Quick update

As always lots of things going on. Alex continue to have a lot of radio interviews regarding his book which is so exiting! He has also been on two TV shows. I went to a MOPs (mums of pre schoolers) conference in Gainesville Friday to Saturday which was a lot of fun.

Gabriel has gotten a second tooth :-)
Noah is singing songs a lot.
Marlee is improving his reading a lot!

Practicing sitting

Race!

He wants to be on the other side, and I wish he was! I don't like lizards in the house!

Gabriel is very mobile now, which makes life a little harder for Marlee and Noah :-)

Home schooling

I wrote this post last Thursday but I simply did not have time to finish it, or to be honest, I did not prioritize it among all the musts, shoulds and wants... It's all about prioritization isn't it! Well, here we go!

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It has been a great week so far. Lots of activities and great weather! We finally took out Noah inflatable pool that he got for his birthday in August. It was bigger and better than I thought and his slide fit perfectly over the edge so the boys can slide into the water. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this since me and Gabriel were in the water, too :-) I have been a little hesitant to filling it up with hose because I thought it was reused water (which is used in our sprinkler system) and that is so dirty one should not even touch it (according to the county's webpage). Well, after calling the county and asking them is was clear that our water taps on the house, to which the hose is connected, is not recycles water and fine to use, or drink for that matter :-)

When Alex and I went to bed the other night, Noah had already walked over to our bed and made himself at comfortable :-)

Noah's long hair has become a problem when he eats since the food gets stuck in it. The hat solved that (no haircut)

We had a pretty bad storm the other day day and we were all watching in safely from the front porch. For some reason there are no sound on my videos on my phone right now so you cannot hear the thunder, but you can see light from the lightnings if you look closely.

Yesterday me and the boys met up with Deborah, Curren and Toka in Central Park where they have a walk/bike path with different station along it where one can do different exercises, such as pull ups (not for me) push up, sit ups etc. Me and Deborah did the exercises, Marlee, Curren and Noah had their bikes and Toka and Gabriel rode in the strollers. It was great fun, but also scary how bad I was at doing some of the things. I guess, it simply means that I have to go back very soon, and do it again! I am so sore today!!! (but that is a good feeling)

My own little band :-)

Today we had some dinner guests over, two families, one that we have know since we moved here and the other one Alex got to know recently through an organization for people who have escaped communist countries. Soon after Alex's book came out we learned that these two families know each other, they are part of the same home schooling co-op, so we decided to have them over for dinner together. A great idea. The children had so much fun, both in Alex's chill-room (the garage, with the drums and table tennis) and outside. 

Marlee is helping me to crush the peppermint when making peppermint ice cream :-)

So why did I name this post home schooling? Well, as I mentioned, the two families who we had over tonight are part of the same home schooling co-op, so they are both home schooling. Growing up in Sweden, I learned that families who home school are either religious fanatics or very very strange (it is now even illegal to home school in Sweden). After living in Ormond Beach I have changed my view tremendously. I have known for a long time that a lot of Alex's relatives are or has been home schooled and they are smart and prosperous. However, I have not really spent time with "home schoolers" before coming to Ormond Beach. And they are all totally normal, even very nice, smart and they are not socially handicapped! ;-) As a matter of fact, Deborah, who is one of my best friends, was home schooled. However, there is a big difference between Sweden and the US. It is so much more organized here and the options and possibilities are endless. It is even possible to do part home schooling and part regular schooling where one chooses which subjects to do at home and which ones to do in a school in a class. It is just very interesting and refreshing for me to learn about this. It is a totally new world for me.

Ending this post with a video of Gabriel. Unfortunately, I have had some problems with my phone so there is no sound. Hope you will enjoy it anyways! :-)

A slow day with lots of rain

I have felt kind of slow all day and Noah got a fever last night and has not felt very good either. We have mostly done everyday stuff but around five I felt like I just had to get out in the fresh air and all the boys came with me. It just stopped raining when we got out, don't know if that was good or bad but Marlee and Noah had lots of fun in the puddles. They did get a clean up shower when we got home and even Gabriel got a well needed bath tonight. I am not one of those mums who give her children a bath every night, we simply prioritize other things which probably makes us one of the dirtier families :-) 

Farmor has been working hard in our guest room all day today, painting and fixing things after the fire and the broken door. It is starting to look good in there! :-)

Don't miss the video at the end of this post!

Marlee playing with one of his birthday gifts

Sometimes the simplest things make them so happy!

I just love the colors in this picture!

An intense but so awsome day!

Marlee had his birthday party today at a park here in Ormond Beach, Rainbow park. We were late with the invitations and handed them out last Monday so I did not expect very many people showing up. However, it ended up being a good group of 15 kids (I am glad that we decided to have it at a park and not at home as we did last year!) I was a little stressed last night and this morning since the rainy season has started here and we had not reserved any tables at the park but everything turned out perfect. We got three tables in the shade, the kids had a great time and the weather could not be better, cloudy and a light breeze. It was still a warm day and when we got home around six we decided to go down to the beach where I went swimming with Marlee and Noah. The beach was beautiful!! We ended the day with drive thru Taco Bell before the boys passed out in bed :-)

Gabriel's first time on the swing

Cake time!

Pinata time

Gift opening

Late last night after I had updated the blog I made some cookies for the party today. I was going to make them shaped as M (for Marlee). I ended up doing them a little different than planned and different from what the recipe said but the result was better than expected :-) I will definitely use this recipe again!

The result, used nib sugar (Pärlsocker) to decorate them and sweeten them

And the very simple recipe (I would happily translate it on request)

Was curious to see if I could find the nib sugar here in the US and I did, at Walmart, for almost $25!! Are they kidding, it is just sugar!!!??? Good I have some from Sweden!

Sorry for being gone for so long, but I have a good reason..

... I got an early birthday gift, a Kitchen Aid mixer, and I have baked, and baked and then baked some more. Perfect timing since it is Marlee's birthday party tomorrow. While I have been busy baking Alex has been very very busy doing radio interview after radio interview about his book. He had six or seven interviews the other day and it is really exiting! He was even in a TV show the other day and there might be another one! The book is out now and can be bought in most major places.

This is my new best friend in action :-)

Banana bread (not necessary to use a mixer but more fun :-)

Swedish Cinnamon buns

Marlee is making Cinnamon buns for his birthday party

Ended up looking a little funny, but I hope that they will taste good!

To be meringue cake for the party

While I have been baking we finally got Marlee's car track to work!!! The boys love it (including Alex!)!

A few days ago a rocket left Cape Canaveral and we saw the smoke from it. We had probably seen more if we had known about it but it was exiting to at least see some of it!! We need to make sure that we are better updated next time.

Me and Gabriel had a scary moment today. While Marlee and Noah went to the library and the park with farmor me and Gabriel was outside for a bit. I have put him on a towel on the grass several times lately and he has been fine. Not sure I will do that for a while now... When I picked him up I realized that he had ticks everywhere!!! Baby ones, tiny tiny! First I did not really know what I should do, give him a bath, strip him naked or just try to take them off. I started to take them off but finally gave up and took off all his clothes, including diaper. I went inside and took off my own clothes and they are now all lying outside waiting to go in the laundry machine. It feels like they are everywhere on me now but Gabriel seems to be clean. He had several in his hair, in his diaper and all over his clothes. I am not particularly scared of ticks but this was grouse!

This is taken hours after I took this off Gabriel but they seem to like his clothes.

The small black dots are the baby ticks.

Nice Mohawk after a bath

Gabriel in the grass a few days ago and he did not have a single tick...

 

My TOOTH!!!

Here is a pretty exiting coincident: There are some celebrity Swedes who are biking from coast to coast across the US, to raise money for special needs kids, and they will finish in St Augustine. There are 24 legs (?) which are all sponsored by different companies etc. The last leg is sponsored by a camping and lodge rental firm at Fårö where mormor and morfar live, an island with less than 500 people.

Time to do the last baking for the party and maybe take a shower to get any possible ticks off!

Gabriel's first tooth!

He has been drooling for four month and today I finally saw one - a tooth! I tried to get a picture but the little lizzard tongue is always in the way!

Farmor and farfar came up yesterday and Marlee And Noah went to the library with farmor today. We all went out for a nice dinner at River Grille later. :-)

Gabriel is 6 months today!!!

HAPPY HALF A YEAR GABRIEL!!!

Saturday we had a great day on the beach!

So charming to eat next to the car but also soooo convenient :-)

Sleeping with his Lavender smelling bear

I love this picture of Marlee <3

Suddenly Noah started cleaning today. I don't know where it came from but he was so cute!!!

And now the pics...

My computer will hopefully be back on Monday, faster and happier than ever! :-) Right now I have used another computer to upload some picture and a great video in the end!

American Easter eggs

Beach day with their fourth (?) cousins Seth and Silas

Easter egg hunt in the back yard :-) (I might have had more fun than the boys :-)



Visiting Silver Springs (great swimming!)

Seth is reading, one of the many books Jackie brought for the boys, for Noah and Marlee

By Uncle Mike's pool

The water in the pool is "only" about 24C so it gets a little chilli

A true Newman, already sleeping across the bed ;-)

Easter egg hunt at Marlee's preschool. Look at those happy faces!

On a mission!

We stole these two in Uncle Mike's garden. Is apparently Pommelos.

 

Turtle wathcing in Central Park



Turtles

Such a big boy sitting in Noah's hight chair.

 So close!!!!