Costumes, costumes...

At the annual Trunk-or-Treat. Mark and the kids in front of The Beast.

Elina as "The Whale" at the church carnival. (That 's Jonah as a stick figure). (Ser ni Söte Göte?)

With Halloween comes Trunk-or-Treat, school parties, regular Trick-or-Treat, MOUNTAINS of candy and tons of fun. And this year we also had a Carnival at the church with a Scripture themed array of costumes. Elina's favorite Bible character is The Whale, in Jonah and The Whale. She made her costume by herself. She drew it onto the cardboard (Mark cut it out) and then she drew eyes and mouth and painted it. I helped fasten it at the end. Isak wanted to be Joseph Smith after some deliberation. This allowed him to wear parts of Indiana Jones costume. To be more 'period accurate' he wore his Norwegian folk costume shirt with a vest over it, and got away with donning Indy's hat. He put a Book of Mormon in the bag and called himself a prophet.

He had planned to use most of last year's Star Wars costume for an Old Testament prophet, but decided at the last minute he really wanted to find a way to wear his Indiana Jones hat. Clever, huh?

Indiana Jones and Fuzzy Pink Cat before heading off to school this morning. I will never, ever sew anything in that dreadful fuzzy material again.

This costume has recieved more delighted outbursts and comments than any other costume any of our children have worn pervious years. I brought Anja to the store with me like this and everyone squealed and remarked on it. Same thing when we came to the kids' school. Pippi just soaked it all up. I had to alter the costume because it was too big. But this means she can be Pippi next year again, and the year after that if her Pippi-obsession keeps up.

Julia's first Halloween. Slept through most of today's festivities. Thanks Sarah for letting us use this costume for the second time.
The Fairy Godmother.

The Beast

As selected by Mark. And the kids LOVE it. It has a purple interior, accordion blinds, flip-down TV and a full size electric bench seat that turns into a bed at the push of a button. (What's not to love?) I named it. It is HUGE! We're taking it on our long drive to San Antonio for Thanksgiving. Very excited about that trip. Tack så jättemycket, mamma, pappa och mormor för bidraget!! I'll be driving the Jetta on most days. That blessed piece of German engineering fits me, 4 kids (in three-point seat belts) and the Urban Jungle double stroller at an incredible gas mileage.

looking out the rear

Follow their gaze and you'll know where the TV is...
Isak is operatin the VCR where his hands are.

"There is no bad weather...

...only bad clothes." Or so say they in Sweden, at least - but it rhymes: "Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder". And a popular saying it is because the weather in Sweden requires good clothing much of the time. Our three oldest kids just LOVE it when they can use their some of their Swedish gear. Btw, kids in Sweden never have inside recess. At least I never remember having an inside recess in all my school days. I know northern states in this country could never adopt Oklahoma standards for inside and outside recess. Kids in North Dakota would never go outside.

I think Sadie was the least enthusiastic about this back-yard playdate. And it lasted for hours.

The pictures of Julia, below, were taken just a few minutes ago as she premiered the Exersaucer! She was wholly enchanted and her eyes were even bigger than normal (see picture) as she surveyed the new possibilities life has offered to her. Anja tried to convince me it was her toy, but she didn't force the issue. This is true to her sweet personality. Anja just knows how to get along with people, most of the time. Elina did her best to showcase each and every gadget on the tray. Click HERE to see a picture of Anja in the same Exersaucer, though she was 6,5 months in that picture, Julia is 4,5.

Check it out!

Pumpkin Patch

Elina and Anja and the ponies.

American tradition of visiting a farm and pumpkin field, going on a hay ride, getting lost and then found again in the corn maze and petting animals. The kids LOVED it. It was hard to photograph because of the 5 pm sun was extremely bright. Thanks Jensen's for inviting us! Elina's favorite was feeding the ponies straw. She opted out of the hayride to stay close to the horses. "I felt like the horses were mine. Like I was the one who took care of them," she said afterward. Isak loved the straw-bale mountain and the slides where he, Benjamin and Daniel jumped around and roughhoused. Anja loved the animals too - not just the horses but also the calves, rabbits and chickens. But her favorite activity was probably the horse/tire swing. She picked mud, after choosing a pumpkin, and tried to feed the mud to a pony...

"More straw?"

Gotta love that Oklahoma sky!

Elina and brand new friend Emily considering the bumpy slide. And that sign is a joke, btw.

Fisher and Jensen kids in the corn maze.

Anja's favorite thing.

Isak is practicing for Halloween. When he isn't practicing his whip, he is a remarkably tender brother to the sleeping beauty below. He just adores her.

Julia 4 months. I wish she spent just a little more time doing this.

Elina found a turtle last week that she kept in the back yard for a few days, until it escaped. Have I mentioned she loves animals? She was in tears the first night he spent in our yard because "Red Nose" as she called him, had to stay outside in the rain.

Family Pictures

Not only did my parents endure a week with crazy kids, they also posed for the photographer. As we considered our wardrobe, the most common denominator color, besides white, was purple! The one color my husband NEVER wears (his least favorite). We all got a kick out of that.