Word of the Year

Lots of bloggers choose a word of the year to focus on. I've done it in previous years and decided to do it again for 2014. My word of the year is CALM.

Goodbye

One of my favourite people passed away this week. He was a pastor and an intellectual with a surprisingly wicked sense of humour. His memorial service is in Sudbury today, so I feel a little sad that I can't attend, and most of all that he is gone. But, I know I'll see him again:)

Highlights from 2013

 Joonas had surgery in January

 We went to Hawaii in March

 The boys attended (and loved) their first overnight camp

 The inlaws visited

Emmi learned to walk. On Pentti's birthday.

 Halloween.

 I finally learned to make "pulla" or Finnish cinnamon buns.

 I went to Montreal alone to celebrate my 40th with Mehj

2013 was a great year. There is so much that I could write about: Matias' hockey games, and Joonas' enthusiasm for the piano, visits to Hope, ladies nights with the women from the church, catching up with old friends, the list goes on. And even though there was some cause for worry as well, with Joonas' surgery and Pentti losing his job and my grandma being in and out of the hospital, I feel profoundly grateful for the year that is ending today.
PS. The (terrible) picture of me was the only picture taken the whole time I was in Montreal. I guess I was too busy to take pictures. Anyway, Mehj and I were at a great French bistro type restaurant called Le Grenouille.

2013 reads

I did a fair bit of reading in 2013. With putting the kids to bed, nap time, getting a book light and becoming more comfortable with e-books, I ended up having lots of opportunities to read. Unusual for me is that I read six non-fiction books. They are marked with an asterisk and I really enjoyed them. All. Of the fiction that I read, a lot of it was fluff, but there were also some really great reads.

A list of books read in 2013:
The Perfect Hope
A Moveable Feast
The Dressmaker
Unfinished Business
Everybody Has Everything
A Week In Winter
The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society
The Secret Keeper
The Shoemaker's Wife
*Bringing Up Bebe
Whiskey Beach
Tapestry of Fortunes
The Year of Pleasures
*Love Does
Open House
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared
How To Eat A Cupcake
All The Summer Girls
Mango Season
*Be A People Person
*Crazy Love
Where'd You Go Bernadette
*One Way Love
Divergent
Insurgent
Allegiant
People of the Book
How I Came to Sparkle Again
*Grace For The Good Girl

SNOW!!

We had some crazy snow right before Christmas. It snowed on the last day before Christmas break, so the kids school ended up closing a day early. The timing of it was perfect and the kids were in heaven! Of course it melted before Christmas so it didn't actually mess up our holiday plans.

Cabinet

I've been looking for a small cabinet with doors. The kids love to spread out, and do their homework on the dining room table. That means pencils and felts and books and binders, in addition to the usual toys and paper airplanes. So, I needed a cabinet where I could quickly stash things out of sight and here it is...
(I don't why the mirrored doors look flawed in the picture)

Christmas decor

Christmas came full-fledged to our house on the weekend. I love it!