zoe o maya

grattis monica.
eftersom du sett att flickorna e "hyfsatt" i välbehåll så kan vi ju visa bilderna från idag.
jättegrattis från oss.

birthday treats...

so after treating me like a princess all day long, my darling husband made me an amazing birthday cake, with chocolate and nougat, and all kinds of yummy. not sure how he makes such delicious food out of whatever we have in the house, but he always does, and does a great job. apparently they were waiting a bit for me when the cake was ready, zoe was maybe getting a little bored...
but they had decorated everything so nice, balloons and streamers, the whole bit. (zoe was so excited she had been talking about balloons all day, just could not keep it a surprise).
and here we are about to blow out the candles on 2009´s yummiest cake (sorry liz, the truth hurts).
thank you two for a really wonderful birthday. you are the best family ever!

let the spinning begin..

zoe got a pottery wheel from farmor and farfar for christmas, and farmor was going to help her break it in yesterday, but we ran out of time, so it is with the holidays. so she had two very inexperienced parents to try and help her figure it out instead. poor kid. but she seemed to have a good time with it, not so much into the spinning yet, but the clay was a big hit. and all the different tools had to be used of course, nevermind their original purpose, zoe found another one for them. but she looks like a real professional here...but in the light of truth, she admitted she wasn´t all the sure what she was doing either, but was having a good time. you´ll have to wait for the final product as the clay must try before painting (much to zoe´s dismay!).

the two days of christmas...

being as we are a culturally blended family, we celebrated both the swedish and american christmases this year. started off on the 24th. in the morning we made candy and then it was time to begin feasting, the table is set...
after a couple of courses it was time for tomten (santa) to come and and deliver the christmas presents. i think he about overheated in his thick jacket there were soooo many presents to give out. though most of course were zoe´s, and she was a big help to tomten.
i cannot believe how hard it is to fool a three year old, she said it was a farfar tomten directly when he came in, even though farfar had gone to buy a newspaper and wasn´t there. in the end she comprised and agreed, " okay, but that tomten was farfar before!". anyway, he still got a big hug after handing out all the julklapper.
then there was a wild frenzy of paper and toys, and soon it was time to try out all the shiny new things. the fairy wings from bonita and tutus from the jameson jungle were big hits.
but not even pappa could wait for zoe to try out her new four wheeler. they were out in the snow as soon as he had it assembled. i think they both had a blast.
and then it was time for yet another feast. i think we were on about the fifth or sixth course of the day in this photo.
then on the second day of christmas, we had a visit from the cousins, and even more christmas presents...
emma looked lovely with a tutu on her head.
and the big hit of the day were sparkling wands for the little girls. they ran around with them until zoe started trying to poke a dog´s eye out with it.
and since mormor was not here to get a big thank you hug, zoe just wanted to say thanks for the easel, she loves it, though at the moment it is more interesting to write on the wood than the white or black boards!
hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and those friends and family that live so far away, we miss you and wish you the best in the new year!

need for speed

hela familjen var ute och åkte pulka.
pappa och zoe lyckades oxå lura upp mamma.
tur vi hade bonita med så mamma o pappa slapp dra upp pulkan i backarna.



o så avslutade vi med lite snöbollskrig.

daddys toy

there was a reason why the basement had to be done...

the fix of the day

time to go out and play in the snow soon.
just have to do the importand stuff for the day
the baby was tired...

klappat o klart

nu e grejjerna på platts

de sista bitarna

sågar den sista biten och nu e de 67 m2 på platts.

update on floor

allt går bra.
härligt det e med frisk trä lukt i hela huset.
hoppas ni har det varmt o gott.

so we sent anita and lars away to fuerte ventura. for a week.
time to get ride of that 40 year old carpet.


























pretty even for handspreading the cement out.
and my dad was only 25 when he did it! not bad

pappa´s christmas candies, yum!

so the evening started off innocent enough. we were just going to melt a little chocolate and color some almond paste, and have a little fun. zoe was pretty excited about the chocolate. i have no idea where she gets that from!





pappa showed us how to mix the coloring into the almond paste. zoe decided it was much more fun eating the chocolate, so pappa ended up having to mix it all himself.





then it was time for pappa to show us how to make little tomtes and such. his first one turned out quite cute.
then about this time we got online with scott and liz´s kids, so zoe was torn between being entertained by them on skype and making more funny shaped candies! but we did manage to make a few things. mama made a wreath





and here is zoe working very hard on an adorable little christmas tree. the kids loves her christmas trees! thomas also dipped some of the almond paste in chocolate and nuget, and man, those maybe were not so pretty but man were they yummy!



we managed to make a few more figures before zoe smashed most things up into a big colorful ball. they are pretty cute if you ask me.

then in the end it was just eating the chocolate and watching her cousins. looks like she had a pretty good time.

final touch

i finally got my parents to replace there 40 year old carpet. but that´s another story, the furniture we have had stored in their house can finally come home to our loving basement.
it´s done (or my part is, now eimi just have some electricity to draw... hehe)
there are some cool details in old houses. dont know why these bricks were covered!

and zoe finished it all of!!!

oh christmas tree...

so we actually decorated our christmas tree awhile ago, but i have been too lazy to post. better late than never i suppose. anyway, zoe has been asking to decorate the christmas tree since october. she has never really had a christmas, but she remembers decorating a christmas tree at mormor´s last year before we went traveling, and she loves to point out every single one she sees. anyway, we pulled out our nonsheding fake tree from the garage, and let it breathe for a day or so. it just happened to downpour that night, so it got a good shower. after shaking it off, we brought it in and thus begun the outspreading of the branches...
zoe could not wait and had to start decorating before the branches were looking somewhat spread out, so the tree is a bit of a funny one, but ours all the same.
and of course the crowning moment when zoe got to put the star on the top of the tree. amazingly she still remembers doing that from last year too!
then we tried to get a family shot but the zoe monster and the furry beast were not so cooperative. Happy Holidays!