Introducing....Polly!!!!

Hubby and I have been discussing about getting a dog for 3 or 4 years now.  About 1 month ago, we decided that the time is right now because Jovan and Angel have shown that they can take on responsibilities.  So we had a family meeting to make sure that the bigger kids are also keen in doing this together, we also discussed about the responsibilities and additional chores they have to do if we get a dog, and most importantly, they have to commit themselves to this little animal for many years to come.  We gave them a few days to think it through carefully.

A few days later, I saw an advertisement on Blocket on a litter of crossbreed (Mom is Shih Tzu, Lhasa Apso, Tibetian Spaniel mix and dad is Shih Tzu, Papillon and Toy poodle mix) puppies.  I showed hubby the advertisement but he wasn't so keen.  We had to think twice about the breed to get because Angel has tested to be allergic to dogs.  Although, she had spent a lot of times with my mother-in-law's dog (which passed away 2 or 3 years ago) and even neighbours' dogs, and we have not seen any allergy reaction from her.  But to be save we have kinda limit our choice of dog breed to a few and poodle has been "unofficially" on the top of our list for awhile.  So I think he had been quite into getting a poodle.  He was concern about a big guy like him walking a "princess-y-looking" dog, like a Shih Tzu.  I was puzzled, is there a difference between walking a fluffy dog or a poodle?? He thought about this for a couple of days and then gave us a surprise by telling us to pack for a picnic but drove us to meet the puppies instead!

This was the sight that greet us on both times when we were there, first time was with the whole family to meet the puppies and pick one, and the next time was to bring our puppy home.

Polly is the second one from the right! Hi Polly!

Hubby said it was like feeding guppies - they crowded around and fell over each other whenever someone walked near the puppy pen, so cute!! We had such a tough time trying to decide which one to bring home, they're all so cute and happy!  And when I saw hubby's face when he was holding Polly, I knew she would be the one coming home with us, she melts our hearts!

We picked her up on 30th May when she turned 8 weeks old and had visited the vet for check up and had a micro-chip injected underneath her skin in the back of her neck.

Polly likes to be cuddled and she likes to kiss, very affectionate little girl!

It was hard for the owners of the parents to part with the puppies.... He teared up when we were leaving....

Saying goodbye to Polly and making us promise to stay in contact! : )

Polly is finally home!

Chris was very uncertain about how to approach Polly and he was very scared of her in the beginning.

But he's slowly learning how to approach her...

It was hard to tell them to just leave her alone.... she needs her beauty sleep!

Jovan and Angel has worked out a walking schedule, so there won't be an argument as to whose turn it is to bring her out.

Polly and Ivan enjoy each other's company very much.

Watching a puppy runs will always bring on a smile.  They never run, they're doing a run, hop, bouncy thingy which is soooo cute! 

Taking a breather.

Best buddies!

Can you really resist these puppy eyes??

There is a lot of discipline, training and pampering involved in having a dog.  Luckily for us, we have 4 kids and it's something that we do on a daily basis.  Polly is like all puppies, playful and curious about everything.  She can now do "Sit" and "Släpp" (which means release or let go, yeah, she speaks Swedish!) and eats and sleeps well.  She doesn't need to be the smartest dog who can perform all the tricks, we just want her to be a well-behaved and respectful little girl.  We have to be consistent with discipline and training and master all our will to resist her puppy eyes!!!

School Performances

Jovan and Angel are taking part in after-school activities almost everyday.  The school invites teachers from various youth groups to come to their school once a week, giving free lessons to children who are interested.  And towards the end of the every term, they will have a day where the kids will perform or display whatever they have learnt.

This time Jovan and Angel played the guitar and Angel also performed some cheerleading moves.  But please bear with me while I side-track a little to show you guys some dangerously cute pictures! ^.^

The last time Chris cut his hair was some months ago and his hair was quite long.  I thought he looked super cute! Like a little Japanese model! But daddy thought that he looked like a girl and when Chris put on Angel's hair band for fun... daddy took one look and announced,"Now we cut his hair!" =.=".

So we did....

Are you seriously gonna cut my hair?

Will I still look like a model after this?

Believe it or not, I just can't help looking so good!

Ok, now on to the topic for this post!  So while we were waiting for the performances to start, the small ones were "chalking" up the sidewalks...

And Ivan played with his friend from pre-school...

Then Angel's cheerleading group started with their performance.

Followed by guitar group, performing with their teachers who are just kids themselves...

Jovan chatting with his friend, Linus, before starting.

Sharing a joke.

Love his smile!

They played ACDC's "Back in Black".  The next day when I went to pick up Ivan from school, 2 moms came up to me to tell me that my kids were good in playing the guitar.  Hahahahaha! For a minute there, I felt like a celebrity mom!  I wanted to upload a video clip of their performance but for some reason it just refused to upload.... :-(

So, there's Jovan and Angel's 20 minutes of fame! :D

Here in Berga, Linköping...

We moved to this neighbourhood 4 years ago, just a few weeks before Ivan was born.  After living 3 years in the last apartment, we decided to move but still in the same neighbourhood.  There are many reasons why we like this area.  It's a kids neighbourhood, where the kiddos have a lot of friends living close by, we're just about 5 mins walk to the kiddos' school, and most importantly, nature is literally just at our doorstep!

We just need to walk out of the building and we have a small forest, which happens to be a nature reserve, next to us.  And come Spring time, the surrounding is really blooming and green!  See for yourself!

And there is plenty of wild lives here as well, it's very common to see deer, hares, squirrels and hedgehogs nibbling around especially during summer.

And of course, the kids are really enjoying themselves here! How happy? This happy! :D

Nature is the perfect classroom which inspires creativity.

Budding photographer!

Chris is crazy about stones right now...

Ivan is just happy to do whatever, like always! 

Climbing tree...

Posing for a picture...

Or chasing after a ball-snatcher!  

And not forgetting my friendly and helpful Taiwanese neighbour who is sending treats like this over now and then!

She wasn't actually sure what this is called but it's like mochi with green bean paste as filling, yum!

Life has been good to us! ^.^

Our New Apartment

Finally I have time to return to my blog.  I'm not sure what I've been busy with recently, time just flies by! Housework, tending after the smaller kids, nagging at the bigger kids, (yup, all 3 of them!) Japanese course and homework, working for my hubby (not complicated stuff but tedious!!!) and I have no idea what else I've been doing! I'm not the only one who is so busy, hubby is working late everyday till around 11pm or more. Besides the many projects he has on hand now, they're also seriously short-handed... Wish I can help him more but just the thought of me being some sort of engineer cracks him up.... =.="

Ok, enough complaints for now.  Here are some updates of our new apartment! Let's take a look at some before pictures....

Hallway

Dining area 

Living room 

Balcony 

Jovan's room 

Angel's room

Now the after pictures! (Not much has been improved actually.... :P)

Hallway

Kitchen - Angel sewed the little curtain to make a cozy corner so that the small ones can have a place to play while I'm making food.

View of the dining area from the sink

Dining area

Living room - looks the as messy as before.... and it almost always looks like this! >.<"

Jovan and Ivan's room 

Angel's room

Balcony - it needs some plants...

This is our new apartment! Still living in the same neighbourhood but slightly more space now.  We live in a great area where there is a lot of nature around us, and it's absolutely beautiful and we get different looks with the different seasons.  Hmmm.... maybe a tour of our surrounding in my next post?