Baking with Oliver

So sue me (see picture below) 😉 and, yes, he is still wearing his pajamas late in the day. It IS Sunday after all.... oops, actually, it is Monday 😉 #whatever

I DID get him to brush his teeth... and we fed him lunch before he got the cookies... it is a good day😉

Hope you are all doing well! Hang in there! xox

Some days, you just have to take the path of least resistance... plus he asked specifically for these ;)

Oliver's art gala

Oliver has a teacher who is really into art. I guess she struck a chord with him because he is now determined to be an artist. Even before school closed for the boys, I had promised to buy him an art set for his birthday in May. On one of the last days before the non-essential stores shut, I figured it was probably the best time to pick up a bunch of art supplies as an early present (aka something-to-do-while-school-is-out and a-way-to-preserve-my-sanity-at-the-same-time). Let me tell you, he has become a machine at painting.
Last night, he told me that he wanted my help so that he can put together an art gala. His school has one every year to fund raise for the Home and School so I guess that he figured it would be a good idea (full disclose: I said no to buying him some stupid skin for Fortnite. Guess this is what he wanted to raise money for 😉). Anyway, today we put together his art gala. Oliver arranged all his canvases in the hang out space under his top bunk bed. He even put up Christmas lights to make it more art-looking (he takes it very seriously 😉). He raised $14 dollars by charging $2 entrance... his grandparents in Sweden got a discount because it was by Skype... only $1 for them 😉. Fund raising for stupid Fortnite skin successful 😉. At this point, I don't even mind so much. He put in a lot of effort and did a good job at setting up his gala. Maybe he can even set up an art gala for our retirement fund raiser because Andreas wants to buy a boat 😉or, more realistically, to cover our "teenage boys snacking at home because they are bored" grocery costs 😉

Here are some pictures of his art gala... without entrance fee... lucky folks 😉

Happy Saturday xox

The sea/sky canvas isn't by Oliver... he put it there to support other artists ;) 

Oliver's artist look

Keeping sanity in the house pt. 4

Do you want to know how to keep sanity in a house filled with active boys? You put up your basketball net. Best investment ever.

We bought this net earlier in the winter when our old one came crashing down in a windstorm, missing our car by centimeters. A friend of ours gave us a heads-up of one for sale in his neighbourhood. We literally stalked that poor seller with text messages until we were finally able to pick it up and bring it home (thanks, to our lovely neighbour with a truck). Andreas was worried that it would either fall again or get in the way of snow removal, so it ended up at the side of our house... and, subsequently, frozen into a snowbank. Guess the boys were driving him crazy because Andreas literally dug it out and set it up.

Presto... sanity! ;) All relative, you know ;)

Hope you are all keeping yours xox

All the boys were outside. I just wasn't allowed to take a picture of Alexander and Nicklas. They called me annoying. Oliver didn't care ;)

Keeping sanity in the house pt. 3

Today, after this weekend's thoughtful planning to take the boys out and get a good football workout in, it snowed... boo! Not just a little bit of snow either... it looks like winter again. Anyway, after the basic "1 hours of math or science on the computer", I kind of gave up. Surprisingly, Nicka agreed to cook dinner with me (coming from the kid who only learned how to boil water last week, he did well on the butter chicken) and Oliver went all out on a painting (he has decided to become an artist so he says he may not need to finish elementary school anyway😉). Alexander is absolutely proud of himself by reaching the 400th episode of a Japanimation cartoon that he has been working on since the Christmas break. What can I say? Congratulations? Aim high, son? Glad this is the important school year for college applications? #whatever 😉

Today, I also learned that the alcohol and cannabis stores in Quebec are deemed an essential service. You have to love this province... we seem to have the right priorities... stay home and drink wine 😉 I also started an online Swedish course (I will let you know how that goes) and Andreas is busy watching all the movies that I never wanted to see 😉

The Police's song "Don't Stand So Close To Me" is on perma-loop in my brain.

Wishing you all a great... umm... Monday, I think... Tuesday? No Monday 😉 xox

Keeping sanity in the house pt 2

After a few more days of staying at home, how do I keep sanity in the house? I make coffee and go outside... shutting the door behind me... and leaving the kids inside ;) That is how I keep sane ;)

Today, we found out that the boys will be off school until (at least) May 1. We also found out that grocery stores, pharmacies and liquor stores will remain open. This is another way to keep sanity in the house... chips and wine ;)

Happy social distancing! xox

Keeping sanity in the house pt 1

So, as you all probably know and are experiencing the same thing, the boys' schools are closed until further notice. So, as you all probably are going through yourselves, the entertainment factor is seriously lacking. No play dates, no going out, no gym sessions, no school..... no sanity 😉 At the same time, Andreas and I are trying to figure out how to organize the rest of our semesters and keep some sort of work schedule going. By the way, the boys home in the current situation does not mix well with trying to get work done 😉 Yes, Captain Obvious 😉 Anyway, lacking ideas (and wanting some sort of empathy), I went to Facebook to get some ideas...

Today's big adventure (besides trying to get them to do some math review) was baking... and we picked banana bread. It was conveniently planned out because I had a big load of bananas that I needed to get out of my freezer 😉 and the boys like banana bread so it provided motivation 😉 Despite the rocky start (ie: the need to push each other in the kitchen and fight over who got to put which ingredient into the mixing bowl), we ended up with some pretty good banana bread... and we ended up with a project that kept our sanity going for about 40 minutes before I kicked them out of the house to play on the street... our street... not a busy one 😉 Tomorrow, we will move on to baking bread... wish me luck!

Sending virtual hugs to keep up the social distancing 😉

Andreas couldn't resist putting a banana into his banana tree 

Adding ingredients

No idea what was so interesting

Putting the batter into the pans

Voila! Finished product!

Dear 2020

Dear 2020,

Why did you end up being so weird? On January 1st, you were so promising... I had such hope. Since then it has been all down hill. First, some strange illness appeared in China.... then the US and Iran started a face off.... then there was a plane crash in Iran (hmmmm? Co-incidence?) that killed almost 200 innocent people... then it turns out that someone had shot that plane down  (Not so co-incidence)... then that strange illness in China (now known as Coronavirus) started to kill a lot of people... then we our roof leaked (compared to everything else it was no big deal but a pain in the butt anyway), the helicopter crash that killed 9 people and changed the face of basketball, escalations in Syria (again 😢) and then the Coronavirus spread... and spread... and spread to pandemic proportions. Now borders are closing, the airline industry is tanking, countries are quarantining their populations... and I couldn't even go on my much looked forward trip to England and Amsterdam (PS: I was supposed to leave today) 😑 Instead, I have 3 boys (actually 4) who are bored already and fighting 😒 and I just came back from Costco in anticipation of the snacks that bored teenagers will be eating 😉

Now, 2020, I keep waiting for you to say "Just kidding" and have everything return to normal. We would all get a good chuckle and continue on our regular daily lives. Thing is... I don't think that will be happening any time soon. Good thing that my Costco shopping trip included wine... a few bottles 😉

Let's get it together now, 2020. It is only March. You still have time to make it up to us. We'll give you a bit more time to pull yourself together and then it better be filled with glitter and unicorns... and more wine 😉

Totally sold out of toilet paper,,, now people were going for paper towels ;)

Yes, this was the line up for the cashes... all the way to the back of the store!

Funny... this is not far from my usual Costco haul ;)

6:58pm

Daylight savings is tough... especially in the spring when we lose an hour.  I have felt off all day because of missing that one extra precious hour of sleep. Needless to say, coffee has been my best friend ;)

Then I looked outside... at 6:58pm... and there was still daylight... and it smelled like spring. I feel hope... hope that starts in my bones. We made it through another winter! It is well worth the loss of that hour ;) Nothing that a bit of caffeine and hope can't take care of ;)

Wishing you all a good week ahead xox

Walk

This afternoon, I went for a walk with Andreas at a local nature park.... and we were kid-free ;) Not that we wouldn't have brought the boys but the big ones gave us a funny grunt when we asked if they wanted to come and Oliver was at a friend's house. Anyway, at least no one asked us how much further we had to walk for ;)
We are lucky because we have a really nice nature park about a 15 minute drive from our house (Cap St Jacques... see here). You can rent cross country skis and snow shoes but we opted to go for the simple walking trail. It was really nice because the sun was actually warm and the sky was super blue. The mid way of the trail hike even had a little sugar shack with good coffee (always a bonus in my books). We're going out for dinner tonight so the walk was a good way to earn some wine and desert ;) It is all about balance ;)

Happy Saturday! xox

Kid swap

You can always tell when it is Spring Break... suddenly, all school-aged children decide that sleep-overs are an awesome idea... at least, that is what happens with my boys. Some mornings, I have to make a mental note of which children are here and which ones are not. Inventory 😉

Count from last night: Minus Oliver and Alexander, Plus Nicklas and friend.

As much as it grosses me out (do people still say that?), I have learned to live with kids sleeping in yesterday's dirty clothes and not brushing teeth. All part of the fun 😉

Happy Thursday xox

Looks calm but there is actually chaos inside ;)

Casualty of a sleep over

Oliver went on a sleep over last night. When he came home, he said that he wasn't tired. About half an hour later, he was out for the count 😉  Sleep over: 1; Oliver: 0 😉