Looking to the future

125 years worth celebrating

2012-01-12T16:07:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago, my grandfather turned an amazing, healthy, fun-filled 85.

A few days before that, I turned 40.

To celebrate, grandpa, mom, dad, Steen, the boys and I took a wonderful week off, and we spent it in the sun and warmth of St. Thomas.

Being able to celebrate my birthday and my grandfather's birthday with so many people who mean so much to me was amazing. The week was one I will never forget. Here are a few highlights... in random order, as I seem completely unable to control how they are shown in this blogging tool.

Having lunch in downtown Charlotte Amalie. Some guy we met on the street recommended this little sports bar on a side street. Personally, I thought the atmosphere and the food were great. The boys loved the chance to sit on bar stools. As this was one of the few days of the year when there were no cruise ships in port, Charlotte Amalie was relatively empty, so we could actually get a seat.

Nicholas keeping an eye on the pirate ships in the background. He couldn't wait to tell the other kids in his daycare that he'd see a pirate ship!!!!

Playing at a beach on St. John. We took the ferry over and spent a day visiting a number of different beaches, where we snorkelled, built sand castles and played in the water. As long as he was in his ring, Nico had no problem surfing the ways into shore.

The big boys building a fortress...

Our hotel....

Grandpa's 85th. Here he is being serenaded at breakfast by our amazing waitress, Althea, and some of her colleagues. He's holding the traditional hand-crafted birthday chocolates in his hand.

Grandpa's 85th birthday lunch at the grill on the beach. The chef made us a special treat after he heard of my grandfather's history. He also and learned a few tricks of the trade from my grandfather, who was an executive chef for 40+ years....

The boys checking out the caves on Devil's Bay Trail (Virgin Gorda). We rented a boat (and a captain) for a day to go to the British Virgin Islands.

After a great birthday that Steen had filled for me with water aerobics and a relaxing, mind-calming visit to the spa, I had the most amazing 40th birthday dinner ever. Steen had planned a special night at a terrific place, the Old Stone Farmhouse. We had a tour of the kitchen, met the head chef, wrote our names on the wall, and drank champagne that the waiter opened with a sable. It was one of the most memorable, happy nights ever... Oh, and we got to eat a meal that was as beautiful as it was scrumptious. My mouth is watering just thinking of it...

The boys got tons of quality time with their grandmother. Here's Nico reading his noisy Halloween book with grandma.

Breakfast on my birthday -- the ladies at the breakfast singing me a birthday song.

Mom, Dad and Matthew taking a dip.

On a final, non-St. Thomas-related issue, here's a photo of Matthew's paper bridge that he had to build for science class. The requirements were the following: had to cover an open span of at least 50cm., had to be able to hold 2.5 kg of weight without falling apart or dropping the weight, could be made with a maximum of 20 sheets of paper and school glue. Glue was to be used for attaching pieces only, i.e., not for reinforcement. Impressive, don't you think?

The traffic jam grows

2012-01-05T15:39:00.003+01:00

Nico was thrilled to get countless Hotwheels cars from his grandpa for Christmas. And a carrying case to boot! As you can see, these cars have joined their numerous predecessors in the Nico-created, daily traffic jam that occurs in various shapes and sizes in our living room.

Saying goodbye to a great man

2011-11-13T21:42:00.001+01:00

I am slow to post and I have been absent from my blog for far too long.... there are so many things I want to do, and it seems often that I never have time to get half of those things done.

But this post is important to me. I'm so very sad that I must write it.

Several weeks ago, the world lost yet another great man. A strong man. A man who resonated peaceful, knowing strength to his very core.

My Uncle Mike passed away in mid-September following a long, unfair and I suspect painful struggle to remain in this world day after day, to hold his wife's hand for as long as he could, to sit and enjoy his blueberry pie or a bowl of soup, and to read the daily paper.

Aunt Ruth and Uncle Mike

My Uncle Mike wasn't really my uncle at all. He was my grandmother's brother and my dad's uncle. But he's been a vital part of my life... he has always been there. At family events, when he'd call my brother and I to the side and quiety place a rolled up $5 dollar bill in our hands and say, in that beautiful, low baritone voice of his, "Put that in your pockets and don't tell your parents." At my grandmother's house, where he often visited for a meal or a talk. At graduation parties, on the phone, wherever we might need him or want to share with him, he'd be there.

He was, I think, very, very close to my grandmother. I know that when my grandmother was taking care of their parents after they fell ill, he would come one night every weekend and take over the caretaker duties so my grandparents could have the evening together. After my grandmother passed away without warning several years ago, he held me in his great, bear-size embrace while I sobbed at her wake, and from that moment on he was there for my grandfather in every way he could possibly be. They shared weekly lunches with his wife, my Aunt Ruth, and they took good care of each other.

For my Uncle Mike, family was everything.

To me, Uncle Mike was always almost more than a man, somehow larger than life. He seemed, somehow, all knowing, and remarkably at peace with the world. Maybe this was the result of his years behind the wheel of Mac trucks. Maybe it was the influence of my wonderful Aunt Ruth (or sweet Aunt Betty, God bless her soul). Maybe it was the result of growing up in an Italian family in Chicago. Maybe it was caused by something about which I know nothing.

But that inner peace, that wonderful joy that he always expressed when he saw us, that happiness to just be alive...those are things that I shall always try to emulate.

He was a man I loved and respected, and the world is so much less in his absence.

Farewell, Uncle Mike. You are in our thoughts, in our hearts and in our prayers. Until we meet again...

The most amazing fishing trip EVER!

2011-09-07T16:02:00.000+02:00

When I was a little girl, my parents taught me many valuable lessons when we were in the vicinity of water.

They taught me how to swim and made it possible for me to be a competitive swimmer for much of my pre-teen and teen years. As they attended hundreds of swim meets, they taught me how important it is for parents to just be there for their kids. They celebrated me after every race, regardless of how good -- or bad -- the race had gone.

But of more relevance to this post is that they taught me how to fish and to enjoy the act of fishing. Somewhere in my mom's photo albums are buried photos of me proudly holding pint-size bass, catfish and a perch or two, smiling the biggest smiles a girl can make.

I've spent countless hours with my dad in the pristine silence of a fishing boat or on the shore of one lake or another. Over the years, these hours have brought me a piece of my dad that I don't think I would have had otherwise. I've gotten to know him, to understand so much more about him, than I think I would have otherwise. Whether we're chatting or just staring in silence at the ripples on the water, when we're fishing, we completely accept each other. It's some form of pure happiness, if you ask me.

Anyway, every year dad heads up to Birch Island Resort in Canada, where he's been going fishing on a chain of freshwater lakes with friends or family for the past 20 years. The resort's motto is "Everyone deserves a little island time!", which if you heard in any other context would conjure up images of piña coladas and Jamaican drums, rather than some of the best fishing in North America.

This year, I was the lucky one to be invited along. Lucas and I flew to the States. He spent some terrific quality time with his Grandma, who spoiled him rotten. Tim, Uncle Joe, dad and I piled into the car and drove the 14-hour drive north and across the border before parking the car on the edge of one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I have ever been.

Here you see my brother and my uncle "fishing" with their guide, Phil. Notice there are no fish to be seen! :)

Here I am with our guide, Davey, and my contest-champion walleye. It was the biggest walleye any of us caught the entire week... too big too keep, so Davey had to spend 20 minutes trying to coax it back into the water.

Dad and Phil with one of Dad's catches.

Phil and I with one of Phil's catches that he let me reel in (what can I say... every fisherman has a slow day once in a while). I have to mention here that Phil was such a great, down-to-earth person. He shared many funny stories with me about his camping trips in Mexico. I was sad to hear that this will probably be his last year as a guide. When I asked him if he'd ever lived or worked anywhere else, he looked at me with a wise gleam in his eye and said "Look around you. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?"

We were amazingly lucky with the weather -- sunshine and heat. Not the best fishing weather, they say, but we did ok... You can see the water is like glass.

Davey and I and yet another champion fish (although this one just won me the bets for the day).

The best fishing buddy in the world!

Two more of the best fishing buddies in the world. We had a terrific time.

So, one morning just before lunch, Dad was reeling in a walleye. He looked over the side of the boat as it came near and said "What the heck is that?!". It was a northern chomping on his walleye. Here you can see the bite marks around its belly if you look closely.

The area in which we were fishing looks, in many ways, like the Swedish archipelago. We met pelicans!!!

And a bunch of other birds. They met up every day in the hopes of getting the scraps left over from our shore lunches.

Davey making up the shore lunch. I will go back to Birch Island someday, even if it's just to get the shore lunches!

Uncle Joe roughing it while waiting for lunch.

The birds dive in after we've had our fill.

Dad and Phil preparing the fish.

The early morning view from outside our room.

Tim, Uncle Joe and dad waiting for lunch.

Let me end this post with a great big thank-you to my dad for an amazing trip and memories that will last a lifetime!

The summer that was....

2011-08-15T21:18:00.000+02:00

So, I've fixed, or at least figured out a way of dealing with, the rotating picture issue.... Finally!

However, now I have photos in random order, regardless of how I load them -- aren't you lucky? I'll try to keep them to a single subject.

As the title implies, this post covers part of our summer vacation -- the week we spent in Jutland (the Danish mainland) with our good friends Ulla (Steen's cousin and one of my closest friends) and Lars-Ole and their children. We had a terrific week, filled with laughter, smiles, excellent food, and great conversation. Here are some of the highlights...

Lars-Ole, Ulla and Emil on the train at Fårup Summer Park. This was Nico's favorite ride... "mom, can we ride the train again?", "mom, let's go on the train!", "mom, how about another train ride?"

Lars-Ole, Nico and I on the beach on the west coast -- as you'll see in some pictures below, you can drive on this beach. We even managed to get our cars stuck and were saved by some sweet guy who came with some boards and helped us out again.

Luke on the beach -- this kid is all legs!

Matthew and his good friend Emil on their way back from exploring the dunes.

A tea and cake break in the summer house we rented... Nothing says "cozy" like a good cup of tea and some cinnamon rolls...

Frederik and Lars-Ole on the beach...

A pre-stuck-on-the-beach photo -- such a great scene!

Matthew building, or attempting to build, a card house for the first time.

The kids at play in Frederikshavn -- Frederik here....

Luke here...

Nicoline, Steen and Nico strolling down the street.

My cute little one...

Oh, Matthew at play too!!!

Beautiful Nicoline.

Nico on his first pony ride.

Emil waiting patiently in line at the summer park. A great seat for people-watching!

Nicoline is ready for that license!

Matt and I on the rapids ride. This one was great fun!

Nico and Steen on the way home. Poor kid was sick all night long before we left... then, on the ferry, he was sick again. In fact, this photo is taken 10 minutes or so before he spilled his guts, literally, all over me. Lovely for me, but even better for the woman sitting next to us who got splashed. I felt so sorry for that woman and for Nico!

Nico trying for his license too.

And Emil. Aren't our little drivers cute?

Enjoying the pool in the summer house, slide and all.

Steen & Nico waiting patiently in line for a ride at the summer park.

Back to the pool. (See, you can't get bored with these random pictures.)

Enjoying splashing in the puddles with Nicoline... for Nico, there's nothing better than a puddle, except for -- maybe -- ice cream!

Out for a swing.

Puddle -- despite the order, this picture and the one above are not the same day.

Emil and Ulla enjoying a special moment.

Water gun fight!!!!

Steen heads of to explore one of the many German bunkers left over from World War II.

Looking for elephants

2011-06-07T13:57:00.001+02:00

(Forgive me, but for some crazy reason many of my pictures are rotated 45 degrees, even though they're not rotated this way on the drive -- I've tried for several weeks to fix this problem, without success. Hence the delay in posting and the lack of posts in general. If anyone out there knows a fix to this problem, please let me know. Thanks!)

Recently, we paid a visit to a safari park not too incredibly far from Stockholm. We've been there once before, but felt it was time to go back. Matthew didn't join us last time and Nicholas is finally old enough to enjoy the event.

We started off with a bang -- the dolphin show.

And then moved on to some of the other animals... like the gorillas.

No, that's not a gorilla...

And we enjoyed some ice cream....

Crawled around on giant lions, which Nick was sure were from the Lion King.

Had some great views of the archipelago.

And the bears....

In this safari park, you don't drive through but ride in cages that hang from a ski lift above the animals. This allows viewers, like Matt here, to get pretty close to the animals without disturbing them too much.

Despite all the amazing sights we saw that day, all Nick wanted to do was see the elephants. Apparently his favorite animal... where are the elephants, mom? Well, we finally found them at the end of the day, but guess what? No pictures! :)

In other events, Lucas took third place in the annual trampoline competition. Here he is at the start of his routine.

The trampolines (I think they look pretty impressive, so I've decided to share my impression with you.)

Receiving his medal.

Happy Dance

2011-05-06T12:41:00.000+02:00

Despite the snow that fell earlier this week, it's time for a spring celebration.

Because our tulips have bloomed!

I'm a bit of a tulip fanatic.

Aren't they beautiful (it doesn't take much to make me happy, does it)?

Playing catch-up

2011-04-28T15:48:00.007+02:00

Where've we been the past month or so?

And what have we been doing?

This post will give you a glimpse of our lives in just about 60 seconds... except one major event, my parents' retirement party, is missing... as I can't seem to find the CD...

I swear that my dad was right (yet again) -- if my head wasn't screwed on, I'd lose it.

Just like the phone I left on the top of my car one day. Geez, I'm a genius, eh?

Anyway, here we go. Let's start with Nicholas in his oh-so-cool, good morning getup.
The same guy painting his mask....

I love the way he puts colors together. I'm not kidding you when I say he worked on this mask for nearly an hour.

Bira and Steen... the former still thinks she's a lapdog, even though she's bigger than one of the children in this house.

Nico indulging in his desire for ice cream on a spring day. (Yes, spring is here -- the tulips in front of the house are actually BLOOMING!)

Nico helping to make spinach mannicotti for dinner -- at the moment he makes dinner with me almost every night. It keeps him busy (i.e., it keeps him from standing there screaming his dissatisfaction with the world while his frazzled mother tries to put a meal on the table.) Sorry there are so many pictures of one child so far -- he's in a stage where he demands a bit more attention (read "terrible threes").

Bira enjoying the spring in her own way... still on a lap. Isn't she a cutie?

Luke practicing for the national chess championships. He's playing himself. How he does that, I'll never know.

Nico sitting with Bira on his lap. He insists that she sit on his lap. If she won't, he sits next to her and slowly puts his legs under her so that, whether she wants to or not, she's sitting on his lap. She doesn't seem to mind -- she loves company and attention as much as he does.

Nico riding his bike. This bike was actually a gift from Matthew's grandma and grandpa to Matthew when he was just a toddler... Nico loves it. He rides it hours on end. And today he learned to brake rather than crash into the wall or curb to stop!

Coloring Easter eggs.

Finished Easter eggs. Nick didn't sleep for hours because he was worried the Easter bunny might come and he'd miss him. He finally went to sleep when Luke told him "The Easter bunny is going to bring you candy, but only if you go to sleep!"

Easter morning....

Preparing for Easter dinner with our friends Eva, Steve, Kadi and Henrik and all their beautiful children -- the table...

The dinner.

The chocolate cheesecake Steen made for dessert... oh, boy, it was yummy.

Another sign of spring... the boys waiting in line for the neighbor's trampoline.

Yeah, now you're basically up to date! Happy May 1! :)

Puppy ownership, week 1

2011-03-14T11:02:00.014+01:00

Last Monday, we drove out to our wonderful breeder's house and picked up Bira, a black Hovawart with brown markings, who was 10 weeks old at the time.

After reading numerous books about Hovawarts, puppies and dogs, we had expected Bira to cry or whine in the car on the way home, but she was perfectly quiet -- almost as if she was just listening to the babble of three happy kids in the car. They were thrilled about the new addition to the family.

After arriving home, one of us took Bira for a short, investigative tour of her new "outside world" while the rest of us went inside and made sure everything was ready for her. After she'd had a chance to sniff out her new world, we invited her into her new home for the first time.

I have to say that I've never owned a dog before and I was a bit apprehensive with regard to what to expect. But I've now spent a week with Bira and I think we've come to understand each other, respect each other and maybe... just maybe... fall a bit in love. After all, who can look into her sweet brown eyes without falling a bit in love?

This past week we've set up a schedule for her. She's learned to sit patiently while she gets her leash on before walks. She's already learned to walk quite well with us on the leash but we also allow her to indulge in her natural curiosity about the world -- chasing blowing leaves, digging in the snow and sniffing another dog's trail. It's been a fun and amazing experience so far, and I'm looking to many, many years in Bira's company.

And it's been beautiful to watch the boys care for another being as they care for Bira. Bira had been her just one day when Lucas turned to me and said "Mommy, I'm already in love with her." That just about sums it up...

Enjoying some playtime with Matthew.

Hey! You want to take a photo? No way, I'd rather chew on some hair!

Snow! Snow! Snow! Oooh, I love snow!!! (I don't quite know what she's going to do when the snow has melted -- assuming it does at some point. Her world has always had snow in it.)

This weekend we also spent some crafty time, with the boys painting their "fastelavn" masks that they received from Gitte and Ole. They're not quite finished, but here are some preliminary pictures.

Matthew....

Lucas....

Ooh, wait... More snow!

And Nico spent some crafty time building barns out of Lincoln Logs. I was first introduced to these logs in the family room of my grandfather's house. I love them then and I'm glad Nico loves them now. He builds pens for all of his animals. No windows, no doors. Just the pen and a roof. We're not allowed to see the animals when they're inside.

A spring visit to Denmark

2011-03-12T13:15:00.001+01:00

The title promises you a bit of info about a trip to DK. Don't worry. I'll get to it.

First, however, I want to share a baking adventure Nico and I shared the other day, when we made cinnamon rolls. Yummy, homemade, American style cinnamon rolls. The kind you have to eat with a fork.

Here's Nico really getting into it. See the flour on his face? How do you paint flour on your face like that when it should only be on your hands? He's spreading the cinnamon sugar on the dough.

Here are the first batch of rolls before I pop them into the oven. We have no photos of the "after"... they must have been eaten too fast.

But we do have a photo of Nico "after". Guess he didn't get the memo about keeping the flour on the table. His pants were originally green... but hey, I'll forgive him with that cute little smile.

OK, so Denmark. We spent two nights with Ulla, Lars-Ole and their beautiful family... two nights on the farm. And I kid you not when I say we ate... we ate often, and we ate well. We'd finish eating and already be planning what to eat next.

After all, what else is would you want to do when you've got the most amazing kitchen and dining room like this?

Oh, maybe you want to go for a ride on a kid-sized motorbike? Tongue hanging out and all?

Or would you prefer to eat? Maybe these homemade breakfast rolls Lars-Ole whipped up. Just like that!

Or maybe you'd like a good game of fussball???? Frederik, Luke and Matt didn't seem to mind.

Or maybe you'd like to wander in Lars-Ole's vineyard? Then again, you can just stay inside and sample his wine. I did....

Or maybe you'd like to hang out with your good buddy, Nicoline? Isn't she a sweetheart?

Personally, I love hanging out in the kitchen with Ulla ... especially when she's making these mouth-watering "Festelavn" buns. A pre-Easter/Mardi Gras tradition in DK.

We also enjoyed hanging out with Ingelise and Philip....

And my good buddy Emil.

On Sunday morning, Ulla and Lars-Ole gave all of the kids a "Festelavnsris" (spelling?). The idea of these colorful, decorated branches is that the children should wake their parents up in the morning by wacking them on the bedcovers and singing a song that goes something like (in Danish, though): "Mardi Gras is my name, buns I do want, if I don't get any, I'll make trouble". Ok, it sounds much cuter and fun in Danish.

In this household, though, there was a clear agreement that no bed-whacking would be allowed... so the kids just enjoyed the candy tied onto the branches instead.

Thank you for a great weekend, Ulla and Lars-Ole! We had a terrific time!

After leaving Ulla and Lars-Ole, we headed out to visit my host family from my Rotary days, Karl-Ove and Anne-Grete. For some reason, we have no photos from that visit, but it was great to see them again, as always. Even though I stayed with them way back in ancient times (I don't dare tell you how long ago), they still feel like my second set of parents.

From their house, we headed out to visit my sister and brother-in-law, Susanne and Jesper. We joined them, their beautiful son Lauritz, and my svigermor and svigerfar for a somewhat belated Christmas lunch.

Here's svigermor looking bubbly as always.

And svigerfar envying Lauritz's cool set of wheels...

Luke and Matt got a bunch of great gifts, including the newest Pokémon DS games they'd been saving up forever to buy themselves. They were over the moon with joy!

It was great to spend the afternoon with our nephew and his amazing parents. It's just a shame we don't get a chance to get together more often.

Of course, we had to eat again! :)

Bira comes home

2011-03-08T10:01:00.003+01:00

A quick post to welcome the newest member of our family....

Life on film, a.k.a., let's catch up

2011-02-22T11:01:00.008+01:00

For Christmas, mom and dad gave us a new camera -- a Panasonic Lumix. I love it. It takes clear pictures and still manages to fit easily into my pocket or my purse. We picked it up just before Matthew's birthday in late January.

In order to avoid being in catch-up mode forever (i.e., I only posted our Thanksgiving post today, and I still have to post about Christmas and Thailand), I thought today I'd post "for real" about our lives these past few weeks. Then I'm almost back on track.

This post is, therefore, filled with tidbits of our lives over the past five weeks. Starting with Lucas, standing in the kitchen this weekend. I know that he's tall, but in this photo he looks to me like he's already 6 feet!For the past few weeks, Matthew and Lucas have taken turns making Saturday dinner for the family. I have always tried to involve the kids in cooking and now it's time for them to practice on their own. They pick the menu, make the shopping list, go with me to the store and then cook the meal on their own. Steen and I try to stay out of it unless our help is requested.

On Saturday, Lucas made us hotdogs baked in their own breadlike muffins with a veggie plate on the side. Yum!

Here we have Nico and Luke sharing some quality time together working on an "I Spy" puzzle.

Last Saturday was Matthew's turn in the kitchen. He whipped up an Indian-style marinated chicken, naan and this amazing ice-cream pie. Go ahead and drool.

This post is also filled with pictures of snow, which is the essential element in any Swedish winter. We've had snow on the ground now since mid-November and last week we were hit with a nice extra helping of an extra two feet.

We took advantage of it to go sledding. Matthew and Lucas planning their run....

Nicholas patiently waiting for one of us to walk him up the hill, hold the sled while he clambered on, and give him a push.

The front of our house -- you can barely see Steen's car.

We also recently re-found this great pop-up castle that Nico got for his baptism all those years ago. If you ask him, I'm sure he'll tell you that his was the find of the month.

Nicholas has fallen in love with this beauty. We'll call her "J". They're preparing for Hogwarts, as you can see.

We've also had tons of fun just playing around over the past few weeks. Nick loves his time in the bathtub:

Here's Saturday Lucas's dinner creation from three weeks ago (we each got a plate like this). Isn't it pretty?

Some more silliness.

Nicholas helping to clean up the Christmas decorations (yes, I admit that this didn't happen until early February).

In late January, our biggest little boy began yet another chapter in his life when he became a teenager. As I'm only 25, I have a hard time understanding how I can be the mother of a teenager, but there you go. Anyway, we celebrated with presents, cake, breakfast, streamers, songs, dinner, lunch. Whatever his heart desired.

Oh, and hats. How could I forget the hats?

My last little piece of entertainment for you today is this lovely little video. I think it demonstrates who Nico is right now in a nice 30-second nutshell. He's such a charmer, isn't he... until the end, when his Mr. Hyde side starts to show.

So much to be thankful for!

2010-12-05T08:47:00.001+01:00

Thanksgiving. My personal favorite in terms of holidays.

Living so far away from "home" at times like these can be difficult. I miss the traditions, my extended family the cozy times, the memory making. And, of course, the day-after shopping spree.

But I am so very lucky to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with a bunch of great people... my beautiful family, and a group of close American or "almost" American friends who understand not only what it's like to be an expat but also understand what Thanksgiving means. People who can, for example, eat sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows without wrinkling their nose. And pumpkin pie! And cranberry sauce!

We have a tradition (now in it's third year) of celebrating Thanksgiving with Steve and Eva and their kids. For the past two years we've been joined by Camille and Klas, and this year we added Merrick and Ling and their daughter to the mix. We had a terrific, memorable time. Eva and Steve were our hosts this year.

Here's Steve carving the first turkey (we had two -- this is Sweden, after all -- the turkeys are similar in size to a large hen....)

Cam and Klas -- Cam's expecting their first child in just a few weeks!!!!

Steen's plate.... just looking at it makes me hungry. :)

Merrick digs in.

We usually follow Thanksgiving with a day of baking gingerbread... Here you see Matthew rolling out the dough in preparation for the arrival of the cookie cutters.

And Luke, who has found the aforementioned cutters.

Steen and the boys are in charge of making a gingerbread house every year.... and every year they get just a bit more crazy and creative. So I present to you the gingerbread house of 2010:

As we'll be away over Christmas and New Year's, we decided to put our tree up extra early. It was exciting this year because it was the first year when Nico could really be involved. He was thrilled. Every ornament was a discovery for him.

Some of my boys having a bit of fun.

A visit makes a dream come true

2010-12-01T13:49:00.000+01:00

Throughout my life, I've watched one celebrity single-handedly change the world, one step at a time, while simultaneously fighting numerous accusations, derogatory statements and court cases with dignity and the utmost respect for her fellow human beings.

She brought us the "Angel Network", lit up an interest in reading in a culture where reading was arguably "on the way out", and used her financial wealth for countless gifts that have brought hope to those less fortunate.

I am speaking of Oprah. While in grad school, I turned down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend one of her tapings together with a fellow student. Why?

I had class that morning.

I am nothing if not conscientious. Yeah, right.

Well, I had been regretting that decision ever since. And then, in February last year (at an amazing charity event that is being repeated in just a few days -- click here!), my parents bid and bid and bid again on a pair of tickets to one taping of the Oprah show.

And they won.

And my mom called me and asked me: "Tina, would you like to go to the Oprah Winfrey show with me?".

Jumping up and down, screaming with all the energy this just-a-bit-older-than-a-teenager body can muster, I of course answered yes.

And in late October, I landed in Chicago, proudly announced to the passport control guy that I was returning to the US to see Oprah, and joined my mom for the taping.

Here we are the "morning of".

We left the house early enough to take the train downtown, have a cozy breakfast and a nice cup of coffee, brave the hurricane-force winds to make it to Harpo Studios, where we waited outside for a few hours along with other lucky ticket holders to be admitted to the studios.

Once inside, we spent another hour or two waiting around with 300 or so beautiful women and a few handsome men before being admitted to the actual studio where the taping would occur.

I could feel the energy in the air when Oprah walked into the room. For a few minutes, my eyes were filled with tears at my incredible fortune -- to be in the presence of such an amazing woman who has done so much good for the world and to be sitting next to another amazing woman who has done so much good in the world. I didn't want to be anywhere else.

There are no other pictures from that day except for a couple more we took before we left the house. We were not allowed to bring cameras or camera phones with us to the studio.

The show we saw taped was Oprah and Gayle's Yosemite Vacation, which was good fun. I know I truly enjoyed myself.

After the show, mom and I took a cab down Michigan Avenue, grabbed a snack at a terrific café, did some shopping, and had an amazing dinner at The Capital Grille. I had the most mouth-watering steak ever!!!!! Full, giddy and tired after a day of excitement, we hopped the train home.

Thank you mom for making (yet another) dream come true. I don't know how I can ever repay you.

*************

While in Chicago, I got to spend some precious time with dad, grandpa, Tim, Kathi, and my niece and nephew.

Let's talk about grandpa for a minute -- the man who has taught me so much and with whom I share a love of cooking (along with so much else). You have no idea what the following scene means to me: a kitchen with my grandfather in it.

When I was a little girl, grandpa would make my brother and I anything we wanted for breakfast -- and I mean it. Pancakes, toast, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, cheese sandwich. Anything He'd let me sit on a chair in the kitchen and whip the pancake batter.

When I was a grad student, he and grandma made hundreds of meals, froze them and brought them to me at the university. I've never eaten better than I did those two years.

As an adult, I've spent countless hours in the kitchen with grandpa... whether it be his kitchen or mine, or even mom and dad's. We've baked bread together, whipped up a stir-fry or two, along with eggplant parmesan and pasta galore. We are comfortable working side by side, sharing a few words here and there and happy to just be together.

Well, now I'm just speaking for myself. I'm always happy to be with grandpa.

And here Kathi and I are celebrating our 25th birthday. :)

Cannes, France

2010-11-22T09:48:00.001+01:00

Guess what? I'm about to unload this huge sense of not living up to expectations! Starting today!

I've neglected this wonderful blog, this somewhat concrete evidence of the path of our lives, for months now. Sorry about that.

And thank you to whoever is still bothering to read this... for sticking around. :)

I have a plan. Starting today (February 4), I'm going to try to post an entry every few days until I catch up. I'll backdate the entries though so that in 20 years they'll still make sense. Here's what is missing:

1. France
2. The US and Oprah
3. Thanksgiving
4. Pre-Christmas Preparations
5. Steen's 40th birthday
6. Christmas at home
7. Christmas abroad
8. Everyday life

So, true to form, I'll start with France.

My dear husband travels a great deal because of his job. He is always attending one conference or another, or going to meetings with doctors or working with hospitals, or hanging out at some kick-off or year-end wrap-up with his colleagues.

My role in that regard (when he's travelling) is to stay home and handle all of the usual domestic duties -- the kids, the laundry, the shopping, etc. And to keep making money, of course. :)

In October Steen was scheduled to attend a conference in Cannes. Three days before he was set to leave, we had the following conversation at the dinner table:

Steen: Oh, by the way, you need to plan to serve three extra people for dinner on Wednesday.

Me: What? Who? And wait a minute -- you won't be home Wednesday! You'll be in France!

Steen: I'm not telling you who. Just please make sure you have enough food to serve three extra people.

It must be said here that Steen is being very friendly while I'm getting kind of riled.

Me (jumping to conclusions): Why would you invite colleagues or customers over for dinner on Wednesday when you're not going to be here? How am I going to entertain them on my own?

Steen: Also, you need to be at the airport at 6 Thursday morning.

Me (I admit that I am slow to catch on): I can't go to the airport at 6 in the morning! I have to take the kids to school by 8!

Steen (looks at me seriously and takes a deep breath): Tina, it's ok. There'll be someone else to take the kids to school and to watch them for a few days.

And then I get it.

My guy has arranged for for his parents and little brother to stay here with the kids, and for me to meet him in Cannes.

Which I do.

I leave the snow and freezing temperatures of our current home to arrive in 20-degree (celcius) sunny Nice, rent a car and drive to Cannes, and spend 1.5 days working while Steen finishes up his conference (well, I didn't work the entire time -- at one point, I wandered down to the waterfront, had myself a cappuccino, a baguette and a crepe, sat on the beach and watched the sun set).

And then we spend several amazing days together exploring the French Riviera, with our base camp set up at a lovely B&B situated at the top of one of the many hills overlooking the sea. Isn't it just gorgeous?

While Cannes itself is glamorous, interesting, incredibly expensive and beautiful, we really enjoyed visiting the small villages that line the coast and crawl up the mountainsides. Small streets, fun shops and amazing food.

Thank you to my great in-laws for taking on the daunting task of our three boys that weekend. And a special thanks to my sweet husband for bringing me with him.

Meet one amazing woman

2010-11-21T21:28:00.005+01:00

There is a woman in my life whom I'm proud to call my friend.

A few weeks ago, she had a birthday... I had planned to post this then, but life took over and, as you can see, I haven't posted anything at all in weeks.

A few weeks ago, I met this woman again for the gazillionth time. She took me to see Oprah. Together we dressed up, spent a day downtown and enjoyed each other's company. It's a day I'll never forget... For me, it was a dream come true.

But that's not why I'm writing this today. I'm writing this today to share the list I wrote for why I love this woman -- my mom. I wrote it at the same time that I wrote my dad's a few years ago (which I posted earlier this year...). I've just tweeked it a bit today.

So here you go. 50 reasons I love my mom... and these are only the beginning.

Mom, I love you.
1. For delivering me into the world (no, that's not me she's holding... it's Nick... if you thought it was me, you're 30+ years off. :) )
2. For going to get my bike, which was always blocks away when I fell off it and came home without it
3. For reading Nancy Drew to me on rainy summer days
4. For supporting me in my dream to be an exchange student
5. For sacrificing so much so that I could attend the college of my choice
6. For attending every single swim meet and cheering me on as I swam lap after lap
7. For telling me to get in my very first car, a stick-shift that I couldn’t drive, and saying “just take it out yourself – you’ll learn it right away!”
8. For helping me move from GW to the University of Chicago, even though I had only packed one box when you arrived
9. For packing up our entire house in Denmark when I couldn’t find the emotional strength to do it myself
10. For coffee breaks in comfy Starbucks chairs
11. For offering your shoulder when I broke up with my first boyfriend (and every break-up thereafter)
12. For calling me right away when you can see from an email that I might need some cheering up
13. For taking us on an amazing road-trip vacation to New Mexico in third grade
14. For being a Brownie and Girl Scout leader

15. For finishing your Associates Degree, thereby showing me (in one of a million ways) that if someone puts their mind to it, anything is possible
16. For quitting your job at MDM after they skipped you over for a promotion (go mom!!!!)
17. For being right there, holding my hand, when Lucas was born
18. For going through 6 weeks of missing dad in order to spend them with me at the end of my pregnancy with Lucas
19. For going on the Carribbean cruise with me
20. For being unable to say “Mitsubishi”
21. For being Rotary President and Rotarian of the Year
22. For allowing me to make meals as a little girl from my Mickey Mouse cookbook
23. For coming to me on endless nights when I couldn’t sleep
24. For being there when I got bit by the dog and remaining so calm throughout the entire event

25. For letting go so many thousands of times when you must have wanted to hang on
26. For always believing in me
27. For being an amazing grandmother
28. For having squirt gun fights with the boys
29. For making manicotti and pot roast on request
30. For endless hours spent in my school classrooms going through spelling tests and helping out whenever necessary
31. For my beautiful, unforgettable wedding

32. For teaching me how to shave my legs
33. For making my first period not so embarrassing
34. For attending every band concert and allowing me to play the instrument of my choice (I don’t think I’ve ever actually paid you back for it)
35. For the amazing trips to Disney World, both when I was a child and when I had children of my own
36. For beautiful Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas memories
37. For your creative spirit
38. For laughter and your sense of humour
39. For showing me the beauty of a marriage
40. For introducing me to faith and God

41. For sharing stories of your family and your childhood
42. For never saying a word as I move around the world
43. For never letting me doubt, even for a moment, how much I am loved
44. For your “Have a great day, Honey” day after day all the way through high school, spoken through a rolled-down window every single morning as I slammed the door
45. For your tears after you dropped me off at GWU
46. For taking the time to teach me how to knit, cross-stich and crochet
47. For trusting me, especially when I was a teenager
48. For choosing dad as your lifelong partner
49. For loving Steen as if he was your own son
50. For sewing endless clothes for me, and in particular, my senior prom dress and my 8th grade graduation dress.

Out of the blue 2

2010-10-14T08:58:00.005+02:00

Some more phone photos for your rainy-day enjoyment.

This first one has to be one of my favorites. My dad, boating enthusiast that he is, has a tendency to buy one really big sailboat model every time he and mom are visiting us here in Sweden. Amazingly, the two of them have managed to get every one of them home, safe and sound.

However, Nicholas found the master of all sailboats. It's gi-normous! I mean, look, the boy's head barely goes past the bottom of the sail....

Want it, dad?

Nick at the playground -- the first time he dared to try the swirly slide (with assistance, just in case). This must be taken the same day, as he's wearing the same clothes... Or maybe that's just his uniform.

Lucas's last day of third grade. Here is with his pals Zaq and Alfred receiving their award for winning the invention competition, which was hosted by the Swedish Technical University.

And here we have the crazy, but lovable, inventor himself at our traditional last-day-of-school lunch. I can already see signs of the wacky inventor shown again and again in the movies... Ever see Back to the Future?

An afternoon of dad-boys time, building Warhammer.

Matthew's in on the Warhammer fun...

Out of the blue

2010-10-12T11:24:00.005+02:00

I'm one of those people who is always using her phone to take pictures when a camera isn't handy.... you know those situations where you think "If only I could catch this moment on film" and your next thought is "Hey! I can! With my phone!".

Thing is, I never use those photos for much except to pass them time while Tina's Taxi Service is waiting to pick up one child or another from an activity. So this week I decided that I'll try to share a few of them with you each day.

Aren't you lucky?

Here's Matthew putting on his I'm-almost-a-teenager face...

In this one, I love the light coming in from above, making Lucas even more handsome than usual.

Here's Nick on the neighbor's trampoline... our neighborhood couldn't have gotten a better form of entertainment!

Nick waiting for his first "real" ride on the bus into the city. He's getting very impatient because the bus fails to arrive at his command...

Nick pushing his buggy home from daycare.

Matt waiting at the starting line for the mini-marathon.

Here's the whole group waiting at the starting line.

A tale of caution

2010-10-04T10:27:00.005+02:00

I have a few words of advice for anyone willing to listen, but first I thought I'd introduce you to Ida, one of Nick's closest buddies since they were both teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy babies. Ida and Nick are a bit competitive, as you can see... a few days ago I was able to catch the two of them in a rock-til-you-drop race. Aren't they just sooo cute?

OK, so today I have three cautionary tales to tell you. The first one begins like this.

Don't sell your old bookshelf until you have a new one in your possession.

You see, before the summer, we ordered a new bookshelf to replace our old, worn Ikea version (yes, the old one took at least 5 days to build and made one husband very, very angry at it back in the day because it just wouldn't build right!). Last weekend, my husband informed me that the new bookshelf was finally ready and that he would pick it up on Sunday.

Being the crazy woman that I am, I put the old bookshelf up for sale on a Swedish site. It was sold and picked up in less than two hours (I am convinced that people are more than willing to pay for pre-built Ikea furniture... it's well worth the investment just to avoid having to build it yourself).

Then, lo and behold, we realized that we couldn't pick up the new bookshelf because the store was closed on Sundays (as you can probably guess, the store is not Ikea).

So we ended up with this sight all over the house:

Nice furnishings, eh?

Anyway, this past weekend we were smarter -- Steen picked up the bookshelf during the week (all 20+ boxes of it) and yesterday he and Nick (!) put it together. Nick had a crazy good time and was, of course, very helpful. So helpful in ways we could have never imagined.

Surprisingly (or not, depending on how you look at it), the bookshelf came together relatively quickly. Steen and Nick had it up in the span of four hours or so.

And here's the final product:

My second cautionary tale is this: if you have dark brown hair with blonde highlights, don't -- I repeat -- don't every try to dye it yourself at home with a box of haircolor marked "medium brown with red highlights". Seriously, don't.... because this is what you'll get:

HAIR

(pink hair)

I am not kidding.

Believe me, I speak out of experience. Then you'll be forced to drop your kids off in the morning at their respective schools/daycare centers with pink hair... and your youngest will cradle your face in his hands and say:

"Mommy, you've got new hair!"

and the middle one will say nothing, until you ask "What do you think of my hair?" and he goes "Mom, it's PINK!" and roll his eyes.

After that lovely experience, you have to head to the store and pick up a box of haircolor marked "dark brown", and what you end up with is midnight-black hair.

Which is better than pink.

And puts you right in line with the Twilight-saga-vampire lookalike trend.

My third, and final, cautionary tale is this: If you meet a little guy who looks like this, beware!!!! He's probably up to no good in a way that will have you crying with laughter.

Rock star

2010-09-25T13:31:00.001+02:00

Just had to share this with you.... I especially love the head-banging, we-will-rock-you movements!

A decade of fun

2010-09-20T08:38:00.009+02:00

A few weeks ago, Lucas reached a major milestone in the life of a child.

He turned 10. Ten! The big One-Oh!

When Matthew was born, Steen and I agreed that when our children turned ten, they could pick where they wanted to go for a weekend getaway. Lucas took full advantage of this opportunity and invited us all to join him for a long weekend at Disneyland Paris.

We had a terrific time celebrating Lucas in the realm of Disney magic. There is truly no other place on earth like a Disney park to make me feel like a child again.

Here are most of my men at the entrance to the park (Nicholas has probably snuck through the front gates and headed for Buzz Lightyear).

We enjoyed a nice meal at the Rainforest Café. It was Nick's first time there... he didn't particularly care for the "thunderstorm" part of the visit, but the presence of elephants made up for it.

Turns out that Nick was afraid of the characters... the "live" ones, that is, who were in our hotel in the morning and wandering about the park.

Despite his fear, however, he was really interested in seeing them (just not up close)... Here he is using a little girl (in front of him) and a wall (to his left) as protection just in case Goofy, who is standing just around the corner, should decide to jump out and get him.

The birthday boy couldn't, of course, have a birthday without a real celebration... and lucky for us, he sleeps like a rock (twice we've been in hotels where the fire alarms have gone off in the middle of the night and he just kept sleeping, so that Steen has carried him down 20+ flights of stairs)....

Anyway, here he is, not yet awake... 10 years old!

What is a party without presents?

One of my biggest concerns about this trip was how Nicholas would do with all of the standing line. In my mind, he was going to do nothing but fidget, jump out of line and run away. But, in actuality, he was probably the best line-waiter of us all... Waiting his turn patiently. Often we had to wait 90 minutes for a single ride. Here he is waiting to get on the rocket ships.

The day of Lucas's birthday, we arranged for lunch with the Disney characters. For Lucas and Matthew, this was great fun, but for Nicholas, it was the stuff of nightmares.

Don't worry. He still waved to all of the characters when he saw them in parades, and ever since we came home, he's been telling us several times a day that he is "Mickey Mouse's baby"!

Mickey himself joined us at the table for the singing of the birthday song.

Lucas enjoying his favorite -- cotton candy.

Nick gets a ride with Lightning McQueen, finally!!!! Such joy for a 2-year old.

The big boys hang out with their buddies from Monsters Inc.

Can you guess who's who????

One last ride on Dumbo on our last day, just before we leave, headed for a day in Paris.

Oh, wait, a ride on the horsies too, mommy!!!!

Lucas had also asked that we visit the Eiffel Tower. He gave up a day at Disney to go see it... He was with me when we came out of the Paris Metro, rounded the corner and there it was, right in front of us. Despite the pouring rain, he gasped and whispered "Oh wow!" under his breath. I know exactly what he means.

Summer fun

2010-09-01T11:15:00.009+02:00

After we left New York, we drove across the country to the place I think of when I refer to going "home" -- Chicago.

Along the way, we spent stopped at my beautiful Aunt Alice and my wonderful Uncle Joe's home. We spent our time with them swimming, talking, eating and laughing -- and riding the Harley! We truly enjoy being with these two very special people and I hope to soon see them in Sweden (hint hint!)!!!

As you can see, Nicholas and Uncle Joe are two men with the same love of life.

All of the boys loved playing with my aunt and uncle's dogs.

As always, our time in Chicago was very special. We visited as much as we could with family and friends. We don't have many pictures because our camera's memory card was full, but here's what I could find.

Matthew at the bowling alley, where we joined mom and dad for a few games (all I can say is thank goodness for bowling bumpers)...

Nick insisted on playing the game on his own. Adults were only allowed to carry the ball to the starting line... Hence, we spent a lot of time waiting - and laughing.

In what was truly a highlight of our vacation, mom and dad took the five of us and grandpa to spend a week in Branson. There, we had a terrific time on the go-carts (well, everyone but Nicholas who had to be off-loaded from Steen's car during the race because he was so upset), at the pool, playing mini-golf on a dinosaur-infested island, playing cards, seeing some shows and getting drenched at Silvery Dollar City. It was an absolutely enjoyable week.

Here are Nicholas and grandma spending some quality time at the pool.

And these are three of my favorite guys hanging out at dinner.

Oh, I forgot to mention the bumper boat wars!

And the train ride through part of the Ozark mountains. This had to be Nicholas's favorite part. He's still playing with his toy trains every day!

Relaxing by the pool...

On our way home, we stopped at the St. Louis Arch. Of course, the sun came out, the skies turned blue and the rain disappeared. Steen, Matt and Nick went up to the top.

Here are the boys on the banks of the Mississippi.

After Branson, we had a few more days in Chicago. We visited the city and, more importantly, we visited grandpa. He treated us like royalty... we had an amazing, mouth-watering meal of pasta, meatballs and sausage. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water.

On our last day in Chicago, my parents held a pool party, complete with beer brats, hot dogs and plenty of fixins. They had bought it at a Rotary auction and it was held at Nancy Redmon's home. She's been a part of my life since I went on exchange 20+ years ago. We were so thrilled to be able to see her again and to take part in this terrific party.

Here are Nancy and a Rotarian cooking up our party food.

My sister-of-the-heart, Kathi, relaxing in the sun.

My beautiful niece, Samantha... maybe she was tired after all the swimming?

My parents, who think of everything, arranged a little surprise during the party... a party within a party! They bought this great cake and balloons, just a teeny bit early, to remind my lovely hubby of how old he's going to be in just a few months. We managed to avoid burning the house down even though we lit all 40 candles. And, of course, we sang - to his great embarassment.

To top off the party, we were served these grilled bananas, which were topped with nutella, nuts and marshmallows. Get out the grill! I'll have to make some of those before the snow comes!

All in all, we had an amazing, unforgettable time in the US this summer. Thank you to everyone who made it so special (in seriously random order) -- mom, Aunt Alice, Aunt Ruth, dad, Tim, Kathi, grandpa, Uncle Joe, Nicole, Samantha, Tony, Tyson, Uncle Mike, Aunt Ruth, Ramona, Nancy and the Schaumburg Rotary Clubs. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

I want to be a part of it...

2010-08-04T21:26:00.006+02:00

Yes, yes. I've been absent fooooooreeeeever. I know..... but you know, I've started my own company and I've been on vacation. Can I use those activities as an excuse?

Even if you say I can't, it doesn't matter, because....

I can't hear you....

Ha-ha. Got you there!!!!!

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I joined some of my most favorite people for a long weekend in New York. New York City, that is. The Big Apple. That weekend was the start of our US vacation and definitely one of the (many) highlights!

Our trip started with the flight from Europe to the US. As you can see, Nicholas is a seasoned traveller. He's got the in-flight activities down pat, earphones and all.

Of course, the weekend we decided to bless New York with our beautiful presence was also one of New York's 100+-degree weekends. In addition, it was also the 4th of July weekend, which meant millions of hot, sweaty people everywhere, all the time. I mean more people than usual in New York. It took us an hour just to walk from east to west across Times Square.

But Grandpa, Nicholas, Matthew, Lucas, Steen and I braved the crowds and the heat. And we had a spectacular time.

Some photos from our great adventure....

On top of the Empire State Building (the kids and I looked for the door to Olympus, but were unsuccessful).

We literally saw the "Big Apple" at Rockefeller Center.

The boys had some quality time with their great-grandpa.

We visited St. Patrick's cathedral. In a particularly touching moment, Lucas asked if he could light a candle and say a prayer.

We caught a show in Central Park (who needs Broadway?).

We visited Little Italy and Chinatown.... (had the best cannoli ever, or at least the best I've had in the past six months....)

Ate many a good meal. This has to be one of my favorite photos from the whole trip.

We played, laughed and shared special moments, like this fussball tournament. I'm sure Grandpa won.

We visited a lady with very big feet.

And we stood in the same halls that at least some of my ancestors passed through when they arrived in the US.

We found some of their names on the Wall of Rememberance.

And we slept when we were tired.

Most of all, we made memories that will last a lifetime.

To my dad

2010-06-20T22:44:00.004+02:00

This world is filled with incredible men. Fathers, of course. Men who would, in the blink of an eye, lay their lives down for their children. No questions asked. No regrets. Men who share their wisdom, their happiness, their days with their children.

I am so lucky because I am married to one, the daughter of another, the granddaughter of two more, the daughter-in-love of another, and sister, niece, in-law or friend to many others of these men. Throughout my life, they have served as inspiration and role models in my life. And, on the lighter side, they have saved me from the perils of many a spider and flat tire, not to mention changed more than a lightbulb or two.

Today, as we celebrate fathers, can it be any more appropriate than to celebrate one of the men to whom, for me, this day is dedicated? He is, of course, my dad.

So I share with you this list that I wrote a few years ago and have since kept hidden on my computer. I have updated it a bit today and I think it's a good time to share it. My dad has never seen it and neither have you. So here you go.

50 reasons I love my dad

1. For early morning fishing trips, filled with long talks and comfortable silences, and even a fish now and then.
2. For those magic words “It’s going to be ok” complemented with a hug. They worked when I was three and they still do.
3. For teaching me the importance of the truth.
4. For showing me that with determination and faith, anything is possible.
5. For bringing me carnation corsages and then escorting me to daddy/daughter dinners.
6. For our dance at my wedding.
7. For teaching me to make decisions on my own, especially when as a parent, it would probably have been easier for you to steer me in one direction or the other.
8. For trusting me to spend a year in Denmark and allowing me to go when I was only 15.
9. For teaching me the importance and beauty of a marriage through the example of your own lifelong partnership with mom.
10. For the gift of life.
11. For beautiful, handmade baby cribs, rocking chairs and wooden chests that will be in our family for generations.
12. For all of your work in Rotary and with the numerous other organizations and foundations.
13. For teaching me the importance of God and faith in my life.
14. For making my dream of a princess wedding come true and walking me down the aisle on that very special day.
15. For coming on a crazy trip to Norway to watch us ski, even when you’ve never skied yourself.
16. For your “soap box” lectures on tape, made and shared with me while I was on exchange.
17. For “Twas the Night before Christmas”, a recording that still moves me to tears.
18. For helping me to laugh when I wanted to cry about the many bad haircuts I’ve had through the years.
19. For sitting through endless swim meets and band concerts, and cheering me on all the way.
20. For post-concert celebrations at the ice cream shop in McHenry.
21. For drive-in movies, with Tim and I in the back seat. Popcorn, blankets and all.
22. For teaching me how to use a computer and sending me with one to college, when such a thing was a rare sight on campus.
23. For serving on the McHenry School Board and bring back the vital house-building program to McHenry high schools.
24. For coming to DC when I broke my leg and helping me to move home.
25. For endless hours of listening to my paranoid concerns over various issues – grades, the children, the future – and always helping me to believe in the best.
26. For sharing the joys of camping with us.
27. For saving me late one scary night from whatever it was that was crawling in my window.
28. For loving Steen as if he is your own son.
29. For telling it to me straight.
30. For supporting us as we move around the world and back again, and never judging us along the way.
31. For numerous trips to be with us in Boston, Denmark and Sweden.
32. For your daily phone calls to grandma (and now, I believe, to grandpa).
33. For sacrificing so much so that I could attend the college of my choice.
34. For offering your shoulder when I broke up with my first boyfriend (and every break-up thereafter).
35. For calling me right away when you can see from an email that I might need some cheering up.
36. For taking us to Yogi Bear’s campground.
37. For missing mom for six weeks while she spent them with me at the end of my pregnancy with Lucas.
38. For being Rotary President and Rotarian of the Year .
39. For letting go so many thousands of times when you must have wanted to hang on.
40. For letting me go to George Washington University, the school of my dreams, where they "wouldn't hold my hand" but would let me grow up, where I would meet so many amazing people and have an experience that would change the rest of my life in the best possible way.
41. For always believing in me.
42. For being an amazing grandfather.
43. For the amazing trips to Disney World, both when I was a child and when I had children of my own.
44. For beautiful Christmas, Easter, birthday, and New Year’s memories.
45. For laughter and your sense of humour.
46. For sharing stories of your family and your childhood.
47. For never letting me doubt, even for a moment, how much I am loved.
48. For being strict, even if, as a child, I felt you were being unfair.
49. For trusting me, especially when I was a teenager.
50. For being my father. I am blessed to be your daughter.

Zapped! But we're back!

2010-06-04T21:49:00.008+02:00

Hi folks,

Almost two weeks ago, a thunderstorm rolled through our area, complete with lightning. You'd think that after growing up as the daughter of a computer specialist who always stressed the importance of unplugging the computers during a thundstrom, I'd know better than to leave our computer plugged in. But did I know better? What do you think?

Our computer was turned off before the storm arrived, but I can hereby testify that just turning off a computer is not enough to protect it when lightning strikes the house or the street outside. In fact, a computer that is still plugged in when such lightning strikes can (will?) be ZAPPED!

ZAP!

And then, guess what? The motherboard is fried. As is the neighbor's TV, another neighbor's cable box, and at least three neighors' satellite dishes (but that wasn't because I didn't unplug them... I'm only responsible for the computer problem).

That's it. My excuse for not writing in the past few weeks.

But you know what? My boys, including this little smiley guy, make it all ok.

In a heartbeat.

Who needs computers when you've got access to this charm?

One thing I really like about Scandinavia is the fact that small circuses still exist and tour the various countries every summer. Recently, one such circus visited a nearby town.

And we visited the circus.

We all had a great time. Nick spent most of the time running in and out of the circus tent, as he wasn't quite comfortable with the darkness inside the tent.

Luke found a bit of his own clownish side to share.

Nick was very brave and insisted on riding the camel during intermission!

But the highlight of the show came in Act 2, when the clowns searched the crowd for a new addition to their act. They pulled Matthew into the ring and asked him to do all kinds of silly tricks with a shiny, red ball. He was a good sport about it, smiling and laughing along with the crowd.

See how talented he is? He can make a basket with the ball using only his belly!

Here I think he's preparing to do a similar trick in which he, most embarassingly, had to make a basket by bouncing the ball off his rear end.

Lucas, ever the supportive, loving younger brother, was literally laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.

For love -- part II

2010-05-18T13:20:00.007+02:00

Do you see these two beautiful people???

They're my parents.

That's a fact that I'm quite proud of. I know I'm a lucky girl to have ended up as their daughter in this wild lottery of life.

Guess what? They're celebrating their 40th anniversary.

That's right.

40.

40 years of love, growth, caring, laughter and happy days... and, I know, 40 years where sometimes the days days just brought tears, loss or sadness, and other days where they were happy the other one was there to lean on when the going was tough.

40 years! Just saying it is amazing to me. I wonder how many couples in my generation will be able to proudly say they're celebrating 40 years of marriage?

My parents have always had fun together, which I think must be one of their secrets. They are always willing to share a smile or a good joke. They still hold hands and kiss. They still say "I love you" before one of them heads off to the store or hangs up the phone.

They think each other's thoughts, finish each other's sentences and their eyes still sparkle when they talk about each other.

They are still, after all of these years, in love.

And loved.

And so, I want to say congratulations, mom and dad!!!! We love you!!!!

For love

2010-05-09T21:22:00.006+02:00

As I sort-of hinted in my latest post, my sister-in-law and one of my closest friends, Susanne, married the love of her life just over a week ago. The event was touching and beautiful.

I love weddings. For me, attending a wedding reminds me of why I said "I do" to my husband nearly 15 years ago. It reminds me what love is all about -- what we strive for in our marriage, what we fight to create and then maintain, what it means to go through all of life's ups and downs together with someone else. What it means to love and be loved.

And to watch this special sister of mine marry her man... well, let's just say that thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes.

Here's the happy couple on Friday evening, saying their farewells for the last time before they will see each other the next afternoon in the church. Already they're beautiful, aren't they?
For me, this was a particularly special event, as Susanne had asked me to be her maid of honor. And I was honored. In particular, I was honored with all the special access I got with Susanne as she prepared for her wedding. We spent Friday evening together, chatting and trying (unsuccessfully, at least for the first few hours) to get her amazing, happy son Lauritz to sleep. He could tell something was up.

Like "Hey mom! You seem excited and a bit nervous! I don't want to leave you alone like that!"

But sleep he did, eventually, and so did we. And then, Saturday morning, the morning of the wedding, I had the honor of helping to take care of this little guy while his mom got ready for one of the biggest days of her life.

This kid will take wrap your heart around his little finger in a heartbeat. Believe me.

I know.

I mean, honestly, your heart must already be melting. Look at how beautiful he is!

Auntie Tina misses you, Lauritz!

One of the first items on the wedding-day checklist, after an amazing breakfast Susanne and I shared looking out over the water and the coastline, was getting Lauritz ready to attend his parents' wedding.

Again, have you ever seen anyone so handsome?

The next few items were, in random order, a visit to the hairdresser, a walk in the rain, makeup application, flower delivery, and talking, talking, talking. So much to talk about!

And then, there was the main event. Getting into the gown. For Susanne, that is. I was just there to straighten out the skirt.

Now, I warn you, my sister-in-law is always beautiful, but she was knock-you-down gorgeous that day. And glowing. How can anyone glow like that?

Here she is before the veil is put into her hair.

We really had to hurry in the end to get Susanne into her dress, because we knew her dad was going to arrive at any minute. We had planned it so she'd have half an hour with her family before we had to head to the church.

When he walked into the room, I saw my father-in-law's reaction to his baby girl, and my eyes filled with happy tears, but it wouldn't be the last time that day.

And then her mom and brother were there too... I think we were teary eyed all around (don't worry, everyone will deny it but me).

Anyway, unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the church. As in many US churches, in a Danish church, it is generally frowned upon to take photos. So you cannot (at least right now) see the beautiful bride walking down the aisle, still glowing, or her dad next to her. Nor can you see the pride on her mom's face.... or the wonder on her husband-to-be's. But it was a gorgeous ceremony. And they both said "I do".

And when they stepped out of the church, what had been a rainy day had suddenly turned into the brightest sunshine. What better sign could there be?

We arrived at the reception to the sight of a beautiful wedding cake...

And my wonderful family of five was seated with Susanne's brother Carsten, and another one of my very best friends, Ulla, and her family. We had a great evening.

My dad always say that the Danes know how to throw a party. He's right, of course.

Dinner at a Danish wedding takes hours. I mean hours. Like 5 hours. But you never notice the time, because it's filled with incredible food, amazing wines, great entertainment, and speeches and songs presented by the loving couple's family and friends.

And this wedding was no exception.

Here are my two beautiful older boys posing for the camera. Yes, I forced them to wear ties. But, oh, aren't they steal-your-heart handsome?

And here I am with our littlest one. He had to wear a tie too, but by this time, it's gone missing.

As the couple who not only threw the party, but who were also the center of attention, Susanne and Jesper were lucky enough to get to listen to a number of speeches in their honor. This is taken while they're listening to one of them.

Another great tradition is the extension of what we've got in the States. You know when you tap your knife on a glass and the wedded couple has to kiss? Well, the Danes have extended that tradition as follows: if you want the couple to kiss while seated, you tap your plates. If you want them to stand on their chairs and kiss, you tap your glass. If you want them to kiss under the table, you stomp your feet.

This crowd thought the last option was particularly funny.

Susanne's parents gave a heart-warming speech filled with humor, good advice and a fairy tale. After all, what wedding would be complete without a fairy tale?

And the groom gave a speech to his beloved bride. He brought a box of tissues to share. That gives you some idea of the beauty of his words.

As I mentioned, Susanne's brother from down under came in for the wedding too. We had a great time reconnecting with him and sharing some great laughs (but Michelle, Emma and Annabelle -- it wasn't complete without you!)! He gave a speech too.

Susanne gave a speech too, as did Steen. And I. And then Lucas abducted my camera. Therefore, all of the photos from the dancing until 4 a.m. are a bit foggy... Kind of artistic, actually, but I didn't know whether I should share them.

It was a beautiful day and a memorable night.

And you know how this story ends, don't you????

They rode into the sunset and lived

happily ever after.

Time for a celebration

2010-04-28T09:59:00.005+02:00

On Saturday, at long last, this beautiful woman, one of my sisters-of-the-heart...

whom I have known since she was 8...

the mother of my beautiful nephew...

the godmother of my middle miracle...

will join her life together with this amazing man, her chosen one...

the father of my beautiful nephew...

I look forward to celebrating with them -- celebrating love, life, happiness and all the hope that the future has to offer! And I look forward to officially welcoming my new brother-in-law to our big, rowdy family.

Losing those we love

2010-03-22T08:56:00.009+01:00

On Saturday, my Uncle Jim lost his six-year battle with Alzheimers. He was 61.

I don't know what to say or how to say it. So instead I wrote him a letter to say some of the many things I should probably have said long ago.

******************************

Dearest Uncle Jim,

What is there to say when my mind and heart are filled with the knowledge that you have completed your journey here on earth? When I know what a struggle the past six years have been for you and your family following the Alzheimer's diagnosis? What can I say but thank you and I love you.

Thank you for every holiday we ever spent together -- the many Christmases with presents piled high all around, the Easters where as one huge family we shared grandma's lamb with mint jelly, the Thanksgiving celebrations, the weddings, the pool parties. Thank you for every smile, every bit of laughter we shared, and for all your support over the years.

Thank you for being my godfather and for watching over me as I grew up, and for taking the podium to read of God's love for us at our wedding.

Thank you for allowing me to celebrate Thanksgiving with you, Auntie Ro, Nicole and Jeff when you all still lived in NJ and I was in college.

Thank you for being the amazing role model you were. Hard-working, dedicated and incredibly intelligent. You taught me more than you ever knew.

Thank you for bringing my two wonderful cousins into the world, for fathering them with love and for giving us the chance to grow up in a tightly-knit group of 5 cousines. And thank you for bringing Auntie Ro into our family before I was even born -- we are blessed to have her. And thank you for being there for my mom, your sister, over the years, and your three brothers too.

Your presence in this world was a blessing. We shall miss you. We love you.

love,

Your niece Tina

The eternal question

2010-03-18T09:47:00.002+01:00

Lucas yesterday on the bus on the way home from school: Mom, if God made us, why do we fart?

Me (trying not to laugh): I think God likes a joke once in a while, honey.

Lucas: Maybe, but then why do we poo? That's not funny at all!

How to melt a mother's heart

2010-03-11T22:11:00.007+01:00

Every so often, when you least expect it, something happens that reminds you exactly why you love to be alive.

And why you love to be a mom.

The other day (pre-ski vacation), when I went to wake my little boy, I had exactly such an experience.

I was met by this sight on his door -- focus on the piece of paper hanging on the bottom, under the photo...

It's not usually there.

If, due to the inability of my camera to take close-ups, you can't read it, here's what it says (exactly what it says... no editing here):

To Momy

Your the best mom

I can ever whish for and

you let my get good food

and you and dad make a

perfect life for me. Love Lucas

Conquering the mountain

2010-03-11T09:10:00.015+01:00

We are, as you might know, a family that enjoys adventure. We spend as much time as we possibly can exploring the world.

In keeping with this adventure-seeking theme, last week the five of us hopped in the car (after a 12-hour session of packing, mind you -- it takes a lot to get a family of 5 on the road) and drove eight hours to Trysil, which is the largest ski area in Norway, at least according to the website.

We were thrilled that my parents decided to join us, taking off on their own adventure to Oslo and then travelling by bus through the mountains of Norway. Once they arrived at our hotel, we spent 7 wonderful, laughter-filled days together, relaxing, skiing, swimming, snowboarding and eating.

Unfortunately, I have very few pictures of the actual skiing part of the trip. I'll post some soon when I get them from dad. But here you get one of Lucas leading his group in the ski show.

Before we left, our every-so fashion concious Nicholas decided to help us pack. And yes, he put this outfit on himself.

On arrival at a ski resort, you have to rent equipment for those who do not already have it. In this case, Nick needed a pair of ski boots. He couldn't wait to wear them! I'm sure that the lucky family who had the room under ours was thrilled by Nick's daily wanderings in his clunky ski boots on the wooden floor.

The hotel lobby was beautiful and I think my dad enjoyed all of the woodworked furniture. As you can see, the boys know how to relax.

Nicholas, on the other hand, knew exactly where he preferred to be in the hotel -- the ball room. During nearly every meal, he'd push his plate away when he was full and announce "balls!" (no funny comments here, please). Then he'd pick his victim -- the person he expected to take him to the ball room. Sometimes it was Matthew or Lucas, but most often he'd turn his charm and his innocent, pleading, puppy-dog eyes on his Grandma. After that, it was all over, and they'd go traipsing down the hall together to play in the ball room.

We enjoyed some fun meals, including a "raclette" night...

And a fondue night.

The fondue night was held at a restaurant halfway up the mountain. The idea is that you take the last lift of the day up the mountain, ski down to the restaurant for dinner and then, after eating your fill, ski back down to the bottom of the run.

However, as we had two non-skiiers with us, we had to take another, definitely more interesting, route. We rode in a tank-like military vehicle...

...to the restaurant, which was called Knettsetra. The tank was crowded and noisy, but fun. Mom, especially, was having a great time!

Regardless, in my opinion, that was the best meal of the trip.

The boys also enjoyed the pool -- here Nick and Steen are all set to head down there.

And we enjoyed a round of bowling (notice that Nicholas only has 1 pin left in the first picture!).

And we had an early birthday celebration for my amazing dad.

We all had a terrific time. For me, there is nothing better than a vacation with the people I love.

Bonus shots of our oh-so-handsome Lucas and a photo I love of Nick and mom

Perfection

2010-02-18T13:52:00.007+01:00

This little guy has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve.

In his world, these guys are at his service.

And when he doesn't get what he wants, he let's them know. Loudly. And often with a swift kick.

When he's not bossing his older-brother-servants around, the little guy is seeking perfection.

Even on the farm.... (please notice that the cows are accurately placed together on the roof, enjoying the breeze from the windmill)

I swear I did not teach him to do this. If you know our family, you'll know that he gets this from his dad.

Every day, another type of item is selected for the perfect lineup. He picks them, not me. No way. I stay far, far away. Except when I have to respond to "Look, Mommy!" after every piece is perfectly lined up.

I wonder why the helicopter was honored with a placement in that line-up?

Even the lids for the markers aren't safe.

But once in a while, in his pursuit of perfect, my little boy realizes that sometimes chaos is all you get. And I hope he knows that I think he's perfect just the way he is. No expert placement of Lego people will ever change that.

Too much of a good thing, and a war wound too

2010-01-29T09:48:00.006+01:00

When it starts getting dark round the clock here, like in November, I keep telling myself "If only it would snow, everything would be so much lighter".

This year, though, I think the snow fairies have gone a bit overboard. We've had snow for months... and on Wednesday it started snowing again.

I shovelled the driveway Wednesday night before I went to bed.

And in the morning, there was another foot out there! Soon our mailbox will disappear!

Not to mention that the roads in the neighborhood hadn't been cleaned, so the kids and I "snow surfed" in our car to get out to the main road.

On another note, little Nick fell on the ice at daycare the other day and got a pretty impressive gash in the skin just below his eye. There's nothing worse than a phone call from your child's teacher that starts like this: "You have to come and pick your child up and take him to the hospital".

Which I did.

And they glued his little face back together. He was a brave little guy through it all. But he was tired and cranky when we got home.

I'm thankful it wasn't anything worse -- his eye, his teeth, his brain. And Nick is now thankful on a daily basis to tell everyone he meets "I fall! Boom! Ouch!" and point to his band-aid of the day. Today it's Winnie the Pooh. (See, he's wearing the t-shirt his grandma and grandpa gave him... he colors it himself every time he's going to wear it... the ink ran this time though from all his crying....)

And then there was....

2010-01-20T21:57:00.008+01:00

Thanksgiving in Chicago... the home of my childhood and the place I refer to when I ask other Americans around me "When are you going back home?"

And, much to your astonishment, I'm sure, I spent those days in Chicago without the kids and without my loving hubby.

I can tell you that it was beautiful, relaxing, happy (not that my time at home in Sweden isn't)....

And I was thankful.

For the prep work and the life in mom's kitchen. Why is there no place on earth like your mom's kitchen at Thanksgiving?

For the chance to share that special holiday with my amazing parents

and my wonderful brother who can always make me smile

and my loving sister-in-law

and my adorable nephew

and my bubbly, beautiful niece.

And grandpa. Do you realize how much I adore and respect grandpa? He's my hero. I'll need to write a whole blog on that topic alone.

Need I mention the food? Two months later and my mouth is still watering.

And today, after watching the news on what's going on in Haiti and hearing about Jamie, a Peace Corps volunteer who is a best friend of a colleague and has been in a terrible car accident while serving those less fortunate... today, I am so thankful, still, for all of the amazing blessings that fill my life.

The beauty of thanks

2009-11-22T15:13:00.004+01:00

A few photos from our Thanksgiving celebration... 11 adults, 5 children -- 16 beautiful people in one home, sharing a meal and laughter.

The table... and the first day of sunshine in weeks!

Steen's mom joined us.

Along with Steve, Rob, Kristin and Eva...

And Jen and Camille...

And Will...

And Nick's good friend Bea...

And we ate and talked, laughed and chatted... and ate... and ate! Don't even get me started about the amazing sweet potatoes, the incredible cranberry sauce, or the pies! The pies! And pears with some kind of melt-in-your mouth sauce. No no... don't get me started!

And then we sent the guys off to the kitchen. They did a great job of cleaning up (here you see Steen, Martin, Steve and Klas)!

It was very special to celebrate this special holiday with all of these people who I am thankful to call my friends!!!!

Thankful

2009-11-20T15:03:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow our home will (hopefully!) fill with the conversation, laughter and smiles of many of my American and Swedish friends as we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving.

[If you're wondering "Why tomorrow?" The quick answer: because this is Sweden, and Thanksgiving day is not a holiday.]

So, nearly every day I drop Lucas at school and then walk 30 minutes from Lucas's school to work, and then after work I reverse the trip to pick him up. I relish those walks and usually use them to plan out my day, make lists in my head (I'm a notorious list maker), or listen to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on my iPod, laughing loudly to myself the whole way down the street. Rarely do I use those trips for one too-easily forgotten purpose -- to relax. To let go of my job, my responsibilities at home and everything else that finds itself running around in my brain and just let my mind wander.

But I did it on Tuesday. No iPod. No list making.

I started, instead, to think about Thanksgiving tomorrow.... and not about the shopping that needed to be done for it or how we should fit 16 people into our modest home for a meal.

But about "thanks" and "giving".

And at the risk of sounding all sappy, I thought of how incredibly lucky I am.... so unbelievably, fate-testing, lucky. And how inexpressably thankful I am for so many things.

Sometimes, when we're discussing a sad story in the news or someone's struggle, my dad says some version of "There, but for the grace of God, go I". And isn't he right? My life could be so many things... it could be filled with sadness, despair, frustration, illness, poverty, hunger, struggle, war.

But it is not.

I have a beautiful, healthy family. And I'm not just talking about my four guys at home, but also about my parents, my brother and his family, grandpa, all of my inlaws, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews... I'm also talking about the hundreds of people I can count as "relations". And my good friends, the ones I can call on a day when I just need a smile. The ones who drop a line just to say hello.

And my amazing education, without which who knows where I'd be. My skills. My life. The smiles I can share with others every day. I'm thankful for rainy days and happy. And so much more.

And as I walked, my heart swelled with happiness.

There is so much to be thankful for.

And then I picked up Lucas and we headed home. When we got there, he took off his shoes and hat. And I was thankful for this.

Sun, sun, sun

2009-11-03T09:44:00.021+01:00

Our boys can now testify that it takes three plane rides to get from Sweden to one of the many paradises on earth -- Langkawi, Malaysia. And, yes, it takes another three to get home again.

One of these plane trips lasts 13 hours. Nicholas was fine with it in the beginning, but after about 8 hours, he'd had enough (as I'm sure anyone who was on the plane with us that day will tell you.)

But, after hours and hours of flying, we ended up here.

And it was all ok.

We spent most of our time (i.e. three hours a day) at the pool. Nicholas fell in love with swimming -- jumping into the pool without fear (even missing the pool completely and landing flat on his behind on the edge) and, in the end, dunking himself under the water and coming up all smiles.

The bigger boys, of course, loved playing in any of the hotel's five pools too. The challenge was to keep track of them.

When the pool wasn't good enough, there was always snorkelling....

We spent an afternoon sailing through a mangrove forest, where the trees grow by the thousands right in the water - their roots entangled in one-another in a vast network that absorbs the tides like a sponge.

A few monkeys joined us as we sailed.

And we also had a chance to feed the fish at one of the many local fisheries (yes, that crab Lucas is holding is ALIVE!)...

We visited a wildlife park and bird sanctuary, where the boys had a rare opportunity to interact one-on-one with the animals.

We enjoyed great Malaysian, Indian and Thai food, of course.

And basically just enjoyed a week of getting to know each other again -- laughing, telling stories and relaxing. An unforgetable time!

Wow, aren't my guys handsome????

And to top it all off, we had sunsets like this.

Bonus photo -- a bit of Malaysian humor.

Light!

2009-09-25T14:04:00.004+02:00

I don't like the darkness that characterizes Sweden in the fall, winter and early spring...

I don't like losing around 12 minutes of daylight per day between June 22 and December 21.

And I really don't like getting up when it is dark, going home when it is dark, buying groceries in the dark...

Cuz it's really dark here in the winter.... like really dark... like in December, it hardly gets past twilight, even at high noon.

But today, while I was getting ready for work, the sun burst onto the horizon. The picture doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyway. It made me forget, for a moment, how I dread the oncoming winter.

A dance and a lecture

2009-09-11T14:45:00.004+02:00

Nicholas has always been a dancer, but I thought his newest addition to his repertoire deserved sharing.

Also, he's talking like a waterfall... I know that waterfalls don't talk, but you get the point. The only problem is that this language is one we haven't yet learned (i.e. it's not German, French, Danish, Swedish, Spanish or English, as far as we can tell). Still, I think it's amazingly cute, but I am a bit biased. Listen up!

Conversation with an evolution theorist

2009-09-10T14:15:00.002+02:00

The experts say that today's children are those who will develop ground-breaking, currently unimaginable technologies and save our world in the future. They will grow up to become the new Einsteins, Gates and Friedmans. They will be respected for their findings, their research, their academic ingenuity.

I'm proud to say that I have give birth to three of these amazing creatures.

One of them, the middle one, is currently showing signs of becoming a scientist... the kind of scientist who will shake the very grounds of the scientific system.

Here is a recap of our conversation this morning over a breakfast of oatmeal and brown sugar. Please note that I was not yet fully awake, so, as you'll see, I wasn't very quick on the uptake. If you are wondering, the "we" in the following story refers to the human race.

Lucas: "Mom, what were we when we were dinosaurs?"

Me: "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Lucas: "I said, what were we when we were dinosaurs?"

Me: "I'm sorry, honey. I don't really know what you mean."

Lucas: "Well, as you know, we were once tiny fish in the sea. Fish that could feel any -- I mean any -- movement in the water! Isn't that cool?! Like, we could feel a movement hundreds of miles away. That's how sensitive we were!"

Me: "We were?"

Lucas (rolling his eyes): "Of course! But what I want to know is -- what we were when we were dinosaurs!"

Me (I'm slowly catching on....): "Hmmm. I don't know. We'll have to look it up."

Lucas: "Well, I know one thing. There is NO WAY we could have moved from being monkeys to being humans if we weren't also dinosaurs way back then. We must have been some mad cool dinosaurs."

And he returned to eating his meal.

I'll have to look it up. Any ideas?

Romance in Edinburgh

2009-09-07T15:42:00.005+02:00

Steen and I spent this weekend alone in Edinburgh. We left the three children in the safe, happy care of Steen's parents, boarded a plane and whisked ourselves away.

It was lovely...

Filled with scones and high tea...
with champagne...
laughter and long walks down cobblestone streets laden with history. Of course, we must not forget the whiskey...

Unfortunately, we forgot our camera. So these are our phone-based photos of our weekend.

This boy can move mountains

2009-08-31T13:56:00.010+02:00

In July, Matthew, Steen and Steen's dad spent a "guy week" way up north.

I mean way up north. As in north where you could see the Northern Lights -- if it were dark.

But it wasn't dark. Because it's the land of the midnight sun. As in sun 24-hours a day. While they were there, at least.

This is far enough north for one to run into Sami reindeer herders and a herd of reindeer. I'm not kidding!

These men decided they wanted to spend their "guy week" trekking in the mountains of northern Sweden, as in "in the middle of nowhere". They flew to Kiruna...

...took an hour-long bus ride, got of the bus, and then had to walk 19 km, with their backpacks, to the mountain station where they stayed for the five days.

19 km.

On day 1.

Can you see why I didn't go on this trip?

While they were there, they spent their days hiking, talking, sleeping well, and generally enjoying the time together.

And on one day, Matthew and Steen decided to climb up Sweden's highest mountain. It's called Kebnekaise. The mountain is 2,104 meters high. It is covered with snow year-round at the top. It's a 12-km trip to the top (which requires the hiker to cover 12 km on his way back down, of course).

24 km in one day.

And my 11-year old climbed it. Here he is, standing just below the peak he has triumphed over. Doesn't he look terrific standing there with his dad?

On the way back, the men decided to take a helicopter. Here's the co-pilot.

My second-youngest nears a decade

2009-08-22T10:49:00.010+02:00

Nine years ago, my mom -- one of my very best friends and probably the one woman in the world who knows me best -- flew to Denmark. On her own. To be with me. Well, not just me, but with me, Matthew and Steen. But mostly with me... me and my bulging belly.

For five weeks, we hung around our little house... eating lunch at the local Chinese restaurant, taking Matthew to an amusement park, shopping, and talking, talking talking. And she cleaned my house from top to bottom.

And we were waiting, waiting, waiting. Ten days past the date my husband and I were "supposed" to welcome our new little boy into the world.

But when the day finally came, it was such a special day. Birth days are always amazing.

One summer day, late in August, my little Lucas landed safely in the world. And ever since, he has brought me happiness with his gentle, thoughtful ways. Lucas is a child who considers things, considers people.

Here he is meeting his big brother Matthew for the first time -- Lucas is only a few hours old.

He will watch someone new in his circle of life for days before saying a word to them... Watching to find out whether they are worthy of his time and effort. He choses his friends wisely, using an intricate system of morals that he understands completely. If you don't live up to his code of ethics, you can basically forget it. He has always done this. Even as a baby, if he would deem you fit to receive a smile, you were blessed. The only person in his life who could continually make him laugh when he was little was Matthew. If Matthew walked into the room and just smiled at his little brother, they'd immediately share a special moment.

Brotherly bonds. Something a mother doesn't share...

But I do get to share Friday evenings with him on the couch watching cartoons, and good morning hugs, and the notes he writes to me in the mirror after his 20-minute shower ("I luv u").

I do get to see what an amazing big brother he is to Nicholas...

...and how he enjoys hanging around with his cousins (here he is with one of them).

I do get to share in his passion for cooking, and in discussions vegetarianism, the morning traffic jams and the American electoral process.

And I get to love him... I love his enthusiasm for life, his love for Beast Quest books, his shy smile, and his absent-minded way of crossing the street. "Well, the car stopped, mom. I can't see the problem!"

And now we've celebrated the beginning of his 10th year. Love you, Lucas!

Then (with his grandma)

Now

Me bad

2009-08-10T09:55:00.006+02:00

Yet another massive gap in my blogging activity...

I've been back at work for a week after three terrific weeks of vacation. So many thing to tell, so little time.

We'll start off slowly. Steen and Matt were off climbing mountains during the first week of my vacation (literally -- photos to follow).

Luke and Nick used the time for some brotherly bonding at the local indoor playland. Luke is such an amazing, patient big brother -- he spent many minutes following behind Nick just to make sure he didn't topple off of anything.

We also went to Skansen, an outdoor museum that has old Swedish buildings (and I mean pre-U.S. history old) and a variety of live (not so old) Swedish animals. Nick was fascinated by the animals -- he'd stand by the fences calling to them. "Hi!" he'd yell and hold his hand out. He never quite understood why they didn't automatically come over to him.

Bonus shot: Nick at the beach with his dad -- for some reason, it looks like it's -20 degrees!

Summer fun

2009-07-09T17:57:00.014+02:00

So much has been happening since the kids started their summer break and I haven't really had time to keep you up-to-date on everything. So here's a quick run-through.

This past weekend was the 4th of July. Even though we are in Sweden, we are lucky enough to be invited to a big 4th of July bash hosted every year by an American friend of ours in the neighborhood... This year was no different.

On that one day, the neighbors accept the flying of American flags (and many of them fly them themselves, even though they're not Americans). It's almost like being home. Almost.

And the entire neighborhood turns out for a true American BBQ, complete with burgers, hot dogs, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

All the while, we are entertained by a great band that plays the songs I grew up with, danced to at prom, and sing loudly along with when I'm alone in the car (come on, you do it too! admit it!).

This summer Nick had his first "real" beach day with his dad, after which Steen informed me that Nicholas refuses to go in the water, but he loves to dig holes on the beach.

A few days later, I took him to the beach myself. I guess he didn't get the memo from his dad, though, because the second we stepped on the beach, he set off at top speed for the water, with me running after him. He ran for the water like his life depended on it and, a few seconds later, he was standing in it up to his thighs... which means (if you're following closely), his shoes and shorts were submerged.

He turned to face me with the biggest smile on his face, a smile filled with wonder and happiness. All I could do was laugh. He started laughing too, and in the end I was laughing so hard there wear tears running down my face. (in this photo, I've managed to get his shoes and shorts off)

The innocence and beauty on this face makes my heart soar.

The summer started off with a bang. On the last day of school Matthew graduated from fifth grade.

And he was all smiles, despite the pouring rain. There are no caps and gowns to mark his transformation to a new school and a new chapter in his life. Just a rose, which each graduating fifth-grader is given by a kindergartner. He has waited many years for this rose.

Nothing could ruin that day for him. What an accomplishment.

To graduate after four years in a Swedish school, a school where on his first day he could not communicate with half the students in his grade, a school where he's struggled to make friends and find happiness....

To be a fifth-grade graduate who reads on a high school senior level and can handle basic algebra problems, and who can say that he spent 1-3 days every week for the past year standing in pouring rain, blizzard snows and baking sunshine to serve as a school crossing guard...

To have completed numerous massive projects in his years there, including building his own windmill, giving a ten-minute presentation on George Washington, writing a 30-page report on giant squid, and representing Ralph Nader in the school election (talk about a tough job!)...

He was proud.

He deserves to be.

We celebrated at the boys' favorite restaurant, where they get all-you-can eat soft-serve ice cream with all the toppins.

Congratulations Matthew.

I must also mention that on the same day, Lucas finished second grade. Yet another terrific reason to celebrate! Here he is getting his report card from his teacher... one of the most amazing teachers I've met here.

I mean... look at this photo of the whiteboard in his classroom! That number is the number of books his class (with just over 20 kids) read in second grade. And if you notice, by January 3 (3/1/09 in the Swedish numbering system), the class had only read 67. Getting kind of dedication from a bunch of 8-9 year olds requires a teacher that can inspire and a teacher that cares.

My little monkey

2009-07-06T11:44:00.005+02:00

Basically since he was born, Lucas has shown no fear of heights.

None.

Nada.

I can't tell you how many times I had to catch him as he crawled off the edge of the sofa when he was his baby, dangling by his leg and laughing in my arms.

Or how many times I've found him sitting like a huge bird at the very top of the tallest tree for miles around. Smiling.

Maybe he was an eagle in a previous life?

Anyway, his newest thing is to jump from these perilous heights... Here is where I found him when I went to pick him up from his summer program the other day... You can't really tell from this shot, but he's at least two meters up in the tree.

And here is how he got down (sorry, the video is sideways... so much for my being able to handle these high-tech phones).

Notice the smile after the jump.

Bonus shot: Nicholas celebrating the Fourth of July by stuffing his face -- happily!

In loving memory

2009-06-25T19:28:00.008+02:00

To the woman who brought three beautiful baby girls into this world and raised them to believe in themselves as strong, good-hearted women

To the woman who loved my husband -- her grandson -- and all of her grandchildren with all her heart

To the woman who flew thousands of miles across the Atlantic to dance at our wedding with a laugh and a smile in her beautiful blue dress

To the woman who held her great-grandchildren close and shared gentle smiles of understanding with them, and who filled their drawers with handmade sweaters and socks

To the woman who always impressed me with her honesty and her ability to tell it like it was, but never with an ounce of criticism in her voice

To the woman who shared stories of her life with those of us who were lucky enough to be around her

To the woman who fourteen years ago accepted me, a stranger, into her family as if I'd never been outside of it

You may have left this world, but you will never leave our hearts.

Mormor, we miss you so much.

How is this possible?

2009-06-24T10:06:00.007+02:00

I have not often used this forum as a soapbox for my political or social views, but yesterday I saw something that I feel I have to share.

If you know me well, you know that my first passion is humanitarian work. I have always been a firm believer in the idea that I am where I am -- blessed with an amazing life, food on the table every day, a healthy family -- only through the luck of birth. That luck, in my view, requires that I give something back.

Pay it forward.

Or pay it back.

Whatever you want to call it.

Danish TV is currently running a series of documentary films, many of which I have seen, many of which are meant to make the viewer think, feel, cry or laugh.

Last night's the station showed Darwin's Nightmare, a film about how the previously thriving economy of the region around Lake Victoria in Africa was ruined by the introduction of Nile Perch into the lake.

The perch fillets are in high demand in Europe, which has led to a somewhat suspect industry involving Russian cargo planes, accusations of arms smuggling, and thousands of local children who melt the fish packaging to turn it into glue they can sniff. Daily. Not to mention the wars that plague the area, which are not necessarily related to the fish.

Try to get your head around this:

"In the Eastern Congo alone, the casualties of war on each single day equal the number of deaths on September 11th in New York." (Darwin's Nightmare website)

An African journalist covering the story stated that half of Tanzania's 14 million citizens must live on less than $1 per day.

One dollar.

7.85 Swedish kroner.

5.27 Danish kroner.

That's an income per person of $365 per year.

Have you ever had to survive for any extended period of time on less than one dollar per day?

I know that journalists can spin a story to get a certain, pre-determined message across. Still, the images in that film of how this particular part of humanity live were shocking, frightening and depressing.

See the film (for info on the movie, click here)!

The next generation

2009-06-22T10:17:00.003+02:00

Now that school's out for the summer, Lucas and I are alone on the bus in the morning. He goes to a summer-fun program at his school and I go to work. We often have enlightening (read: mind-boggling) conversations that leave me laughing and bubbly with the wonder of children.

Today's gem was this:

Lucas: Mom, do you know what I'm going to name my first child?

Me: No....

Lucas: Gohan!

Me: Oooooh, ok. (In my defense, I really tried not to roll my eyes!!!!)

Lucas: And do you know what Matthew is going to name his kid?

Me (now a bit apprehensive...): Nope.

Lucas: Trunk!

Me: Like "T-R-U-N-K" trunk?

Lucas (thinks about it a bit...): Yep!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is your first introduction to children of the future.

Moving out?

2009-06-18T10:13:00.009+02:00

Although he's still obsessed with shoes (an obsession fuelled by a pair of new, cool orange sandals), Nicholas has found himself a new liking -- a suitcase. With Winnie The Pooh. And wheels on the bottom. That he got from his Bedstefar and Bedstemor last weekend.

He takes it with him everywhere, but what worries me most is when he comes in the house, grabs it, and heads up the street with it rolling along behind him. Like this:

"Nicholas!!!!!", I call.

He turns, looks at me, laughs and even waves...

and then keeps on going.

You had to be there

2009-06-17T10:00:00.012+02:00

I'm a fan of family traditions.

Anyone who has married, fallen in love or had children knows that such events give the opportunity to create new traditions as well as carry on old, cherished ones. For example, tomorrow we will celebrate a relatively new tradition in our little family -- the Swedish midsummer celebration... we'll dance around a flowery pole, eat new potatoes and herring, and party! We did it last year and we'll do it again . Thanks Eva and Steven in advance for what I'm sure will be a great time!

Our latest "refurbished" tradition is the annual gathering of the Pedersen clan, which used to happen once a year at a safari park in Denmark (sorry, no time right now to answer your questions about why there is a safari park in Denmark...), but this year was re-launched at Bedstemor and Bedstefar's cabin in southern Sweden.

We joined countless numbers of Pedersens, Andersens, Jensens (and one Poulsen... or maybe I should say two since Susanne has a growing belly care of Mr. Poulsen -- congratulations!!) for two days of fun. And as the title says, you just had to be there.

Planned events included the summer edition of the Vasa ski race -- an interesting little competition that requires teamwork and a whooooole bunch of duct tape... and no, what you see on our feet here is not enough duct tape...

The race had us all laughing so hard we should have been wearing diapers...

Hey guys! You're going the wrong way!

My team's first casualty!

We played toilet-paper-roll binocular soccer (that's "crazy ootball" for those of you who don't hail from the US). Believe me when I tell you that these pictures will present you with the latest in fashionable headwear... and these binoculars keeps the sun out of your eyes!

Notice that there is no sign whatsoever of a soccer ball in any of these photos....

Except this one... but here the ball is behind the players!

The men built a big bonfire, where the kids (and the kid-like adults, including me) roasted marshmallows and ate makeshift s'mores.

We shared memories in the evening, looking through slides of the family that were all taken well before I was even a thought in my in-law's mind.

And the next day we lounged in the sun, chatting and relaxing. (here you can see Susanne's beautiful growing tummy...)

Thank you, svigerfar and svigermor, for a GREAT weekend and a terrific, new tradition!

Today's bonus photo is of my handsome oldest son. I think it's a great shot of him, even though he's angry with me. Isn't he a heartbreaker? How do they get this big so fast?

Another point of view

2009-06-06T14:00:00.003+02:00

Matthew, soon to be a fifth-grade graduate, is an avid reader and writer. One of his last assignments for this school year was to rewrite a children's story from another character's point of view. I was so impressed by his version that I thought I'd share it with you.

GOLDILOCKS -- BABY BEAR’S POINT OF VIEW

One morning, when I woke, I could smell the smell of porridge wafting into my room. I went downstairs and said:

”Porridge. Nam nam” (this was my special language at that time).

Mama Bear (my mother) explained to me:

”Yes. It is porridge for breakfast, but it’s still quite hot. We’ll go for a little walk in the forest, and then come back when the porridge has cooled off”.

And so we did. There were very many interesting objects to see (this was my first time in the forest). The thing I liked the most was a strange structure just outside the forest. It was made of stone and something that looked like super-hard mud. There was even smoke (I’m almost sure it was smoke) coming out of it. Papa Bear (my father) told me this was a house which humans lived in. He also said that humans are the second most intelligent creatures on the planet (of course, we’re the smartest).

When we came to a large clearing in the woods, Mama Bear exclaimed:

”Why don’t we take a power nap? The porridge is probably still too hot for Baby Bear”. Papa Bear agreed and we all settled down to rest.

About twenty minutes later, we woke up and started to walk back to our cave (house) and rest. I was the first one to reach the cave. As I tried the door, it opened with ease. I cried:

”De tor up!” (this meant: the door is open!).

”Oh no. We forgot to lock the door, Papa Bear!” Mama Bear said, the frustration crystal-clear in her voice.

We went inside. When I sat down on my seat, I noticed my porridge bowl was empty.

”Buuuuhaa. Porridge gone!”

”Don’t worry,” said Mama Bear, ”I’ll make you some new porridge”.

I went into the living room to sit and wait on my special bear chair. When I came in I saw my chair was broken into pieces.

”Buhaaaaa. Chair broken!”

My parents came rushing in to see what happened.

Then Papa Bear said:

”Don’t worry. I’ll make you a new one.”

I went up to check the bedroom.

”Papa Bey. Mama Bey!” In they came. ”Sniff, sniff. Girly in bed. Scare!”

Papa Bear replied:

”Alright. I’ll scare her. ROOOAAAR”

She woke up, and screamed. Then she was gone. I still don’t know where she is. But I have this one strand of golden hair…

THE END

Wave

2009-05-29T15:12:00.004+02:00

Spring seems to take over Sweden like a massive, irrepressible wave that sweeps over the country in a week or less. The change seems to happen overnight. Sad, empty trees burst into beautiful balls of light green happiness; the constant darkness of winter is replaced with sunshine burning through the bedroom windows at 4 a.m.; tulips pop out of the ground, lilacs bloom and the grass grows so long we actually have to mow it.

In just about one week.

And now that change is complete. It’s not exactly warm (only around 65 on most days), but the sun is shining and the streets of our neighbourhood are always filled with playing children. For his part, Nicholas comes home from his daycare and refuses to go into the house. He gets out of the car and heads straight for the playground, regardless of whether it’s pouring rain, and despite the fact that he’s often not wearing any shoes (I usually take them off to keep my car seats somewhat clean).

Playground or bust!

The end of school is approaching, which I think has infected Lucas’s brain with an attitude of “who cares”, as in “who cares about cleaning my room, mom? It’s almost summer!” and “who cares about that approaching bus mom? School’s ending soon!”… all this despite the fact that he’s upset that school’s ending and he won’t get much time with his friends for ten weeks.

For Matthew, the end of school will mark the end of one chapter in his life and the start of a new one. In just a few days, he’ll graduate from elementary school, having accomplished so much in the past few years. I’ll enumerate his many amazing achievements… when we get there. I don’t want to think about how my first little boy is quickly growing up.

In the meantime, celebrate life and celebrate each other!

Happy thoughts

2009-05-18T09:22:00.001+02:00

Lucas: Mom, do you know what one of the best presents in the world is?

Me: No, hon. What?

Lucas: Friendship!

And then a few seconds later...

Lucas: And another is birth!

Springy spring spring

2009-05-13T14:10:00.009+02:00

Our days are growing longer (drove home at 10 last night and it was still "dusk"), the trees are a beautiful shade of new green, and we are spending hours and hours outside... it's not too warm (probably around 60 most of the time), but after the long, dark winter, it seriously doesn't matter. Spring makes me happy, so I wanted to share a happy video of Nick and his dad having a grand time.

Nicholas's obsession at the moment is with shoes -- shoes, shoes and more shoes. He is crazy-in-love with his shoes. One pair of shoes in particular are his favorite. He wakes up in the morning, comes downstairs, and the first thing he does is finds his shoes. Here you can see him (later in the day) conniving Lucas into putting them on for him. Isn't Lucas just a great big brother?

If these shoes aren't available, he'll put on any available pair -- which could be his own rain boots, or Steen's flip-flops or my gym shoes. Doesn't matter. Any shoes are better than no shoes, I guess.

In addition to his repetoire of girls' names (Alva and Amanda), Nick has started making animal sounds. He's made it to "dog", as you'll see in this clip. Note that here Matthew is showing off his excellent big-brother skills. He reads for Nicholas nearly every day.

I guess if we decide to own a cow with a girl's name at some point, he'll be able to let us know who he's talking about. Learning how to say other, perhaps more useful, words doesn't interest him... like "food", or "water", or "poopy diaper".... no no, that would be boring, mom!

His other new interest is yoga. Don't ask me where he got this from. Maybe Matt's in on the act?

By the way...

2009-04-22T14:59:00.001+02:00

Dad is another of my best friends, in case anyone is in doubt... More about that later.

A visit from "home"

2009-04-22T13:33:00.008+02:00

Throughout my adult years, I've made many friends and been fortunate enough to keep a few really good ones despite our various trans-Atlantic moves. I can honestly say, though, that one of my best friends is my mom. And I really do think of her as a friend -- someone I want to know about, I care about, I worry about. Someone who knows I am always here for her, anytime, day or night. To talk, to chat, to laugh together, and sometimes to cry together. And I know that she's always there for me, and that she would be even if she wasn't my mom.

Friends take each other's quirks and silly ideas in stride, without judgement. So when I sent mom a quick email a month ago with the following contents...

Hi mom,

Just noticed that there are relatively cheap fares to Stockholm. For example, if you come April 3 and leave a week later, the price is ....

Wanna' come? We'd love to have you (and dad too, of course, if wants to come)!!!

love,

Me

...she didn't think I was totally bonkers. Instead, she booked a ticket, and less than a week later, I picked her up at the airport!

Stockholm was on its best behavior while she was here. Sunny spring arrived -- maybe on the same plane. After unpacking suitcases filled items from with my "I miss American products" wish list, we spent hours talking, wandering the city and just being "friends".

Mom got to spend some quality time with the boys (yes, that's a Swedish book. What can I say? My mom can do amazing things!).

We took her to the National Art Museum, where the boys enjoyed being silly and grandma told them stories about some of the paintings.

Nicholas, in particular, seemed to get to know her better on his own terms. She brought him his first set of crayons, which he doesn't have to share with his brothers, and he got right to work.

And she didn't mind reading the same lift-the-flap book to him over and over and over again.

This photo is from the morning she's heading back home, and you can see he really doesn't want her to leave!

Last, but certainly not least, Mom is an avid knitter and she brought me this stunning scarf. I am so touched and honored that she spent her precious time and energy on making something so beautiful for me.
I love you, mom.

Reasons to be an April fool

2009-04-02T07:51:00.003+02:00

Yesterday morning at breakfast I put on a very serious face, turned to Matthew and Lucas, and annoucned:

"Guys, I have something very serious to talk to you about."

They put down their spoons and looked at me, a bit worried already.

"Dad and I had a long talk last night and we've made a very important decision. We've decided that we're moving to China tomorrow."

The room was immediately filled with shocked questions of "Why?" "What about the house?" "How can I leave all my stuff here?"

And then I smiled at them and said "April Fools!".

They burst out laughing... and then spent the rest of the day telling me silly stories about how they had to spend the day at the principal's office for poor behavior.

Nick had his own sort of silly day yesterday -- in the bathtub.

Long red socks and a set of pigtails

2009-03-31T10:44:00.004+02:00

Today Nicholas's daycare is celebrating the amazing world of Astrid Lindgren. Astrid is probably most well known for her stories about Pippi Longstocking, a little girl with incredible strength and massive amounts of courage who lives on her own in a rickety little house, eating pancakes and playing with her monkey and her friends, Tommy and Annika.

Astrid also wrote hundreds of other stories that we have shared with our kids over the years. Stories about Emil from Lonneberg and Ronja, and a bunch of others I don't even know.

In celebration of the day, Nicholas dressed up as a pirate (Pippi believes her father, who is at sea, is a pirate)....

The cutest little pirate in the world. Ahoy matey!!!

One cool mom

2009-03-30T20:24:00.007+02:00

Steen and I recently spent a weekend in Åre, a ski resort in northern Sweden. In addition to learning a great deal about my husband's amazing company, I got to try my hand at snowmobiling across the moonlike-landscape of northern Sweden.

Needless to say, I'm hooked!

And this has to make me one cool mom!

OK, I'll admit that Steen looks good too....

Nicholas's latest developments are:

1. Singing songs at the top of his lungs. Although they're beautiful, they're still in a language we don't understand.... but he cues us in as to when we should clap by clapping himself, so we are definitely good at fulfilling our audience duties.

2. Pointing at everything and saying "vroom, vroom"... never knew the trees made that sound!

3. Picking up one of his two play mobile phones, after which he yells "hi!" into it, starts to walk across the room, shaking his head and wiggling his but while he jabbers on with his imaginary friends.

4. Putting on his own hat while inside and racing around on his bike. Don't ask me how this got started because I have no idea!

Happy birthday!!!!!

2009-03-19T21:49:00.002+01:00

Happy birthday, dad!!!

I hope you have a terrific day. You don't know how much I wish I could be with you to celebrate today. You're in my thoughts, as you always are. Here's to Rotary, early morning fishing on a smooth-as-glass lake, post-concert ice cream sundaes, Yogi Bear camping and firefly-filled jars on warm summer nights... not to mention millions of other special memories you and I have shared over the years.

And a thousand congratulations are being sent from here to my soon-to-be brother-in-law, Jesper, who has been selected as one of the top 100 young talents in Danish business for 2009.

A happy story for today

2009-03-18T12:23:00.003+01:00

In light of the current trend in international news, which I find dismal and incredibly bleak, I bring you this little ray of sunshine. I have translated it from an article posted in the Danish online news JyllandsPosten, where it was posted on March 17.

"Argentinian systems engineer Andrés Ariasse has undoubtedly taken up a special place in the life of a Barcelona family.

He was walking along Gran de Sant Andreu street in the Catalanian capital when he was nearly hit by a little shoe that fell from above. He looked up and saw a baby that was just about to fall as well.

A few seconds later the baby – who turned two today – fell exactly where Andrés stood.

'No one was around, so I had to handle the situation myself. I took a little hop and put out my arms, after which I half-grabbed and half-broke the fall', Ariasse told the local media, which is now calling him a hero.

The baby hit the asphalt immediately after it was caught, but the force of the fall was reduced enough so that the baby could survive without serious injury, according to the Spanish news agency Efe."

On his own

2009-03-16T14:06:00.002+01:00

My little boy isn't so little anymore.

Recently, Matthew had to meet his class for a field trip at a location that was outside the school. That morning, as we all jumped in the car, Matthew took a deep breath, looked at me from the passenger seat and said:

"Mom, can I go there on my own? It would be so embarassing if you insist on going there to drop me off..." He smiled sheepishly, blushing all the way to his ears, clearly embarassed by his own request.

I smiled, knowing this day had been coming for a long time. My little boy is becoming a young man. I wasn't upset by the request, but rather proud of the person he is turning into.

"Of course, hon. Here are the bus tickets", I said... and then, because I still need to know he's safe, I said "Call me when you get there!"

"Aw, mom", he said... but he did.

Sparkling like a snowflake

2009-03-05T08:41:00.013+01:00

Back from a week's skiing in La Rosiere, France. The conditions were perfect. When we arrived, there was at least three feet of snow in the town and more on the runs. It snowed the first three days and then we had sunshine the rest of the week (you don't think Steen is enjoying it, do you?).

The runs were perfect for most of us, although Steen thought they weren't quite challenging enough. The food was incredible -- after all, it was France! Whether it was a picnic in the snow, chocolate croissants or a gourmet dinner after a great day on the slopes, we enjoyed every culinary experience.
And to top it all off, we could ski into Italy (not very successfully for my sake, but that's another story altogether!)

Although they are already better skiiers than I am, the boys had two hours of ski lessons a day. You can see them waiting in line here with their "class".

We stayed at a beautiful chalet. The first picture below is view from our window on one of the first days -- gives you an idea of how much snow there was.

Matthew and Lucas fulfilled one of their lifelong dreams -- snowboarding. After a single 60 minute lesson, they are now snowboarding experts (at least in their own minds). I was impressed that they could make it up the lift and down the hill again!

I can't stress how breathtakingly beautiful this region of France/Italy is. The massive expanse of white blankets the mountains as far as the eye can see. Made me realize again how tiny we are in comparison to mother nature. If some higher power can create such beauty, then who are we to tinker with it?

Nicholas spent the week being spoiled by his Bedstemor and Bedstefar. I don't think he missed us for a minute! When we picked him up, he didn't want to come near us, but I couldn't blame him. Who would want to be with us after a week of exciting trips to the aquarium, a Festelavn's party, and petting the dog, not to mention a visit to the library and other exciting events?

Since we came home, Nicholas has been working on his creative side. He is now the family comedian, working hard to make everyone laugh.

Running behind...

2009-02-16T14:36:00.009+01:00

...as always!

A few weeks ago, we had a truly enjoyable weekend in southern Sweden with our Danish family -- Steen's parents, Christian, Susanne and Jesper. We celebrated a belated Christmas (compelte with a delicious Christmas meal) and Ole's birthday.

It's always a pleasure to spend time with family, and this was no exception. I, for one, welcome the chance to relax, play some cards, chat and laugh. The boys, of course, loved the presents, but I think they also enjoyed the chance to play with Friday (the dog) and hang out with other Danes.

Here are some photos from the weekend.... I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post them!

Nothing but a bunch of doo-doo

2009-02-04T12:21:00.002+01:00

WARNING! If you are squeamish or if you, by chance, want to have children of your own in the future, you may not want to read this post.

As Steen was out of town, this was to be my first morning doing everything on my own. Getting three kids up, feeding them breakfast, getting them ready, and taking them to their respective daycare/school and then getting myself (also fully dressed and full of breakfast) to work by 8:30.

The idea of doing this on my own has stressed me for weeks. For the unitiated, it may seem like a simple task to handle this job... but I'm here to tell you it takes a lot of planning. And plan I did. Last night I put out breakfast bowls, vitamins, spoons, clothes for everyone. I packed the little one's backpack. I organized hats and gloves. I set everything by the door, ready to go.

This morning, I actually got out of bed on time (at 5), got myself ready, woke everyone else at 6, fed them, made sure they were all dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed. Everyone was ready to go at 6:45. And then....

Matthew: "Mom, I think Nicholas just pooped. It smells really bad!"

My thought was that's ok, I still have 15 minutes before we have to be out the door. I can handle this....

Ha ha!!!!

"Nicholas, come out here!" I called, as I calmly readied the wipes and a new diaper for him. And, amazingly, he actually came to me when I called him, tramping through the living room, down the hallway and into the laundry room. I was so proud of him, and he was all smiley and happy..

Then I picked him up.

First, I noticed that his pants were soaked. Then my eyes travelled to his slippers, which were also soaked -- and covered in doo-doo... on the bottom!

"Matthew, can you get me an entirely new set of clothes for Nicholas -- underwear, pants, shirt and socks. It's an emergency!"

(Matthew later pointed out it wasn't really an emergency... just a minor need for assistance....)

I carried Nicholas into the bathroom, set him down in the shower, removed every stitch of clothing (I am not kidding when I say he was covered with the disgusting stuff from his shoulders to his toes), and gave him a bath. Ugh.

New diaper. New underwear, socks, shirt, pants, and new slippers. And Nicholas chattering and happy all along.

Put him back on the floor and then spent the next 15 minutes cleaning every foot of flooring he had traversed to reach me in the laundry room, as well as the carpet in the living room (which I will have to take to the cleaners....)

"It's out of my control", I kept telling myself, forcing a smile all along.

And then I had to laugh (well, actually, getting to the "this is really funny" stage took a few hours)...

I'm here to tell you that even the best laid plans are doomed to fail!!!! Cheers for the poopy days.

Shining smiles

2009-01-30T12:16:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow my oldest ”little” boy will turn 11.

11.

Do you remember being 11?

11 is a magical age. I can see the sparkle of anticipation in his eyes – he waits on the cusp of his upcoming metamorphasis into a man with excitement and a bit of concern. In many ways, he is still a boy – happy to build his K’Nex ferris wheel, complete with motor and all – but at other times, he is the most insightful young adult I’ve ever met.

This morning, for example, Matthew made the following pronouncement during our traditional getting-ready-for-school meeting in the bathroom:

“Mom, once I tried broccoli soup and even though it looked disgusting and even though I don’t like broccoli, I actually liked the soup! It’s funny how things that look disgusting can be really good...”

That, my friends, is a terrific insight in itself… but he went on and it got even better.

“… so I’ve decided that I’m going to broaden my horizons and try to taste everything that is available for tasting. After all, we humans really shouldn’t limit ourselves to eating things that look good.”

In other words, Matthew has arrived at the age-old cliché that “you can’t judge a book by its cover” on his own… and then applied it to food.

Matthew’s birthday always marks a special moment for me and I treasure the day in a special place in my heart. He was born in the middle of the night after endless hours of struggling to bring him into the world. His actual entrance was so quiet that for several minutes I kept repeating “Steen, he’s not crying. Why isn’t he crying?!?!?”, and then suddenly my fears that something was terrible wrong with my little miracle were wiped away by a gusty, loud scream.

From the moment the midwife put him in my arms, Matthew looked at me with his big blue eyes. Even then, I could see the knowledge passing across his features. He already seemed to be a child who would prioritize thinking. Holding him, I wondered what he could possibly know, and as every mother, I spent those first few days in the hospital marvelling at the opportunity that lay before him. Who would he be?

Today – 11 years but what seems like a blink of the eye later – I already know part of the story. He is a talented writer who loves his Donald Duck comics. He is a gifted mathematician who treasures his weekly turns at playing the Wii. He is generally a happy kid who struggles to understand why the kids in his class can’t just get along. He is, above all, a shiny, sparkling star in my life. My treasure.

Matthew means “God’s gift”. He is, and I am honored to be his mom.

Smile for the day

2009-01-29T12:52:00.004+01:00

Bonus: One of my favorite photos from our trip to the US
Also, I've changed the blog a bit to bring thoughts of spring... I'd prefer a template that is a bit more "springy" though, if anyone has any suggestions.

Grinding away

2009-01-28T23:08:00.002+01:00

Back at the office now for 21 days. Three weeks. Approximately 120 hours, assuming no overtime. That leaves some 1300 hundred weeks of work until retirement, assuming I have the luck and ability to retire at 62. 1300 weeks!!!! No comment...

Returning to work after 18 months of immersing myself in the role of full-time mom and part-time housekeeper (although Steen might dispute the latter) is a roller coaster ride in itself. I am, first and foremost, a mother... on my imaginary "life priority list", three little boys come first -- will always come first. I miss the little things every day. Picking them up from school and seeing their smiles as they come bounding down the stairs. Watching them learn as they jump wholeheartedly into a pool or return a ball at tennis. Hearing the littlest one develop his "new sound for the day". Being able to hug them, kiss them, tell them I love them whenever I want.

That said, I still learn a lot from my job and enjoy the people I work with... we create this excellently functioning little group, filled with complementary competencies and lit by a shared sense of humor and at least a daily dose of laughter. The income is important, of course, and there is definitely something to be said about being able to eat lunch with other adults and to visit the bathroom without one boy or another bursting through the door with the latest gossip.

Nicholas has been at daycare part-time now for two weeks and will start full-time on Monday. He has two sweet and patient teachers, and he's only mistaken someone's finger for food once. He's already gone through one stage of crying when Steen drops him off. Now when they arrive in the morning, he looks at Steen in a resigned way, raises his little hand and waves goodbye. He's a trooper, my little boy.

And so, we go back to "regular" life, as it were

The best-est Christmas ever

2009-01-12T21:14:00.010+01:00

A week ago today we boarded a (very delayed) flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, and then continued on from there to Stockholm, following an exciting, busy and memorable two-week trip to the States.

Some highlights of our visit:

Watching Nicholas explore his grandparents' house... and letting grandma know that her cabinets were definitely organized incorrectly! Gee, grandma, these lids don't go in this cabinet!!!

Watching Nicholas fall in love with his gorgeous turtle rocking chair, made lovingly for him by his grandpa. I can't imagine how many hours have gone into making this turtle, but it is definitely precious and beautifully built. When he rocks in it now, he's like a crazy, cooky kid, banging his head against the back, swinging his feet wildly and trying to get it to rock at speeds it cannot possible make. Each of the boys have been blessed to have something special in their lives that their grandfather has made for them. Not too many children have presents like that from their grandfathers.... Thank you, dad!

CHRISTMAS -- Definitely the kids' favorite part, from putting out cookies and an apple for Santa and his reindeer to the incredible Christmas dinner! I doubt I have ever seen so many presents piled into one room. We could (I'm serious) not move once the unwrapping had begun. Matthew and Lucas were thrilled with their piles and piles of presents, while Nicholas seemed more interested in ripping the paper to tiny, microscopic shreds and pushing the buttons on his new, personalized Elmo telephone.

Enjoying the water park and good company at Lake Geneva, where we spent a weekend with mom and dad (the hosts and organizers), as well as Tim and Kathi and their kids. The older boys loved the water slides and obstacle course, while Nicholas spent a day in the baby section. I enjoyed the chance to chat with everyone, play cards and to generally have a great time.

New Years in Minnesota -- Yes, we did something totally strange, weird and hard-to-understand. Steen, the boys and I spent two days at the Mall of America and its surroundings over New Years. The boys totally enjoyed the place. After all, what is better in the dead of winter than an indoor amusement park and permission to make mountains of milk bubbles?!

Day out with mom -- Mom and I snuck away for a day of shopping and talking over a nice glass of wine, an amazing lunch, coffee and chocolate fondue. I truly enjoyed the chance to spend some quality time with her.

Morning mass with grandpa -- What can I say? My grandfather is one of my closest friends. Enjoying the peace of church with him, sharing memories of grandma, smiling, laughing and having a great time...

American TV -- Slouching on mom and dad's relaxation-inducing couches, sharing comments with mom and dad about the shows...

And last, but not least, celebrating Matthew's birthday (a bit early, but I'm sure he didn't mind)!

Christmas news!

2008-12-21T21:16:00.008+01:00

Nicholas has decided he knows how to walk -- just in time for Christmas!!! For several weeks he's been teetering along, taking a few steps here and there but then sitting down the moment he realized he wasn't holding onto anything. Something must have happened last weekend, though, that convinced him that walking should be the preferred mode of transport. Now he's waddling around on his own quite freely, although any distraction is likely to (unintentionally) end up with him tipping over.

He's also learned how to ride his car and his bike (and get on and off them by himself). No wall, no window, no fireplace can get in this kids way!

Being creative as he is, he uses some non-traditional riding styles.

To celebrate the holidays (or maybe it was to celebrate their upcoming freedom from school?), Lucas's class put on a series of three plays. Lucas played one hungry, oh-so-cool wolf in "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". He must be up for a Tony Award!

Matthew and Lucas recently took part in their first swim meet. Look at Matthew on the block in lane 3... looks like he's ready for the Olympics!

December's been a very busy month for us...

and we've been happy to share it with Gitte, Susanne and Jesper, who all came up from Denmark to visit! All of the boys enjoyed being spoiled with all of the extra attention, and we adults enjoyed good conversation and a lot of laughter.