fun with family annermalm!

the annermalms came by for an afternoon of fun today.  it was hot and sunny, so we were really grateful for the deck so we could have the swimming pool.  we also dragged out the seahorse slide zoe got for her birthday last year.  it was a real hit with the girls.  rebecca and mathilda were much braver than zoe and went at full speed. 

thomas and christer came up with an idea for hanging hammocks on the new deck.  it was not 5 minutes before they had tools in their hands and smiles on their faces.

meanwhile mathilda and zoe snuggled in the garden hammock with the itouch. 

and then there was ice cream.  lots and lots of ice cream.  eijla obviously enjoyed hers!

thanks to the annermalms for another day of great fun. 

deck building time

this weekend thomas went crazy and built a deck in literally a few hours!  but first let's say good morning to zoe!

this was after about 2 hours... the man works fast!

then the next day we had to go and get some more wood.  but after a few more hours it was really starting to look like a deck!

the girls were lots of help and were even careful of their ears when pappa sawed!

eijla just would not stop helping with the screws!  i swear i put them up at least a million times.  and if we did not catch them when she handed them to us, she would shove them down in the gaps for revenge.  stubborn monkey!

the only way to get her out of our hair and away from the screws was for her and zoe to share a bit of ice cream.  that is the best bribe of all, it never fails.  i am so excited to have a finished deck for the grill, and finally a flat place to put the inflatable swimming pool! 

artichokes! yum!

zoe bugs me everytime we go to the grocery store to buy artichokes, but they are usually pretty sad looking and way too expensive.  but today, they were huge and beautiful.  so we picked up a couple.  she was so excited.  i think she can eat them faster than we can. if we turn away too long the entire artichoke could be gone down her little tummy!

eijla got the hang of it even.  she seemed to really like them as well, good thing we have planted some in the greenhouse, just hope that they produce.

i just really thought this was a cute shot of eijla. that little tummy gets so huge when she eats.

zoe was not being nice at all.  doesn't she know that is eijla's swing, not zoe's!  another nice day in the garden, loving this weather.

happy mother's day!

woke up to snuggles in bed, and then a delicous breakfast in the greenhouse.  the only problem was that it seemed thomas and i now had caught the stomach bug.  dangit!

but the grandparents still came over, but ended up having help out quite a bit as thomas and i were really under the weather, but we all survived.  but due to feeling crap, the camera did not really come out. that is until mormor started feeding eijla ice cream,  i do not know was pulling funnier faces.  it was very amusing.

well,  we sure do know how to eat ice cream and strawberries. yum.  thanks my dear family for a lovely day.  love you guys.

healthy girls, sick shower, and a bit of wii

you would not  believe  that these were the same sick girls as yesterday! they maybe were not quite 100% but they were out and about and making things happens.  so glad they have great immune systems and recover quickly.  so we had a great day in the garden.

but then there is the bad news.  the "newly renovated" bathroom in our house, was, well not so "well renovated".  while thomas was away in umeå, i noticed the shower was leaking through to the kitchen ceiling and then after it failing to function longer after yesterday, we decided to rip it out.  i really hated it anyway, and thought it was disgusting.  well, sure enough, it was not up to standards by any means, there were cuts in the floor that the shower doors had hid, as well as rusting screws all around the drain.  so you can see where the floor was rotting due to this.  so now there is another project on the table!

but after such frustrating news, what better way to relax than to bowl a little wii with your eijla beanie boo.  she loves wii, she stands there and waves the remote around no matter who is playing, and finds it wildly entertaining.

"wanna play some wii with me?"

little sick ladies...

poor things.  zoe threw up all night, and eijla started this morning.  they are both wiped now.  so it is a snuggle day with lots of movies.  but i am sure they will bounce back soon.  i feel bad for them, but am enjoying all the snuggles they normally would not have time to give me.

chillaxin' with the österstöm girls..

monica and the girls came over for a visit today.  always so much fun to see them.  we made chocolate chip cookies.  eijla made sure she shared her cookie with monica.  nice and sticky.

and of course, the big girls had to get their girliness on, so it was fingernail painting all around.  i am beginning to think zoe is heading towards a career in beauty.  hmmmm.

gotto wonder what eijla is thinking sometimes...

so we have been really trying to stay off the area of the yard where we are trying to grow some grass, however the other day, eijla thought that it needed sweeping.  she literally stood there and swept the yard for at least 10 minutes.  the kid is stubborn.

speaking of stubborn, we have a problem with the stubborn monkey not staying put in her highchair.  she even wiggles out of the strap, so thomas gave her a taste of her own medicine.  yeah, she did not like that.  but note, she is still not sitting down.  again i say, stubborn.

however she has obviously noticed us often wiping up the floor after her.  this time she took the initiative herself, so i have to give the stubborn monkey some credit.  now, if i could just get her scrub the floors over the whole house.

good company...

we had the pleasure of having helene and pekka over last night.  tasty food and great company make for a wonderful evening. but they came bearing gifts, including fingernail polish for zoe.  let's just say, they secured place in zoe's heart with that!  of course it might have even been a magical connection due to it being pink and sparkly!  zoe and helene really seemed to bond, she certainly knows they way to our little girl's heart!

tyringe dagarna

it has become a bit of a tradition to spend tyringe days with monica and the girls, but monica was at school and poor little anya was sick.  but luckily maya was healthy, and ready to go!  we picked up mormor on the way...

the girls first hopped on the beloved airplane ride, a favorite from last year.

eijla wanted to ride a horsie, but mormor had to hold one, well, cuz she is just one year old.

then there were the trampolines.  the girls jumped like monkeys...

then there were the cars.  note the jersey plates,  i think they thought they were going to see auntie zita!

maya wanted to take eijla for a car ride too, so back on the road they went...

meanwhile zoe reached for great heights...

after we exhausted the rides, there was a walk home, via as many parks as possible...

eijla was in action all the time.  that kid never stops moving!

park nr. 2 provided some seriously spinning fun.

as well as high flying swingin'.  the girls had a blast, but were pretty beat by the end of the day.

we ended our fun at mormor's house where the girls ate lunch and then produced beautiful pieces of artwork.  eijla did her very own drawing as well.

i had a great time with the girls and mormor.  somedays are just so amazing when you try to see them through the eyes of a child.  looking forward to a girl's night out with lina and monica!  yeah.