Busy busy busy

Well, it has been a very busy time and I have been a bad bad blogger! But, I did spend over 1 hour tonight on this very blog just to have all of it deleted! I am not too happy now, and will try to just pick up on the highlights! Oh, and it will be in reverse chronology due to the fact that I am unable to move the photos without deleting everything!

We finally made it to the Austin Steam Train ride, only to find out that the steam engine is in parts all across the country. So we rode a diesel and Yes, Markku did notice the difference and asked to ride the steam engine! He still had a great time though. We rode about 3 hours through the hill country to a town called Bertram. Then we rode back to Cedar Park.

Here is Heikki and the kids outside the train

Markku and Suvi watching the scenery go by

Heikki's mom has a photo of each one of her 4 children in this cute red outfit holding the same teddy bear. So we have one of Markku when he was a baby (still need to get it scanned onto my computer) and this one of Suvi:

I love her smile on the left (she is wearing a back pack, one of her favorite things), and on the right I think she looks just like me when I was a baby! The funny thing is this outfit is from the 70's so it could have been a picture of me!

We went to the children's museum in New Braunfels (about 30 miles south of Kyle). They had cute mini furniture where Markku wanted to read to Suvi.

My mom and I were busy putting furniture together for my new house. The kids loved the boxes:

Markku is not much of a drawing/coloring person. he likes it for about 2 minutes then he is done. Suvi loves to color and draw. Especially if she can eat the crayons! Look how well she holds the crayons:

Here is a photo of the 2 of them helping me and mummo with a futon chair:

I will rent out these two helpers for a reasonable price! (Mummo NOT included).

We finally celebrated Markku's birthday party in early July. It was a pool party at our neighborhood swim center. It was a blast. He had 2 cakes-one yellow rescue truck made by me and a train made by his mummo Frederick! 2 cakes-what a lucky boy. He had lots of friends to help open gifts as well:

We did make it to Kyle's fireworks this year. It was lots of fun-the kids enjoyed it. Last year Markku was afraid since they sound like thunder, but this year he was ok. He was worried about Tillie at home since he knew she was afraid!

It has been an unbearably hot summer with 65 days of 100+ temperatures here. The record is 69 so we are definitely going to beat that! We have a good month of really hot temps then it is usually in the 80s by October! We have a severe drought going on, so we have to put a hold on any landscaping at our new house. Things are getting very dry.

Markku is talking up a storm these days-in English and finally starting in Finnish as well! He pretty much says every word in English now! He even tells me he loves me. He tells Suvi as well. I hear him say "I love you Suvi. Do you love me?" He is starting to teach Suvi and he even was teaching her Finnish the other day! "Say kissa Suvi, kissa" That means cat. Suvi says "Meow!". She is also starting to talk. She has several words now-mama, meow, bye bye, night night, back pack, she growls for bears and other growling animals and neighs for horses and goats. She LOVES to read books. You will almost always find her sitting in a chair reading a book, or she brings you one to read to her.

Markku is now sleeping in a big boy bed and is starting to go potty on a potty. He isn't trained to either yet, but we are getting better and better each day! Hooray! But where did my little boy go?!

Markku now weights about 35 pounds and was 39 inches in May. He is taller now as his 3 year old pants and PJs are to short for him. But he still wears 2 year old shorts since he is so skinny! His BMI was 15.5 in May. No body fat there. He is a true Texan as he wears jeans everyday he can and is freezing if it goes into the 70s.

Suvi is now about 26 pounds and was 32 inches (90%) at the end of July, but she too has recently had a growth spurt. They are both tall children for their ages. There was a teacher at the park the other night who thought Markku was in kindergarten this year!

Heikki was away for most of this summer. He spent 2 1/2 weeks in June in Corpus Christi for the coast guard and then spent July 14-Aug 14 in Virginia in a training course for inspections for the Coast Guard. It has been a long time without him here-the kids were really missing him! Of course in between he still has his work with ExpressJet to keep him away 4 days a week!

I too have had some changes. We have been real slow at work. And actually it has slowed down since they hired me 2 years ago. So, like the rest of America, my job was downsized and I was let go. I am still stunned and frustrated and angry. I am going to be doing relief work for the time being, but now there are 35 of us relief vets (there were 20 when I was reliefing 2 years ago) and with the economy much less work around town. Add in my non-compete clause for 2 years and I am not seeing a whole lot of work come my way! We will see what the future brings. For September it means a lot of emergency work!

Well, after another 30 minutes trying to re post everything-I am exhausted and afraid it will all disappear again! So, good night!