Becoming a student again...

...has been quite stressful even before I've started. :P There is so much bureaucracy one has to deal with, for grants and loans and etc. It's "expected" of you to already know everything about a system you haven't previously had to deal with... *sigh*

They wanted my answer back by tomorrow which left me with less than a week to sort things out... For example they'd put me on two evening classes since the day classes were already full and that really isn't working out for us... So I've been trying to figure out what the best solution would be and in that "search" for that I've learnt that I could/should have done quite differently if I'd had some of this new information to begin with. *sigh*

:D Oh well...I went to the school to speak to them face to face this morning. After talking things through with Stephen last night I've decided to just agree to the classes being the way they are and have also applied for additional classes. That means that I've got some leeway when it comes to changing thing about and around etc when school begins in August. The way I had things I was very close to ending up not having enough points to get my study grant if I had any changes made... Things are sorted, for now!
Feels good to have the papers in but I'm sure I'll get all stressed out about something else about school soon enough! ;P

Midsommar etc.

12 adults and 4 kids spent their Midsummer weekend at "the cabin". :D Good times! :D Still plenty of space for more guests... :D

Weather wasn't the best, very windy, but when the sun was out it was actually quite warm.

We drove home on Saturday evening to avoid the horrible end-of-weekend-rush and I think it was probably a good idea because there was hardly any traffic on our way home. On Sunday when we went to see Stephens work mate, his girlfriend and baby Emilia (only had a half an hour drive away) the traffic was much worse...would not have been a good trip home if we'd stayed at the cabin...

CuteCuteCute and asleep is my impression of 4 week old Emilia, cute! Awww...
Our monkeys went wild in their not-yet-childproofed home. :O Glass ornaments in "perfect" reach for both kiddies, big plant pots on the floor and lots of "fun" little brick-a-brac on the livingroom table etc. :P I don't think they managed to break anything! *phew*
Good visit anyways and I'm thrilled to have gotten to sniff a bit of tinsy-tiny-baba...

Anton and Erin are both covered in spots. :/ No fever - just a cold and according to the nurses at vårdcentralen (the gp's) yesterday Antons rash (Erin got her spots today) is a viral rash (?) common when kiddies have a cold...

Since we all are a bit sniffly Anton hasn't been going to dagis this week, last week is last one before holidays and before he's moved up to the bigger kids group. Hope he's better next week so he'll get to have a bit of a practise run with the older kids before autumn...

By the way...I've gotten my acceptance papers to go back to "school" in August! Yay!?! :D Not sure how to translate it but my online dictionary calls it "upper secondary school"... Well, I've got some grades to get sorted before I can even think of applying to University or College (or whatever the equivalent is), to begin with I just want the kids not to have to go long days at dagis... :) What I'll do when I grow up we'll deal with at a later point. ;)

Almost time for lunch... Hopefully the windy weather will keep the evil gnats away and we can go outside for a bit later on.

Slightly stressed...

Still found time to sitt here though... ;)

So today we're going up to the "our cabin" (actually my aunts house) for midsummer celebrations. We had everything well planned, to pack everything after kids gone to sleep last night... Then like always with children, plans are no good! Erin was woken up by an Anton-monkey so we got nothing packed/organized at all since she was up 'til 11.
If you didn't already know...there's a lot to pack when you've got two kiddies...not just throw some stuff in a bag and manage if you've forgotten something like you did before there were kids. NoNoNo...you need nappies and bottles and clothes and doodies etc. etc. etc...
Anyway...my thought was then that Erin always sleeps for about 2 hours after I've left Anton at dagis so I should at least get a good start on it when she's down...but NO, she had a short snooze on our way to and from dagis and was wide awake when we got home. *sigh!*

Thankfully they're both down now *phew* (that's one thing you can count on with kids...they'll not be awake forever! ;) ) and I've gotten to go downstairs and organize stuff in peace and there's still stuff to remember to bring and pack but I hope my "cheat sheet" is correct and we'll get it all done in a jiffy when S comes home. ;P
Then dinner and pack the car (not our one, it still "unwell", got a loaner) and give Erin her bottle and on with their pj's and off we drive into the sunset... :D

Better grab myself some lunch before they wake!

To those who know what I'm on about... ;) Have a great Midsummer weekend!

Visiting the City

My hair looks alright even though I was "supposed" to lighten it first before putting this particular shade in it... oh well! I didn't want that much of a change anyway, just add bit of life to it and mission accomplished!
Its been years since I last coloured my hair...so I'm quite chuffed it looks OK and that it didn't turn green on me! :D Not a big change at all, but just enough for me to notice. :)

Saturday was SuperSaturday in Gothenburg with MonsterTruckRally and STCC in town. + the football as well of course... We decided to head in early and hopefully stay clear of some of the madness. Good call I think, we had no problems on either train into the city or on the buses and trams.
My friend Linda's little girl turned 1 last week and we were invited to the birthday party. It's been almost 10 months since we last met up so I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Linda and her hubby are so good a planning parties, big and small, and make everything look so easy. They're a good team I guess, Stephen and I would most likely fall out if we had to change all our plans last minute....they took it in stride! :D Instead of the outdoor BBQ in the sun that they'd planned we all squeezed into their apartment and had an in-from-the-cold fry-up. :D
Good food, good company, lots of guests and a big bunch of kids and all were in a good mood. Thought that the kids would have tired after a bit but all were happy and playing nice. :D
Birthday girl was as cute as can be and a total sweetheart! ♥

After the party was over we made a quick stop at Mommos (i.e. Granny). Its been ages (again!) since I was last at mums...we always seem to met up at S&B's or here at home, rarely at hers. Coffee and bun + a big bowl of strawberries was about what we had time for before heading home again.
Anton loved going on the tram! :) All transfers ran smoothly and kiddies fell asleep on the bus to Borås and still slept like little piggies when we put them into their beds... ♥

Sunday was just a stay-at-home get-things-tidied kind of day... Good weekend all in all! :)

June 2008. :)

♥♥♥

Play dates, busrides and haircuts...

On Wednesday my very good friend A came over with her little girl Elisia. A and I have know each other for 15 years (I think that's what we agreed on) and with us having our little ones and moving out of town we don't get to meet up nearly as often as we would like. So even if her E is the same age as our E it was more of a mum-date than a kiddie-date... :)
We just stayed at our house all day, except for picking up Anton from dagis of course... Just hanging out with your best girlfriend is enough, no need for activities... :D Kiddies took turns in sleeping which kept the play noise to an acceptable level and also gave us a good chance to just be as well. After naps and lunches we were out in the garden for a bit, again...LOVE having a sandpit!! ;D Then it was time for them to start heading back home... A good visit and hopefully it won't be too long before we get to hang out again!

Yesterday I had another play date! :D Two in a week is not bad for lazy-bum-friends-too-busy-too-far-away-Erika! ;P This time with two mums I've met over the net on a English speaking mums forum. Tara (with little Christian and Ella) I've met a few times already and this time Emma (with "baby" Lilja, a couple of months younger than Erin and Christian) joined us too... The zoo here is excellent to visit with kids of any age... :) The playgrounds are built and planned very well so that you can just let them play on their own and still see what they're up to.
Ella and Anton being the same age got into a bit of pushing and shoving but made up and seemed to not hold a grudge. Kärlek börjar med bråk... is a "saying" in Swedish... roughly translated it means Love begins with a tiff ... :D
Tara's husband Anders came and picked their little ones and she was kind enough to give me and mine a lift home. Much quicker than with the bus and since the bus ride into town was...interesting...I was happy to go with other transportation.

Bus driver in to town drove like he was running from the police! Breaking heavily and driving all over the place...at one point he "missed" a person waiting at the bus stop and stood on the breaks, I flew across the seat (as did other passengers) onto our pram and Thank God "only" bruised myself and didn't hurt the kids...was just so thankful that they hadn't been flattened me so I didn't even get angry until we were well off the bus and at the zoo. I should have given him a good piece of my mind driving like that but I was just so shocked. Will send them a letter of complaint though...be sure of that!

Today I had an appointment at the local hairdresser...there's only the one nearby and I really didn't like what she did the last time I was there but... There is just not enough time (and I just can't be bothered) to make an appointment in town 'cause having to take the kids with me or getting a late enough time so S can take them or going at the weekend when we don't have the car...no... I just needed my hair trimmed a little bit and I thought that surely she should be able to manage that! She did...just... ;) My hair was in such a state that she couldn't really have made it any worse but she's just fairly...bad... :P Only-when-desperate type of hairdresser in my opinion.
Hair feels better though and I'll give it some colour tonight and should feel a bit more "presentable" for birthday party we're going to tomorrow. :)

Now its time to wake kiddies (who btw behaved very well just sitting in their pram at hairdressers) and make them something to eat.

Bye!

Sandbox...

Temperature has been a bit more bearable...well, its been more windy today which feels cooling. *phew* "They" have promised us a cloudy day tomorrow and even cooler still on Wednesday...possibly even rain! :O Barely rebember what rains like which I never thought I'd say after the wet, horrible winter we "just" had...

Today I'm thankful for sandboxes! :)
What a difference it makes to being out in the garden with kiddes, to have a sandbox to pop them in! :D They're happy, I'm happy, they're getting sand everywhere, I don't mind, they're getting dirty, I'm reading my book in the sun, they're happy...I'm happy... :D Life's good...
Right now...today...ask in another 5 minutes and I might have changed my mind! ;P

Yes, today I'm grateful for sandboxes and swings...

Happy Days!

:) Yesterday turned out to be a really good day! :D Even if Anton woke us all up at 5.15... *yawn* Stephen got up and got them their bottles while I lazied about for a little bit. Still got up at about 6 so no lie in there... Good idea anyway, we got tidied and ready for our visitors before it got too hot. :)

It was truly a warm & hot day, but the kiddies played (mostly) nice and were being cute in the paddle pool. We sent our hubbies off to get stuff to BBQ and stayed out of organizing everything, surely they can manage to prepare food without us...? And they did! ;D Yum-O! :P Lovelylovely food, salad and then whipped cream, strawberries and meringue for dessert. LOADS of dishes, as it usually gets when 5 adults and 4 kiddies get together for a meal, SO thankful for having a dishwasher... I think having it is what keeps me on the "sane" side most days... ;)
Good day, definitely! Just chilling in the sun (later on in the shade), getting to talk in reasonable peace from kiddie-interference, eating good food, in good company... :)

Today hasn't really gotten started yet and I'm already warm. All but me are down for a nap. ;D Then we'll do lunch and do something...what, I don't know...we'll see...

Happy National Day!

Lovely Lovely hubbie!

Yesterday Stephen came home with two fully loaded bags from the English Shop (quavers, chocolate & biscuits etc.) + "dinner" from Subway! AND he'd finally gotten new sand for the kiddies sandpit (which needed changing since we had to kill off some ants in it last summer)!!
Sometimes he just gets everything just right! :D

Sanna and family + Mommo are coming over later today! :) Will have a BBQ if we can be bothered in the heat... :P
"Baby" sis is going to partyparty with friends. Ah! The life as it was before the wee ones... :D

Now MissE Munchkinette is awake, they've been (Anton still is) sleeping an early nap today...woke up at 5.15 this morning! *yawn*

Better be off!

Hothothot...

Summer is definitely here! The heat is to last at least the remainder of the week. Temperatures just below or at 30 degrees... *phew* Hothothot...

Not a great fan of WARM summers...Stephen even less... ;) When I was younger I liked them more since all you needed to do during summer holidays was lazy at/in the lake... Now we've got to keep the kids safe and entertained which brings a sweat to my brow even on cooler days! :P

Grass and other "greens" are turning yellow from lack of rain...will look like its autumn soon enough if the heat persists.

Tomorrow is Swedens National Day...a holiday just in the last couple of years. Always celebrated at school with songs etc. but what do we do now...as grown-ups?? :) What traditions, if any, should we start for ourselves and the kiddies...?
Stephen's of work which is nice, don't think that can be classed at a "Tradition" though...? ;)

Will speak with Big sis Sanna tonight and see if we'll just do what we always end up doing when not sure of what we should do... *lol*
Get together, let our kids play, possibly cook some food (tacos? :( bbq?! :)) ... :D

Like I said to Sanna when we last spoke of the "lack of traditions" (at Easter I think it was) in our family, she has the same "problem" in hers...
Traditions are for people who have to have a celebration, a special day, as a reason to get together with their loved ones...since our family spend so much time together anyway, anytime of the year, we simply don't "need" any fancy traditions! :D We've got each other! Awwww.... :P

Another warm day...

Erin's teething... 3 molars (?) at the same time...not much fun for our little missE. They're slow to cut through so they've been torturing her for a while now...

Stephen never got to meet up with his workmate yesterday so he's been there today instead and should be home any minute.

Warm day today too...waited 'til after dinner before letting kiddies out to play. Constantly worried about giving our little ones sunstroke, sunburn and/or cancer! :O Especially since if I let Anton outside after lunch he's impossible to get inside again without a major tantrum and with it being SO hot right now I just rather wait 'til later in the day when he can monkey about in the garden 'til his hearts content! :) I have to choose my battles...

Lured them in today with promises of grapes! ;) Went easier than I would have dared to think... Even mummy can be surprised once in a while I guess. :D

Getting close to bedtime now and hopefully a good play in the fresh air and a tummy full of grapes should knock them out without to much trouble, but just because I think it should go smoothly I'm sure they'll both be up 'til 9. :P

My side of the family are back today from a trip to Finland. My twin cousins gratuated from (according to my dictionary) upper secondary school this weekend. Can't believe their off to University soon...they'll always be about a year old to me. :)

Better be off now, S is home and kiddies are set for bed.
Nightnight!

27 degrees in the shade!

Whoa...another hot day today! The weekend was the same... Actually all of last week was warm too! Good thing we got the paddle pool for the kiddies last summer (when the weather sucked!) they LOVE being in it splashing about. :) Cools them off well for bed time too.

When I left Anton to dagis (daycare) today he was wearing t-shirt and shorts...it was 20 degrees outside at 8 o'clock!?
So difficult to know what to put on the kiddies when it's this warm outside. Recommendations are to keep them out of the sun but you just try to keep a energetic 2½ year old and a 14 month old just in the shade! I don't think so! :D Not possible and anyone who says it is must have them tied to a tree!! :P

Difficult to find clothes that fully cover them without being too warm. I've had to "give up" on my fight against the sun. Even Erin gets to wear t-shirts and shorts in the sun, instead I keep them inside during the hottest time of day and put on plenty of sunscreen when we're outside.

We're waiting for Stephen to come home from work "soon", good time to let the kiddies run loose! ;) The lawn need watering as well after us not having had any rain for weeks. Job for mummy I think...he can run after the munchkins for a while. :P

He's (Stephen that is) is swinging by a workmates on his way home... They've just had a new baby girl and S's dropping off a gift to little baby Emilia.
To use my good friend R's words "my womb skipped a beat" when I saw all the tinsy tiny baba clothes in the shop yesterday...broody!?! :O Yes! ...but then again...noooo....
I can't help that I'm addicted to babies...the smell, the feel, the noise the... the... the everything about those helpless, adorable, tiny little human beings!
And again NO! no more babies for us...yet...at the moment, but hopefully we'll be blessed with babies again in H household in the future.
Just have a hard time believing that Anton and Erin have ever been that small! :)

Now in English!

Well...I thought I'd give it a go and start blogging in English... :D

It'd give friends and family who don't know Swedish a chance to follow what's going on in our lives. I already blog in Swedish at familjeliv.se so keeping a double blog seems a bit unnecessary...

Hopefully I'll still keep posting! ;D It'd be a shame if I'd manage to scare myself off my own blog! ;)

Never been a everyday- or even every-other-day-blogger but I normally get a handful of posts in a month.

Warm welcome to new readers!

Sovmorgon!? :)

Vaknade "som vanligt" vid 4.30 av att Erin ville över till vår säng...tutte och så en MASSA bökande omkring... *suck* Till sist somnade hon iaf om och även om Anton kröp över till mig strax efter att S åkt till jobbet så sov vi vidare till 6.20!?! Lyx!? :D
Sovmorgon för mig iaf!

Börjar verkligen känna att det är dags för mig att göra något annat än att vara föräldraledig...inga av mina vanliga "tidfördriv" känns värst kul längre...ser fram emot att göra något helt nytt ett tag. Att få vara bara jag emellanåt...

Helgen har varit HOTHOTHOT!! Jiiiises!! Värst är nog ändå att min hjärna slutar att fungera när det närmar sig 30 grader ute...Va? Äta? Näe? Vatten? JA! Ha? Va? Vatten! Laga mat?!? Näääe...
Barnen har verkligen fått nytta av sin plaskpool i hettan...såååå fiiiina mina små nakenfisar är när dom plaskar hejvilt! :D

Igår lovade dom helveteshett ute så vi åkte (rymde?) till väl-luftkonditionerade Knallerian och handlade kläder till kidsen...blev ett par toppar och ett par jeans (!?) till mig också! :)

Idag ska det tydligen vara lika varmt! Kändes iaf så imorse när vi gick till dagis med Anton...han i bara shorts & t-shirt (+nyinhandlade kalsongerna!) och det var ca. 20 grader ute vid kl. 8! Crazy...Måste verkligen lokalisera närmaste badsjö om sommaren fortsätter såhär varmt, visst kan jag la också plaska lite i ungarnas pool men det känns inte riktigt som samma sak! ;)

Nu får jag ta o börja väcka fröken så vi hinner i tid till dagis!
*pöss*