HAPPY EASTER

We had our traditional easter egg hunt and brunch at grandma's and grandmas house again. 

We do it on Saturday, and then try to calm down for Sunday to celebrate the Easter at church.

 

Markus and Kai went there a little earlier to hide the eggs for younger siblings and cousins. 

 

Grandpa even warmed the spa and pool for us. 

We truly love our family and it is always such a treat to spend time together.

 

 

Kids are lining up to go hunt eggs

 

 

Ready, set, go...

 

 

 

It was quite a challenge to get an actual photo of them picking eggs...they were just too fast

 

 

Yikes...rose bushes...watch out for thorns! 

Nobody seemed to care :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kai and Jason chilling...

 

 

Grandma and grandpa with the kids

 

 

 

Time for some waffles, bacon and eggs

 

 

 

 

And yes...it was even warm enough for a dip to a pool.

 

 

What a great day we had!

Families are the best!

If you did not make it down here, we surely missed you!

 

 

 

 

 

...AND MORE COLOR

We have a staircase from the backyard to our basement. 

When we have pool parties, we encourage everybody to use the bathroom downstairs, to keep water puddles to a minimun on our main level hardwood floors.

 

One of the problems we have had is that the staircase has been kind of dark and dreary, and many of the little kids do not like to enter to our "dungeon". 

I have been wanting to make it a little more colorful and inviting for a long time.  

 

Once again, inspired by Brenna White, I decided that Spring Break would be a perfect time to do some painting. 

I gathered all my left over paints, dug up my old, crusty paint brush and started painting.  I just started slapping paint on the walls, and did not even bother to clean my brush between the colors.

 

I have never painted concrete, let alone such textured one, before. Adding any kind of detail was a challenge, and I had to use lots of paint for coverage, but the colors ended up coming through great.

 

After four hours I was ready for a break.... 

 

I can not wait to get the stairs done...but that has to wait until I get yet another inpiration...although Pinterest is making me feel it already...

SOMETIMES...ALL YOU NEED IS COLOR

Some days I just need to paint!

 

I had been wanting to get a long table to our backyard patio, but they all seemed so expensive.

 

After looking and shopping around for few years I decided to make my own.  Last year I purchased a used table from craigslist, removed the top and replaced it with some long boards and to make it a little more fun, I painted the top.

 

I was inpired by an artist called, Brenna White. Her art is fun, colorful and whimsical.

The fish on the bottom of this table are my kids' hand prints!

 

Our table has defintely become a conversation piece.

 

If I could go back and redo the table I would make it a little wider.

 

 

LEMONADE OUT OF LEMONS...OR AT LEAST LOTS OF BAKED GOODS

Over the weekend our fridge died. 

Looks like the compressor went out.  I am still waiting for the warranty company to sent a repairman to come over and fix it.

 

I moved everything from the freezer side to our chest freezer, and then I moved things from the fridge side to the freezer side.  The melting ice was keeping things relatively cool for awhile.

 

 

 

 

For Sunday morning I made the biggest omelettes for everyone, with ton of eggs, ham, peppers, onions, and cheese.  I don't think anybody was hungry during the church!

 

 

By Sunday night it was getting pretty warm even inside the fridge, so I decided to do some baking to salvage what I could, before throwing everything else away. 

Once everyone went to bed, I started baking. 

 

To keep myself awake, I watched "Upstairs, Downstairs" episodes with my iPad.

 

 

By the time it was midnight I had piles of baked goods.

So, if nothing else...we will have lots of snacks for the upcoming week. 

Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate muffins and banana bread. 

I hope kids are in the mood for some snacking, since I have no room in the freezer for this stuff!

 

 

 

 

DAILY BREAD

One of the things I have missed a lot from Finland is the rye bread. 

Ruisleipa.

It is like a sour dough bread, but made of rye.

I have tried to make it multiple times past 20 years, but with little to now success.

 

Recently when Petronella came to visit, she brought some ruisleipa with her she had made.

It tasted and looked like a real thing.

 

So one day I taught her how to crochet and she taught me how to make this bread.

 

 

 

For all you finnish speakers...here is the recepie...if you want it in English, let me know and I can try to translate it.

RUISLEIPÄ

 Aito, hapan ruisleipä, tekemiseen (odotteluun) menee 3päivää + 1päivä + 8(-16) tuntia + 2tuntia + paisto 2 tuntia. Eli vaatii ajankäytön suhteen hieman suunnittelua, mutta on vaivan arvoista! Lopputulos on ihanat pinnasta halkeilevat limput! Aikojen suhteen ei tarvitse olla orjallinen, kunhan suurinpiitein menee oikein, niin tämä leipä palkitsee lopussa

 Juuri:
1rkl maustamatonta jogurttia
2dl kädenlämpöistä vettä
1dl ruisjauhoa
Sekoita ja peitä kulho liinalla. Aseta vedottomaan paikkaan seisomaan kolmeksi (3) päiväksi. Sekoitetaan vähintään 4 kertaa päivässä. Hapan tuoksu kuuluu asiaan kun maitohapot kehittyvät, ja seoksen kuuluu kuplia kunnolla kun se on valmista.

Taikina:
1½litraa vettä
2rkl merisuolaa

2kg ruisjauhoa

Hapanjuureen lisätään 1 litra kädenlämpöistä vettä ja 0,6kg ruisjauhoja. Sekoita. Aseta liinan alle seisomaan noin 15-20 tunniksi. Sekoittele muutaman kerran sinä aikana. Sekoita 2rkl merisuolaa ½litraan vettä ja lisää taikinaan. Sitten vaivaa taikinaan 1,4kg ruisjauhoja. Sekoita ja vaivaa hyvin voimakkaasti, tässä kohtaa apuri voi olla tarpeen kun omat kädet väsyy. Peitä ja kohota 8-16 tuntia, mitä pidempään annat kohota vedottomassa paikassa, sen happamampaa leivästä tulee. Kaada taikina ruisjauhotetulle alustalle ja jaa se neljään osaan. Muotoile leiviksi pellille ja kohota 2 tuntia. Pistele haarukalla ja paista 225 asteessa 45 minuuttia, sen jälkeen alenna lämpö 175 asteeseen ja paista vielä 50 minuuttia, vähän uunista riippuen… Kääri valmiit leivät pyyhkeisiin.

R.I.P OUR SHADY BACKYARD TREE

Our poor tree. 

It served us well...and now it is dead.

 

We are hoping to still use the trunk as our movie screen pole.

 

In the beginning of our sauna contruction we were told that we needed to get rid of our tree because of some concerns with roots and our septic tank.

http://thegamettgang.blogspot.com/2013/01/mourning-our-tree.html

 

As painful as it was to kill the tree, a failed septic tank would have probably been 1000 X worse - and much stinkier!

 

I drilled holes to the trunk and poured some root/tree killer into the holes. 

Hoping that will do the trick!

 

Note to self...using a wrong kind of drill bit will cause the drill bit to get stuck to the trunk and it is very hard to get it out!

SURE SIGN OF SPRING

Our apricot trees are blooming. 

 

The spring is here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE OUR NEW SAUNA

I absolutely LOVE our new sauna.  It is so pretty, and it smells so good...and it works!!!

The first night we went to sauna, kids insisted running to the backyard and jumping to the pool...water of 50 F (10 C).

Thank you Rycon Construction (Las Vegas).  They did amazing job!  We could not have been happier with the results!

 

 

 

We are still waiting for the Lowes to get our vanity...one of these days :)