That Olof and I are drinking rum-spiked Kool-Aid this New Year’s Eve (with different color straws to set them apart from the kids’ drinks, of course), or that we actually think it tastes good?

Two of Petra’s favorite ways to entertain herself are walking with her eyes closed and walking while spinning around in circles.  I can’t be sure, but I think she was engaged in one or the other last night when she tripped over a big box containing Lydia’s old Barbie dolls and ended up with the [...]

The purchase several weeks ago of Wii Music brought to the fore in Olof an unprecedented need to make music.  On the first day of his vacation (oh, didn’t I tell you?  He’s been off work since December 15, and doesn’t go back until January 7 … it’s awesome), he came home with a big, [...]

First, a picture of me with my favorite present (Thanks, Mom and Tony!), then my favorite of the pictures I’ve taken with it so far:

What you see before you is the evidence left behind after Petra’s first (experience has taught me not even to hope it will be her last) self-administered haircut.  As luck would have it–or perhaps I’m just in denial–the damage isn’t terribly obvious if you’re not looking for it.  We’ll see what it looks like once [...]

When they came home from their Stockholm trip last summer, Olof and Tage brought presents for those of us who had stayed home.  For Lydia, they’d chosen a little pair of butterfly earrings, and I winced inwardly when I saw them, thinking that they weren’t her style at all.  In the way of siblings the [...]

I got a much-needed break from the little people today when Lydia and I went to town for our monthly lunch and shopping spree.  We left the house a little after noon, and because I was scheduled to drop her off for a sleepover at four-thirty, I was away until dinnertime, and I don’t mind [...]

We went to Petra’s Lucia program at her pre-school today, and the show was a big success.  You can see, however, that while she thought the singing was a-ok, there was something about her neighbor’s lantern that did not meet her approval, no way, no how.