A playhouse

Recently the little one and I made a playhouse under our dining table. With the use of several blankets and duvets we made it nice and cosy.

The little one brought some of his toys and played in his little playhouse. He also got a kick out of crawling in and out of the playhouse.



We also sat up some bikelights because it was pretty dark in there. Here you see the little one putting up the light - notice the look of pure concentration on his face.



We had a great time playing in there and I felt pretty good about my creativity in building a little playhouse that provided so much entertainment for us. Later, however, I saw this website on etsy. Oh dear! Talk about creativity.

I am so in love with her playhouses and I can fully imagine the little one playing in here among all the sweet little animals





Or maybe decorating a cake from this bakery. *Sigh* I am so in love!





So many good ideas for hours of play. Just see what the lovely creator tells about this playhouse:

"This playhouse is extra, extra special because it comes with FORTY removable/replaceable pieces! All of the sweets can be moved around, and the decorations on the cake can be changed, too! There are even three cupcakes that can be "decorated"! You can even remove the teapot and teacups and pour your guests a cup of tea! And, as always, there are 4 special letters to put in the mailbox, and a cute little watering can for watering the flowers in the window box. The window has a sparkly striped awning, and the tables have sparkly "marble" tops. The fancy chalkboard lists the daily specials under the name of your Cupcakery! This is not your average bakery!" - I'll say!

Go look at that website. You'll feel like a child again, a happy content child ... I am even wanting a bakery playhouse myself. I think it would fit nicely over my worktable. Hmmm!

It's that simple

I've still got it

This weekend I called my friend at 7.30 am. I was wide awake, the little one was running around in circles, pausing every once in a while to try to get the phone from me. I knew my friend would be in a pretty similar situation, wide awake and little people running around in circles. And right I was.

One of the first thing I ever did with this friend was to spend a week in Beijing, China. I actually think all friendships should start with a trip to China! Since then we have travelled quite a few countries together, experienced a lot of strange things and made many good memories.

Time has passed. Now we celebrate birthdays in childfriendly cafes, call each other at 7.30 am on a Saturday not worrying that we'll wake each other up and we discuss child raising strategies, potty training, and how to teach children tablemanners. I feel old now.

But you know what? Deep down inside behind the breadbaking, diaperchanging and mommy-ness I am still cool, still living a little bit on the edge. And I even have proof. See what I have.



I've got pirate toiletpaper. That's right, baby! That is toiletpaper with sculls on. You just can't fake that kind of coolness.

I've still got it.

Hoisin sauce

We are super fortunate to live in an area with a lot of ethnic restaurants. We have enjoyed a wide range of different cuisines, but it seems that we always returns to our local thai restaurant. Their food is always fresh, tasty and is served 5 minutes after you've ordered. What is not to love?

One of my facorites there is their springrolls with hoisin sauce. I could eat that stuff with a spoon. Actually I am pretty sure that I have eaten it with a spoon!

It just never occured to me that it was actually something I could buy myself and eat all day long, just me and my spoon. Fortunately, a few days ago I saw a cooking program online where the cook was making thai food, and she showed a tub of this delicious sauce. Heaven on earth!

And so ...



this is standing in my fridge right now!

And I used it to make these raw rolls with shrimp and fresh vegetables. They are super easy, taste divine and are even healthy! Life is soo good!

Fall is in the air ...

I put these wall stickers up less than a week ago, and now the leaves are falling off. The stems are coming undone too, and I've even seen one of two petals do the same.

IKEA, I trusted you! I spent so much money at your stores, and this is how you repay me?







I love these flowers. They look so cool. I am not ready to take them down already! I don't think I can find anything just as nice. What do I do?

The little ones new room

As mentioned earlier - once or twice - we have been working on making a new room for the little one.

My amazing sister and I put down a new floor. This is my sister in her work-skirt.



Afterwards the walls were painted. Well, I was away during the painting part so all you got here is the "completely ready for painting"-picture.



Then we cleaned up! As you can tell, the little one was very eager to help me. Naturally it also helped that the vacuum cleaner is currently one of his favorite toys. I just need to figure out how to actually make him vacuum and not just play.



Afterwards we tested how the bed felt in there. The little one approved!



And finally we moved everything in and decorations came up. Here you see me putting up wall stickers.



Lo and behold, the little ones room.



These flowers took quite some negotiations with my better half. The idea of the little one having "girly" flowers in his room was too much for him and his normally very tolerant self. I finally sold the idea due to the fact that it wasn't girly flowers but cool retro-flowers. I am not sure why that was a convincing argument, but we ended up getting them, and I have to admit that I am totally in love with them now. From Ikea.
In the back we put up the little ones nametag and one of his little blue chairs. These were originally made by my uncle for my siblings and I, and I love both the look of them, my memories of them, and the idea that my uncle made them for us.



To make the little one feel safe and secure we also put up the little sheep that had been watching over him in his old room. They look so cartoony and goofy that they always make me smile, and the little one is very fascinated by them. And if he can't fall asleep, I guess he can always count them ...



The little ones teddybear Bill also moved in. I made him more than a year ago when I saw how the little one liked to lay up against a blanket or something like it. So I needed something pretty flat that curved nicely up against him and so Bill was born. He wasn't an instant hit, but the little one now normally falls asleep with his head up against Bill.



And finally the measuring chart from Panduro. He has a separate playcorner in the livingroom with all his toys, so we decided from the start not to use toys for decorations here in his bedroom. But we needed something to liven up the white walls. The wall stickers turned out really well for us.

We still need to make it completely homey and get up a few more things here and there, but the little one feels at home.

Now I just have to get used to him not being in my bedroom anymore. I am excited - And I really miss him!

How lucky can one girl be?

My sister

Yesterday evening as I walked through the door to our appartment I passed through a newly painted room with a beautiful wooden floor. The room was completely empty and as I walked in I could hear the slight echo of my footsteps.

I had just been to a teory class and as I walked home I called a super friend I haden't talked to for a long time. I was enjoying every moment of the conversation and I was very caught up in it. But as I passed through the door and stood in this white room, one thought came to me. How lucky I am to have such a wonderful sister.

Today as we put on panels and made everything ready so the little one can move in, I thought the same thing over and over again. How lucky I am to have such a wonderful sister.

Not only did she get out of bed early Saturday morning to come help put the floor on. She also returned Monday after work for the finishing touches on the floor. As we were admiring the finished floor, I commented on how nice it would look if we also painted the walls. My sister promtly replied that she was a little busy this week, but she would love to do it, since I, the pregnant lady really isn't supposed to paint.

Yesterday, two days later, she came over after work to babysit the little one while I was at my theory class. My morning babysitter was still there and as she put the little one to bed, I got ready to leave, and my sister changed into her work clothes and got to work with paint and brush.

Oh, and today she came by for an hour before she had another appointment in town, and she helped me put up this big wall sticker on the door.



Tomorrow we will move the little ones bed into his new room, thanks to my amazing sister.

Oh, and did I mention that she also figured out a perfect way for us to place the furniture so there is more light and air out in his room?

She is like the fairy goodmother of DIY and interior design.