OUR HOUSE

Marko spent the last week in Finland, and he brought back something amazing: a house!!! Even better, the house that we completely fell in love with on a realtor's website only a few weeks ago. This is probably a good time to finally share the big news with all our readers: We are moving to Finland in June! Although we will certainly miss many aspects - and many people! - of our life here in the US, we are very, very excited to start new adventures and live closer to our families. But more about that later, and back to THE HOUSE:

This is what it looks like on Google maps. The plan is to paint the dark-brown light blue and the beige white. Just imagine...!

It's a perfect mix of read-to-be-moved-in while still leaving room for adding our own touches. In the kitchen, we will paint the windows and make make the small window bigger.

 Plans to break through the wall in the dining room and add a door to the backyard already exist. We will definitely realize them. A sunroom addition is being discussed as well.

 Imagine our own furniture, colors, and style in these pretty rooms!

Hopefully we will find someone to add a window into that slanted ceiling.

Now that we own a library, we will probably have to read more and cut down on our TV watching. ;-)

We'll have one romantic and one modern bathroom.

The heart of every Finnish house: the sauna.

We are thrilled about our huge yard!

Behind the white door hides a loggia that will, after we've added a floor and some paint, be one of our favorite coffee drinking places.

We are elated that we were picked to buy this beauty by the owners among many, many potential candidates. When we look back on this, we might think it was a bit crazy to buy a house we only knew from pictures, but sometimes, when you're in love, you have to take a risk and act fast. It was definitely worth it - Marko' visit only confirmed that this house is perfect for us.

Welcome to Dunckerinkatu in Mikkeli, or, as the skate boarders and hip hoppers in the 1990s called it, "D-Street".

We could not be happier!!! A gigantic THANK YOU to our parents who made this possible and helped us every step of the way. A huge thank you also to Jussi and Noora for being the first people to visit the house.

As if this was not already good enough, Marko's parents bought us the perfect Ennser-Kananen family car: A Skoda Fabia. A huge KIITOS!

COLD and COLORFUL

It's been pretty cold lately, so many of our activities have taken place inside.

 Like dress up games.

 And cleaning efforts.

 Last Sunday, we woke up to Samu giving a geography lesson to Sofia.

 We celebrated Valentine's Day.

 And Marko and Hanna even got to go on an adult date!

 The kids have been very active and creative in their arts studio.

 The result is usually a full-body coat of paint. ;-)

 Play dough is popular too.

 And when the sun came out and temperatures got milder, we spent some time outside.

 Samu has been fascinated with flags.

 And Sofia has been really into painting household objects.

 Today is a free Monday (President's Day), so we decided to bring the bouncy castle back. Hurray!!

PARENTAL PRIDE

Take a look at some excerpts of what Samu's and Sofia's teachers wrote about them in their half-yearly reports! We could not be prouder! (Add to this the fact that Sofia is now completely diaper and pacifier-free ...!!)


SOFIA
Sofia's play is growing more complex. She is stringing together different activities to create a logical sequence, for example, she may pretend to feed a doll, then put her to bed, and cover her up. She knows most colors (we are working on brown, black, and grey) and most shapes (we are working on pentagons, hexagons, and octagons). In terms of language development, her vocabulary has increased significantly in the last couple of months. She is able to have conversations about daily activities and picks ups new words daily. She uses question inflection at the end of sentences and can ask for what she wants appropriately. She also follows sequential commands, e.g. "Get your shoes, bring them to the mat, sit down, and let me help you put them on." Sofia is very social. She has many friends and many of the children's activities that take place in the classroom without teachers' assistance are her ideas. Sofia is doing exceptionally well regarding her fine motor skills. She has a great deal of control over small things and enjoys doing arts projects that require fine detail. She is a bright, sweet, and kind kid. Thank you for sharing her with us.

SAMUEL
Samuel is a sweet and lovely boy. He always shows excitement when he comes to school and really enjoys learning and playing with his friends and teachers. His linguistic skills are excellent. He speaks perfect English and has a huge vocabulary for his age. He learns and uses new words every day. He is totally comfortable expressing his ideas, needs, and feelings and talking about things he does with his family and friends. Samuel stays focused in all activities because he is eager to learn and wants to be the smartest kid in the class. He is our "little genius". He asks questions all the time and said that his parents told him that if he asks "Why" he will learn a lot. He is able to count from 0 to 100 and is learning the difference between adding and subtracting. I am proud to say that he is able to read and write several words. Samuel is a great child with an amazing personality. He is full of joy and we are extremely glad to see him develop every day.

ICE HOUSE and ICE CASTLE

On Friday, Boston was struck by another snow storm. At first, it looked relatively harmless, and actually pretty around the BU campus.

However, when we got home, we found our house cold and dark. The power outage had struck our whole neighborhood and over 300 houses in Dedham were without electricity. 

 

We embraced the adventure, bought a lot of fire wood, grilled sausages, and read books.

 

The next morning the power was still out and we were longing for some warmth in our 49F/9C home. 

So after a fireplace breakfast (picture by Samu), we fled our ice house.

 

...and hit the road to New Hampshire.

We visited an Ice Castle in Lincoln, which we had planned to do for a few weeks.

The castle was truly impressive: A gigantic building made by hand out of self-grown icicles!

There were mazes and tunnels and little fountains - and a lot of people.

 When we were so cold that we could not take it anymore, we drove to our hotel, a rustic homey lodge in Franconia. The kids liked our room immediately.

 We "played pool".

 And found other ways of relaxing.

 Before going to bed, we enjoyed a family evening swim.

 Surrounded by the White Mountains, we had a lovely breakfast the next morning. We were so tired from our adventure (and the kids were so cranky) that we decided to go straight home without any additional activities.

 So after Sofia had read the Bible (heehee), we drove home, which gave Samu and Sofia the nap they badly needed. We arrived in sunny Dedham in the early afternoon, and found a warm and bright house. Welcome back, electricity!