Vasa park Swedish fair

Last sunday there was a Swedish fair at Vasa park in Agoura hills. They had Scandinavian crafts for sale and a meatball cookoff. It was fun for the whole family

jason's b-day

more pics from Liam's school

checking out pumpkin with magnifying glass
out trekking
someone wanted to read a book and it became storytime
the playhouse was decorated by the kids
planting some grass
beautiful Zoe
climbing a tree
Liam and Liam
I've now started to leave him at the school, and he's going great! The school just became a practicum site for UCLA's early childhood education program

Liam's new school

the snack area
on the trampoline
matching

Erik can play drums too!
They made necklaces out of cerealpat on the back
The teacher climbed up to get Liam an apple. They have all kinds of fruit trees and the kids get to help out with the garden.delicious apple

Liam made new friends
they we're discussing how to scare the birds the best way
hitting the sand box
the little girl had a pet snail
I really like Liam's new school, and so does he. It's similar to Swedish "dagis" in that they are outside the whole time (although they have a studio with bathroom, toys, instruments etc). They do things such as read books, art projects, letters, numbers, music etc, but it's volontary and the kids always have the option to play instead if they prefer. There's a trail in the back where they go for nature walks. They also use non-violent communication and help the kids solve their conflicts instead of just stopping them. I've been there with him three times now, and I'll gradually start leaving him there when I know he's comfortable.

Just during these last couple of weeks, Liam is much more interested in making friends. He goes up to play with other kids and has so much fun at the playground and at school.

two little monkeys

screaming "aaaah"
yeah, you two
wrestling

marimekko around the house

As some of you might have noticed, I really like marimekko. Since my art-budget isn't too impressive, it's cheaper to buy fabric made by artists and frame it. Here's the marimekko stuff hanging up in my house (I've got more stored)

Theresa Moorehouse's Nanuk hangs in the boys room. Nanuk is a polar bear in the jungle (an environmental reminder). The pillows below are made by Eva, my sister-in-law Ida's mother. She should have her own design-label but that's another story


Kanteleen Kutsu pattern by Sanna Annukka. Kanteleen Kutsu is Finnish for "Call of the Kantele" and the pattern displays a scene from the Kalevala in which the protagonist plays his instrument for the animals. Read more about kalevala here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevala
Not marimekko, however, my moster Lisbeth was kind enough to give me this piece by a man named Eder. I love the motif and it reminds me of my grandparent's house, since they had several pieces by the same man
Erja Hirvi's Kaakaopuu, cocoabeans hangs by our dining tableMatkalla maalle (2007) by Theresa moorhouse
Erja Hirvi's keisarinna started out as a wall hanging and ended up as roller blinds in the kitchen

Liam's haircut

before
after
misty-eyed but quite happy about his new look
Yesterday I used the true and used parenting-method of bribing in order to cut Liam's hair. He still wasn't happy about it but we got through it.

Out walking

Every morning and evening we take Harry out for a walk. We've started to let Liam walk by himself instead of sitting in the stroller. He has a great time checking everything out. And I mean EVERYTHING. A walk takes about 45 mins. Today he was thinking that we should take the neighbors little dog with us home to play.

Taking Harry for a walk is so much fun!
There's so much to see and talk about
How are the neighbors doing this morning?
The tree seems to be doing ok. Any ants perhaps?Flying the airplane

Looks like they're doing a good job on the roof...A sprint down the street
There's always time to stop and smell the rosesand bring some of the neighbor's flowers to mamma
Erik likes to go for walks as well. He likes flowers, trees, and cars. But if you're really lucky you get to see an airplane, a cat or a dog