A Life Less Ordinary

I found a little boy outside.



He told me was about to leave.



'I have had enough' he said. Early that morning.



And he walked away in his blue pyjamas.



'I'm not picking up any more toys. Ever again.' Said the boy and left.

If you haven't seen Blackpool... Give it a go. Buy the box set! David Tennant, Sarah Parish, David Morrissey...
A musical, comedy drama!

Yes - Can you believe it... We managed to get off the sofa and into our gladrags. Without children we braved the darkness and the cold wind and walked all the way down to our lovely friends and neighbours who lives 200 m down the road. We enjoyed a grown up dinner with nice wine, delicious cheeses, irish coffees and great company. I did not believ my eyes when I checked my phone and the numbers 03:15 was glowing back at me... Reality hit and I quickly jumped back into my responsible (and slightly boring) me. When my children kindly woke me up 3 hours later... I was not only boring - I was half dead.





(and for the records -My coat has got a suspicious looking little bump but I'm NOT pregnant)

I have been given these huge responsability to look after my sister in law Emmas beautiful basil plant... Now this may sound easy to you but me being the basil junkie I am...




Opps...



Hmm... Not sure I would like to be a basil plant living i my house!
The poor plant just can't keep up with the demand, he never gets half a chance to recover from my daily leaf picking. Must be even harder when Mr Basil plant of the year walks in looking like a rainforest. And then having to have his picture taken with him.... One can only guess what this trauma of a situation has done to his future growth!
Another week until we have to pass this beauty back to Emma. Hopefully looking greener and lushier then ever.

Every Saturday morning we head down the local farmers market for some fresh produce. A great way for Olive and Otis to be involved in what we eat, knowing where and how we buy our food and how much it is worth. Olive gets the money and after she picks her goodies she walks up to the counter and finish the trade. She then tells me how much she has spent and what she has bought. After a hard hour of shopping we sit down for our well deserved treat, a latte and a hot chocolate from the great Espresso Rescue caravan that so convinient is parked right in the middle of the market! The chocolate and almond crossiant from the frensh bakery is to die for so we also make sure to have one of those!













Simba-rista serving up delicious coffee on a cold Saturday morning!








Otis is joining us after a good hour or two sleeping in the pram!

Another milestone - Otis is now part of the tea/milk drinking club with a BIG cup...
Proud is just the first name... Over the moon, more like it!

32!

Hmm... 32!

Really?

How did that happen?

Yep - it's my birthday month and although I don't mind getting older, I'm a little bit scared how fast it's going!

This last year has been good! We are much more settled in New Zealand now and has made some very good friends. We feel that we are part of a community here and its nice to know the people and the local businesses around us. Olive has startes kindy and that also adds on to that sense of belonging. By working with different things and keeping a good balance being a part stay at home mum, I feel that my weeks are always interesting and never boring! We are still building our new house but hoping to move in within 4 month... (how many times have I said that now?) Life with the in-laws is still surprisingly good. We just get on with things, allowing everyone to have their ups and downs. We share the cooking and sometimes I even clean!! Olive and Otis has got a great relation to their farmor and fafar but also talks a lot about their Swedish family. We skype as often as we can with the people back home and only sometimes do I find it extremely hard to be so far away... There will always be a very big part missing in my life as long as we live here. But likewise that will be the case for Jonathan when/if we move back to Sweden. At the moment we are settled here and has a lot going for us right now. Jonathan is happy within his job and we look forward to finally have our own home. Our plan is to save up for a long holiday and spend some well over due time with family in Sweden. Maybe next year. I'm very lucky to have had three brothers coming over already and Jonas i s even due to come back early next year for another 2 month. My mum is thinking of coming over next year and aunti Brenda has already booked her ticket for later this year. We are being very spoilt for visitors!

If (touch wood, god forbid and all that) we had a natural disaster happening at night and we quickly had to evacuate the house... I would not be able to see anything. I'm literally blind without my glasses or contact lenses. Hmm... Maybe I should hide some spare lenses in our surviving kit? And some in the garden?

And on that happy note... I'm going upstairs to write my 'what to do if...' list!



Look - I still had my ring on this picture! Can't believe I've lost it! I actually liked the 'I'm married' look...

...beautiful day!!

First frost of the year, slowly melting into this glorious sunny day! Hello energy, I have missed you! Cake no two already in the owen!

Grattis Olle!!

Vet inte om sms'et kom fram men paket ar pa vag! Hoppas du hade en bra fodelsedag!
Kram fran oss alla!


From left to right...

Olle, Me, Olive, Pappa, Rickard, Emil och Kerstin


Har far du en sang medans du vantar...

'It's my birthday, 2003
Waiting for a call from my family.
They forgot about me.

I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.
The day after my birthday is not my birthday, mum.'

Me and the kiddos went to Oscars birthday party on Wednesday. A lovely little do with cute two-three year olds running around. All well and good until it was time for 'pass the parcel'. A game that I'm familiar with but to be fair, not my most played party game.. Anyway - we were all sitting on the floor, Katarina, Oscars mum ad three other mums ad bubs that I've never met before. I ended up starting and stopping the music. It works a bit like 'hela havet stormar' yopu pass a parcel around the ring ad when the music stops, the person who is holding the parcel can open the next layer. There is a present hidden in every layer so all children ends up with a present. Me controlling the music, making sure everybody gets a turn obviously making my children wait so no one thinks I'm putting them first. Not thinking that we're approaching the end of the game I'm letting Olive open the last layer. Happy with myself that I have let Olive who also was the oldest child there wait, I remember that the last layer always contain the biggest present... Oops! This is all quite funny if you know each other well. But when you never met the other mums before it just became quite awkward. And poor Olive, in my attempt to redeem the situation I made her share her present with all the other children...

This aside - thank you Katarina for a fun party, nice to catch up with you. :)
Can't believe Oscar is three already...!


Wholesome play in the garden
Walnuts are good for so many things.