Emmi's blessing

Active kids who act like monkeys are so much easier to write about. This is true for blogs and even report cards. Case in point: Joonas. Emmi was blessed on the stage at the church on Sunday. Can you tell what Joonas thought about the whole thing?

Chicken Pesto Pizza

I found a simple recipe for chicken pesto pizza. I made the crust myself too, but you could use any pizza crust. The trick is to mix pesto in with the pizza sauce and then spread it onto the pizza. Then, shred the chicken and mix more pesto in with the chicken. Spread it onto the pizza and add fresh sliced mozzarella and a bit of freshly grated parmesan. Cook until bubbly and slightly browned. The pizza was so delicious!! We all (me, the boys and Pentti) all loved it and we generally never agree:)

Joonas started kindergarten this year. I was worried that he might be a little nervous. But, when I asked him who he wanted to drive him to school (thinking he'd want one or both parents there as security), he responded that he'd like Kim (our carpooling neighbour) to drive him. I guess mommy was the only nervous one:) In fact, Joonas was disappointed that he has gradual entry and won't be going to school for a full day until week 3. 
In true Joonas style, he also managed to soak his pants through to his underwear within 2 minutes of hitting the playground. Pentti had just told him that the slide was probably wet, so naturally Joonas had to go test it out. Luckily, I had brought spare clothes. Unfortunately, since I thought the spare clothes would just sit in his cubby at school, I had packed ugly, almost too small for him clothes with a hole in the knee. What a proud mommy moment to bring your child into his first day of school wearing a tshirt that's too small and "flood pants" with a hole in the knee...
(The picture is from the first day. Sorry the quality isn't that great...)

Bath time

Baby girl is here and I couldn't be happier. They say that the time when your kids are small are the best ones of your life. So, I am trying to enjoy every moment. Of course, Pentti has decided to take advantage of this so that every time Emmi poops, he hands her to me and says, " I just want you to enjoy EVERY moment".

We recently watched the movie Certified Copy. Pentti hated it because it was a foreign film and because it was philosophical with very little action. It wasn't one of my favourite movies of all time, but I did enjoy it. In fact, I think I enjoyed it even more when it was over...but not for the reasons you may think. I wasn't relieved that it was over, just that it was one of those movies which left me thinking. About art and forgery and reality and marriage and expectations and perceptions and communication. I also really like Juliette Binoche.
One of the lines from the movie which I found interesting: "your perception of someone can change the value of that person". 

In case anyone hasn't seen me in my 8 months of pregnant splendour...here's a picture with two of my sister in laws, taken at my sister's wedding.

I made a cheesecake for my sister in law's birthday. It turned out perfect. In the process I discovered that all the ingredients really do need to be at room temperature, otherwise the texture ends up a bit grainy (like last time). This time=perfection!!

Joonas

Not sure whether I blogged about Joonas' preschool parent-teacher interview in the fall. But at the time, they said that he was the perfect child and they wanted to clone him. Pentti wondered whether they had confused him with another child in his class...
Well....I went to the end of the year parent-teacher interview last week. The teacher said, "Joonas has really come out of his shell".Haha, I guess he couldn't hide his true self forever! He is such a monkey. Not bad, but really active and mischievous. Can't you tell just by looking at the picture?

Easter

Pancakes!

I'm not big on waiting. But, when you are prepared to wait for something good, it's not raining, and you're in good company, it's not so bad. Especially when the pay off is these gigantic strawberry pancakes with whipped cream and powdered sugar. (I finished about half of one, which was pretty good considering they were bigger than my head)

Pasta

I love pesto. Homemade pesto. My only problem with it is that fresh basil is harder to come by in the winter. You can still get it, but they don't sell it at the farm in huge bunches, like they do in the summer. You also can't really grow it yourself when it's only 5 C outside. At the grocery store, it comes in little plastic containers that contain a few measly basil leaves.
So, I was very excited to see a recipe for pesto that called for only a handful of basil and used lots of arugula and avocado instead. The recipe is found here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/linguine-with-avocado-and-arugula-pesto-recipe/index.html
I changed a few things (no almonds for me) and cut the amount of salt and lime juice, and added some cherry tomatoes on top. It was delicious!! It was like having a bit of summer in the middle of a cold and dreary winter. Finding/trying a new recipe that works; awesome!
(I need to warn you that you need to love the taste of lime in order to enjoy this recipe)

This week's inspiration

I am really sick. It started with Matias more than a week ago and then it hit me. I feel awful, but there have been some small joys this week regardless. Like eating plums. Being happy for my sister. Coffee in bed on Valentine's. But most of all, watching Matias read. He was home all week, so he had to find things to keep himself busy, since I wouldn't let him watch tv all day (his first choice). He had gone to the bookshelf and chosen a (chapter) book to read all on his own. He had chosen George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl. A few times I caught him laughing as he was reading; I love that!! He wanted to tell me some of the funny parts. How awesome to watch your child "discovering" on his own one of your personal favourite childhood authors!

Moments

Because life is only a collection of moments.

Watch the following video all about enjoying every moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhOUaszMGvQ

French Onion Soup

On a cold, dreary January day, what could be better than French Onion Soup? I tested this new recipe last week and loved it. I wasn't sure how I would like fresh sprigs of thyme, but since I happened to have some in the fridge, I thought I'd throw them in. Yum! The recipe is found here http://food.chatelaine.com/Recipes/View/Fabulous-French-onion-soup
The only thing I changed was the white wine. I didn't have any, so I just substituted it with water. Perfect rainy day food!