happy halloween!

pumpkins are not so common here in sweden. so when they go on sale for halloween, we got the biggest ones we could find (by swedish standards, these are HUGE!). eijla really enjoyed the slimey parts...
couldn't understand why we wouldn't let her eat it. at least the kid has a great appetite.
then pappa got more assistance than he maybe needed drawing his pumpkin. it was a group effort.
it was a fun evening. luckily zoe hasn't learned that there is usually a bunch of candy involved on halloween as well. zoe did a great job, she drew the pumpkin's face on the right all by herself. but she was not as excited about scooping out the gunk as she was last year. kids learn too quickly.

caught pink handed...

we finally had a bit of craft day. mormor came over and we made soap, though i think zoe made most of it. all kinds of colors and shapes. she had a great time, and was especially proud of her big purple flower soap. which by the way, she insists is a mommy soap, and the one have to use in the bathroom when i wash my hands. that one and only that one. the kid knows what she wants.
though the next day we discovered that i had put way too much coloring in the pink soaps. zoe now spends forever washing her hands with her pink heart soap. can you guess why?

bloody baby mouth!

we have noticed that eijla is a much more accident prone child than zoe, might have something to do with the fact that she is the world's most wiggly baby. the other day she fell smashing her mouth against the back of the sofa and tore the little bit of skin that connects the lip to her upper gums. it bled like crazy, and after we managed to calm down, we found out it is no big deal, just A LOT of blood. eijla did not seem to mind, was so strange seeing a smiling, happy baby with blood running out of her mouth. silly goose.
another reason she might be covered in bruises is zoe insists on dancing with her. luckily she is getting stronger and more stable, so the "dancing" is looking less like torture.
zoe thought she would make a great ballerina, albeit, a floor ballerina.

when pappa goes away....

the girls will play! thomas and farfar went to scotland for a few days. so the first thing we did was have someone come and dig up our yard! no seriously we put in geothermal heating. and of course they had to come and do it while thomas was away. so now we have a huge muddy mess in our yard, however, the house is nice and warm!
poor little eijla, that kid falls and bangs herself up more than any baby i ever met. this nice big bruise on her cheek she got from just bonking her face on the floor while crawling. good thing she is so darn tough.
zoe was really hamming it up the other day. loving the hairdo. this kid puts more things in her hair than i can count.
speaking of putting things in her hair... now that there are no more flowers to pick she had started picking leaves instead!
she looks so calm and innocent in the pictures, but i tell you this kid is crazy. she almost never stops wiggling.
her little teeth started popping up the other day, but this is one of the first pics i have managed to get of them, when you can actually see them. if you look really close there are two small white teeth sticking up from her bottom gums. she managed to fall and smash her face the other day, and out popped her two teeth in her upper gums as well, now she has four teeth!
and then farfar and pappa came home from scotland. they came bearing many wonderful gifts as well. including some beautiful heathergem necklaces for us girls. i am really looking forward to using my new gardening book in the spring. better start reading it now! eijla also go the cutest pair of slippers with little sheep. so adorable.

farmor's utstallning at stångby-mässan

on the 9th and 10th of october, farmor had a big utstallning at an arts and crafts fair. we headed down to show our support and check out the goods...





she had a beautiful setup with all of her amazing pottery. she really is amazingly talented. we also checked out the other stalls and found some great fynd. zoe's favorite was this small little trolls made out of some kind of clay. so we picked up some early christmas decorations, as well as some apple hot sauce, ginger jam, and a few more things. it was a fun day. the girls really enjoyed it when farmor and farfar took breaks and snuggled with them. that was definitely the highlight of eijla's day...
congratulations farmor! it was a great show, we are so proud of you!

early october with us...

one day i heard screaming from under the kitchen table, and this is what i found. eijla had climbed into her bathtub, managed to stand up, and then could not get back out. poor kid just stood there screaming, hoping someone would come to her rescue.
i tell you this kid is crazy, she has realized she can stand, and now wants to use this new found talent everywhere. stepped out of the kitchen for a minute, and came back to see this...
guess it is time to find some kind of belt to tie this little lady down!
we have been working on finishing the room out in the garage so that we could put the new heating system out there. zoe and farfar have tried to help thomas, but all he ever says is " you can do it like that, but it's not right" -
while they were all in the garage sawing, and hammering, and building away. eijla and i were out throwing wood into the woodshed. well, i was throwing, she was crawling around and singing. the kid is just too cute...
this is what thomas looks likes when he comes home from work, the man is so dirty looks like he has a proper mustache!

a visit from our favorite new jerseyians

when we got back from lalandia, we had another treat. auntie zita and uncle karl stopped by for a short but very enjoyable visit. good food, good drinks, and great company for a wonderful evening. thanks for coming by you guys, it is always wonderful to see you both!
and one last shot from september of our little food crazy girl, with a bit of buse in her eyes! our baby is 8 months old! how time flies!

LALANDIA!!!!!

in the end of september we took a mini vacation and headed down to lalandia in denmark. we brought farmor and farfar with as well, the more the merrier! off we went...
great having a car that we all can fit in, and comfortably even!
as soon as we checked in and dropped our bags, we headed to the aquadome. the outdoor bubble pools weren't so hot, so even the girls could hang out with us in them. here was our one attempt at a group shot, not the best...
but we did manage to get a silly family shot.
the next day we headed to monkey tonky land...

where there was fun to be had by old and young alike...

farmor and i even got to help zoe make her very own candy.
and there there were the trampabil...


i guess farfar learned you do not mess with eijla and i. crazy farfar, believe it or not he got back up and started chasing us again!

then there were the pygmy goats. they were so insanely cute and little...
occasionally we went back to the stuga to refuel on food and snuggles...
but then it was right back out for another adventure, including the "wild river" zoe's favorite water slide. it said quite clearly on the sign that you had to be 7 years old to go on it, and if you broke the rules you would be asked to leave. so i was super paranoid that they were going to ask zoe how old she was and kick us out. but luckily they did not and we had perhaps and million and one rides on that crazy river slide! thomas even managed to get a pic of us on the more mellow part...
it was a great minivacation and we all enjoyed it immensely, zoe keeps asking nearly everyday when we are going back. thanks to farmor and farfar for sharing such a great time with us!