Posts Tagged ‘family’

it's a girl!

la princesse au petit pois art print :: matilou
let’s celebrate bunting :: ravenhill
crocheted hearts :: kajadesign
butterfly wall stickers :: evaQ

Happy news! Our little baby girl was born in May. Her name is Iiris and little lady has (naturally) stolen the hearts of both big brothers and proud parents. So lately I’ve been browsing Etsy for girly creations….

Other  moodboards at fleurfatale’s blog…

Am very exited about a first ever cook-along am attending. It’s a private one between my friend Hyein from Ohio and I.  Some time ago we selected a lovely colorful cook book ‘Apples for Jam’ (Tessa Kiros my favorite kitchen maven). This sunday we’ll be both making red ‘Veal involtini’ which was my first choice for our fun experiment !

lovely cookbook

I adore meditenrannean food. Spanish tapas, Italian pastas. Greek delicasies, and all the lovely baklavas and couscous from southside of the sea. And am also week about cute stories, and Tess and her books really have amazing stories which carry me from Northern Europe to sunny, warm seaside of the sea. Not to forget the amazing photos…

Where’s your favorite food from ?

Edit: Sunday (4th of October) after dinner .. Unfortunately no pictures. We were all eager to start tasting the new dish. We had invited the family next door (made a perfect excuse for me to take out the better china and really make an effort). Unlike usually this time adults ate first and kids after (not because we would like to dine without the kids but since they were still playing so nicely… and like the recipie said I had to serve meat ‘pronto’

Veal involtini will definitely stay on our list.  Tough I did cut the corners by using owen insteads of frying the veal in pan ;D – (bit healthier and easier may I say). When I was buying the veal from a pretty good shop it dawned to me that the guy preparing the veal for me had no clue of Veal involtini nor saltimbocca… strange.. anyways the veal was of good thickness but the pieces were absolutely two big and he recommend much more meat for everyone – but luckily I kept true to our recipie since it was just good amount for each.

So how was the meal all across the ocean ?

Have you ever fell asleep in the middle of exercise ?

This happened to me the other day.

During my semi-regular morning pilates session I have somehow really really relaxed during transition phase and woke up when the DVD-program ended. This made me think how to enhance my poor energy levels…Instead of blaming the autumn and poor weather (since we’ve had really amazing September) I need to turn my eyes towards my daily routine. To help me find out the energy stealers, a compilation of a list was due. I adore lists. Listing regular weekday and it’s action points, made it quite easy to find the energy stealers. I then selected 3 (hopefully quick-win) items to change

-         Little E wakes up around 4.30-5.00 AM –  sleep is somewhat haphazard from this point on.. => Move little-E to boys room … This should help with prolonged- morning sleep after adjusting period.

-         Organize home ( bulldozing, de-cluttering  and cleaning-spree is definitely needed chez our casa at the moment) => Ask help from girl next door and hire a professional cleaner. And oh.. really consider what to keep and what to throw out. This change is supposed to ease the household tasks and lessen the frustration of things being lost.

-         Distribute exercise routines along the day in smaller time slots. F.e. maybe during lunch break go outside for a quick walk… this should help with getting more FRESH air and hopefully more energy.

Do you have your own ideas/routines on how to get out of the energy-thieves…. Please do let me know !

Remember that exciting feeling when a  school year started ? Something new is just around the corner and it also offers a natural opportunity to learn something new, to re-create yourself.  I don’t know about you, but for me this is my natural time of the year to make changes.

This autumn our family is taking tiny steps for natural living. Am hoping that these changes will reduce the external and environmental stress and guides us towards bit more mindful living. At the end I hope we are finding ways to get and stay connected to family, home, food, life, nature..

My own little lifestyle change is ongoing.  It’s been eight days since my last cup of coffee (or any other drink with caffeine). Days one, two and three I had horrible headache and I really * really * wanted my cup (or two). Now I’m missing coffee mostly early in the morning, in social situations (while visiting) or with some foods associated to coffee (sweets).  Tough being without the enticing  latte, cappuccino, espresso  (mmmmm) has been quite easy with the help of savory dark chocolate – just to be on the safe side I’ll stay clear from my favorite Cafés just for a little longer….

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep it to simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

- Tao Te Ching

Ex-tempore idea of adding some extra play space for kids and re-locating family room furniture sounds a nice little project for a weekend. Luckily we also had a handyman available – off to get timber and paint. Planning, budgeting and start all within 30 minutes ! Yes – you guessed: The weekend went by and we had full blown renovation on our hands. Somehow it had expanded to family room and partly to adjacent hallway. We finished the building, sanding, painting, re-painting process within ten days.

‘Natures Discovery den’ for boys is combination of crisp new England style and natures treasures. Now the fun part is to select inspiring, natural decoration for the room. We have found many talented photographers & artists and amazed the work they create, we have gathered pinecones, stones, sticks and feathers. Seashells from our trip to icy Barents sea are also featured.

In the room boys can display interesting photos, artwork and assemblies – these amazing photos from photographer Angie Muldowney, UK were the first ones mom and P fell in love. Can you feel the mist, the brisk sea wind and all the other stories these images chant ?

P H O T O S for kids:
Photos from Angie Muldowney, UK

Little leaves, Sea Urchins, Fern, Star Fishiness

PS: Today is truly a ‘home-day’ ! A publication of new inspiring book ‘Handmade home’ by Amanda Soule (am eagerly awaiting my copy) and then found this interesting project – have a look – maybe submit your toughs what home is !