Daily Jamie

Saturdaaaaaaay!

Jambo and I had a big, full day yesterday. While The Swede was off fishing, we went to gymnastics and then to the mall where we ate sushi...

 …got a haircut…

 …tested the new Lego Avengers game…

… and got papa's car washed. The Swede arrived home soon after we did then he took over while I got to have a nice, long chat with Selah. We finished the day with a Melodifestivalen-watching party featuring a six-pack from Dunkin' Donuts. Gotta love the weekend!

Daily Jamie

February 23rd

February 24th

February 25th

Cousin Hang

Elin and Julia are on their winter sport break and have spent this week with Mama and Papa Swede. Jamie doesn't have this break yet, only being in preschool, but I wonder if we're going to be able to get away with unloading him on my in-laws for extended periods since we only live three minutes away. At any rate, I wanted Jambo to get to spend some time with the girls and we also wanted to see Zootropolis (it's called Zootopia in the US, I think. I love this trailer but it's actually funnier in Swedish) so I took the afternoon off of work, picked up the kids, and headed to the mall. We did a little shopping first, as both of the girls had gotten some cash for their birthdays, then loaded up on snacks and slushies, and settled in at the theater. Approximately three-fourths of the way through the film, Jamie became terrified of one of the characters and asked me to take him out. The girls stayed and Julia subsequently gave a dizzying recount of the end of the picture, none of which I could follow. Afterwards, we did even more shopping, during which there was much deliberation over which Barbie was best, and had a cozy fika.

Daily Jamie

February 18th

February 20th

February 21st 

February 22nd

Getting Involved

You've been hearing a lot about ice-fishing on the blog these days, no? Here comes some more. The Swede's club had their club championship on Saturday and my husband was all about getting everyone involved. He invited Jamie and I, the Segerstens, and Axel and his mom to come eat a hot dog and watch the awards ceremony and, by golly, we all did! It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing something fierce, but Jamie and Axel both donned their fingerless (ice-fishing) gloves and stood proudly by The Swede as he tallied the results. Some may argue that the results and awards are the best part - the motivator - but it was hard to find even that part attractive in the icy cold. Nevertheless, neither Elin nor Julia were that turned off as they both competed during a four-hour competition the very next day. While they appreciate a good hot dog as much as the next guy, the very youngest are going to require a little more convincing.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

February 14th
Joy, according to me: finding Lucky Charms knock-offs in the American aisle.
Joy, according to Jamie: eating them with the biggest spoon he could find.

Sunday Plus

Erin and I were out at dinner on Friday night when I mentioned that Jamie and I were going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 at the theater on Sunday. Ossian had never been to the movies, apparently, and we both agreed that it was time. So yesterday we met at Mall of Scandinavia (have I told you about it? It's the brand-new, biggest, best mall in Scandinavia and it's awesome), which was halfway time-wise since they took the train. The movie was barely tolerable, but Ossian was glued to the screen and Jamie was dancing in his seat. Erin and I loved the popcorn.   

Afterwards we had to check out the Lego store. It's obligatory. They boys each built three Lego guys (Jamie's made me nuts because they all had the same hair) and then we went to the playroom and played with them/tried not to lose them. Tell me, because I was never a parent in the States: are there playrooms in malls in America? 'Cause there's one in every mall over here and I don't know what I'd do without them.

Jamie and I had basically the same day we would have by ourselves, but having Erin and Ossian there made it so much more fun!

Daily Jamie

February 11th
He's grown a little bit:

February 13th

On A Roll

You guys, The Swede won his second ice fishing competition this season today! We're so proud!!!

Daily Jamie

Yoda Best Valentines

I saw these on Pinterest a couple of years ago, but never did anything about it because a) Jamie didn't know who Yoda was and b) kids don't give out Valentines over here. Yet. Now Jamie is obsessed with Star Wars and I'm about to introduce an American tradition to Sweden via Jamie's preschool class. Watch. In a few years - five, max - class Valentines will be a thing here and you can say that you know the lady who started it all with this totally untranslatable card.

If you want to make these yourself (though I understand it's probably less appealing if you're not in the business of introducing a cultural phenomenon to an entire population) just print out this PDF, attach a glow stick, and enjoy the feeling of being a Cool Mom like me.

Daily Jamie

February 6th
The Swede has a rad beard now and I am wild about it.

February 7th

#Sariannesmellofest

This past Saturday, after Jamie's gymnastics class, I dropped him off at Mama Swede's and hit the road toward Söderköping for Sarianne's Melodifestivalen party. It happened to be Sarianne's birthday, but since the first round of the competition was being televised on Saturday, Melodifestivalen was the clear choice in terms of theme. So of course there was a ton of confetti, glitter, and sequins up in there.

Since she's kind of a big deal in the blogosphere over here, Sarianne managed to get a lot of really fun details sponsored. There was a red carpet outside, for example, a movie theater popcorn machine, a slushy machine (which we obviously used for daquaris), and a bunch of delicious wine and snacks. I made jello shots, which turned out straight-up disgusting but looked super pretty. A couple of the guests were also big-deal bloggers who took photos the entire time, so you could say that the jello shots served their purpose.



We ate sushi and stir-fry, kind of watched the song competition but mostly just cackled, and danced till we dropped. There was so much confetti that when it was over that you couldn't see the floor. I think we spent almost as much time cleaning up the confetti as we did actually partying. Totally worth it, though; I can't overstate the impact of those tiny pieces of plastic on the merriment. Very, very good times indeed.



Daily Jamie

Vasa Boyz

Last week, both Axel and Jamie came home talking about the Titanic and the warship Vasa, which sunk about four hundred years ago in Stockholm's harbor. Someone in their class must have heard about the ships at home and then brought it up at school and the teachers rolled with it and gave the fascinated kids some history, which they then repeated excitedly to us over dinner. Axel's mom and I decided to capitalize on the enthusiasm and took the afternoon off of work today to take the boys to the Vasa Museum in the city. We did a family tour with a guide who was perfect with the kids, telling them the story of the ship's two year construction and twenty minute voyage before it was blown over by a gust of wind and sank, and was then discovered and pulled up in 1961. They listened intently the entire time and even wanted to explore the museum more after the tour was over. I love this age; they're so curious and understand anything you're patient enough to explain to them and I can't wait to see what catches their interest next.

Daily Jamie

A Conversation, 3 A.M.

Jamie, from his room: Maaaaamaaaaa!!!
Me, crawling into his bed beside him: What is it, baby?
Jamie: I dreamed that Axel and I were in Andy's Dinosaur Adventures and I touched a spider and it turned into a zombie.

I comfort him, assure him it wasn't real, and we cuddle up to fall back asleep. After several minutes…

Jamie: I'm going to dream about Star Wars now.
Me: Ok, good one. I'm going to dream about a beach.
Jamie: The Sneetches on the beaches?

Daily Jamie

February 1st 

February 2nd 

I Rest My Case

If you think I'm enthusiastic about Kalle Kamel on this blog, you should hear me in person. He's one of my very favorite topics of discussion after, like, eyebrows and television series. Imagine my delight, then, when he appeared on the front page of the local paper today! He's a GLOBAL CELEBRITY, apparently, with his own Facebook page and was even featured on Buzzfeed. So, listen, sorry if you're tired of hearing about him, but this new information is really only going to make me more obnoxious.