Babies and Dishwashers

H has been loving the dishwasher. Every time I have it open, he makes a beeline for it. He loves to stand up, with his hands on the dishwasher. I remember K and AJ enjoying the dishwasher, too. It must be a baby thing.

Let it Snow.... and Snow.... and Snow

When we arrived back in Sweden from our trip to the US and Costa Rica, there was plenty of snow on the ground. Our driveway was a little hazardous to drive on, and we worked to shovel some of it away. What you should know is that our driveway is about 3400 square feet. That is a lot of shoveling. We never got it completely shoveled off, and it snowed again. We shoveled some more, then it snowed some more, and, well, you get the picture. We have had so much snow, we don't know what to do with it all. We have piles of snow around our driveway that are taller than our kids. I went in our front yard, where the snow was basically untouched, and it was up to my knees. Of course, discovering this, I had to flop back and make a snow angel. It was so much fun to be able to free-fall backwards and not be hurt. Of course, my snow angel was somewhat messy since I couldn't get up without messing it up. That, and there was so much snow between my legs that I couldn't get that nice skirt look. Kristen saw me making a snow angel, and she had to try it herself.

Kristen making a snow angel.

Kristen lying on a snow drift.

Kristen digging in the snow, trying desperately to find the grass.

Right outside our back door, where there is only a dusting of snow because of the eaves sheltering the ground, there were some bird footprints yesterday.

The sun came out today. This is our back yard. As you can see, we haven't grilled for a while. :)

As you can see, we haven't explored the full potential of all the snow in the back. I hope to do that soon. If we can ever stop shoveling, maybe we will have time to play. Timo wants to make a huge pile and bore a tunnel through the middle, making a snow cave. If he does, I will definitely post pictures.

Thanksgiving Birthday

Today we hosted some of our Swedish friends for a very late (or very early) Thanksgiving meal. I had run across some Ocean Spray cranberries at the grocery store after returning from the US, and I bought a bag to put in the freezer for when I found a turkey. I wasn't hopeful for the turkey, but Timothy located one at our regular grocery store in the frozen section. I am not even sure why he looked in that freezer since we don't usually shop for frozen meat. It must have been a God thing. Anyway, so we made a traditional turkey dinner, and we used up our last two boxes of Stovetop Stuffing. We skipped the pumpkin pie since these friends had already tasted it (when we visited their house for the Julbord), and I made my version of a Boston Cream Pie. Since this was also my birthday cake, I went with something I wanted instead of something more traditional.

When they arrived, our friends presented me with some beautiful tulips and a Swedish cookbook for my birthday. I was so excited to receive the cookbook as I have wanted to learn to make some Swedish dishes. I am looking forward to cooking some of the food in there, and I have already picked out a few meals I want to make.

An Evening Out

Tonight Timothy took me out to dinner. We had planned on an exclusive date, but, since H spent most of the day being very clingy and a bit whiney, we opted to take him along. I figured that taking him along was better than not going at all.

I met Timothy when I dropped K and AJ off at the hotel where my father-in-law was staying, and we journeyed down to Bacchus, a restaurant set in an old wine cellar downtown. There were hardly any people there, so I almost felt like we dined in a private dining room. This also meant the service was fast. I ordered a lobster soup for my starter, followed by venison in a delightful mushroom sauce, served with mashed potatoes and a delicious mix of vegetables. I don't normally go for mushrooms, but that sauce was amazing. The whole plate of food was.

H was happier than he had been all day, though he did need some attention. Timothy and I were still able to talk and enjoy each other's company, and I felt like we were on a date instead of out with a baby. It was much-needed and thoroughly enjoyed time away from my wonderful older two.