Community

We are very lucky. The boys go to a school that has a great sense of community. You know the one: everyone's parents know everyone else's children. As crappy as it sounds for the kids, it is like a big set of  "eyes out". My son falls off his bike and I know that someone else is there to put a band-aid on and check if he is OK. Boys are at our house and I feel comfortable telling them that they should walk their bike on the busy street on their way home. I can assure parents that homework is actually being done because I am checking on it. I see their mothers on the street and relay messages to their kids when I get home. We wave to each other, roll down the window and catch up. There is a constant stream of friends at our home and my boys are constant guests at their friends' houses. I like the kids and I like their parents. We trade homework tales and share glasses of wine.

Yesterday afternoon, Alexander had his grad from his elementary school. It really got me thinking about how lucky we are. Many of his friends will be going to the same high school as he is but, even if they will be going to another school, I am sure that they will stay in touch. I am glad for it!

Even if I don't say it enough, I am thankful for our community! It takes a village to raise a child and we have a good one :)

Wishing you all a good weekend and sending out a big congrats to all the grads! xox

The gym, decorated for grad. It takes a great group of people to put this together!

Those paparazzi!

The mothers are allowed to get into the spirit too ;)

Setting up

We got them through to high school!

Too much fun!

Reach for the stars!

Some of the buddies

We are lucky! Congrats, my love xox

Quiet time

I love my family. I love the chaos. I love the action. I love the day to day craziness. I love my boy-filled life.

I also love quiet time ;)

I played soccer tonight so, when I got home, all the boys were asleep already and Andreas was on his way to bed. I am now sitting on the couch... legs up... taking up ALL the room... having a glass of wine... watching the news, uninterrupted (except for this blog post, that is).... ahhhhh....

Yes, I should go to bed... but, you know, this quiet time is just so luxurious. Mothers, you know exactly what I am talking about ;)

Wishing you all a good night xox

Ahhhhhh :)

A Montreal version of Sweden's National Day

On Monday (June 6), it was Sweden's National Day. I am sure that all Swedes take the day off and reflect on how great their country is. Similar to what we do on Canada Day (July 1), everyone gets together and sings our anthem.... over and over.... with hand on heart ;)  Actually, while we were living in Scandinavia, I was fortunate enough to participate in very solemn National Day activities such as sleeping in, putting various meats on the BBQ, having beer in the afternoon and hanging out with friends. I almost forgot.... to successfully celebrate the National Day, you also have to eat cake... lots of it. So, on Monday, to celebrate the Swedish contingency of our family, we ate cake.... lots of it. Also, because we are very dedicated to the celebration, we also put out the Swedish flag. As any good Swedish boy in Montreal, Nicka made up for the distance by his very happy celebration, as you can see ;)

Lycklig (och sent) nationaldagen!

The best way to celebrate ;)

Family time

Once in a while, during our chaotic week, we can find an evening to just hang out together as a family. I love this time and treasure every moment. It gets crazy sometimes but, hey, I'll take it... :)

Wishing you all a great week xox

See.... they can pose nicely for about 10 seconds ;)

Nicklas and his butterfly

As a part of a school project, Nicklas raised a butterfly from a caterpillar. He learned about the various stages of caterpillar to butterfly development and released it as the final part of the project. He named it "Micro" and was so proud to see him (Nicka was convinced that it was a boy) turn into a butterfly. The school has a butterfly garden, especially designed for the big "good bye".
At the end of the day, Nicka showed us where he set his butterfly free. He looked around for his buddy but he was long gone. We did, however, find one butterfly that seemed to like hanging around so we watched him sun his wings and fly away.

Au revoir, Micro! See you around :)

School BBQ fun

Every year, in June, our school holds a family BBQ. It is a way for the community to come together and is truly an awesome time! In the past, for our family, the BBQ has always been a challenge because it is either 1) cold; 2) rainy or 3) sandwiched in between soccer practices. Actually, there is not a choice between these 3 options.... they all simultaneously happen.... kind of like 4) all of the above.... every year.

Yesterday, on BBQ day, all of the stars aligned themselves and, not only did we get fantastic weather, but it was one of the few "off" days from soccer. Awesome! Bigger bonus is that the boys are all old enough to go and do their own things with their friends. No more chasing after toddler Oliver and keeping him from eating all the sand in the play park! He is now a big boy and takes responsibility for his own sand eating habits ;) The other two, of course AFTER being fed, disappear to hang with cool people (parents are *obviously* NOT cool) ;)

It was a great time and, since some parents are now done at our school, a fantastic way to say good-bye to them (or, as I like to think of it, see you later!). For us, in the mean time, we have 6 more years at the school to go ;) Awesome!

Tough life, kid ;)

Like father, like son!

Cosy!

Mustard on shirt included ;)

Poor Oliver fell on his nose :(

All photos were taken by Andreas. I was too busy socializing ;)

Grad outfit

Alexander is not a dress-up kind of guy. He is most happy in sport or sweat pants, a t-shirt and his usual crappy running shoes (even if I just bought them 10 minutes ago, they will already be crappy). Shopping for grad clothes, I thought, would be the MOST PAINFUL EXPERIENCE EVER. I even booked 2 sessions this week, just in case it was so painful that we had to use another day. I had the scenario in my head: he would HATE everything; he would complain about everything; he would hate my choices; he would have no choices of his own. Repeat vicious circle ;)
So, yesterday, after his school track and field day (another terrible confounding factor... he would be tired... ugh!), I took him to the mall. Very calmly, I told him that I would take him to what *I* had in mind for him... JUST as a starting point. You know, to give him some ideas, because he had told me that he had no idea what he wanted. We went to a department store that had some nice stuff... kind of sporty, versatile clothes that could be worn for different occasions (and, hopefully, for more than 10 minutes before he grew out of them). Honestly, I thought that he would hate it, just because I had suggested it. Funny thing was that he actually really liked it. Within 10 minutes, HE chose his own pants, shirt and belt. I helped him find a tie, which he absolutely agreed with. Bang! We were out of there.... He got an ice cream cone and I regained some sanity ;)
Next came his shoes... again, no issue. First time "Hey, Alexander, what about these?" was received with a "Yeah, I like them". Seriously. We were at the mall for 1 hour and 10 minutes. DONE!
He was really excited about his grad outfit! So excited that he tried it on to show his father and brothers! So handsome that I had to share ;) Please ignore the tags on the last photo as it was just Alexander showing Andreas but I had to take a picture. He looked so darn grown up and happy. I was so proud! We love you, (not so) baby boy!

We survived the shopping experience!

We even bought something.... besides ice cream ;)

My grown up boy! I wish there was a weepy mother icon ;)