Nature is a wonder

Today, between two general conference sessions (http://conference.lds.org), I had promised to go outside with my boys.  To my grief it had started to hail, rain, snow and the wind was fierce.

Of course, I had set myself into spring mode and was an unwilling participant at first.  But we had an amazing time outside, although it was cut a bit short because we were not prepared for the weather.

Next to our house are the woods.  We are in luck because the ice-age has left it's mark here with huge boulders, nooks and crannies that are marvelous to play around.

oh sorry, wrong picture.

Here we go...

OH NOES, THE GROUND IS MOVING

Anïas, Illïus and Xavier are standing next to a birch tree with an ant hill that measures several feet in circumference, and about a meter above the ground.  Illïus and Xavier were really uneasy standing so close to the ant hill.  The ants have just woken up a few days ago and were hustling about all over the place in droves.

We climbed up the hillside to the part where old boulders had been dropped and formed a little quarry where water had pooled.  One can skate here during the winter.  It is amazing.

As we got deeper into the woods, Anïas called out that he found a squirrel.  Someone had left a bit of tree graffiti of a squirrel posted on a tree trunk.   Illïus was all surprised and wondered why anyone would paint a picture and leave it in the woods.

We finally got to our final destination.  A large plateau on-top of this hill that is just a bunch of huge rocks and boulders.  There is a camping fire place.  This place was not mapped out on the local map, but we just stumbled upon it a few years ago and have been here a lot since then.  The kids love this place.  So much to do and conjure up game wise.  A truly magnificent place for fantasy play.

One cannot tell, but we have had hail, rain and snow on us for about an hour now.  As we are about to head home to take a warm bath, we take a new path down the hillside.  To our great surprise we found a real amazing cottage.  And the mystery ensued.  Who built it?  When was it built?  Are there any people here now?

It had a fireplace, a bench and to my children's cheers... it had marshmallows in there.  I wouldn't let them eat it, but we cleaned up some garbage that had been left in the cottage.  Someone had built a nice fireplace as well.  It was real dry inside that little house.  We found a receipt of a cash withdrawal among the garbage and figured out that this was build September of last year.  So exciting to watch the kids try to figure out who the settlers were.  One can only imagine how people felt in the old times.  Good and bad.

We grabbed our garbage bag with marshmallows and soda cans to head home.  But that turned out to take time as well.  Anïas, Illïus and Xavier picked up any garbage they could find on the way home through the woods.  On the picture below we hit the jackpot.  Some dog owner had tossed several bags of dog poop in the same spot at the end of the woods.  Of course I said we had to take those bags with us...  this picture really cracks me up.

Fun times.  Effortless.  Spontaneous. Cost nothing.

When the iPhone gets hijacked...

Illïus on the lookout for mom while older brother snaps a picture.

Little brother Xavier wants in on the action and the eldest one takes a picture.

They are still in the clear, so Anïas has to pop in for a quickie as well.

Then I came...

... enough said.

Early April fools

Why do we place our winter stuff in storage when we know that nature up north is not done with winter yet?  Will we ever learn?  This lesson can be applied to all areas of our lives.  Are we prepared or do we often steer though winging it?

It was cold, it was windy, but oh so gorgeous.  Good thing we did not plant anything in our garden yet.

My husband Jeffrey got all fired up and took Anïas, Illïus and Xavier out for a snowball fight and to build that perhaps very last snowman until next winter season.

And as with most our snowball fights, someone ends up coming in crying.

Another Monday and summer came with it

We all run to the chalkboard to check it out.  We had not long ago spring, jungle and cavemen on the wall.  Today we were greeted by summer time.  I just hope the students stay away from drawing winter landscapes for a while yet.

So this weeks glorious artists at Fokus skolan, Nyköping, are Anton and Johannes.  Thank you both for this great family moment your picture gave us!

Beautiful spring, welcome

Spring is officially here!  No green grass or leaves, but flowers, butterflies, ants, and bugs all over the place.  Nature is full of movement. 

We have had a couple of real long days of warm weather and sun.  Kablammo, the hillside and forest floor are covered with spring. 

Tussilago with a Påfågelöga butterfly.  Caught one on camera, they flutter away when disturbed, but we were wading in both flowers and butterflies here.

Krokusar

Krokusar

Snow drops.  They have such a lovely scent and are adorable to look inside.  Xavier is petting them since we do not pick flowers to bring in.  They are much nicer to enjoy each day as we bike to school.  It also allows for others to see them and have joy in spring as well.

Tussilago close up.  They are soo cute. 

I only gave a few clementines... or was it much more?

Today, I went to the market.  A head of me in the checkout lin stood a timid Somalian woman.  She placed her meager products on the conveyerbelt,  a few packages of halal bread, bananas, onions and clementines.  Her bill rang about 115 swedish crowns, 12 bucks.  She looked into her purse and asked the cashier with body language and the word 'orange', to deduct and return the clementines.

Me and my husband don't have much and we live a truly humble and meak life, but at this moment knew we have so much of worth.  I asked the cashier to please ring up the fruit and pass it onto the woman's side of the conveyer belt, and place the rest towards my side.

I stood next to this woman while packing my groceries.  When at last she only had the 'oranges' left to pack she turned towards me and could not find words.  Eventually the words that slipped across her lips was a swedish 'no, please'.  I just smiled and said with a silent firm 'please'. 

There was more silence and she uttered a humble thank you, also in swedish. I just smiled, and took my grocery bags and left the store.  I acted on an impulse, and I am very glad I did.  A bunch of fruit is nothing for me to give, however;  the gesture of caring is worth so much more.  I truly believe we all have a right to this earth.  We all are worth knowing, and we all truly come from the same family.  We all belong and have a place, no matter what country one has exiled to.

It's the jungle baby! says the chalk

The weeks roll on! And man, Mondays are great for us. WE can't wait to see how the 'wall that says it all' turns out. This week, the artist at Anïas and Illïus school Fokusskolan in Nyköping, Sweden is a girl named Ärla. It was a lovely jungle theme that got Xavier going with all kinds of stories.

Unbelievable how creative kids can be. I absolutely love this wall and how it is being used. We have documented about 5 weeks’ worth of it now I believe.

Thank you all lovely creative children at Fokusskolan and creative staff for making this wall to begin with!

Two small and helpful hands

Xavier has found a new thing to do.  For the past week, he has picked up the school's random garbage bag they put outside of the entry hallway.  He finds it odd to see it there, and have for about a week now picked it up and tossed it outside of the school into its' proper disposal bin.  I let him go at it.  It is a kind gesture to help out, and I am sure to let him know.

Xavier sort of gets disapointed if no garbage bag is 'waiting' for him the days he is at preschool.

Here he is, wrestling with a huge garbage bin that had been blown to the ground by the wind.  We live on the east coast and it is real windy at times.

Family history work - I'm on a mission

I am now on a mission to gather family history from my elder living relatives.  To my joy, my grandmother pulled out a couple of old cherished photos of her mother and grandmother.  I quickly pulled up my iPhone and took a copy. 

My grandmother May Ann Henriksson is to the left and her mother in the middle.  Next to them were two neighborhood children.  Can't wait to ask more questions about this picture.

Here is my grandmother's grandmother.  She was a widow at an early age and here is her eldest son. Mary Ann belives her father is about 7 here.  He is now in charge of his siblings.  The clothes they are wearing were lent them.  They were very poor and had very little.

My husband brings the greatest of gifts

This gift, was hidden away from all prying eyes for nearly a week until Jeffrey exclaimed this morning, "Oh honey, I have a gift for you.  I forgot about it.  I bought it when I was in Örebro".  He disappears and comes back.  "Varsågod!"  and hands the gift over.

Here it is good folk, eat your heart out.

 HEY! Stay those wanton eyes... it is all mine.

We don't have Burger King here in this little dinky town.  I cannot even recall what a Burger King burger taste like.  My middle son Anïas was made on Burger King.  Those were a goooooood tasty 9 months.

That nagging feeling... act on it

You know that nagging feeling or thought that pops into your head.  The 'call home', stop by so and so's house, send a card to someone or find that person and so forth.  Act on it.  Drop all and act on it.  I cannot tell you how many times it has been of utmost meaning when I just drop all and follow this type of promptings.

I'll write about some of them later.  I have already posted two similar experiences in this blog.

Take care

Spring is here!!! at least on the wall

...so it must be true!  This weeks artists at Fokusskolan, Nyköping, Sweden are August and Aron.
Thank you for being so creative!

This is a very exciting family fun activity.  On Mondays we can almost not wait until the school day has ended to get to go to the 'wall-that-says-it-all'. 

Xavier told me spring is here.  I asked him what in the picture was his favorite, and he replied:

-I like the rainbow the most...

-and the flower...

-and I like the rain with the cloud the most...

-and I like the sun...

-and the tree...

So in short, I think he really thought that the favorite part was the whole picture as it was together.  Life is that way, a blend of people and experiences makes a rich life, depending on how you look at it.  I like to use my rose-colored glasses.

Go get them tiger! rawr!

Today!  is a big day!  My eldest son Duncan is going for his first job interview.  I am actually nervous over here.  It is an odd experience having a child that not only has a drivers licence but is also looking for a job.

Liam and Duncan ordering nummies at an American resturant (2011).

We decided we wanted to do something to help him out, so we are sending him a cheer!  Anïas, Illïus and Xavier and I give you Duncan all thumbs up.  Sometimes the distance between our two countries feel like lightyears apart.

WE LOVE YOU!

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

WE MISS YOU!

How to play with a train track

Anïas, Illïus and Xavier have been raised with many toys that are 'unfinished', created or made up. As they grow older it is apparent to teachers and children around them that their minds work in a different way. Fantasy, imagination and inventions happen daily. Anïas has a very mathematical mind, Illïus a creative and boundless mind, and Xavier and adventurous, task driven mind.
I have heard from school teachers and grownups alike that 'he' is amazing in coming up with ideas; 'he' always stretches the limit; 'he' gets everyone involved and going.

Children tend to get frustrated and bored with Anïas, Illïus and Xavier before they get to know them.  This is because my children play with rules for the day.  A perfect example is playing with trains...  This example will give you a hum of what I am explaining.

 Illïus spent about 30 minutes making happy, sad and angry faces with his train rails.  This is a portrait of his older brother Anïas.

Joy to the creative and outside-of-the-box thinkers.  I pray they will be able to cling to this quality they all possess.  As long as I am around I will remind them and encourage them to think differently than what is in a textbook, or play according to given directions on a package.

The sandy beaches in my bath tub

Illïus and Xavier had emptied their shoes out in the bath tub today! I could hear their bigger brother Anïas scorn his younger brethren. The bathroom door shut and lots of mumbling could be heard. As I was invited into the bathroom a few minutes later, this is what I found... a present they said.

How can one get upset at that?

Don't become a daily hostage

I meet people in all ages that are looking for that ‘happy’ formula of successful living.

We all know it, but very few of us live by it.  Why?  Because it takes an awful amount of work and is often VERY unpleasant.  This is why people make money on herbal teas, self-help books, positive thinking seminars and such.  People do everything they can to try to avoid unpleasant experiences because that is what they are.  Most responsibilities that have been procrastinated upon and mishandled result in VERY unpleasant heaps of work.

So what do we do?  Get another self-help book?  Eat?  Sleep?  Shut off the telephone?  Hibernate?

Nah that is small stuff in comparison to what really happens.  WE ROB OURSELVES of control of our day, of our freedom of thinking, of what we want to feel, of our time and energy… we can loose all, even our own health.

Don’t convince yourself you cannot deal. 
GET UP, GET DRESSED.  MAKE YOUR BED; FACE THAT DAY – WHATEVER COMES YOUR WAY.  (Paraphrased, Sister Beck -2012)

Act against those ‘terrible feelings and forces’ that hang over you by NEVER PROCRASTINATE when it comes to unpleasant chores and things to do. 

When we get too cozy with our time, stuff piles up.  People are kept waiting, banks get impatient and things will turn ugly.

Claim your day as your own.  Force yourself to step up and tackle a tough task today.  You don’t have to conquer your anguish or fear; it will dissipate when you just ACT with NO ALLOWANCE for procrastination of any kind.

This is your magic.  It is all in you.  You just need to ride the wave of your fears as you act and do what you must.  The waves will subdue as you take charge of those areas in your life that are spinning.  With each task you just do them - not analyzing - just do them with fear and anxt in your throat.  You will feel proud, relieved and liberated from much agony by acting.  Free your heart and thoughts from tough living.  Be kind to yourself, don’t let the world steer your life and run amok with your feelings.

I pray for all of us to be our own in life.  With love. Ta ta for now.

Packing things up... longing for summer

We are bringing down some of the things Liam left behind when he moved back to the states a couple of years ago.  A mother's intuition told me that he would not return back from the US summer break, so I was prepared in a sense, for him not coming back.  It is never easy, but one has to stand strong and not burden ones children by showing feelings of sadness and a selfish sense of loss.  My life has all been about choices, and many times I have supported decisions that are hurtful to me, but that I know will lift others concerned.

So here he is, my 'lil boy' Liam and his lovely little steph brother Devon (2011).



Liam has braved many things in his young life.  A decision of moving to Sweden, leave family and friends behind, learn a language and meet other cultures is a big one.  I am sure, he will always look back with a heartfelt rememberance of his time here with us.  The opportunity to meet with family members that are very old and some now gone.  The opportunity to go to school, and befriend young people that fled to Sweden to escape wars and contentions.  Some of which had stories to share with him of lost parents, siblings and families.

As we say goodbye to his old bulletinboard we took a quick snapshot of it first... Some things have been taken off as keepsakes already by his younger brothers because they missed him from the first day he traveled 'away' to home.

We hope he can come and visit this summer!  Love you Liam!

Set a goal... and score!

So, since I launched this little blog project you fell upon, thanks to TWiM (this week in mormons), I have added quite a bit of silly and heartfelt stuff.

I am also following advice received. to distinguish and set goals for this year and plans on how to attain them.  It is real hard.  To set the goals up was easy.  To actively thinking about them every day and taking action on attaining them is hard work.

I twittered on my twitter account about things that inspire me at the moment.  One of those is to really be aware of what I do with my time; how I choose to spend it; how I prioritise tasks and how I sometimes MUST forsake good things for even better ones.  NOW that is REAL HARD. 

I am now going after a Swedish drivers license, since the American is not valid here.  DANG! 
I am finishing my pre-qualifications to get a Swedish teaching degree.
I am working hard on becoming a better wife. 
I am working towards being able to go to the temple.  Last time I went was 6 years ago in Washington D.C..

So it all starts for me with 'Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.' -Alma 30:8

For me one meaning of that is to remember who I am, and be kind to all.  Act with care, charity and with loving patience.  Keep my eyes on the prise.

I take great counsel in Elder Henry B. Eyring that warns us "There is a danger in the word 'someday' when what it means is 'not this day.' 

I'll let you know how it all pans out.

Meow, serve me!

Well, me, Anïas, Illïus and Xavier cracked up over our cat Tusse 'furball' after he neatly placed himself on a kitchen chair, eagerly awaiting his turn for breakfast.

Xavier was convinced he was after the ham.  I can almost hear Tusse's thoughts, "Dang! they caught on to me."

Computer game... on a chalkboard

My son Illïus dragged me over to the chalk wall this Monday.  He had to show me the 'superiffick' videogame his friend Jesper and Antonio had whipped up on the wall.  Here Illïus stands at the starting position.  Soon his small fingers trace and follow the dungeon 'level' until he finishes on top to the left side.  The sound effects and voices of jumping and such were all acted out with serious and great timing.

How much joy this wall has given us as a family.  Thank you all wonderful artists and the school for this amazing wall!