"How Are You Feeling?"

A week before Christmas our door bell rang around 7:30 pm and I assumed that it was a Christmas cookie delivery. When I opened the door, our relief society president was standing there with a bouquet of tulips. I don't know if I looked surprised, but she quickly told me that she had heard (that day) that we had recently gone through some hard things and she wanted to me to know that she cared. And then she asked "how are you doing?"

She was referring to the miscarriage in November. And as she asked me how I was doing, I felt fine and happy. I almost felt stupid to be so okay with the fact that we had lost our baby. 

Then few days later we got a Christmas card that announced that a friend was having a baby in July. It sort of felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. It is a sudden feeling of pain when I think "they get to have a baby" and I think how you was supposed to have a baby in January and June. 

And then I go on and life is good. Life is so good. I enjoy our kids and think of what a sweet spot this age is. We have no serious school schedules to worry about. The kids play independently for hours at a time. I even think of the things we could do with "just" two kids. We could travel so much. I might go to back to school sooner. And I think it isn't so bad.

Until I see a friend who is 37 weeks along with a mid January due date. I was supposed to be huge now. I should be thinking "okay two or three more weeks".  Or I look at another friend who isn't showing yet but will find out the gender of their baby soon and I am thinking "I would be having the BIG ultrasound right after Christmas".

But that isn't the plan. After being pregnant twice in six months, I am not pregnant now. And most of the time, I deal with it well. But there are times when it really digs in my heart. When I have to fight the moment of feeling a bit bitter over someone's else happy pregnancy.  And when I want to cry and pray that I could be happy for other people. Suddenly the idea of having more kids isn't a certainty in my mind. I believe and hope that we will have more kids, but I don't have the same perspective about it as I had before. 

I am grateful for Regina, my sister-in-law, who made a comment the other night about how she likes having her kids spaced out.  It gave me a glimpse of perspective to remember that if my kids are not spaced within two to three years as I had "planned", it will be okay. 

So when someone asks me "how are you feeling", I can only really say "I am fine until I am not". 

December 24th: Cookies for Santa and Finnish Christmas Meal

Troy and I have been married for eight years. We have only done two Christmases in Finland. There is a significant difference, for me at least, between Finnish Christmas and American Christmas. Troy's dad was born on Christmas Eve so Christmas Eve has always been a birthday celebration for him. Last year we celebrated Finnish Christmas on the 23rd and it was very nice.

This year Troy's mom was very considerate and changed the way the Grossarth family did things. I think this is the first time in decades, or at least as long as I have been in the family. We celebrated Grandpa's birthday on the 23rd and celebrated Finnish Christmas on the 24th.

Barb set up the table very nice with fine china and candle light. My family loves to do this on Christmas where as Troy's family isn't much for it, so her thoughtfulness was amazing. 

The menu was pasteija (meat pastries) and lihaliemi (beef broth). Troy's smoked salmon, a delicious spinach salad, and the traditional root vegetable casseroles: porkkanalaatikko (carrot), lanttulaatikko (rutabaga) and perunalaatikko (potato).  We drank sparkling cider, which was the kids' favorite. Go figure. 

The potato casserole did not taste like potatoes at all, which was ironic because it was supposed to be the neutral and safe dish. Barb liked carrot one the best while Vern liked the rutabaga. Pasteija was a hit with everyone, as it usually is, and salmon turned out delicious. 

Next year, I will test some of the casseroles before Christmas to find a good recipe. My family just ate the store bought ones so I don't have trusted family recipes to cook from. 

Before we started eating, Saku said to grandpa "isn't this the best birthday ever?". Fortunately, Grandpa didn't starve on his birthday and I think he wouldn't even mind eating the Finnish Christmas menu again. 

I was nervous about sharing the traditional Finnish foods with Troy's parents. The food tradition is very dear to my heart as it bring so many happy memories and feelings of love and peace to me. I wasn't sure if they would like the food. Of course this happens, but I didn't want to feel like I had apologize for it or feel like they hated it. It is interesting how protective I felt about my traditions.

I am very grateful for Troy's parents willingness to adjust their Christmas traditions to accommodate mine.

Saku mostly ate the salmon and drank sparking cider.

Happy 74th Birthday Vern! Way to try new things!

Eerika pretty must just drank cider. 

After dinner, we had a Christmas concert where the kids took turns singing songs on top of the stage (though for some it might look like a cooler). 

They also narrated the Nativity story.

I think Eerika is talking about the bright star, but really who knows.

We set out cookies and milk for joulupukki and checked his location on the Santa Radar. As the kids fell asleep, joulupukki was flying over Guatemala.

I had last minute wrapping to do and didn't get to bed until midnight. I was very excited for the morning and opening presents.

December 25th: Opening Presents

Our day started about 7:30 as Saku crawled into our bed. He did not remember that it was Christmas Day. Just few minutes after Saku climbed into the bed, I heard Eerika calling for me. As usual, she asked for some breakfast and then she remembered the presents. We asked Saku if he wanted to check out if joulupukki came and he dashed into the living room. 

Isi was already up and so were grandma and grandpa, but grandma wasn't quite ready for presents.

The kids saw their scooters and their reaction was underwhelming. I think they were too focused on the wrapped presents. It was a bit disappointing to not get a better reaction; however, we didn't let that ruin our mood. Saku had a very difficult time waiting for grandma. She only took about five minutes to come to the living room, but it seemed like a forever to Saku.

Finally we saw grandma's happy face and the first present was unwrapped within 30 seconds. 

Saku was eager to open presents. He wasn't too concerned what was in the present, but he just wanted to open them. It was pretty typical Saku behavior. Eerika was much more gracious at receiving presents. She was thrilled to use scissors to open presents and packaging. 

We try to keep gifts to minimum. Both of the kids got a Razor, so there would be no fighting. Eerika got Cinderella and Saku got Planes movie. Eerika got wooden puzzles and Saku got a Star Wars Guess Who. Saku got legos and Eerika got a cupcake building set. There were also two other movies: Lego Batman and Cat in the Hat. We have never bought movies before but we were in great need to add to our selection as we have watched the same movies over and over again for the past four years. The previous movie selection was received as gifts. 

Grandma got new pairs of pjs for both kids and new books to read. Eerika got a baking kit from Ikea with a rolling bin, cookies cutters, cookie sheet and cake pans. She also got an apron made by grandma. Saku got a backhoe that scoops on its own and makes noise. Grandma figured that he loves to dig and would like to have something to help him with it.

In all honesty, I was nervous as he didn't seem particularly thrilled about any of his presents at first.  You don't want to have "wasted" your money nor do you want to feel like your kid is ungrateful. The only reaction was on the Planes movie as he said "this is just what I wanted." However, once we said there were no more presents, he started working on his legos and loved them. Then we went on razor ride and he had a great time. I think he was just anxious to see what was next and couldn't settle down enough to enjoy any of the presents. 

Throughout the day Eerika played with her cupcake kit and enjoyed coloring with her new (washable) markers on the Hello Kitty book. Saku did some coloring, flew his lego airplane around and took turns riding his Razor and bike. 

There were presents that didn't get much attention, which means that we can play with them tomorrow and they were will be new and exciting.

I would have to say that their favorite thing was McKenna and Hayden coming over. They loved playing with their cousins. Even though there is a big age cap, McKenna and Hayden play so nicely with Saku and Eerika. I am so grateful for it. 

At the end of the night when we asked them what was their favorite present, Saku answered "Razor" and Eerika answered "cupcakes". 

Eerika giving grandma a snuggle while sporting her new vest.

Saku showing off his backhoe truck.

Christmas was good to Troy.

The boys working on legos.

Eerika working on her new puzzle.

We finally got dressed around 11 am. 

She looked like such a big girl with her hair pulled back and bow on her head.

Joulupukki ate our cookies and Rudolf drank the milk.

Saku quickly started cruising on his Razor.

Troy got a GoPro helmet video camera so we can re-live his skiing adventures. He was completely surprised by the present, which was awesome. He said that GoPro had felt so "unattainable" that he hadn't even done any research on it. When we told dad what Troy got, dad asked if it came with insurance. Troy thinks that having a sport action camera means he needs to do more extreme activities now. He also got spoiled by his parents with an air compressor. 

Troy did a great job giving me surprise presents. I had asked for new pjs and he found the most classy and comfortable ones. I would seriously stay in these for the next week if that was socially acceptable. I also received arm warmers (for running), warm up pants, stick to massage my muscles after a run, a new rolling bin and my favorite raspberry sour cream pancake mix. I love surprises and I wasn't expecting so many presents so I truly felt the magic of Christmas surprises. 

I FaceTimed with dad and Paula and really enjoyed our conversation. I also checked in with Mio and Bailey via FaceTime. Barb prepared a delicious Christmas dinner with roast, potatoes, cheese broccoli and cauliflower plus a salad. 

This Christmas felt very relaxed. Troy and I enjoyed talking with the adults, the kids enjoyed a movie night and playing with cousins. I ate too much as usual. The kids got to bed way too late. This all sums up to be a great Christmas. 

December 20th: Cinnamon Rolls

We had scheduled a hay ride for tonight to make up for the missed one. Because the weather was cold and rainy, Pantano Stables canceled the ride. I was not too upset about it. We already had a ward party that night and the idea of kids staying up way late didn't sound too appealing to me.

I had signed up to take 3 dozen rolls to the party. I followed Troy's mom's recipe as I always do. It is a same recipe for dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls. This means that the dinner rolls are amazing. 

I left out a small ball of dough for the kids to make cinnamon rolls out of.

I rolled out the dough and the kids painted the butter on it. I didn't trust the kids to put the cinnamon on the dough because too much cinnamon could be just an awful taste so I sprinkled the cinnamon and the kids spread the brown sugar. Then we carefully rolled it up and the kids took turns cutting up individual rolls. 

They turned out to be absolutely delicious cinnamon rolls. I think the healthy dose of brown sugar contributed to it. We ate them as an appetizer before heading over to the ward party.

Our dinner rolls received several compliments and requests for the recipe. Baking can be a tricky business as things don't always turn out well; however, that night the rolls were heavenly.

Because my hands were sticky from the dough, there are no pictures of my little bakers. 

Earlier that day, Heather and the kids came over for a play date. 

The girls quickly disappeared upstairs to play while Saku and James took turns riding the bike around the race track. There were few instances of "he is taking too many turns", but overall, the boys did a great job sharing the bike. 

Eerika, Ella and Julia got locked in Saku's room and when I went to unlock the door, Eerika was upset that Ella and Julia weren't going to sleep. I told her that she wasn't their mom. Eerika promptly informed me "I am pretending to be their mom". 

It really is a perfect set up with Heather. Saku has a friend, Eerika has two friends and I have Heather.  And our husbands are good friends. 

Chicken nuggets, apple sauce, fresh pineapple and hot chocolate made these kids very happy on the cold day.

December 19th: Drawing an Elf Land

It is not the easiest thing to come up with activities for each day. I love this tradition and our kids love checking the calendar. And it is all my idea so I am not complaining, but it does require a little extra work each night before I go to bed.

The previous day I had asked Troy "what is tonttu going to have us do tomorrow" and he just laughed as I am the tonttu who comes up with the activities. 

Well I wasn't feeling too creative nor did I want to bake something again, so we ended up drawing a picture of the place where tonttu lives.

 They got a huge blank piece of paper and then they got sharpies. They love sharpies. I think they just know that sharpies will permanently do damage if colored in wrong places and they love them.  I think they also know that sharpies are for "big kids" and therefore, they have an increased appeal over markers and crayons. 

Saku drew different houses with smoke coming out of the chimneys.

That evening we also had the Nielson kids over. Hailey, Austin, Will, Brad and Sam came to play with us while Rachael and Stuart enjoyed an anniversary date night. 

Hailey was a bit bored at our house since we don't have toys/activities for an eight year old. Otherwise, the kids had a blast. Austin (7), Will (5) and Brad (almost 3) and Saku and Eerika had the time of their life. I love watching our kids play with other kids. As always, dress up clothes and our backyard was a huge hit. Eerika was also very occupied playing with baby Sam. She wanted to hold him, which wasn't really a feasible idea since Sam weights only few pounds less than Eerika. 

It was a bit strange to be feeding a baby little puffs, feeding him a bottle and tearing up chicken nuggets. I know it hasn't been that long since Eerika was in that stage, but long enough, that it seemed a bit like a novelty. I had forgotten how little hands try to grab everything and how little hands get very sticky. 

Eerika happily giving Sam 10 different balls to play. 

December 13th: The Missed Hayride

Our neighborhood is awesome and so is our HOA. 

They organized hay rides around the neighborhood so families could check out the Christmas lights while experiencing a ride pulled by horses.

The same night we attended, as a last minute plan, a movie night at the elementary school. They had a free showing of the "Rise of the Guardians". We had two lawn chairs, the strollers and winter clothes plus a blanket and we were still little cold, but the movie was fun and everyone had a great time. 

Because of the unplanned movie night, the night got sort of busy. After the movie was over, we quickly went home to drink some hot chocolate to warm up. Though kids and drinking hot chocolate doesn't equal a quick event. 

Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication and we didn't get to the parking lot on time to go on the ride.

The kids were upset. Troy and I were upset. It is hard to see your kids disappointed and to know that you are responsible, at least to some degree, for it.  There was some serious crying from them. 

I wanted to write this down though because it seemed like a big deal that night that we didn't go on one. But the kids have not even asked about it since then. It shows that sometimes you have to let things go and kids adapt easily. 

Also it is a good lesson to go back to about being on time and not showing up in the last minute. I had even told the kids "if we don't get there on time, they will leave without us". I didn't really think it was going to happen, but it did and maybe it will teach all of us to be better about being on time.

December 18th: Winter Haven Lights

It was time for our annual trip to check out the Christmas lights at Winter Haven. I believe we have gone each year for the past three years. 

Camille and Birch live less than mile away from the neighborhood so I asked for invitation to come and have pizza at their house and then go and check out the lights together. It is nice to have good enough friends that you can self-invite yourself to their house and it is not a big deal. We did take the pizza so we aren't complete moochers. 

After we ate some Costco pizza, the eating was done mostly by adults as the kids were too excited to be with their friends to worry about such a bothersome thing as eating, we headed out to check out the lights.

Camille armed us with some hot chocolate and cookies and we were ready to enjoy the lights.

I don't think the kids were that impressed by the lights but they loved running from house to another.  Eerika tripped over three times as she was running in the dark in her winter boots. After she fell the third time, she did not cry and proudly announced "I got hurt but I didn't cry". The other two times she did cry as we did a complete face plant. 

The fake snow machine was a hit by the kids. Nothing like pretending that soap is snow for the Arizona kids. We spent a good 10 minutes as the kids tried to catch "snow flakes". Eerika was especially upset when it was time to move away from the machine. 

Proof that we were there with the DeGomez family. Eerika got upset when Haley tried to have Eerika next to her and ran away crying. But we get four kids in the picture.

Saku is really enjoying this arms across his chest pose.

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It was fun to check out the lights, but it really was much more fun and important to see Camille and Birch. It really doesn't get much better than spending time with friends who have known you for six plus years. 

December 17th: Cookie Surprise

Because our kids have been so focused on giving to others, I wanted to make them feel appreciated.

So during nap time/quiet time, I baked some cookies. I should say delicious milk chocolate, white chocolate chip cookies. Somehow I ended up having about four spoonfuls of just the dough...and three cookies.

There was a note that thanked the kids for being such good elf helpers and surprising other people and today was the elf's turn to surprise them. Tonttu encouraged them to eat the cookies with milk or put ice cream in between. 

Saku found his cookies as we played with legos and he asked if I had baked them. I better be more careful about my surprises. He ate two of his cookies and gave me one. 

Eerika's reaction was priceless. She woke up from her nap and obviously saw the cookies. Then she ran to the top of the stairs and yelled something along the line "tonttu gave me cookies. come and see". She was so ecstatic. I ran upstairs to check on the cookies and it was so fun to see her so happy and excited. The girl loves cookies. She gave one of her cookies to Saku, who had eaten his cookies a while ago and she ate two.

Saku had eaten his cookies by the time I took the picture of Eerika's cookies.

Today as Eerika was about to go to sleep, she wondered if tonttu would bring her cookies again while she was sleeping. 

Miss Eerika-One Month Short of Three Years

When someone asks Eerika how old she is, she will answer without a hesitation "two and a half". She will have to change her answer soon as she will be three next month. 

She has become this big girl. Troy keeps saying over and over how much she has grown and learned in the last month or so. 

Eerika still naps. There have been days when she says she isn't tired and she has skipped a nap few times. However, she still naps on most days. Fortunately, when she does not nap, she still handles it pretty well. 

She is very good about napping on command in the car. I can tell her "Eerika take a quick nap" as we drive to church at 1:30 and she will literally close her eyes and be asleep in 30 seconds. It never ceases to amaze me. 

She loves nursery. On Sunday she came home singing "follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, dont go astray". She kept repeating it over and over again. It is the first time I have noticed her learning something outside the home and it was a cool feeling. 

She loves to read. We read many many books each day. This morning she was reading a book in her bed by herself when Troy went to see her and she explained that she was reading in bed because it was still night time ( dark at 6:40 am).

She can recite the first article of faith. It blows my mind. I am so proud of her. And I don't put huge emphasis on my kids "learning tricks", but I do love our goal to memorize the articles of faith and the fact that miss Eerika can answer when we ask "what do we believe in?"

She has a hard time sitting at the table when we eat our meals. She is not in a high chair anymore and has the freedom to get down and back up and she does it a lot. It drives Troy crazy. I have more tolerance for it as I have three meals a day with her and I cannot get too worked up over it. I do agree that we need to work on it though. 

She loves to ride her tricycle. She gets a bit frustrated by the fact that Saku is way faster on his bike, but she calms down after I explain that two wheel bikes are just faster and she needs to worry about her own race. 

She still loves to bug Saku. It is not as bad as it seemed to be about a month ago. Mostly it stems from  good intentions such as wanting to give Saku a hug or a kiss when Saku doesn't want one, so they both get frustrated.

On the other hand, she is great about being flexible with Saku. Saku often wants a certain cup and Eerika is willing to give up her cup to make Saku happy. It is almost maddening because he gets his way and isn't learning to be more flexible but her kindness is amazing. 

She really likes her friends Ella and Julia and the girls all play so well together. She also talks about Amber a lot, but they still haven't quite figured out how they play well together. She also enjoys playing with Brad. 

She loves movies. She wants to watch a movie each time we get in the car. We do not go with this. She also gets very sad when we pull into the garage and the car gets turned off and the movie stops. So we have started to warn her about it and inform her that she cannot cry when the movie stops. Interestingly enough, she doesn't really ask for movies at home very much. 

She is a great supporter of Saku's soccer career. She cheers "go gators" at games and happily plays by the soccer fields. 

She loves sweets. She would eat cookies all day. 

She has been potty trained since June. She had been dry at night since September but she started having accidents about three weeks ago. I am not sure what that is about.

She is such a fun girl. Most of the time she has a great smile on her face. She is brave and strong and often tell me "I didn't cry" or  "I didn't cry much" if she gets hurt.  She loves to give kisses on the mouth and loves to give hugs. She is quite the affectionate girl which makes Troy and I very happy.

We went on a bike ride while Saku was in joy school. She loved riding over the puddles. 

December 14th and 15th: Giving to Others

This year we chose a three families in who could use financial/emotional/both Christmas cheers. 

On Saturday we went to Fry's and shopped for "our friends" as we told the kids. We picked food, household supplies and gift cards. 

Sunday night we did a delivery of goods. We sneaked up on three different houses, dropped the surprise and ran away. It was quite the thrilling feeling of sprinting away from a house and knowing that the family would find a note and presents to show that they were thought of. 

That night Saku was a bit disappointed that we were doing nice things for others but no one was bringing surprise to our house.  Troy was a bit frustrated as he felt that Saku wasn't understanding the point of giving away. I honestly feel that he was fine to feel that way. He is only four years old and while we know we should serve other people without wanting credit or anything in return, it is natural to wonder if someone will think of you as well. I think Saku will remember this Christmas and the following Christmases that will be focused on other people. And I know eventually he won't wonder if someone will come and surprise us because he will truly understand why we do this. 

I have really loved this year and the focus we have had on other people. 

I love surprises. I love Christmas presents, but it has truly changed my focus as we have thought of people who might not get visited much or who might not feel appreciated or loved and those who struggle to have a Merry Christmas because of finances or other life situations. 

And as always, Troy has been teaching me about being generous. We came up with the budget for the three families and Troy reminded me that giving is good but giving a bit more is even better. I am grateful that he helps me grow as a person. 

Saku at 4 years and 6 months

It is a bit more difficult to do updates on your kids when they aren't babies anymore and the mile stones aren't "crawling" and "walking" and "he knows 10 words".

Saku likes playing outside. It has taken some serious convincing to have him come inside for lunch.

He loves to bike. He bikes around the race track and he is really good on the bike. 

I would say that legos are his favorite toy. 

He also likes to play dress up. 

He loves listening to stories and reading books. The biggest punishment that we could give him is to deny him a bed time story.

He is not sleeping in as late as he was sleeping six months ago. But he goes to bed without too much hassle, which is a nice balance as I listen Eerika sing songs an hour after the lights have been turned off. 

He still loves to change his clothes a lot. He might go through two to three outfits each day. 

Saku has been working on his reading. We don't put any pressure on him. In fact it has been more than two weeks since our last reading lesson, but he does really well when we do them. He can read the reading lesson words with 90% accuracy, but I wouldn't say he knows how to read yet. I am proud of his focus while we do the lessons and his willingness to practice. 

Saku can go to primary without much hassle. Especially if I drop him off and I give him a note to have in his pocket. 

Saku says beautiful prayers. 

He has memorized the first and second article of faith. It is awesome to listen to him recite them.

We are working on being grateful for the things we have even if they aren't our favorite. Saku has also learned to apologize and seems to understand the effect that his words have on people. 

 Saku has very recently started to have night terrors. It is very difficult to watch him be so scared about something and not be able to wake him up. Last night it took five minutes to calm him down and have him wake up enough to feel calm.  

He also has a difficult time dealing with soccer games when the other team is better than his team.  Or when the other kids on his team score and get more time with the ball. He does fine at a soccer practice and most of the time, he really enjoys them and plays well. However, games are tough. I would say that Saku would make a good defender as he isn't much for running after the ball. He likes to do big kicks 

Saku still plays with James about every two weeks. Since James is in school now, it is more difficult to find a time to play. He likes playing with Curtis and Will. He thinks Ella, from his soccer team, is cute and funny. We have been playing more at home and Saku plays really well with Eerika. 

Saku is good at making friends in new social situations. He continuous to play very well with older kids. 

This is how Saku dressed himself for the photo shoot.

Fortunately he was happy to get dressed in the clothes of my choice and even posed for a picture.

Two things that make me happy: Saku sounding out his words and enjoying it and Saku eating ruisleipä (rye bread).

Who knows where this pose came from but he was into it.

The picture above is a perfect depiction of my house. I would say that it is not messy or dirty; however, random items get scattered around the house. It drives me a bit crazy but I know one day my floors will be empty of clutter and I will miss it so I will just keep putting things back to where they belong 100 times a day.

Beautiful Children

I wasn't really in the mood for family pictures this year. I didn't feel like coordinating outfits, finding clothes that I felt cute and finding a time to do it. However, when a girl in our ward was offering to take the kids pictures for free, I jumped on the chance to get good pictures of Saku and Eerika.

I was amazed how well the kids did. They would smile at her. They would pose for her. And they got rewarded with candy cane oreos. The pictures were taken after nap time, so Eerika's blow dried hair was a post-nap here, but we went with it and she looked great. I always tell her that she is just as beautiful in the morning straight out of bed as she is after we get all dressed up.  The dressed up look does look little more classy though:)  Saku also got a hair cut that morning after being bribed with Peter Pan movie so the kids were ready to show off their good looks. 

I am blessed with two beautiful children. 

When I struggle with the fact the our baby plans are not going according to "my plans", and I wonder why other women get pregnant, get to stay pregnant and have those babies, I look at these children and I am filled with wonder of having these children as my own. And I am grateful that they came into our family without troubles. And I am grateful for the challenges of having another baby because I truly can appreciate Saku and Eerika more. I think of the pregnancies and delivering them and I am so blessed. I do hope and pray that we will have another baby soon. But until then, these two will keep me busy and happy. 

December 12th: Visiting a Nursing Home

Saku's joy school class and the other joy school groups within our ward visited a local nursing home.

Saku got to be a inn keeper and he said "No Room" after Joseph (Kirk) knocked on the door. I was supposed to make a card board door; however, I happened to have a loose dresser door so we used it as a prop. An employee of the nursing home thought that the door was one of theirs and seemed little confused of why I had a dresser door with me. 

Saku did a good job with his role and even sang some of the songs. The kids gave cards and pins to the residents and we chatted with them for few minutes. 

Jedi costume can also be an inn keeper costume...

Eerika can't wait to be an official joy school kid. She did go and sing "In a Little Stable".  She can sing both verses. 

We arrived at the nursing home about 40 minutes early so there was some time to be silly.

We visited this place last year. It is amazing what a difference one year makes. It was also fun to do the same thing as I feel like we are establishing our roots here in Corona and deepen our friendships and connections with the people close to us. 

Last year I just hoped that Saku would stand there with his friends and behave. And If I can remember correctly, he did just fine. 

Last year, Saku was a shepherd. 

I love this coat that I found in a thrift store for Eerika. 

Eerika still has a baby face in this picture. There is no sign of a baby girl this year. 

While I find it difficult make small talk with complete strangers, I truly felt happy as we spend our time cheering up these ladies and gentlemen who don't have much or any family around. 

December 6th: Finland's Independence Day and Christmas Concert

On December sixth we celebrated Finland's Independence Day. It is a bit difficult to get into a holiday that seems very far removed as we don't have any other Finnish people nearby. 

I talked to the kids how that day was Finland's birthday and they got their freedom from Russia. Or as I put it in 4 and 2 year old terms, "Finland got to be their own boss".  I explained that there was a battle and Finland ended up winning because they didn't give up. I think I could give a lecture on Finnish national history. As a tangent, I should say that Saku woke up the following night with a night terror about someone dying in a battle. I hadn't mentioned anything about people dying but the kid has a sharp mind and put two and two together. 

We happen to be in the need to go to the grocery store so we ended up buying brownies and ice cream to make a birthday cake for Finland. Eerika wanted to put it in their airplane to ship to the Finland so Ukki and Mummi could eat it.

We ate a steak dinner with baked potatoes, green beans and delicious feta salad with raspberry lemonade. There ended up being too much food, which isn't too much of a surprise. 

The elf instruction for this day was to perform a Christmas concert for isi, as he got home from Seattle that night. Saku acted out the nativity story with our little people figures and the kids sang "In a Little Stable".

The night was finished with brownies and ice cream and Troy putting the kids to bed:)

Sadly enough I did not take any pictures...

On a side note, I should mention that Corrye watched the kids so I could go running outside after running on the treadmill for four days. It was hard because of the hills but also so refreshing to be running outside. A good friend knows what I need. And I was smart enough to take her up on her offer. 

December 3rd: Gingerbread house

Today was our day to decorate a gingerbread house. 

Saku had seen the gingerbread house kit in our trunk after I bought it from JoAnn's.  While I am all about promoting the magic of Christmas and keep telling them about Joulupukki and tontut, I figured I should also acknowledge the reality that Saku had seen the kit. So I talk about how other people can help Joulupukki and tonttu to surprise people and make them happy. 

We also talked about how we should try to surprise and make other people happy. I liked that the gingerbread house kit prompted me to talk about this because as much I would love to forever have them believe in Joulupukki, it won't happen and this way we can relate the spirit of Christmas to be more than just Joulupukki bringing presents. 

I was in charge of the icing, for obvious reasons, but the kids took care of rest of the decorating. Saku was very excited about candy canes on it and Eerika licked the frosting off her fingers A LOT. But we had a fun experience together. 

Saku even worked with the frosting. His mantra was  "a little bit is good, more is better". Well he didnt say it but his work reflected it.