Pride

Today I'm so proud of my husband. Everyday day this is true, but today even more so.

He is always ready to dream big, reach for the stars and go after his dreams. I look at him with astonishment and joy. I get to be a part of his journey. Amazing.

Incognito

For awhile now i've been debating with myself that should I or not, make the blog private again. I want random readers to be able to read it, but at the same time, I feel too vulnerable. Stories about my kids, about my life, I'm just not sure. So for now, it's private. If you want to continue reading, I'm happy to add you on the approved list. Maybe I'll change my mind in a week, maybe I'll keep it private for good. For now though this just feels right.

My favourite Person Today: fundi

Just when I was about to give up and live in a total mess for the rest of my life - well at least until we would have our own home - fundi (general word for craftsman, this time carpenter)  arrives. Well actually, one arrived two weeks ago and never came back, and the second one was supposed to come a week ago but he never showed up, which left me running out of patience fairly quickly. 

And then he was here, and he actually owned and used a tape measurer!!! Wow, I was in heaven.

Even with our limited space (one room) I wanted the boys to have their own area, somewhere to draw, and put their toys to, and somewhere to retreat when the games with the cousins get a bit too much.

Here's the amount of stuff we left home.

This is how it looked "unloaded" into the room we call home these days, day two after arrival.

The kids corner is just about ready. It was a double bed we bought last summer which was too high, too long and too wide. So I made a plan to have it turned into a sleeping/playing area. The table is as old as anyone can remember, I painted it white and added a ikea (yes, I came with it) hanger and a paper roll. Love the fact that they always have paper ready when they want to grab a pen and do some art. All the pens and other craft supplies are hanging in kitchen storage boxes, just there for the easy access. 

The carpenter made the shelf for the toy storage and we hung spice racks for books. Add a ladder and bedding for the sleeping area, box to hold their clothes and it was done!

   Some wood (from a coconut tree that was cut down from the front yard), local craftsmanship, and red buckets :)

It's home for now.... It took j 3 mins to start drawing and then climb upstairs for a nap. Now M is discovering all the nice things he can now see and play with. Happy kids, happy mama <3

   M busy with stamps 

   And reading a book

   J testing the bed 

P.s. Sorry for the bad quality pics, that's what you get with iPad indoors :)

Life less organized -culture shock pt. 1

How does it feel like when you have no real responsibilities? It must be like you are on a holiday 24/7. Reality is that In my case, it is like I have to carry all the responsibilities around me on my shoulders. (Pressure comes from within, so completely, utterly unnecessary. This has resulted in an extremely exhausted stay at home mom. I have cleaned the whole of the in-laws house (might I add that the standard of clean is a bit different in these two cultures so to catch-up after years of African styled cleaning has taken more time and effort than I had wished), organized a meal plan, T's schedule, my/kids schedule, company sales schedule, my real hobby of Finnish school teaching, closets etc. etc. Less might be more, but in my case it seems that when I have less, i.e. no full-time job, I add everything and anything to my plate to keep myself busy. So I've decided to schedule some relaxation time for myself. Maybe then I'll get it too. :) from 5 am to 6 am, all for me <3.

Being together as a family is wonderful, while balancing T's business meetings with boys who love nothing as much as playing with baba is more challenging. Eventually I'm sure it will work it self out. I hope. I wish. It has to. :)

The heat is another thing, it has made me so exhausted that only now after couple of weeks I'm starting to adjust. But when the electricity is off, even for a minute, I'm not a happy camper. I need at least a fan to function, with a/c even better (but this I'm trying to cut as much as possible).

I'm also a fan of organization, of everything, so I've noticed that this is actually my biggest challenge of culture shock. I need for things to happen now. I know I shouldn't, and I know life would be far less stressful if I didn't, but let's just say this is a work in progress in my self-development plan. Slow progress.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about our decision to come and stay here. Waking up to sun shine every day, wearing cute summer clothes all the time and just being able to cuddle up with the hubby or take a shower in peace feels like heaven on earth. <3 

Pole pole. Taratibu. Hakuna matata.*

Life is good. Just need to focus on the good instead of the not yet parts. 

Baadaye!!

*hitaasti, pikkuhiljaa, ei ongelmia

MAX IS KAX

My darling beautiful baby boy: Max. 

He is turning two in less than thirty minutes and I can NOT believe it. He is the bravest kid I have ever met. Always ready to try new things and so deeply determined if he decides to do or learn something. That saying about going through a stone to get something - that is purely Max. I always playfully call him Maximum trouble. He is seriously going to keep me on my toes for the next couple of decades (takes after his uncle Miikka), but he also has the purest little heart (also like his uncle Miikka). My mom saw the picture of him climbing on top of the play-kitchen and said it reminded her of the trouble my brother used to get into. 

The guy has energy like no one else. At the moment we are trying to learn how to deal with disappointments - his approach is to throw everything and anything in sight. I’d love for him to learn to take it in and express it with words… Maybe after few years we will master this skill. In the meanwhile, I’ll just have to keep him busy. He loves anything physical, and is clearly at the level of three to four year olds when it comes to running, jumping and climbing. Or at the level of a 30 year old bodybuilding man when it comes to eating. :)

But then when I come home from work or a meeting he runs to me and holds me so tight and makes sure I will never leave him. Precious. 

Or when there is only one candy left and both he and J want it, he will give it to his big brother, just because. Adorable. 

Sometimes when he has trouble sleeping he will hold my whole arm and squeeze it so tight until he finds his sleep. My hand always ends up going numb, but I don’t care. Priceless.

Max. At two years old you are really what your name is. Maximum energy, trouble, love and happiness, maximum everything. I really hope you have some slow african genes in you too, because otherwise I will be in trouble in the future. You love balls, any kind. Footballs, balloons, glass balls hanging in mummu’s chandelier… And you love to climb and jump and do anything and everything. As your second birthday draws close you are becoming such a big boy. We still don’t hear that much talking, personally I think you’re just too busy to say anything. But you know how to get the message through even if you don’t use words. Food, more, give me, kiss and love you so so much. You know all the necessary ones. I can’t wait to see how your blossom under the african sun. I love you so much my son. Happy happy 2nd birthday!

PARTY TIME….

Max is turning two on Christmas day and today it was time to celebrate it. As always, I try to arrange something the birthday boy loves to do. For Max’s birthday we hit the gymnastics hall. The theme was the little minions from Despicable me. And the party was amazing. So many kids enjoying anything and everything a gym can offer…

Thank you for everyone who was there, I know you must all be busy this time of year!
Full post on the birthday boy later on…