It was a great day! Here are some pumpkin-themed photos to share with you.
Happy fall, friends!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Pumpkin Patch Photos
We spent this gorgeous, October afternoon at a local pumpkin patch, at Lee Pumpkin Patch Fall Fest. Yaminah had a great time, playing with friends, running through a hay maze, riding a horse, having snacks, playing games, having her face painted, and riding on a hay ride. I am pretty sure that Leiah even liked it, since she smiled several times. I was especially happy to see my old roommate, Kelly, and her husband, Jonathan, and their two kids, both about the same ages as our two.
It was a great day! Here are some pumpkin-themed photos to share with you.
Happy fall, friends!
It was a great day! Here are some pumpkin-themed photos to share with you.
Happy fall, friends!
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Traveling with kids went... great! Baby jet lag? Not so much. And recap of our time so far (and all things pumpkin)
On October 9 Leiah will be 5 months old! Amazing. Today she weighed in at 8.4 kg and seems healthy and happy. She now rolls around and can sit by herself a little before she tips over. She loves playing, eating her books, baths, and watching Yaminah jump up and down and dance.
We are now in the US, since I am on maternity leave for Leiah and Tomas is on paternity leave for Yaminah. Here is a recap of our travels and our preparations.
After lots of preparation and the apartment basically turned upside-down and covered with suitcases, bags, and piles of our possessions for weeks, our travel day finally arrived. As always, packing is a horrible job, despite how much effort I had put into it ahead of time as I organized our clothes, chocolate (for gifts), etc, into categories, while Leiah slept. Whenever we figured we were finished that morning (and running out of time--taxi's coming soon!) we found more things we needed to bring. Granted, packing is always challenging, but even more so when packing for such a long time away (we will be away from Sweden for 2 1/2 months) and especially when we packed for children. Leiah would be growing out of at least one or two sizes, making it even more difficult. Leaving for such a long time required arranging watering of plants (thanks so much, Maria!), cleaning out food, letting neighbors know our plans, and goodbyes.
And then we somehow pulled it off, were packed and ready, and we were off!
I highly recommend flying Iceland Air if you are traveling from Minnesota to Sweden or vice versa, for many reasons. They still allow two suitcases per person (yay! already started shopping secondhand stores!), the flight attendants are very friendly, and switching planes in Reykjavik is much simpler and more convenient (especially with kids) than, for example, in Amsterdam. Yaminah, 5 1/2 years old, is our excellent traveler. Despite our long flights and our long day she never complained. Tip: whenever you fly with children, bring along a few surprises and give them at different times during the trip (and snacks). When she was younger I had four or five small gifts along that would be fun to play with. This time we had bought her a few nice sticker books and a comic book, and these kept her busy for a long time. Of course, having individual television screens helps too, and she watched a movie as well. For takeoff and landing, always feed children! That is my biggest tip of all, coming from Yaminah's many ear infections. Now that she is old enough, she chews gum or sips water during takeoff and landing.
Leiah, only 4 1/2 months old when we flew, also did great, but there again I made sure to feed her for takeoff and landing. (Whenever we have flown and babies scream during takeoff and landing, I think to myself, feed the baby something! Just in case it is the ear pressure that is causing the discomfort). She slept a few hours in my arms.
Another tip: when traveling with children, always bring extra clothes for them (obviously) but remember to pack an extra outfit for yourself as well! I chose tights, a soft skirt, and shirt, all that could be easily rolled up.
Once we had arrived in Minneapolis at my sister Sarah's Yaminah did well despite her jet lag, since she understood what was going on ("I am tired now because I have jet lag, since in Sweden I would be sleeping now!" she said). But the baby is another story! Now that we have been here for two weeks, she is finally starting to get into a better sleep routine, but it is still not great. When we first arrived in Minneapolis she went to sleep at 3 PM, ready for her night sleep. Then, of course, she was awake in the middle of the night instead, expecting all of us to get up. Baby jet lag is exhausting! In her confusion, she also figured she needed to be fed every time she woke up at these odd hours, so I did not get much quality sleep, to say the least. Due to jet lag, for the first few days in the States the Stenbacks actually sat down to breakfast together, the whole family, at 5 AM (we never sit down to eat together, so this was a change. :) Tomas was hoping it was a new change for us, but once the jet lag wore off, we were back to our own, different schedules again!
We spent the first several days in the Twin Cities where we saw Sarah and Scott, David, Mom and Bruce, Rachel, Kiera, and Colin, Beth and Billie. We went to a Twins (major league baseball) game, shopped at the outlet mall in Eagan, and hung out a lot. Thanks to Beth, Yaminah even visited her first American school, when Beth brought her to cousin Kiera's class for lunch. She was so happy!
After the Cities we drove up to Duluth to visit Dad and Beth. At first the weather was rainy, but later it became beautiful. We drove along the North Shore once, took walks together (including in Canal Park), ate out at Duluth Grill (delicious), and Yaminah and I went to a movie, Hotel Transylvania 2, which Yaminah loved. I enjoyed it as well.
After Duluth we drove over to Fertile to stay with Mom and Bruce. So far the weather has been cool but lovely. Today we took pictures with Caty at Cloud Nine Studios Photography, so we are looking forward to seeing those pictures later. We have seen Danell and Paul and their beautiful new home, Yaminah has been playing with neighbor girl BreElla and having fun, Tomas has been golfing once so far, and we are just relaxing.
I am especially happy to be home in the fall. So far, I have consumed an impressive amount of fall-inspired foods and drinks, everything from Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks (tall, nonfat, but don't skip the cream...) to pumpkin muffins, cookies, tea, beer... etc. If it has pumpkin, I will try it! I can't explain why pumpkin is so great, but it is. It is a part of fall, and who doesn't love fall?! The leaves are turning yellow and red and the air is fresh and crisp. (Here is an article from NPR about America's love of pumpkin).
Yet although I go crazy for all things pumpkin and fall, the real reason we are here is to have quality time to spend with each other, after quite a crazy year and the world's longest pregnancy (ahem), quality time with friends and family, and for our girls to spend lots of time in the US with their American family and friends, and to practice their English as well.
Generally, it's just nice to be home.
And even if 2 1/2 months sounds like a long time, it is already--as usual--going much too fast.
We are now in the US, since I am on maternity leave for Leiah and Tomas is on paternity leave for Yaminah. Here is a recap of our travels and our preparations.
After lots of preparation and the apartment basically turned upside-down and covered with suitcases, bags, and piles of our possessions for weeks, our travel day finally arrived. As always, packing is a horrible job, despite how much effort I had put into it ahead of time as I organized our clothes, chocolate (for gifts), etc, into categories, while Leiah slept. Whenever we figured we were finished that morning (and running out of time--taxi's coming soon!) we found more things we needed to bring. Granted, packing is always challenging, but even more so when packing for such a long time away (we will be away from Sweden for 2 1/2 months) and especially when we packed for children. Leiah would be growing out of at least one or two sizes, making it even more difficult. Leaving for such a long time required arranging watering of plants (thanks so much, Maria!), cleaning out food, letting neighbors know our plans, and goodbyes.
And then we somehow pulled it off, were packed and ready, and we were off!
I highly recommend flying Iceland Air if you are traveling from Minnesota to Sweden or vice versa, for many reasons. They still allow two suitcases per person (yay! already started shopping secondhand stores!), the flight attendants are very friendly, and switching planes in Reykjavik is much simpler and more convenient (especially with kids) than, for example, in Amsterdam. Yaminah, 5 1/2 years old, is our excellent traveler. Despite our long flights and our long day she never complained. Tip: whenever you fly with children, bring along a few surprises and give them at different times during the trip (and snacks). When she was younger I had four or five small gifts along that would be fun to play with. This time we had bought her a few nice sticker books and a comic book, and these kept her busy for a long time. Of course, having individual television screens helps too, and she watched a movie as well. For takeoff and landing, always feed children! That is my biggest tip of all, coming from Yaminah's many ear infections. Now that she is old enough, she chews gum or sips water during takeoff and landing.
Leiah, only 4 1/2 months old when we flew, also did great, but there again I made sure to feed her for takeoff and landing. (Whenever we have flown and babies scream during takeoff and landing, I think to myself, feed the baby something! Just in case it is the ear pressure that is causing the discomfort). She slept a few hours in my arms.
Another tip: when traveling with children, always bring extra clothes for them (obviously) but remember to pack an extra outfit for yourself as well! I chose tights, a soft skirt, and shirt, all that could be easily rolled up.
Once we had arrived in Minneapolis at my sister Sarah's Yaminah did well despite her jet lag, since she understood what was going on ("I am tired now because I have jet lag, since in Sweden I would be sleeping now!" she said). But the baby is another story! Now that we have been here for two weeks, she is finally starting to get into a better sleep routine, but it is still not great. When we first arrived in Minneapolis she went to sleep at 3 PM, ready for her night sleep. Then, of course, she was awake in the middle of the night instead, expecting all of us to get up. Baby jet lag is exhausting! In her confusion, she also figured she needed to be fed every time she woke up at these odd hours, so I did not get much quality sleep, to say the least. Due to jet lag, for the first few days in the States the Stenbacks actually sat down to breakfast together, the whole family, at 5 AM (we never sit down to eat together, so this was a change. :) Tomas was hoping it was a new change for us, but once the jet lag wore off, we were back to our own, different schedules again!
We spent the first several days in the Twin Cities where we saw Sarah and Scott, David, Mom and Bruce, Rachel, Kiera, and Colin, Beth and Billie. We went to a Twins (major league baseball) game, shopped at the outlet mall in Eagan, and hung out a lot. Thanks to Beth, Yaminah even visited her first American school, when Beth brought her to cousin Kiera's class for lunch. She was so happy!
 |
| Yaminah playing with cousins Kiera and Colin |
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| Leiah's first shoes! (Daddy found them). |
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| Yaminah's diary entry after visiting school |
 |
Baking pumpkin cookies with Aunt Sarah |
After the Cities we drove up to Duluth to visit Dad and Beth. At first the weather was rainy, but later it became beautiful. We drove along the North Shore once, took walks together (including in Canal Park), ate out at Duluth Grill (delicious), and Yaminah and I went to a movie, Hotel Transylvania 2, which Yaminah loved. I enjoyed it as well.
 |
| Stopping for lunch on our drive along the North Shore of Lake Superior |
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| At the Duluth Grill with Grandpa and Nana |
After Duluth we drove over to Fertile to stay with Mom and Bruce. So far the weather has been cool but lovely. Today we took pictures with Caty at Cloud Nine Studios Photography, so we are looking forward to seeing those pictures later. We have seen Danell and Paul and their beautiful new home, Yaminah has been playing with neighbor girl BreElla and having fun, Tomas has been golfing once so far, and we are just relaxing.
 |
| With Danell |
I am especially happy to be home in the fall. So far, I have consumed an impressive amount of fall-inspired foods and drinks, everything from Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks (tall, nonfat, but don't skip the cream...) to pumpkin muffins, cookies, tea, beer... etc. If it has pumpkin, I will try it! I can't explain why pumpkin is so great, but it is. It is a part of fall, and who doesn't love fall?! The leaves are turning yellow and red and the air is fresh and crisp. (Here is an article from NPR about America's love of pumpkin).
Yet although I go crazy for all things pumpkin and fall, the real reason we are here is to have quality time to spend with each other, after quite a crazy year and the world's longest pregnancy (ahem), quality time with friends and family, and for our girls to spend lots of time in the US with their American family and friends, and to practice their English as well.
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| Yaminah has lost her first tooth! |
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| Relaxing with Grandma |
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| Playing with BreElla |
Generally, it's just nice to be home.
And even if 2 1/2 months sounds like a long time, it is already--as usual--going much too fast.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Brilliant way to color frosting! If I do say so myself... :)
For Yaminah's fifth birthday I bought her adorable pink cupcake cups with ballerina decorations. Finally we baked cupcakes today.
We wanted to make "regular" cupcakes and frost them with frosting that was pink, and so my original idea was to add a few drops of food coloring to a simple vanilla frosting. However, I was struck with the idea that it could be fun to use some of the black currants we picked when we were at our house in Dalarna this summer. Not quite wanting to go to too much trouble (since this all had to take place quickly while 14 week-old Leiah slept) I realized we could try to add black currant jam instead.
It was a brilliant idea! (I must say... :) All that Yaminah and I did was skip the few tablespoons of liquids the frosting recipe called for, and instead, exchange a few heaping tablespoons of my homemade black currant jam. We experimented; the more we added, the darker lilac the frosting became. We settled on three tablespoons for this single-batch frosting. I absolutely loved using my own organic homemade jam, but if you do not have this, experiment and find something you like. I plan on mixing in blueberry jam later as well. Surprisingly, the jam did not affect the flavor much--just mainly the color.
I am sure this would work with any similar recipe, but the one that I used is from my lovely cookbook called "Hello cupcake!" by Leila Lindholm. (It's a great cupcake cookbook, but in Swedish). I made her "Classic cupcakes" (vanilla cupcakes with lemon) and then changed this frosting recipe. Here is the recipe, with my changes added:
Cream Cheese Frosting with Black Currant Jam
60 g softened margarine/butter
5 dl (a little more than 2 C) powdered sugar (I always just add more as needed)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or use 2 heaping tsp "vaniljsocker")
3 Tbsp. black currant jam
100 g Philadelphia cream cheese
Mix all of the ingredients with a mixer until very smooth. Then cool a while (I put the bowl in the fridge while cleaning up) and decorate cupcakes as desired.
We wanted to make "regular" cupcakes and frost them with frosting that was pink, and so my original idea was to add a few drops of food coloring to a simple vanilla frosting. However, I was struck with the idea that it could be fun to use some of the black currants we picked when we were at our house in Dalarna this summer. Not quite wanting to go to too much trouble (since this all had to take place quickly while 14 week-old Leiah slept) I realized we could try to add black currant jam instead.
It was a brilliant idea! (I must say... :) All that Yaminah and I did was skip the few tablespoons of liquids the frosting recipe called for, and instead, exchange a few heaping tablespoons of my homemade black currant jam. We experimented; the more we added, the darker lilac the frosting became. We settled on three tablespoons for this single-batch frosting. I absolutely loved using my own organic homemade jam, but if you do not have this, experiment and find something you like. I plan on mixing in blueberry jam later as well. Surprisingly, the jam did not affect the flavor much--just mainly the color.
I am sure this would work with any similar recipe, but the one that I used is from my lovely cookbook called "Hello cupcake!" by Leila Lindholm. (It's a great cupcake cookbook, but in Swedish). I made her "Classic cupcakes" (vanilla cupcakes with lemon) and then changed this frosting recipe. Here is the recipe, with my changes added:
Cream Cheese Frosting with Black Currant Jam
60 g softened margarine/butter
5 dl (a little more than 2 C) powdered sugar (I always just add more as needed)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or use 2 heaping tsp "vaniljsocker")
3 Tbsp. black currant jam
100 g Philadelphia cream cheese
Mix all of the ingredients with a mixer until very smooth. Then cool a while (I put the bowl in the fridge while cleaning up) and decorate cupcakes as desired.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Gooseberry crumble
Since today is a dreary, rainy day, I finally took some time to work on my blog. I have lots of things to write, but for now, I just want to let you know that I made a delicious gooseberry crumble for the first time the other day, and brought it to a potluck supper. Everyone loved it! So I published the recipe, which can be found here, on the recipes page of this blog.
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