Yes, I'm alive!!

Can you call this a blog any longer, if I update every two months?!?!?

We're alive and kicking. Life goes on, nothing special has happened (no, I'm not pregnant even though it is that time of the year again! But our boys will be getting two more cousins this year!!!). This autumn that started in September/October hasn't turned into a winter and that seems to have sucked all the juices out of me. I don't know how I would've survived this winter if we hadn't Clara, our au pair, to help us. Even though she takes care of most of the laundry, cleaning and cooking, I don't have any energy left at nor after work :-(

Well, what has happened:

Risto turned six two days before Christmas and consideres himself so grown up. He is talking about starting school next August and is really looking forward to it. We have decided to put Risto into a Swedish speaking school that's only 2 km from our home. The best part is that two of his best friends will come to that school, too. And there are only 100 pupils. The nearest language immersion school was an institution of 600 pupils, so we decided against it.

Christmas came and went. We were nine around the table; our family, Clara, MIL, SIL and her hubby. When Santa came with his HUGE sack of presents, Tuomas was nowhere to be seen. I thought that he had hid himself, but SIL informed us that they were downstairs in the bathroom. When Tuomas finally came to the living room, he wasn't shy at all but informed Santa and his helper:"Well, you see, you know, 'cause I was in the toilet peeing and pooing, that's why I wasn't here!" Risto sang to Santa (but said that his helper had a fake beard) and Jaakko was suspicious of the dude in red. Jaakko reached a new milestone on the 27th: bye-bye to the pacifier. I lied and told him that it was given to the lion babies in Africa! Luckily he has his rag to comfort him and now he doesn't miss the plastic yucky thing at all.

The first week of January I was on a 4-day business trip and Clara was in charge of picking up the boys from day care. She did a great job even though our little angels (especially Tuomas) gave her a hard time, not obeying, running away, calling her names (I wasn't really proud when I heard that Tuomas had called her 'you shitty German'). When I came home Thursday evening I bumped into Clara in our yard. DH had come home already and she said that she had to go for a walk just to calm down.... I think they were all glad to have me back!

Tuomas turned 4 at the end of January. He's a big boy, 114 cm tall and 22 kg. Height estimate is still closer to 2m than 1,9m.

The first week of February took us all to Lapland to ski. DH and Clara drove our car and I flew with the boys. The first morning Risto was outside playing in the snow before 8 AM. The first day Risto and Tuomas had a down hill skiing lesson. Risto learned quickly, but Tuomas, being just four, wasn't too interested; he was happy just riding his sled down the hill. The next day Risto tried snow boarding (was quite good!), but decided that he liked skiing more. By the end of the week he was able to ski down from the top of the mountain! DH had booked me a snow boarding lesson, too. I wasn't really jumping up and down from excitement having snow boarded the last time almost 6 years ago and remembering it to be extremely painful for my knees, bum, elbows and head. And it didn't add to my excitement when DH realised that he had left my boots at home. I looked quite sour even in the ski shop when DH literally had to pay for his bad memory: new boots and a new board... But my instructor was absolutely great and now I'm really into snow boarding!!! I've actually dreamt about it. But the greatest thing was that I could snow board with Risto, we were both equally fast coming down(ok, I was a bit slower but I had to fasten the buckles every time coming off the ski lift.). Clara, DH and I took turns baby sitting Tuomas and Jaakko who enjoyed the play ground at the bottom of the slopes. We met a Welsh family at the play ground's camp-fire and I gave them a real surprise by speaking (fluent?!?!?) Welsh. That was fun!

My head is full of crafts and redecorating ideas. I'll just have to wait for the spring sun to get more energy.

I have loads of pictures to put on this blog. Patience, my dears, patience!

Over and out!