Go Bucks!

The Buckeyes crush Michigan!!! Take that Loyd Carr. Hurray for Jim Tressel
-Mary

ta-dah...

Mormor brought home a can of pumpkin pie filling tonight. I was starting to sweat, since we're going to introduce Thanksgiving dinner here for the first time this year and I had turned down two previous offers to have it sent from the States. Turns out there is an English grocery store near downtown Stockholm that I just learned of last week. The price for such a can: $10+ USD. Return for tradition: priceless.

Minus the $10 we owe mormor. :-)

not so famous quotes

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes."
--Karina, Sam's preschool teacher informing Mom and Dad that the kids at daycare will go outside everyday regardless of the Swedish weather.

Wildfires

If you have been listening to the news, you may be concerned our our families in the San Diego area. I was pretty frightened when I googled the internet tonight and came to understand the evacuations and road closures are close in terms of miles.

I couldn't get through to Paul & Gene because the phone lines were all jammed. Tonight I called Marilou and then Sandy and I feel much better. According to Sandy, last night was a little tense because the fire was visible from her parents' house. For everyone in the area, air quality and particulates are a problem. They are all trying to stay indoors. All of our family is safe now and their neighborhoods are not at risk. They all are in established neighborhoods that lack the brush and vegetation that fuels the fire. Nonetheless, areas that have never been affect by brush fies in the past have been at risk in during these fires.

The fire has been driven by hot dry wind from the east off the desert. Sandy was very encouraged that the wind is shifting and breaking up. She said when this happens, they can work on the fire instead of just evacuating in front of it. It's not over yet. Keep everyone in your prayers.

Margaret

Orchid Show

The show is this weekend at the Krohn sponsored by my orchid society. My first ever entry in any flower show is front and center. Ha, front and center doesn't mean anything, the plants are positioned by color and size...


Almost everyone who enters a plant gets a ribbon...it's an odd scoring system...if anyone is interested I can explain it. My un-named Cattleya hybrid placed a humble third. I'm just happy they didn't reject it. The folks that set the display positioned if very favorably. Thanks Jan!! It is pleasantly fragrant.

football season?

But wait, they only play soccer over here.........

New Knee

I heard from Aunt Gene and was happy to hear that Uncle Paul's knee replacement went well. He had the surgery Monday and he should be home by now. They had him up walking in the hospital by Tuesday. Since Paula and Sandy are both physical therapist he went into the surgery prepared and he is getting a lot of support in the recovery. Normal recovery is 6 to 12 months, I'm told. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Someone else came to visit

So my big girl is growing up. Now she is getting so big...

....... she had a visit from the tooth fairy!

Something you won't see in Europe

We went to a car show and saw this....

...a Mercedes that runs on used french fry oil. Unfortunately, what you don't spend on gas, you spend at the pharmacy on your cholesterol meds.

Riding lessons

As you know, Christine, Olivia and I have been taking riding lessons. Tonight we went to the stable for another occassion. Our riding instructor got married. It was mostly traditional but outdoors and her entrance was unique. This is Sandi on Sassy (her first horse).

The bubbles were a big hit with all the kids (and adults).

my job again

Hey, remember that really big wall I posted before?

well it came down

.and in true crossroads style, we replaced it with something better.....

a 17 foot wide heart shaped bed that splits down the middle.

(this photo is from the catwalk above the bed)

torsdag pannkaka kväll

Thursday Swedish pancake night - best kept secret in Sweden. I don't know if every family eats em, but we do. Even our pickiest of eaters love them.

Swedish pancakes are thin and eaten with fruit or preserves. If ever we end up back in the states, we're bringing a swedish pancake skillet with us.

First Day of School

Grace started Kindergarten on August 28th! Jay has been after me ever since to post. Sorry for the delay but life is crazy! Anyway....we got up and got ready in plenty of time. Then we went out and took pictures. Of course Sara and Griffin had to participate too.

Sara is saying " I'm a Kindergarten Baby" and Grace is saying "No you are not!" This has been their favorite argument for about 3 weeks now.

After taking the pictures and gathering stuff we set off for school, only to realize that we are running late! How does that happen! But I am thinking that it was God's way of saving me. I didn't have time to watch Grace playing or not playing with other kids. I didn't have time to think about the expression on Grace's face and analyze it until I felt certain that she was freakin out on the inside. We got there just in time for her to stand in line, wait for about a minute before heading in and the look on her face was a look of joy and excitement.

A little bit later Sara and I return for our Goosie Girl. We wait and wait and wait. Finally, the door opens and the children start running out towards their grownups. When Grace comes out, she has this huge smile on her face. She runs at my full tilt and leaps into my arms and hugs me with all her might. It was the best feeling! And she said she had fun. Now a week and half later she is still having fun and can't wait to go back tomorrow.

And so our adventure has begun, wish us well!

Michelle

BUMBLE LIKE BECKHAM

Grace had her first soccer game and practice today. She is on the Nativity Green team. There are four teams total with about 8-10 kids on each team. For an hour, Grace ran and laughed and had a great time. I don't think anyone scored and nobody cared.

Sara was the extra ball keeper.

If you happen to be in Pleasant Ridge at 9:30am on a saturday and want to see some future stars......

Ruby throat

Usually the raccoons knock down any hummingbird feeders on my deck. Last week I saw a hummingbird on the flowers in my hanging basket of Mandavilla (it is barely in the picture but you can see one rose-red flower. As a result this annual is already on my plant list for next year. It has been so hot and dry here. The little guys are really enjoying the extra hydration at the feeders. I've been filling them a lot more often this summer. Dean need not worry about competition from me when it comes to hummingbirds. I still only have a few birds at a time, but they are just about constant and I am delighted by them. Since there are no good trees nearby, this fellow has figured out that he can perch on my wind chime about 2 feet from the feeder and claim it as his own. I suspect he thinks he also owns the feeder on the front porch.

you know also...

Did anybody see the movie upload icon next to the picture upload icon? We can upload digital movies up to 100MB - depending on format that can be up to 4 minutes. I've been wanting to try it out but if someone beats me to it... I imagine it will take some patience - in the neighborhood of 5-15 minutes upload time, depending on length.

Any junior Spielbergs out there?

someone came to visit 2

With 10 or so fruit trees and berry bushes in the yard, mormors is a must stop on the way home for deer. While the rabbits here are pretty big, the deer are really small. Again, not our best camera work, but this is pretty accurate for sunrise and a moving target.

The New Family

So we have been trying to get Sara to poop in the toilet for weeks and resorted to bribing her with a trip to the toy store. After looking around for a while, she found a baby zebra that was all alone and she was sad that it had no friends with it. Quickly she found a mommy and daddy zeba and decided that was what she wanted.
We are pround to have them because 1) she pooped in the potty, 2) Sara has a compassion for the lonely and 3) good family values.
That makes us smile.

Cinco Good Bye-OH from the kids perspecitve

I gave all the kids cameras last April for our slumber party send off for Jake and Sam. The kids took all of these. All I did was crop a little.

Many of you have wondered what goes on at Aunt Margaret's slumber parties. Well the main thing is Aunt Margaret sleeps on the couch and half sleeps while she listens to the kids talk, moan, thrash, and all those things little kids do in their sleep. I make sure they can find the bathroom in the night, I get up often to cover them with blankets. This year, neither Sam, nor Sara could sleep on the floor, so I pulled them up on the sofa with me. Golly, we all slept better after that. In this photo, I just poured my first cup of coffee. Kids don't lie when you give them a camera.


But we sure have a lot of fun, and I'd never give it up. I don't have a lot of toys but they all have favorites. We play with toys, watch a movie, visit with each other..


































































Then we sleep. Believe it or not, Sara was really asleep in this photo of her draped on my sofa.



Of course, we always act up and party. Here, Kyle is being silly. Doesn't he look good? All the kids took a turn at Cheerleading. Way to go Livvy.
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The kids look forward to the slumber party. Sam is ready for pancakes. Grace is easing into the day.

I don't sleep well, but I love and crave the slumber party too.

Back to school

Emily's back at school. She's staying in a four person dorm room in the oldest building on campus. It's on the fifth floor and there's no elevator. It sure doesn't seem like a lot to take to school until you climbed the steps for the umpteenth time...

Laurie starts school tomorrow. Her building is being renovated so she's in a different location at a different time than last year.

We hope everybody in the clan has a great school year.