Miss Eerika-wild hair and cute dress

Eerika has many beautiful dresses to wear to church on Sundays. I am not very good at taking pictures of her when she is all dressed up. I don't want to get her dressed too early before our 2 pm church so she would stay clean and after church, we are too much in a hurry to get food into our bellies.

These pictures sum of the girl pretty well. She is wild. She gets excited easily and shows it well. She is naturally so beautiful. She is very good at coloring for her age. 

Miss Eerika in her Sunday dress on December 22nd, 2013. 

She was drawing with crayons while waiting for the french toast dinner.

This dress says "dry clean only". I did not follow that instruction and the dress survived a "hand wash" cycle in my washer. WHY would I dry clean a toddler dress???

January 2014: After Eerika went kakka, I wiped her bum as usual and she happily exclaimed "Am I awesome or what?" Referring to the treasure that she had deposited in the toilet.

Thursday Date

This week has been a true "back to real life" week. After two weeks of spending all day together, I had forgotten how few the hours as a family are with work and other responsiblities. Troy has a scout overnight training tomorrow night and I work Saturday night so I told him that we needed to do a Thursday night date. I needed to connect with him. 

Both of the kids ended up being sick today. Nothing dramatic. Cough, runny nose and maybe a bit fever. Both of the kids fell asleep before dinner. 

And then Eerika woke up when I was changing her into her pajamas.

And she joined us for our date. I really was fine with it. 

We watched Dan in Real Life.  We had watched this movie few years ago. As a rule, I do not watch the same movie twice unless it is really great. However, this movie is funny and romantic and we loved it this time around as well. 

Saku snored through the whole thing. 

Eerika and isi had a special dance party after the movie.

Tonight was a perfect Thursday date night. Nothing extravagant. But we connected through shared laughs and cute moments with Eerika. 

Last Skiing Adventure of 2013

For those who know me even a little, they know that skiing is my favorite activity.  I love being an engineer, but I have been known to say that "skiing would be my occupation of choice if I could somehow provide for my family and maintain my income."  Fortunately I have an amazing wife who support and encourages me to take a ski trip to Utah each year with my brothers, Kyle and Trent.

Since Saku and Eerika have been very little I have been "brainwashing" them into thinking that skiing is the thing.  We have watch Warren Miller movies together, gone Skiking and biking together, and we even watched an amazing ski video from Norway after one Family Home Evening (FHE).

Eerika at 23 months trying on my skis.

Last year while in Utah for Christmas, I tried to take Saku skiing at Brighton.  This was the worst idea ever!  The temperature was 18ºF, Saku and I argued over having ski poles, and the crowds were outrageous (Eevi stood in the Explorer chairlift line for 45 minutes).  Saku went up the 40ft magic carpet, "skied" about 20ft, cried yelled about being cold, and then called it a day.

Saku getting bundled up for a very cold day.

 In April we were in Utah again with Eevi's dad visiting Kyle and Jen, and Mio and Bailey.  I decided to try and take Saku skiing again.  We went to my favorite place, Alta, and the conditions were perfect for him (not so much for Kyle and I later that day).  The snow was very slushy and no matter how hard Saku tried to go fast, the sticky wet snow just wouldn't let him.  He did great and we had a blast!

Saku enjoying the spring skiing weather.

On December 30, 2013, my brother, Trent, and I decided to take a trip to Arizona Snowbowl and take our kids skiing.  He took Savannah, Brooklyn, and McKenna, while I took Saku.  The weather was sunny and a very enjoyable 35ºF.  Before leaving Phoenix, we took Saku to Sports Chalet to rent a pair of skis.  Saku is thoroughly convinced that he has to have ski poles (probably from watching me go Skiking), but they just don't make them his size.  It is also harder to learn to ski with poles, so thankfully the rental guy convinced Saku that he just couldn't rent any to him.  We got to Snowbowl and were on the slopes at 10:45 am.  We had a bit of a challenge when we first got there.  Saku's boots were too small with his wool socks (my guess is he was too excited when renting to tell me then), so after a bit of a melt down, he ended up skiing with no socks at all.

Finally we started with a quick trip down the the 450ft magic carpet.  The lines were a little long, but not bad.  Saku did great and only fell a couple of times.  After two magic carpet runs, we headed to the Aspen chairlift for Saku's first ride ever on a lift.  The line there was atrocious and we waited about 30 minutes.  Saku did great and wasn't scared at all.

He has reached this age where it really is a lot of fun to spend time with him.  He has about a million things to say and asks questions about everything.  And when he isn't talking, he will serenade you with Christmas, primary, and Taylor Swift songs.

After going on the Aspen lift, he was ready to go to the "top."  So we headed over to the Hart Prairie chairlift and got on.  We went to left off the lift and headed down the Tinhorn run.  It is a bit steeper than I remembered (it had been over 15 years since I had been there).  I had to carry Saku down the first 100ft, but then he did a great job skiing down the rest of Hart Prairie.  There were a couple of falls, but he kept getting back up and trying again.  We went up again, and this time he went down Tinhorn all by himself.  It was awesome.  As we headed down Hart Prairie to get some lunch, Saku started doing little jumps.  It totally caught me by surprise and was amazing.  On his 5th jump, he took a pretty bad fall where his skis popped off and knocked his knees.  There was quite a bit of crying.  So, I picked him up and we headed to the car for lunch.  At this point he said he was done.

I convinced him to head up and have lunch at the lodge.  While eating lunch we FaceTimed with my mom and Eevi, and while telling them about his adventures, he decided that he was ready to go out again.  We skied until they closed and Saku and I had a great time.  It was one of the best experiences that I have every had with him.  He listened really well, only cried a little, and we had fun!

For Christmas, Eevi got me a GoPro Hero3+ camera.  I took some footage and made a little montage accompanied by Saku's favorite song.

An Awesome Game

Today started as our two chicken nuggets climbed into our bed at 7:30. Troy and I stayed up way too late last night. I need my sleep so I usually make sure that lights are out by 10 pm. However, I was about to finish a good book and therefore it was close to midnight before I fell asleep. Troy was editing a video of Saku's skiing and he went to sleep even after that. 

I got my butt out for  a run and returned 25 minutes later with heavy legs and good spirits. We powered our tired bodies with sweet potato hash browns and fried eggs. 

I am no food photographer. So this is just for evidence for a super delicious meal that I had never thought of before. For the record, I liked it more than Troy did. He still wished he could have his regular hash browns.

Saturday mornings mean soccer games. I honestly wanted to skip this one. It's not that I don't love soccer games or cheering for Saku, but I wanted to enjoy one more day when we were in charge of our schedule. Troy reminded me that there might not be enough kids to play if we skipped, so at 10:30 we were all driving to the field while getting pumped up with Katy Perry's Fireworks. We also realized how we need to start filtering what music can listen as he was belting out Lady Gaga's "Do what you want" song. It is just awful. 

Saku's game was awesome. It was the best game he has ever had. He didn't score a goal, which he has done in previous games, but he had fun. He ran fast to defend his goal. He was happy when his team scored. He worked really hard. We were so proud. He did take a fall in the end and scraped up his elbow, which dampened his spirits. However, even Coach Gina noticed the difference.

We aren't sure why today's game was so good. Next week might be a struggle again, but Troy and I were so happy after the game. 

We had reminded him how some kids are better at soccer and some kids are better at skiing. I think that helped him. But really who knows. 

Lunch was a chicken chili soup. This paleo business means lot of cooking. Eerika also wanted macaroni and cheese. There was no boxed ones, so I ended up making that from scratch too.

The evening included few miles of biking for the boys. 

 

 And about a quarter of a mile biking for this girl. I am bikeless, so I just walked as she pedaled with all her might.

Dinner was ham, cauliflower, squash and zucchini. Saku said "we should have this ham every day".
I think Troy agreed:) 

Paleo Day 1

Yesterday we started on a paleo diet. For the next 30 days, our meals will be made out of vegetables, fruits, meat, nuts and healthy fats. No beans, no grains, no dairy and no sugar. I think of it as a way to detox from all the sugar and baked goods that we (though mostly I) ate during the holiday. I have read great things about it so we will see how it will make us feel. 

The kids enjoyed their lunch of smoked salmon, sweet potatoes and broccoli. Since the kids can eat "normally", they also had some cheese cubes.

We can already tell that it is a lot more work. You can't just reach for a slice of bread and the main dish staples of pasta, rice and white potatoes are out. I am hoping that this will help us get used to eating more vegetables rather than filling our bellies with carbs. 

We will probably eat lots of eggs. We tried almond butter for the first time yesterday since peanut butter is not allowed and found it delicious but expensive. Isn't that the way it always is! 

I don't know if we will love it or hate it, but either way we have 29 more days to go. 

I should say that if we could eat smoked salmon every day, we wouldnt have a problem but that would be a way too expensive. 

Important Family Facts

As of December 31st of 2013, Eerika is not using a tutti anymore! It took one night of sadness. She asked me to pray that we could find it. It wasn't lost but I wasn't in the mood to go and find it downstairs. When I prayed that she would be brave and sleep without it, she wasn't happy. She went to sleep without it and only asked for it once today. 

As of December 30th of 2013, Saku can ski down a green run all by himself and do some jumps. He is amazing. Troy will have to write down about their experience, but as I watch the videos of Saku skiing, I am loving his bravery and his endurance to ski for fours hours. 

As of December 26th of 2013, Troy is the proud owner of a road bike.  The buying experience involved waiting for the seller for 20 minutes (we were supposed to meet at 5:30), realizing that there was a flat tire, driving to another location for a tire change, finally test riding the bike, buying the bike, dead car battery, car getting jumped, eating dinner at 8 pm at Cafe Zupas and finally getting home after 9:30.  We are still waiting for the shoes to arrive in the mail. 

As of December 28th, I bought a sweet lip color that stays on for hours. Unfortunately, it also rubs on my teeth occasionally and it can be hard to get off unless I can see myself in a mirror. So I either look amazing for hours or I look like one of those grandma's with lipstick on their teeth. For now, I am taking the risk and hoping to look fabulous!

Great First Day of the Year

We had a fabulous day today. It was a work hard and play hard day. A great way to start our new year.

Eerika woke up around 8 and Troy heroically got up with her. I didnt get up until 9 am. Saku didn't get up until 10.

We ate the most delicious raspberry sour cream pancakes. Last day to enjoy them before we start a whole30 program that doesn't allow grains or sugars for 30 days. 

I didn't change out of pjs until 4 pm when we went for a family bike/run.

I was back in those pjs by 6:45 pm after I showered. 

Troy was a bit better better as he showered around 3 pm before he and Saku went to recycle our Christmas tree and buy a trail-a-bike.

However, our kids were on top of it. Each of them, independently, got dressed sometime after breakfast while they were playing upstairs.

We accomplished our goals of:

Taking down the Christmas tree and all the Christmas decorations.

Cleaning the kitchen

Unpacking our huge load of stuff from our trip to Phoenix

Vacuuming behind our couches that barely ever get moved.

We enjoyed Popo's left overs for lunch. The Mexican Restaurant that Troy's parents have eaten at for 40 years and now religiously visit each Monday. 

We read books. We snuggled and giggled. 

We biked/ran about 3 miles. 

Eerika went to sleep at 7 because girlfriend missed her nap. I cuddled her while we listened to lullabies and she drifted to sleep. Those little sweet moments of life. 

Saku, Troy and I snuggled and had a "Saku, äiti and isi" date while we watched Hugo.

Saku was very anxious to go on the bike ride. He was even ready to get rid of his mongoose bike since he can now bike with isi.

The boys working on getting a flag on.

They were ready. Troy has a sweet road bike now.

If the rest of the year is anything like today, I will love it!