Three People that I Love

My grandmother has died. She was my dad's mother and I got to know her really well. In fact, I can happily say I knew all four of my grandparents well. Only my mother's mother is still alive. My mom's dad died on Oct 18 - when my first-born was 3 months. My dad's mom died on Oct 19 - when my last-born was 4 months.

I am sad I won't be there for the funeral. But I am happy that I got to see her in March and that she spent some fun time with me and Elina and Anja.

Erna Greta Sofia 1931-2009.

Taken in her mid-to-late twenties. Mother of six, ran the home business (curtain store at first, then huge egg farm) along with her husband. Artistic, vain, hard-working and smart. She taught me how to mop floors properly and gave me girly blouses and dresses growing up. Was given a life that did not fit her, according to herself. Her antics have made us laugh over and over through the years. I will miss her.

Hans-Erik 1918-1999.

Taken in his seventies. This is how I remember him. He farmed organically in the sixties and seventies when everyone else laughed at him for having flowers in his field, but it did not bother him a bit. Danced to his own tune his entire life. I was always so proud to be his grand daughter. He taught me how to eat flax seeds and other healthy foods. Books can be written about his adventures.

Arnold Johan 1932-2002.

Somewhere I should have a better picture. He was in his forties here, but looked much the same until he died, in my mind. He named his fishing boat after me, bless him, and sailed as captain of a cargo ship up and down the coast of Norway until his retirement. He taught me much about World War 2 and about his childhood. A truly kind man, and a quiet one, that I miss very much.

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.

Pippi Långstrump

A few pictures of Pippi Longstocking and her grandparents. Not pictured: the mountain of presents for the grandkids (who btw have been in an excited frenzy since Monday night). After being completely outfitted as Pippi, Anja wondered "Where is the horse?" More pictures to come! Isak and Elina were at school when this was taken.

Mormor and morfar, Anja (Pippi) hugging the Pippi doll... and Julia.

The identity switch has been complete. She would have slept in the wig and costume if I had let her.

Three more days!

Anja at the park during one of the many heavenly rainy days we had recently.

My mom and dad arrive on Monday evening! Our whole family is psyched. Mark is working all day Saturday and Sunday so the cleaning will be minimal with me having all 4 kids by myself. And definitely no street-sweeping. Mark always jokes that this is part of any good Scandinavian cleaning job. That joke has roots in reality of course, though I myself have only swept the street a few times...

Some more pictures in the meantime.

Julia all dressed up for church. Before the bib was put on. This kid spits up more than all our previous babies combined. She should just wear one mega-bib.

Julia and Anja in the stroller.

Happy Anja with a ring-pop during the school Jog-A-Thon fundraiser.

After running laps at the Jog-A-Thon. Isak, Elina and Sam.

Cloudcover

Trying to sit up

It's been heaven, this weather. Perfect t-shirt temperatures and rain every single day for over a week, I think. I feel peace even though our car is in the shop and will cost us about half its blue book value and the washer broke down the very same day. I am buying a new used one this weekend. Laundry for a family of 6 at the laundry mat gets old quickly. But we've been through so much worse during our construction years that these types of things don't really have the power to stress me anymore. I have this Jedi mind trick when things feel tough. I am sure I'm not alone in doing this. If I feel inclined to whine about anything in particular I imagine how much worse it could be. For example, when I want to gripe about not being able to wear anything but backless, flat, boring shoes or being very limited in what type of physical activity I engage in (like no long walks) because of my chronic Achilles tendinitis, I imagine that I have been a paraplegic until TODAY when I could walk for the first time. When I feel like whining about excess pounds left to lose from pregnancy (daily), I imagine that I was 300 lbs formerly and I reached this wonderful (ahem) weight today! So with issues regarding [lack of] money, I imagine having been homeless with the kids and suddenly landing my current life. WOW! So much better now.

Anja 2 yrs, Julia 3 months

When we moved this spring Mark rewarded himself with a very cheap dirt bike since we now live right by the onset of the path that goes to the river. He and Isak ride it about once a week. I have found that it is quite relaxing to go up and down the street 3 or 4 times (bet the neighbors love us). Gets my mind on something completely different. Anja is okay when Mark rides, but throws a giant fit when I do.

Isak can shift the gears. And yes, cool cat daddy needs a helmet, too...

The picture of Elina and the pony, below, we took today. Elina has been BEGGING me to let her go and feed a horse a carrot. So today we did. Awwww, horses.....

A Date!

Completely shocking and out of the ordinary, but Mark suggested a date. Bless him! He took me out on Labor Day. We dropped the three oldest kids at my sweet mother-in-law's house along with a Monday Madness $4 large pizza from Little Caesar's. (Why complicate things?) We then dashed off with Julia to a restaurant to eat like adults.