back.

"They're not looking. Let's run! I'm sure they can handle 5 boys if they can handle 3. Oh, but I can't move fast with this belly. We'll just walk fast and quietly!". Sister and her DH.
*piano string smile* "Shoot, they saw us. Ok, it was a good plan, but we were too slow."