So the kids started school last week — Lydia’s in 8th grade, Tage’s in 2nd, and Petra’s in her final year of pre-school — and we have been busy, busy, busy. It seems like every time I turn around we’re scheduled for some new meeting for this or appointment for that.

Today we did actually have a “free” day, so Olof, Brynja, and I were able to make a trip to town to finish up shopping for Lydia’s birthday, and to pick up a few other things we needed. We didn’t make it to the grocery store, though, so that may be on the agenda for tomorrow. Or not, actually, because we’ll be celebrating the aforementioned birthday and after dinner I’ve got to head out for Tage’s first violin lesson. The cupboards are getting pretty bare, though, so it’s got to be soon. One cannot live by bread alone, after all (though I could probably be persuaded to try).

Pumpkin blossoms, that is … now let’s hope the bees get busy making their magic before we run out of time!

It’s been another busy week here, a little overwhelming but probably also good practice for the chaos that will rule our lives next week when the three oldest kids go back to school.

Last Friday (the 13th!), was Tage’s eighth birthday, which we celebrated by eating lunch in town, spending the afternoon at the kids’ favorite big park, then having cake at the best little bake shop around. Saturday he invited a few friends over for a Ben10-themed party, and that was a roaring success, even if I could have done with a bit less heat and humidity. At least we were able to be outside, not something you can count on in mid-August in northern Sweden.

Sunday was pretty low-key until we noticed late in the evening that Lucy had a red, weepy eye, and I spent a little while trying to puzzle out what was the matter. The next morning we got her in for an emergency appointment at the vet, and it turns out that she’d somehow gotten a small scratch on her eyeball — probably from long grass, the doctor said — and we came home with a couple of different kinds of eyedrops to torture her with several times daily for the next week or so.

On Tuesday my mom headed back home after a month here with us, and that’s always a bit of a downer. It takes all of us a little while to get used to not having her here, but we’re consoling ourselves with plans for our trip to the States next summer. Every day Tage and Petra have some new idea for what we’ll do when we’re there, and it’s fun watching them get so excited about all of it.

Last night I stayed up entirely too late watching baseball (the Braves made an unexpected trade yesterday and I wanted to hear all about it), so I slept in nearly ’til noon, and that brings us to today. In just a couple of minutes I’m going to go in and watch Top Chef, and I’ve been roped into taking Petra to town later on to spend her birthday money. Then I’ve got another ballgame to watch at oh-nineteen-hundred hours, so my day is already planned down to the minute, it seems. There truly is no rest for the weary.

We went to a harvest market last weekend, and among countless other things, there was a face-painting tent. Petra was the only one of the kids who went for it, but she was quite pleased with the Spiderman look that Tage and her cousin Alex picked out for her. Me, I was plenty happy with the blueberry cobbler I baked from the fresh blueberries that my mom bought. That didn’t last long enough to get any pictures of, but I think this is the best shot I got all day, anyway.

I just can’t seem to get my head around posting lately. Part of it is lack of computer time, part of it is being fairly busy, but I’m afraid that most of it is just plain old blah-ness. I think I’ve got a bit of a mild–very mild–depression going on and it’s sapping my will to do much of anything. Bah.

The past week or so has been nothing but go, go, go … it’s been fun, all of it, but I can’t say I’ve been bothered by the rain and grey skies that have kept us home today. I’m not sure the kids would agree, but I know that Olof, my mom, and I were all happy enough for a break from constant activity.

In between cookouts and family dinners and shopping trips and birthday parties, Olof and I slipped away by ourselves on Monday afternoon and drove to town, where first we had an ultrasound appointment (babe checks out great!) then later dinner and a movie. We saw Inception, about which I was sort of “meh,” and Olof somewhat more positive. Generally speaking, though, we do have pretty different tastes in movies, so our respective reactions were more or less what I expected. Still, I’ll never turn down the opportunity to spend a few kid-free hours alone with my husband — that alone is worth at least the price of a couple of movie tickets.

Today was our annual combined family birthday party for Lydia, Tage, and Petra, and though we were blessed with great weather, great company, great presents, and great treats (if I do say so myself), I didn’t come away with any great pictures of the birthday kids. I did get this sweet shot of my (not so) little baby, however, and that’ll do nicely.

To celebrate her new level of maturity — five-year-olds are big enough to go to town to get their hair cut, you know — Petra decided to change things up with a new ‘do, entirely of her own choosing. I think it suits her to a T.