Bring it on!

IT'S RAINING!

I feel like I should go jump in the puddles for joy.
But I have to wait until it has rained enough to create puddles, heh.

Remember when I said it was the dryest summer in 45 years?
Wrooooong.
Make that a century.
Yeppers, one hundred years.

I'm hoping it'll rain all this week.
Then I'd have a good excuse to run our and buy a pair of these:

(about $32)
Aren't they cool?

Happy happy happy

This is the 'engaged' section of sunday's paper.


Here's a close-up.

My dear brother finally wised up.

The wedding will be next summer sometime.
Who knows, my kids could get a cousin within a couple years!
Yes, we are excited.

Happy wishes to the both of them!

Smoke stinks. yuck. Make that YUCK!

Literally.

Why oh why are we having easterly winds?
All frigging week.

To give you an idea-
This morning I went outside to get the newspaper from the mailbox.
Stepped outside, took one breath..
..and had a cough attack that would've made a chainsmoker jealous.
This blue haze of smoke in the air, the smell is something awful.
My eyes were itching from it.

When the wind dies down for the night (seawinds do that) the smoke settles.
I wake up in the night to close the window because it seeps indoors.
Ick ick ick ick ick.

See what I mean?
This is facing the city from the sea, taken this weekend.

And apparently the Russian authorities are in no hurry.
Read more here.
Hmmpphh.

OK, so while I was trying to find that picture online I came across a few fun pages I thought you guys might enjoy.

Ever wonder what Finnish sounds like?
Want to learn some?
This page claims to teach you some in just three minutes.
With audio examples no less.
Are you game?

And then I found this page with fun photos from around the town.
Click on each tiny picture for a pop up big version.
And DO read the captions.
My personal favorite (and I so can relate) is the umbrella one.
I got the giggles.

Ooohhh... and major blog comment slacking on my part.
Bad bad me.

Adri: The playmobils are usually just housed in big plastic tubs. Except for the houses, those I store whole on top of the bookshelf. Then when it is time to play, I take those down and haul out the tubs and the girls set up playmobil land.

Nadine: a few crafty blog links. And following all the links from these will send you down a dangerous and neverending blog road to oblivion from the real world.
Believe me on this one.
mollychicken
thimble
tiny happy
wee wonderfuls

Heli: Jesssssssssssssssss! She was the lucky number 10 000!
I need to think up something fun for her. Hmmm.....

Susie: I promised to make a 10 000 hat? Naaahhh... I didn't, did I? Have I mentioned my mind is a sieve. A 37 year old sieve... I won't stand in the way if you want to sew one though heheheeee. I could try making one for my 1st blog anniversary, but I don't really wear hats (unless the Helsinki winter calls for one. If you haven't checked out that umbrella pic yet, now's the time). How about we just play good music and party down on the 23rd?

But now I'll party on down to dreamland.
First day of fifth (YES I SAID FIFTH) grade for Saara tomorrow.
I have to go to the school for Niina's orientation (no kids allowed...they should have just called it PARENTS' orientation day ha!).
So I better go get my beauty sleep.
And maybe just maybe I can dream that the smoke I smell is really the smoky hot George or Johnny. Clooney and Depp that is.
Think that would work?
I girl can hope, yes?
Off to dream.

Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

That's my old Singer sewing machine (bought it with the money I got from my very first summer job) you're hearing.
Yesterday morning I was reading some blogs, ventured to the links page on one and was lost for the next hour browsing some fabulous crafty blogs.

I came across this shoulder bag tutorial on the tiny happy blog.

I knew instantly this was why I had been hanging onto this awesome cotton bedspread of my grandmother's from the 50's.
See, isn't it perfect?

I even had an antique bautton to match!
I made mine a bit smaller , I can just fit in my keys, wallet, lipgloss and phone.


I then ran back into the basement and dug out a bunch of fabrics that had just been gathering dust.

I had this cuter than cute Marimekko fabric pice I used to make a bag for Saara's german friend Fenja (her birthday is soon).

And then I made a slightly bigger one.

Odds are that if I'm sending you a Christmas present it'll be a bag.

I have a feeling I'll go check out the roll end fabric bin at Marimekko...
I think I want one in every size.

Keep your eye on the counter!

10 000 will be broken today or tomorrow.

Make sure you check out your number.

I'm thinking a RAK for the lucky 10 000th visitor is in order.

Fun stuff

Here are some photos of Saara's extremely super dooper fun week.
Really really really fun week.
Did I mention it was FUN?
In fact the night before she was coming home, she sent me a text message saying how boring it was to come home. And Fenja was ready to pack her bag immediately and come over. We have agreed that next summer Fenja will be spending (atleast) a week with us. In fact, I'm ready to invite them all over!

But hey, I said photos, right?
They visited a wildlife park. Here's Saara trying on some deer antlers for size.

And here's Fenja trying on some slightly bigger ones!
She can't even lift them up, they are so heavy.

This kid of mine takes some cool photos, no?

Meet Hannes. He's 5.

And Jonah, 2.

This is Jenny. We met back in the 80's when we were exchange students in the same high school (Go Capital!) in Olympia, WA.

And Jenny's sweet hubby Stephan. He is seriously one of the coolest guys I've ever met.

And they made art. All the kids got to paint art to go on the livingroom wall.
This is Saara's masterpiece.


I've just made a dent in those photos. I think I'll have time to proof once school starts, heheheee.

Other fun news.
These two have landed in Finland!

Hoops & Yoyo.
Saara got herself a Yoyo mascot to hang on her backpack and pencils, erasers etc. I bought a notebook that I don't need, but it was just too cute, how could I pass it up?

And it doesn't end here.
There's a big mall (appropriately called Jumbo) near to us (10+ minute drive). New big stores have been popping up in the area like mushrooms on my lawn during a wet fall. A few weeks ago I noticed yet another HUGE store being built. After talking with my bro I found out it was...ready...

Toys'R'Us.

Whoa.
It should open still this fall.
Holy Christmas shopping, Batman!

Like I wrote in an email to a friend last night, now if they'd only bring Target and Michael's I'd be set.
And Pottery Barn.
Crate and Barrel.
And maybe even a scrapbookstore.

Let me dream here for a while, ok?

She makes me smile

Saara got home safe and sound last night.
New Playmobils are set up and being played with.
I got a cute candle holder, perfect for my scrap spot.
Daddy got chocolates.

And like a dutiful scrapper's daughter she brought home a memory card with 328 pictures.
If you wonder where I am for the next few days, I'll be proofing.
*grin*

Random bits

-Looks like 10 000 hits will be reached before this little blog turns 1. Less than 200 to go and the anniversary isn't until the 23rd. wow.
Thank you for reading.

-Niina is sooooooooooooooo antsy today.
Saara's coming home tonight. Big sis has been missed.
She knows she's bringing home the Playmobil bakery and hair salon.

We just set up a city scene with a supermarket, a fishmonger, a flower stand, a park and a cafe upstairs. Hopefully that'll keep Niina entertained for a few minutes.

-Why is it that the bills that come once a year, twice a year or every three months all come in august??? Geeeeezzzz.... magazines, electricity, water, tv, school tuition (x2 this time, eeekk). Luckily the property taxes aren't due until september or we'd be screwed.

-What chore do you hate doing the most?
For me it's changing sheets, blech. I think part of the reason is that the ceilings above all beds are vaulted and it kills my back doing it doubled over. In fact I'm procrastinating as I type, heheheee...

-Oh yay! My mom to the rescue. She's taking Niina downtown for ice cream to keep her occupied. I get to go drop off a movie and shop for groceries in peace. With no whining. Except my own possibly.

-We rented Weatherman yesterday. I like Nicolas Cage and this movie was better than I expected. Love the black humor. We also saw Walk the Line a few nights back. I'm a big Johnny Cash fan and the movie was such a treat. I still can't believe that both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did their own singing...

-I hate fruitflies. With a vengeance.
I think I got some with the bananas I bought and now they are all over...aaarrgghhh... I'm a serial killer today.

-I must be crazy. I signed us up to be a AC Nielsen family. I got my packet yesterday. I'm going to have to keep tab of everything we buy. Not only how much but specifically the what, how much, when and where from. For atleast three months. OY! I have three fat green notebooks to fill and send in. Just shoot me now. (the one bright spot is that I only have to record what I buy domestically so my scrapbook supplies don't count, ha!)

-Still dry. Not a drop from the sky. Usually we have thunderstorms in august. I'm still waiting.

-Smell of smoke in the air. The wind is blowing smoke from the forest fires from around St Petersburg in Russia. Since it has been so dry here, forest fires go up easily. They've apparently ran out of money to fight them across the border, so they are just letting it all go up in flames. And I get to live in the smoke haze. Great.

-My allergies are kicking up. This one weed. Ugh. Oh and that smoke isn't helping.

-DH is in the doghouse. He knew it was our anniversary yesterday. No flowers, no card, no 'Happy Anniversary, hon' (until prompted and that doesn't count), not even a measly chocolate bar. And it's not like I expected diamonds, I would have been so happy with the chocolate bar. A gesture was all I needed. I made him a card and bought a nice dessert. Hmmpphh.

-I have to stop procrastinating. Going to change those sheets might help...

One week and counting...

...to real life I mean.

Schools start in one week. Monday for Saara and tuesday for Niina.
I have to get ready.
I started by getting up at 7.30 this morning.
I need to wean my body from sleeping in.

It's now 11am and so far I've
-washed a load of whites
-checked my email
-caught up on boards online
-ate breakfast and read the newspaper
-made a birthday card
-hung up the whites to dry
-washed a load of reds
-picked up mail
-made an anniversary card (our 13th today)
-cleaned up my mess

Apparently I get stuff done when I get out of bed early.
Who knew.

Better go hang up those reds to dry too...

PS. For those of you still wondering what TIPster stands for go read this page.

Guess what I have in my hot little hands???

I got my copy of this supercool book today.
CK's Ultimate Guide to Photo Keepsakes.
Mine was a complimentary issue because...

Yeah baby!
That is my treasured TIPster album in there!
I just added it back to my 2Peas gallery.
You'll find it here.
In three parts as it is HUGE.

This book is filled with inspiration.
Well worth the $24.95.
250+ pages.
I can't wait to sit down in leisure with this one.
And can I just say how stinking cool it is to be in the same book with my buddies Helen McCain and Janet Hopkins.
Way cool.

All new

New month.
New banner.
New top 10 layout slide.
New gallery at A Million Little Things.

One of my projects this month is a mini album about Saara's camp school experience.
I only showed 2 pics of it in the gallery so here is the entire album.
And yes, I have a tendency to do stuff the hard way. I had no plans beyond the covers when I started it... so I just winged it (and sewed) when it was time to add pages.
This is mostly KI memories (Devoted line) with some Heidi Swapp and 7 Gypsies thrown in.









PS. Saara got to Hamburg safely :o)

And away she flew!

I sent my firstborn off to the world.

Well, only for a week.
She is still on the airplane as I type this.
I should be getting a phonecall in an hour telling me she has landed safely into Hamburg, Germany.
She'll be spending a week visiting our friends and having a total blast!
She was so nervous about flying alone (escorted by the airline), she hardly slept last night. Only a 2hr 15 min flight though, she had chocolate and a good book. She'll be just fine.

Wish I was going with her.
She has been instructed to take loads of photos.
And like a good scrapbooker's daughter she promised to do so.

Awwwwww...

That same 5 year old scrapped today.

She totally melted her daddy's heart with these.

Mine too.

Impressive

I can't believe my 5 year old is teaching me chess.
That kid amazes me.

Look at that face

She looks pretty wild today.
But she's also very excited over her new pink helmet.
She's a trooper (more like a Duudson, but that won't make much sense to non Finns).

And look what I got today.

Out with the old

and in with the new.

Well, not quite yet, I still need new lenses for these. I got them 50% off, yay!
They are different, but fun.
The rest of the family was there to choose.
So they can't complain.
*grin*

Thrilling suspense

Today I'm grateful for
-bike helmets
-gravel paths

We were at the park today. Niina had her friends Ella and Vilma there also.
Good times.
Kids running happily, us moms chatting away.

When leaving we hopped on our bikes. Saara and Vilma sped away at super speed and Niina was left behind shouting "Waaaaaaaaiiiiiiiit!"
She's been cycling without training wheels for only two weeks so she is still quite wobble-wobble-wobbly.
Suddenly she decides to speed up too.
Downhill.
I just mentioned to Tuija (Vilmas' mom) that she has never gone that fast and was opening my mouth to tell her to slow down when
SMACK!
Right on her face.

You know how you see accidents in slow motion?
Ouch.
To give you an idea, she sat up crying and spat sand from her mouth...
Scrapes on her legs, on both arms up to her elbows, on her nose and a huge goose-egg of a bump on her forehead.
There was pieces of styrofoam from her helmet on the ground.

Thank goodness we hadn't reached the asphalt yet.
She would have been spitting teeth instead of sand.

Also grateful that it was me there instead of Mika.
While I can remain calm and levelheaded, he would have been calling 112 (our 911).

I found out about my missing panic button 8 years ago when Saara and I were spending the summer here (we still lived in Michigan). This same house before renovations.
We had a big summer storm. I was in the kitchen when lighting hit the antenna. If you've never been in a house hit by lightning I can tell you it sounds pretty much like the whole house is falling down on you.
In other words: very LOUD.
And there's a strong smell of sulphur.
A very strong smell of sulphur.

And one wide eyed terrifired screaming her lungs out clinging to mom 2 yr old.

I grabbed the kid and while trying to calm her down walked from room to room seeing if the place was on fire.
That made me see I don't panic.
Now that I like.
(oh, every phone, fax machine and tv that was plugged in was fried)


OK, moving on..
I'm a bit tired today.
I watched a documentary about the life of Alfred Hitchcock last night, it didn't end until past 1am.
There are several films of his I like.
Vertigo.
The Trouble With Harry.

But my favorite by far is
The Rear Window.
You just can't go wrong with Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly and a brilliant plot.

What's your favorite Hitchcock flick?

Dry, oh so dry

This has been the dryest summer in 45 years in Helsinki.
If rain doesn't come soon, and in abundance, 100's of trees will die in the parks during next winter.
You can only imagine what the park lawns look like.

We've been watering our yard about three times a week. I don't want to see our next water bill.
eeeeekkk.
Let me rephrase that:
EEEEEEEEKKKKkkkk!

I had these grand plans to move perennials but haven't been able to do that in the past 6 weeks.
I really wouldn't mind a few rainy days.

The other day when I mentioned I had to get offline because of the storm coming... I closed windows as I heard the rumble and saw lightnings. It was coming my way big time.
Until it stopped.
Just a few kilometers short.
And then changed direction and moved pass.
Darn.

So what is a girl to do when there's no gardening but standing out there with a hose?
When the girls amazingly are entertaining each other without any casualties?
When vacationing DH grabs the motorsaw and heads to make firewood?

She scraps.
I love seeing that pile of pages on my desk getting bigger.
And I will share, eventually.
Most pages still lack journaling, ha.
But I did post this yesterday: for Tia.

And I've made baby albums for sale. You see the main idea in these pics.
Girl and boy albums (using the basic Grey Oh Baby papers), three pages for important 'new baby' info with a page following for each month of the first year.



Both covers, the pages are from the boy album.

Anyone remember those paintings I made?
They are up on the wall now.


My bro already commisioned another.
(and a little birdie has told me that he has indeed asked Petra's father for the hand of his daughter!!! I can't wait to hear an official engagement announcement and take some photos of the two! I'm here happy dancin'! So happy he snagged Petra, we all just love her.)

Oh and someone asked where I do my scrap shopping?
Follow this link to A Million Little Things and have Jill fill your scrapping needs. There's loads of new American Craft, Sceninc Route and Fancy Pants, just arrived.
Some serious eye candy there....

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

...walls really, and the floor and the ceiling...

We were at Heureka, the local science center yesterday.
They had a couple interesting exhibits: Mirrors in Mind and Me Games.

We played some fun games and then learned all sorts of cool stuff with mirrors.

Could someone please point us in the right direction?
heheheee...

We also tested out the wind generator outside in the Galilei park.


I can flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy............!

Now this was cool.
You know those little round stickers they give you as a ticket?
There's a wall outside you can add yours to and make art.

Very Pisarro.
Google the name...

Today we were at the park.
I was there with some printed photography lessons.
I have to figure out this shutter speed business.

I did learn to take a panning shot though:

Girls, would you zoom past me, just back and forth for a while?
Cool technique.

Storm front approaching...better go turn this machine off!