Where were you on our wedding day?

Well, I survived another year with this lot! Tuomas was away on our wedding anniversary (September 26th, incase you didn't remember....), so this was taken almost a month later. 11th wedding anniversary... not too bad!

Long lost friend

Just like this old window frame that waited for years for my attention, another friend patiently waited for my attention for four years.

Our paths finally crossed last weekend. We lost touch about the time we moved into our house, I was pregnant with Jaakko and everyday life seemed to be a struggle time-wise. There are still only 24 hours a day (just in case you didn't know...), but maybe now I use my time more wisely (and the boys are older).

We shared good times, therapeutical in my opinion. For my friend it was more work. At times I felt that my friend was just stuck and stubborn, but I guess I was asking for too much. Now I know better, I know what my friend can achieve. There are physical limits to be considered, too.

We always overcame those stuck situations and managed to work together to achieve a smooth result. Our times together have always been quiet, with a calming humm, something different from the hectic hullabaloo.

But last weekend the self-denial ended. My life was wrinkly, I needed to get back in shape, smooth things. I wiped the dust off my dear friend who had sat quietly in the corner of our utility room. Plugged her in and started mangling the sheets.

Eyes

Their future girlfriends will be so lucky to be able to stare at these eyes. I know I like doing it.

A bag

I found a perfect pattern for a perfect bag. Then I found the most perfect Hello Kitty -fabric (not pink!) and red mushroom fabric. Unfortunately my boys aren't really into Hello Kitty, but luckily their girl friend is. She seemed to like her birthday present.

Modesty

"Ok, ok, thank you! It was an ok shot!"

I've changed the settings of commenting, if this would stop unwanted ads in the comment fields. Otherwise I'll have to close the whole blog, open only for listed members. We'll see what happens.

Summer memories

Jaakko with wild strawberries and bilberries. On a straw, of course!

I've been to Udmurtia and I know I'm cool

Let me educate you first. I doubt you know where Udmurtia is. First, hop on a plane and fly to Moscow. Then board a train heading towards Siberia and China. After about 16-18 hours, depending on whether you took to fast one or the one that stops in every single village, you'll end up in Udmurtia, west of the Ural mountains.
The view from the train is far from promising. Though I have to say that the surroundings around any train track in the world are probably not the up-market areas.

This modern little kettle provided us with hot water for tea in the train.

Public transportation in Glazov, northern Udmurtia. The view is from my hotel window. The hotel was clean, didn't see any little critters. The bathroom was a relief after the experience on the train.
Beautiful old buildings in Glazov. Unfortunately rundown.
This little chap in front of the railway station is pointing the way to the nearest liquor store. The locals were proud of the Kalashnikov vodka. Tasted like at the dentist's, blaah.
Major effort was put into renovating this orthodox church.

This is what one was apparently supposed to use to scrub the toilet bowl on the train. I did my best to keep my legs crossed to avoid going there.

I wanted to send really touristy postcards from Glazov, but apparently they don't get that many tourist since I couldn't find any.

An extremely interesting trip, professionally and culturally. Would I go again (it's in my job description so I don't have that much of a choice)? Yes, definately. The food was great, there was plenty, our hosts were nice, professionally very educating. The only down side is really the bathrooms....

Accidents may happen

Risto got a kick bike a week after school started. Theoretically it's the boys', but Risto uses is the most. Jaakko is quite good with it, but on October 1st he went down a steep hill, couldn't turn and went straight to the road. Luckily no cars and he was wearing his helmet.

Maybe the reason was the wheel. After 1.5 months it looked more like a triangle.

Boys

I am a mother of three boys. And I'm sure life in a house with only girls is sooooo different and (correct me if I'm wrong... .which I probably am!) and so much more easy.

You see because:

Girls do not call their mother an idiot (or stupid), don't make everybody aware of the fact that there is wind coming out of their bodily orifices, don't fight 22/7 (yes, there is about 2hrs of peace in an all-male household on a good day...), don't make artificial farts using their palms and armpits (oh, this is an artform), don't urinate standing up and messing up the whole bathroom, don't roll up their filthy socks in tight little balls and hide them, wear out their bicycle tires in a month so that you can poke your finger through them.
Instead these pretty pink mini-females sit quietly reading books, playing with their dolls, help around the house, make their mother a cup of tea (green tea and mint, please!!), admire the flowers in the garden and don't pick them and say only nice things never yelling.

I'd like to trade for a day and then return to my wild family!

Since I love these boys from the bottom of my heart!

Babysitter

The last two days of work before starting my summer vacation the boys had a babysitter. My cousin had volunteered to babysit and I gave him a call a couple of weeks before the D-day. Matti has seen the boys a few times, the boys like him and he is great with kids. And a male babysitter is a nice change for them. Matti plays in two bands, writes the music and sings, too. With black dreadlocks (which he has now cut), tattoos and a black beard he's not the typical babysitter!

After the first day I told Matti to be honest and tell me if he didn't want to come the next day, but he said that despite being a lot of work it was fun, too. But he'll stick to his day-job as a musician than become a professional babysitter, I guess....

Jaakko had asked Matti if he has family. Matti lives by himself, but told Jaakko that he has his parents and siblings with their families. But Jaakko was worried and told Matti that he could come and live with us so he wouldn't have to be alone. Matti had asked Jaakko, if he should move to the guest house, but Jaakko had replied:"No, no, you can sleep upstairs with Mom and Dad. They have three pillows in their bed!"

In the evening Jaakko wanted to discuss this with me. He was still quite concerned that Matti lives alone and said that he really should move in with us. "But he can't live alone. What if he dies.....?" I tried to convince Jaakko that Matti won't be dying any time soon and he's apparently quite happy living by himself, but he's always welcome to come over for a visit, evening tea etc. I told this to Matti, too.

Male anatomy

A couple of nights ago Jaakko walked out of the bathroom naked fiddling his private parts. Suddenly his face lightened up and he told me excitedly:"Mom, I have TWO testicles!!!"

No pictures.

Annecy

I've been to Annecy three times on business, a beautiful city near the Alps. Luckily I've had the chance to see the old town a bit and also the opportunity to play with my camera.

I liked this arrangement of flowers and plants I found in one of the back alleys in the old town. And guess what Tuomas said when he saw the photo? "Oh, mom, there's a Coke bottle!". Can you see it, right behind the wheel....

Live music. These guys were having a lot of fun. I was too shy to stand between them and the audience to get a decent photo.

Who? Part II and III

And these blue eyes belong to.....?

Edit: Tuomas, almost 5.5 years. My sister has often asked if I pluck his eyebrows, they are so nice and even. And no, I don't!

Is this one the eldest, youngest or the middle one?

Edit: Risto, almost 7.5 years. Unfortunately he was wearing a bicycle helmet so the blueness of his eyes doesn't come out that strongly. They're almost Robert Redford blue.

I didn't think about giving any prizes for the winners. But I'll be more than willing to take YOUR picture!

Who?

Who is staring at you?

Edit: This charmer is Jaakko, 3.5 years.

Help!!! Let me out of here!!!!!

Pictures

Random pictures from Florida.

Jaakko is a bicycle boy, now. Just like his older brothers. I took off the supporting wheels on April 14th, and he really enjoys his freedom! It took him about two days to really get the hang of it. He's 3.5 years so pretty good, IMHO.

I bought a children's book on human anatomy and gave it to Risto. He's extremely interested in it, reading (and I mean READING, not just looking at the pictures) it almost every night. And it's in Swedish!

We're trying to teach Tuomas how to pronounce the letter "r" like the Finnish do, not like the French. It's hard and he gets frustrated very easily.

Timppa is looking forward to the golf season to start properly.

Birthdays

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays. We combined Tuomas' and Jaakko's birthday parties since they are in the same day care group. Jaakko's 3rd birthday was back in November and Tuomas' 5th was in January. But then we went to Florida and these things take long to arrange, so it was late March by the time their friends were invited.

I was really proud of these cupcakes I made, with frosting and all. And individual candles so everybody got to use their lungs.  Guess if the kids liked them?!?!? Nooooooooooooooo.

Matilda Lilia

SIL and BIL Productions proudly present Matilda Lilia!
Opening night April 8, 2009
Starring Matilda Lilia
Supporting actress SIL
Supporting actor BIL
Filmed on location in Nottingham, UK

Random pictures 2008

Riding in Saviaho, the best hotel in the world!!!!
Risto at Repovesi National Park in August.
Not Bob the Builder, but Tuomas. He really loves the tiger t-shirt he's wearing under the vest.
DH in Japan back in September. The love of my life!
A carrot, what else?!?!
Japanese soft drink. Sweat to quench your thirst!
Myself at Osaka subway station on our way to Osaka castle.
Cakes I made for my colleagues for my farewell party i August. Believe me, they were good :-)
How to behave in Osaka subway!!! "I quietly hold my breath whenever I come across someone smoking." "If you're going to read words during rush hour, we wish you'd also read between the lines."
Sensouji shrine in Tokyo. The smoke should heal you.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 came and went. We spent Christmas in Ylläs, Lapland. My parents drove to Ylläs with Tuomas and Jaakko arriving on the 19th (a drive from hell according to my parents even though they drove the 1000 km in two days... apparently Jaakko has been blessed with an amazing lung capacity... need I say more?). DH, Risto and myself started off the next morning at 06:00 arriving at the cabin some 13 hours later. A long drive, but thanks to the DVD´s it went ok. The next week, on the other hand, was just down hill in many ways:

Risto took a 3-day skiing course and in my opinion learned to come down the slopes way too fast. Tuomas took a couple of lessons and together we skiied down from the top of the fell!! A lot of screaming from Tuomas, since the wind was pretty strong, but after 10 m it was fun. Tuomas is quite black-and-white when it comes to skiing. His opinion about the slope and skis changed every 50 m, depending on wether he fell or not. Either it was the best slope in the world and the best skis or then they were the crappiest pair of excuse for skis. 

But what else went down hill i.e down the intestine/up the esophagus. Warning: a lot of bowel information to follow!!! But to look on the bright side of life: nobody gained weight during the holidays and nobody was sick in the car.

Risto fell ill the next night after arriving, diarrhea and vomiting. Luckily he's old enough to find the bathroom in time!!! DH (had a bad cold) spent the Sunday inside with him when I went sledding with the smaller boys. There was a lot of snow, but the temperature wasn't that bad, only -5C at the coldest. The fun ended the following night when Jaakko started vomiting, followed by Tuomas half an hour later. You can only guess if they made it to the bathroom. Nope! DH changed their sheets four times that night! It was a first time experience for him to watch his children simultaneously emptying their stomachs on their beds and then on the floor, right next to the buckets placed there an hour before.

Monday the 22nd was Risto's birthday and he was able to got to the slopes. By that time I had lost my appetite and my father wasn't feeling too well either. But I did manage to join Risto in the slopes, had fun! Tuesday was my turn to have a complete colon cleansing lying in bed/on the sofa most of the day and feeling sick. The smell of the ham cooking in the oven was not mouth-watering. My mother managed to cook the ham before she fell ill. DH was feeling quesy, but was able to do some last minute grocery shopping. MIL arrived around noon only to find the whole cabin full of more or less sick people!

Surprisingly enough we all sat down for dinner at Christmas Eve! Jaakko gave us a scare emptying his stomach again the night (why does it always happen during the night!!!!) between Christmas Day and Boxing Day. All I could picture in my mind was a boxing ring with this blonde chick in bikinis and high heels holding a sign sayin "Round Two". Luckily "Round Two" involved only Jaakko and the next day we drove back home. What a Christmas!

Since I won't amuse you with Christmas pictures of pale, sick people, enjoy this one of Jaakko  taken back in October!