winter fun

a couple of pics from last weekend when the boys and I spent a great day in my family's cottage with granddad and grandma.

Kinda weird, but whereas rest of the southern finland has very little ice, the lake at our cottage has ice solid enough to carry a car. One of the neighbors keeps the ice road clear throughout the wintertime, and all the cottage in the island have a private parking right in place of the jetty in summertime.

Next week the weather is forecast to get a seriously warmer, so the road's not going to be open a lot longer. It sounds like a good idea to keep an eye on the forecasts before parking a car there for a long weekend. Or else, you might end up having to buy another car for the summer.

Succesful Leadership 101: Principles: Communication Always Fail - Except Sometimes

We made a deal with the brothas that they should clean their room before they can go on watching dvd. Strictly speaking, Sarita told them to "clean the room of the legos because it's such a mess..." As not usual, the boys replied just "ok" and started working. Unusually - or better, spectacularly, I heard them shout "done!" just three minutes later - and then disappeared back to watch the movie.

All amazed, Sarita and I went to testify this miraculous event, here's the results. See the difference? - Me neither - at the first glance. But, when the boys were asked what sort of a cleaning was that, the reply was quick: you only spoke about the legos.

And, francly say, the lego part of the mess at the center low, is in fact visibly different.

when the darkness fall...

Benjamin throws out the stuffed squirrel and bear every night before he goes to bed. In the daytime they stay on his bed serving well as toys, but when the night comes - they eyes become scary.

So, out they go - with a swing - and sleep in the hallway. One night we took a picture for later evidence.

...and she passed the pole

Sarita reached 30 on the 13th of March. We had a couple of nice parties with families - a couple of them because of scheduling issues, but enjoyable anyhow. Here's a pic of my Mrs sweetie. Congratulations.

trouble comes in pyjamas

Olivia figured out sometime ago that a stool can provide for what's she lacking in height. Since then, it's become one of her favorite hobbies to lock herself in a room and shout for the the rest of us.

This time, with the brothers playing on the computer, she was left out of the room - but not unnoticed, she decided. The message itself was encrypted from the rest of us, but the point was made anyhow.