Angel during her free time...

Spring is finally here! Some days the temperature is so high it actually feels like summer!  Flowers are blooming and the grass is green, summer is pretty!  

Spring does put people in a good mood.  Before it was cold and dark, and that makes people behave in a strange way like....

Talking to the sky....

 ....asking "Why? Why? Why is the winter so long?"...

... the winter put me in a gloomy mood...

and gave me headache.... oh ok, I think Angel was trying to say that it made her think more.... (I doubt...)

"What?! Spring is just around the corner?!" 

So she gave her winter jacket a cold look and uttered, "Make sure you stay away now... or else...", before shoving it away in the dark corner of the wardrobe.  She then put on the summery shorts and tshirt and baked!

 Thumbprint cookie is a favorite!

She also whipped up some cream....

 and assembled a cake....

Chocolate chip is a must!

Decorating...

 while someone kept asking if he could eat the whipped cream now... ("Not yet." "Now?" "No." "Now then?")

 She also made dinner some time ago. Hamburger!

Doing most stuff herself...

with the help of her sous chef...

And stopping to pose for the camera.

 It was important to make sure that the meat was cooked properly.

We're all glad that spring is here! And as I am typing this post, I think summer has already arrived, looking forward to enjoying ice cream under the sun and all things sweet like these babies!

Almost a Teenager!

We celebrated Angel's birthday the weekend before her actual day (coz her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year).  Since farmor just had a hip operation recently, we decided to bring the party to her place!

"You're turning 12 huh? Old enough to drink coffee?" (fake dialogue coming entirely from my crazy head...)

The goofiest person in the family in action!

Another charmer! I mean Jovan! Ok, Polly is also charming in her not-so-smart way! :D

Angel falling asleep while standing.... :D

Presents!

The presents she received this year! 

Present from her father in Singapore and his girlfriend, auntie Jessie!

One of her favorite things now! Nail polish! But daddy is worried about her breathing in the toxic fumes, so he made her put on nail polish on the balcony.... =.="

We bought her a cake to celebrate on the actual day.  Just in time for fika after school!

She had to blow fast because there were a few other mouths ready to blow the candles out!

Chris was posing for the camera, or is he....? *scratching head*

Eagerly waiting for cake to be served!

By the way, Polly just had a hair cut!

She received another present on her actual day...

A guitar bag for the guitar which she received on the past weekend.

 

Maybe we'll be serenaded with some One Direction songs soon....?

I have to say that Angel hasn't change much over the years.  She is still goofy, funny, sweet nature and considerate.  She is also starting to show more responsibility over the recent months.  We hope that she will put in more effort in her study and stay focus. Most importantly, continue to be who she is and not affected by her peers (who seem to be only interested in makeups and fashion....), have her own opinions and stand by what she believes in.  

GRATTIS PÅ FÖDELSEDAGEN GUMMAN! Keep in mind that we love you more than life itself and we're with you every big and small steps along the way.

Easter holiday & furry baby turns 1!

Easter in Sweden is usually followed by a week of school holiday.  Headache for me to try to keep myself sane during the week....

On Saturday, we put colourful feathers on branches.... 

And the boys gave me their coolest pose! 

Jovan started to have fever once the holiday started.... so he was quite "out-of-action".

We dyed eggs (or tried to!)...

And I gave them their tips for the Easter egg hunt....

Despite the clue, Chris was still surprised to find an egg in the tent! =.="

The boys are still doing the weird smile thingy.... lesson number 1: NEVER ask them to smile for the the camera!

I got my toes painted by the almost professional Angel! 

My Easter nails! Look just at the nails, not at my badly-in-need-of-a-scrub-and-tons-of-moisturizer feet....

Our "marbled" eggs!

I made Jovan's favorite Jansson  jansson frestelse (Jansson's temptation)!

Our small Easter feast!

I made polka dotted swiss roll for dessert, you know, trying to stick to the Easter theme! :D

That was our Easter celebration this year.  And on 2 April was Polly's first birthday!  I made her a dinner treat with rice cooked with carrot and 6 meatballs!

And of course she received a present!  Ivan helped to open it.

Polly loves her new toy! Unfortunately so does Chris....

She is 1! Still a baby to us and so playful....

She has brought so much laughter, love, joy, exercise, frustration and lots of hair-pulling-why-is-she-so-stupid! moments to our lives! Love her to bits!

He is now officially a TEENAGER!!!!!

Yes, there is no stopping him now, Jovan is officially a teenager and that makes Lars and me parents of a teenager! Gosh..... here we go! We're all entering this new phase together!

As usual, this post is late.  I know I need to update it more often but seriously, are you guys really interested in our normal, most of the time boring, life? :-p

Ok, let's go straight to pictures now!  The day before we celebrated Jovan's birthday, we went downtown to watch Mavis perform.

Chris was moving and shaking to the music! He likes to dance, a lot. ^.^

And after spending all that energy dancing, he needs to replenish it with muffins and soda!

The beautiful Mavis in action!

It's always a joy to watch professionals doing what they do best.

  And then comes the big day!  Jovan turns 13!

Lighting the candles needs skills..... and lots of moral support!

Ok, let's allow the more experienced ones to do it instead!

 Us!

 And Mavis and Fredrik! 

 They just totally fit in! :D

 One, two, three... blow!

 These guys need to hug more and fight less...

Some of the presents he received...

 

 A massive electronic kit which can do up to 600+ experiments! 

And of course something really fun for everybody!

I hope Jovan enters this new phase of his life with excitement, the urge to learn, not just academically (which of course is still the most important thing in his life right now!) but also about life experiences and of course a little anxiousness won't harm him.  :D And yes, I have heard tons of stories about children who just turn into monsters when they turned teens, the attitude problems and how parents are suddenly their number one enemies... but since there is no way for us to avoid this, why scare myself silly? Jovan has always been a sensible and reasonable kid, yes we have had some downs and sometimes he can really push our buttons, but hey, aren't we all like that as far as our parents are concerned? :-p

We will take one step at a time, learning new ways to communicate, giving rewards and discipline appropriate to him and most important of all, to guide him and give him all the support he needs.  Of course I'm not saying that this will be a walk in the park.  There will be frustration, disappointments, heartaches, tears and angry words exchanged.  Ups and downs are what makes our lives interesting, isn't it?