Dad. Husband.

We are sick. I want to spare you the details, but let's just say that I spent the majority
of Sunday night hanging over the toilet bowl bringing up chunks of food and bile
(oops, details), and drifting in and out of exhausted sleep on the tile floor in the bathroom. 

I'll take some time to get us all up and running again. In the meantime, I just wanted to
say thank you to my husband, that big warm soul, with his strong arms and beautiful mind.
What would I do without you.

(Picture taken in June. Sisie is a mere two months there.
Time flies and still, this feels like an eternity ago.)

11 months

She says "muahahahahaha" on that last picture. She cracks me up. Almost a year! Time sure does fly.

That is all.

Happy weekend!

Knitting

Hi all and thanks for the congratulations. They were appreciated. :)



My mom knitted this. Isn't it pretty. It was supposed to be a bodysuit for newborns in Ethiopia (she's working on that as a project with teenage girls in Church.) It turned out a bit big, so she made a pullover out of it for Sisie. And I was so inspired that I knitted, too. This most impressive of scarves:



Well, the topsy-turvy half of it. Haha, how is it so hard for me to figure this out? Everyone knits and I simply can't do it. I am the worst knitter in the history of knitting! But I shall keep calm and knit on. And in the meantime, Pippi's horse Old Man has something to keep him warm. (Yes, it's still very much winter here, although Finns will tell you it's spring. It's not.)



PS So many people asked about the rainbow cake: There is a bunch. of. tutorials. out. there.
I simply used a very basic sponge bottom cake recipe (eg here), timed it by six, added food coloring to each layer, and added whipped cream at the end. The end.

The Party.

Some birthday party pics. I didn't take many, because I had too much fun playing. And the food was eaten before I had a decent chance to photograph it. That's how it should be, right?

(Fe and I made all of the food and the decorations together. The rainbow cake, which was a huge hit with the 4-year old crowd btw, and the gingerbread cookies. The "angry-Pippi" invitations (which we never sent because I'm unorganized like that), the gigantic socks that hung over the entry door.)

Upon entering, the kids were welcomed aboard the Hoppetossa, Efraim's Longstocking's pirate ship. We went on a treasure hunt to Taka-Tuka land (the South Seas) and had to watch out for the mad pirate (= dad). The kids found sockerdricka (lemonade that grows in Pippi's backyard tree) and Negerkuesse (a politically incorrect brand-name for chocolate marshmallows). We had a spaghetti beard competition. Well, we tried to. The only child willing to do it was Fe. The others thought it was "disgusting." Haha. I then tried to get them to jump from furniture, but they all stared up at me in horror, unsure whether I was crazy or not. Haha, again. Such well raised kids! Well, scrubbing the floors on scrubbies was more successful. (Pippi cleans her house like that). We drew birthday pictures on a big piece of chalkboard for Fe. The rest of the time was spent eating and playing with Legos (yes, Legos. I think they may have been too young for a themed party, after all.)

Anyway, we had a lot of fun. Fe sure did. And now she is 4 years old and I'm trying to figure out where all that time has gone.

Miss Longstocking

... wasn't very cooperative when I tried to take these pictures. But what Pippi Longstocking in her right mind would be. :)

Kitchen table

Haa-o friends (that's how Sisie says Hello right now). How was your weekend? Mine was efficient. We organized and cleaned, and made this kitchen table from a piece of oak counter-top bought at Bauhaus and Vika Runtorp legs from IKEA. Short and sweet.

I really liked our old table, too, but while it fit the four of us (yes, four! That's many), it was too small for when we were having friends or grandparents or imaginary friends over.

That lovely print is by sweet Katarina K.

PS ... And this is the old table:

It's a solid wood table from the 60s or 70s (it's heavy!), I refurbished it myself. The top is high-gloss white glass (perfect for wiping.. ). E-mail me for details if you are interested in buying it. (zweischlitzohren.ät.gmail.döt.com).

Happy week and heeeee-eei (as Sisie says)! I'll be busy preparing for the party on Saturday. See you later!

Pippi

We are practicing for next week's birthday party, which will be Pippi Longstocking themed, and will involve  a lot of walking on and jumping off furniture (and other such great stuff). Fe has been counting down to this birthday for what seems like the last eight months.

I love that birthdays are big and grand in childhood. They should be.

.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai, c. 1829-32.

My thoughts are in Japan.

DIY Non-toxic Watercolors

I saw these easy DIY watercolors the other day and had to try making some, too.

Oh... it was so much fun! 

And very, very easy, too; using ingredients I already had at home.

Didn't they turn out beautifully?

You'll need:

3 tbsp baking soda

3 tbsp corn starch

3 tbsp white vinegar

1 1/2 tpbsp light corn syrup 

(we used dark, and it was fine, too)

various food colors

Combine the baking soda, corn starch, vinegar and corn syrup. It'll fizz (fun! It's a magic potion!). 

After the fizzing has subsided, mix completely. 

Pour the mix into whatever containers you want to use for the paints 

(I used these very convenient no-spill paint mixing tubs that I brought from Tallinn, 

but you could use anything).

Pour in the food colors, mix and match, and see what colors you get! 

Let them harden for about half a day. After that, pour out excessive liquids.

This was such a wonderful little colorful project for me and the girls. 

The best part is that the colors are non-toxic and they are safe even for little Sisie to use. 

Happy day!

PS A few more pictures of our Tallinn trip here (I am that blur on the couch) and here.

Pretty in Pink

This morning, I forgot that it was Tuesday today, which means we missed kerho (playschool). I simply forgot! Seriously, sometimes I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Fé, who tends to be overly dramatic, was mortified, so I told her she could pick any activity and we'd do it, and of all the things she could have picked, she picked dress-up. Specifically, dress up as princess (of course).

Unlike other girls, Fé a real princess. But Sisie stole her ladyship's sun glasses and court hat. Sometimes it's hard to be a princess. (Also: siblings keep you grounded.) (Also: Sisters are awesome.)

It's Mardi Gras / laskiainen today. I'm always a bit grumpy because they don't have Carnival here, but we decided to follow Finnish tradition and made laskiaispulla (Shrove buns, ie cardamom buns with jam and cream... our jam turned out a bit runny...) People in Finland traditionally also go sledding and eat pea soup. Strange, but fun.