Tänä aamuna

This morning, like most of my mornings, I felt I was so tired that getting up anytime soon was impossible. Then I got up. My husband had already left, even though he is even tireder. My second-grader needed breakfast. She was in an unusually good mood and I even managed to capture a few moments. It was around 8 am. Amy, I wonder what you were doing on Thursday evening around 10 pm?

Pastry therapy

Even though bunnies don't lay eggs...

This week was all about homemade Easter fun.  I bought a strange tie-die egg-dying kit that looked like a science experiment, and was pleasantly surprised.  I also found a bunny mold I'd forgotten about and made some salt-dough bunnies for decorating.  Unfortunately, kiddo found the stash of chocolate, so he keeps wanting to know when Easter is so he can get his hands on it!  So much for giving credit to the Easter bunny!

Hyvää pääsiäistä kaikille

What I like about Easter is that it's saturated with drama and deep meaning without the materialistic hype and wound-up expectations of children that so easily predominate Christmastime. Having special treats on Easter morning is enough to make even my first-born happy.

Have a good Easter, everyone.

Home

Old things, new things.  My old house, but with a new kid.  My old friends have new kids, too.  Even my old toys made an appearance!

Lara, my little joy this week was coming home to find all my trillium in bloom, and if it ever stops raining, I will take a picture of them!  Also, I am enjoying being on east coast time, which means I am up bright and early every morning!

Pikkuiloja

When you feel bulldozed by the demands of everyday life, focus your mind on little pleasures...

like the aesthetics of food, or a happy piece of clothing. The sound of the street being cleaned of winter's gravel, or a flock of cranes returning for the summer in a perfect V formation. This is what my little joys have been this week. Being here posting to you also makes me happy, even if I was interrupted several times in process. And though spring has really been takin' its time this year, it looks like we are finally going to have a warm weekend.

What made you happy this week? Please share your simple pleasure in a comment! But most importantly, take a little time to find it. Focus. It's an act of your will.

Wild and wonderful

That's what they say about this particular state that the boy and I visited last weekend.  The weekend started with a birthday party at an indoor amusement/game park.

Then it was off to the wild country!  I think the best part was watching a new generation of wild and wonderful cousins!

Rantasaunalla

These pictures are from Easter vacation a few years back, at the end of March in the archipelago. I wish they were from this year, because sauna by the sea is just what I would need right now!

Ye olde stomping grounds!

Well, here I am!  This set of pictures will take you from my childhood home to the historic bridge across the street, then back home again.  It's always nice to see that not too much has changed, at least in the immediate area!

Syömään!

I gave my 8-year-old daughter a beautifully illustrated cookbook, asked her to look through it and mark what she would like to try. She marked meatballs, macaroni casserole, cabbage casserole
(all very traditional Finnish dishes, nothing new about them), blueberry pie, after a little hesitation rhubarb pie, and nine different cakes.

Dinner is served! And we're having... cake! (I do love both making and eating cakes, but mostly for dessert.)

Speaking of which, this is what my husband, who is super-conscientious and almost always remembers everything important, surprised me with on my nameday. They just had to be photographed before they were eaten!