Our new friend

I just wanted to show off our new Lego planter.... idea stolen from Pinterest ;)

Ready for fun

I dropped Alexander off at school today and, as fast as I could try to kiss his cheek, he was off. Absolutely excited to find his friends (and, until Friday, room-mates), he took off for the "meeting" so that they could plan, strategize and scheme all the fun possible! Although, like I wrote in my last post, the mother side of me isn't a fan of having him away (a feeling that was shared by many of the mothers of children in Alexander's class), I know that he will have a great time. He was definitely ready for fun.... as were the rest of the class!

By the way, I did manage to whisper in his ear (so his friends wouldn't hear, of course!) that he should use the washroom before getting on the bus. One part of my mother side was satisifed that I did my job ;)

Wishing the children a great trip.... and a great day to the rest of you :)

School trip

Tomorrow, Alexander is going on a trip with school and he will be away until Friday! Part of me is very excited for him but the other part (the mother part) isn't so keen. Not that it won't be a good time- I am positive that it will- but it means that he is growing up and becoming more independent. He is part of my day to day and I miss his presence when he is not around. Sometimes I like the concept of my kids growing up but just not today ;)

Wishing Alexander and his buddies a great trip xox

All packed! You are welcome, Alexander ;)

My talented husband

Andreas is a man of many talents: when he is bored at basketball practice, he makes funny pictures of our children. He also makes some pretty mean Semlor**..... and he sometimes buys spring flowers for me so I don't totally lose my mind during the winter... That is why we keep him around ;)

**Swedish lesson for the day: Semlor are very traditional Swedish buns, filled with cream and marzipan. This is the time of the year that they are usually served. Swedes go nuts for them... almost as much as for crayfish (aka kräftor) in the summer time. Despite my non-Swedish status, I do a good job at eating Semlor.... I make my husband proud ;)

This post has not been sponsored by the Swedish Tourism Bureau but has been approved by Andreas ;)

Good night all! XOX 

Oliver as Harry Potter!?!

Semlor

The boys being very Swedish ;)

Ahhh... I cannot wait until Spring!

Running around and date night :)

I had the intention of posting a blog entry probably 3 or 4 times over the weekend but something always seemed to come up. Friday was a day off from school for the big boys and so I kept Oliver home as well. Luckily, a friend of Alexander's came over for a visit and he (so patiently) distracted Nicklas and Oliver as well. Saturday was filled with basketball and soccer (yes, I finally got to play as well!). Andreas and I had a spontaneous date night, courtesy of the sweet daughter of a good friend of mine who babysat. Not only does she like Lego, but she also plays Minecraft. Needless to say, she was a hit with the boys ;)
Today was more sports (swimming, basketball and more basketball). The basketball games today were a part of a fundraiser for the Montreal Children's Hospital so it was our pleasure to participate. Bonus was we won one of the raffle prizes :) The boys were really excited about that part!

Good week to you all xox

Next stop.... day off! ;)

Hanging out.. they are actually playing together on the same game

Cake for fika time ;)

Camouflage cat, taking advantage of a warmish day...

Date night!

Oliver at swimming

Cool dude at basketball, cheering on his brother

Nicka... action shot

Mini basketball player

Oliver action shot ;)

More cool music...

In my last post, I confessed to my "Broen" addiction. Part of it is due to the cool opening music... Here it is.... hope you enjoy!

A few moments

Today I am working from home, which always allows me more time to do "stuff" because I am not stuck in traffic :) I just wanted to post some remaining pictures from this weekend: Oliver at his first basketball practice (yes, seriously), cupcakes that I made for Nicka's class (yes, seriously, again) and happy boys at Nicka's birthday dinner! By the way, I don't just feed them deserts... they did eat a dinner too ;)
Besides being able to post some pictures, I was also able to vacuum the living room and catch an episode of my latest addiction on Netflix. Although I am not usually a "binge" TV watcher, there is something about the series Broen (link included) that is kind of addictive. When you add a cup of coffee, it is a great way to spend a working "break".
The postman brought the first of 2 Lego wall decals that I have ordered. I am going to redo the little boys' room with a Lego theme. Maybe Alexander, the LegoMaster, is just a little bit jealous? ;) Anyway, they have the only room that I have never done anything to so they are next on the list. I am excited!!!! I am planning to start this weekend, if I have a chance between the boys' social events!
Yes, it is still winter out so no comment about the weather at the moment ;)

Happy day to all!

Happy birthday, Nicka!

Today, my beautiful middle son (I call him the "sandwich filler"... in the middle of 2 slices of bread) turns 8 years old. Buddy, may your years only get happier! We love you xox
We're going out for a celebration dinner later today... I'll post more photos later on :)

Happy birthday, Nicklas! Grattis!

Newborn Nicklas

Brothers... the early days :)

We love you!

Going to kindergarten???

Today, I registered Oliver for kindergarten at the "BIG BOY SCHOOL"... I have absolutely no idea where time has gone to! Wasn't he a baby just the other day? I even remember being pregnant with him and picking Alexander up from kindergarten... then he was in the pram when I dropped off Nicka for the first time... He is so excited to go.... now we just have to wait until September :)

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Snow Ninjas

Even though the majority of my family would prefer to be in sandals right now (maybe not Andreas because he actually likes winter), we all have to make the most of the season that we are in. After dropping the boys off at their school yard yesterday, they decided to spend the day being snow ninjas. I didn't really like the stick that Nicklas found (he had to put it back into the woods after the picture- boring mamma!) but they looked really sweet with their new hats on. Probably "sweet" is not a good ninja description word but, heck, I am allowed ;) I watched their ninja moves (and those of the other boys that had joined in) until the bell rung and they were called into school for the day...

Happy day to all :)

It is a good morning for ninja training

Watch out for snow ninjas

Nicka Ninja

This ninja is happy to get back into the car and have her coffee... ;)

Wintery Wednesday

Today I got to work from home and actually get caught up with my courses :) What a luxury! This next week will actually be somewhat prepared. Also, on my "lunch break", I cleaned up the house. You know, sometimes, it is just the little things....
I hope that you all had a good week so far. It is very wintery here so I will just leave it at that.... Good evening! XOX

Welcome to Wintery Wednesday

Snow plow was here

Even the branches are not impressed...

I try to live by these words ;)

The Lego version of me.... winter style ;)

Happy Sunday

I tried to get back to blog a bit a few times over the past few days but work always seemed to get in the way... don't you hate when that happens? ;) I have a research grant due tomorrow and those are always stressful. Welcome to academia!

I wish you all a great week ahead and hope that your weekend was a good recharge battery time. Unfortunately, mine was NOT but I plan on making up for it next weekend ;)

Good evening to you all xox

Flashback....

.... say no more ;) Since I can't say anything nice about the weather, I won't say anything at all. Instead, I will dream about sunshine, flowers and warm weather.... ahhhhh..

Good night to all xox

My favourite flower market.... I miss you!

Today = too cold....

.... to even take a darn photo!!! When I went to pick up the boys, it was -24 C and dropping. I was NOT taking my gloves off ;) So, here is a picture (not taken by me) that is close to what the weather seemed like, including the rush hour traffic ;) Maybe there was a bit less sun..... Hope you are all staying warm! If you live in a friendlier climate, I am SO jealous. Enjoy it for me, please!!!! XOX

This morning

It is still really icy.... and really, really cold! I had to take a picture of the way that I was feeling.....

Say no more! Not impressed!!!

Ice, ice, baby.... first day of school...

Well, at least, *I* had a first day of school... and Oliver went back to daycare. Nicklas' and Alexander's school had no electricity so it was closed (yes, the ONLY school in the ENTIRE school board... how lucky for them @@) and Andreas decided to work from home. In short, after yesterday's storm: THERE WAS ICE ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE!!!! Seriously, I had some pretty good winter boots on and I couldn't walk on the sidewalks. It was actually a bit funny; everyone was shuffling around, one step forward and two big slides back ;) I have to say it was funny.... until people fell and hurt themselves. A friend of mine ended up in emergency today because she fell and hit her head, hard on the ice :( She seemed to be OK after all but, still, what a crappy start to the new school semester!
On the bright side (OK... I am trying to be positive), we made it to the BBC news! Ice storms in Canada and wild fires in Australia.... Those pathetic colonies! ;)

Hope you all have a great return to routine! XOX

Yups.... that is a bit of ice.... ;)

No way that these bikes are coming out until spring ;)

Ice storm

We had lots of snow last night, which turned into rain today. Problem is that the temperature was supposed to go up to 6 degrees C but it didn't get above -1! There is ice absolutely everywhere; the roads are a skating rink and everything is covered with a layer of ice... including all the trees and power lines! A similar thing happened here in 1998 (on January 4 as well... imagine!) and many people were without electricity for over a month. The city shut down for a good week... very strange to be walking downtown Montreal and it looking like a ghost town! Here is a brief trailer for a National Geographic documentary about the storm:

Anyway, although around 92,000 are without power now in Québec, I hope that it won't get any worse. It is still raining.... ugh! Bummer is that the holidays are now over and we will all be stuck in the morning traffic, sliding along ;) Welcome to Canadian weather! Wish us luck!!!

Here are some photos from today: