Finally Have Internet

Well, for those of you who have given up hope of ever reading a new post on my blog, this should come as good news. We finally have Internet at home. No, the cable that was broken during the construction of our house is not fixed (even though we have lived here more than 4 months). I don't know if it is a socialist society problem or what. We have Internet thanks to the generosity of a man Timo works with via a USB device. We still hope to get that cable fixed, but at least we have something for now. :)

Here in Sweden

For those of you who are wondering why I have not blogged since I moved to Sweden, you should know that we still don't have internet access at home. It is a long story, which I will not go into now. Today, I will just tell you about one thing.

Fika
For those of you who have never been to Sweden, Fika is basically a coffee break. They can have it at any time of the day, and it usually includes something to eat as well as the coffee. The Swedes like their coffee STRONG. It is so thick that you can almost slice it. They also like their sweets. My kind of people. ;) From my experience, Fika is a very social time. They have Fika after church at most church services, and we have been invited to have Fika at friends' homes a few times as well.
I would like to go into more detail, but my time is up for now.
As soon as we get internet at home, I will try to post many updates about life in Sweden
Hej då for now!

Daddy's Little Helper

Warning...... parenting story ahead. This is not for those of you hate hearing stories about other people's kids.

Well, last weekend, T was out in his shop, and AJ was out there "hanging" with Daddy. He saw the lawn mower (AJ, that is), and walked up to it. He then patted it and signed "please." AJ repeated this until T got the lawn mower out (a push mower, not a riding one) and started it up. AJ then held on to the lower bar while T pushed up above. The two of them mowed much of the back yard and half of the front. I was so surprised that he kept going. T said that every time he would stop, AJ would vigorously sign "please." So off they went again. Moments like these are priceless. They make all the hard parts of parenting worthwhile.

Road Trip

Are you insane? Some people will probably wonder that when they read that I ventured out on a two-week road trip in August with my kids (and no hubby). Many people along the way called me brave, and maybe I was, but I think I just did what I needed to do to see my friends and family.

Wisconsin
My first portion of the trip took me to Wisconsin to see my sister and her family. She was expecting number 7 at the time, and I knew that if I wanted to see her, I had better make the effort. It is much easier to travel with 2 kids than 7. :) With our move coming up, I don't know when my kids will get to see their cousins next. I therefore made the insanely long drive up to her house to visit. At this point, I must pause to thank my mom for her help in this portion of the trip as she caravanned up there with me. She helped at rest stops and restaurants. I could not have done it without her.
We had a wonderful time with my sister. We went to the zoo, visited the children's museum, and ventured out to the beach. It was great for the kids after having been cooped up in the car for two days.

Hanging out with cousins

Sliding at the children's museum

John David at the children's museum

Patrick weighing some meat

Colleen helping feed the fake horse a plastic apple

Riding the dragon outside

Playing at my sister's house

AJ with his cousin, Shannon.

AJ didn't want to put his knees down when crawling in the grass.

A goat at the petting zoo.

A pony at the petting zoo.

On the train at the zoo.

AJ at the beach

Kristen at the beach

Kristen

AJ with my sister, Jill

AJ enjoying a water toy

Peoria, Illinois
Our second stop landed us in Peoria, my old stomping grounds before I was married. We stayed with some dear friends, Worms and Cheryl, and we visited my boss and some of my old coworkers. They are all such wonderful people. It made me realize how much I enjoyed living there.

On the way from Peoria to the next town, Centralia, I stopped at the church where I wed my amazing husband. My great-grandfather pastored it many years ago, and he and his wife are buried in the old church cemetary.

Centralia, Illinois
Our third and final stop took us to Centralia to visit with more precious friends. My old neighbor, Peggy, put us up for a few days as we visited those we could. It is amazing how many sweet people we have been blessed to know over the years. A few special moments from that trip were visiting the ladies I used to quilt with and spending time with my best friend from that era in my life, Julie. We were pregnant together, and our oldest kids are only two weeks apart in age.

I showed Kristen how to use an old water pump.

Kristen and Micah hanging out.

Watching an episode of "Little Einsteins"

Edith holding AJ

The kids hanging out in the basement where I used to go quilt

Sitting by a tractor next to the field.

Julie and AJ

By the time our visit was over, I was ready to just go home and stay there for a while. I wasn't sure if it would take one or two days to get home, but as we got closer, I realized that I did not want to spend another day, or partial day, on the road. It was a long day of driving, but we made it home. The kids were happy to roam around the house and play with their "forgotten" toys. I was happy to be sleeping in my own bed.