Christmas at home

This year has been a special year and we finish it with the same tone. We actually stay home for Christmas! We were worried with my husband what might our children say about not seeing snow and the grand-parents. We obviously sold the idea very well, because they were actually Happy! What are the odds! They were so pleased with the idea that they could play with their rabbits, their toys, spend time in pyjamas..and the magic hasn’t worn out yet starting the second week of holidays. For my husband and myself it took A bit getting used to, but we have found our escapes. I go for my morning jog in the beautiful frozen park, we have seen two hilarious theatre plays, gone swimming all together , ice-skating with the girls and invited neighbours over for lunch. We definitely spend more time together as family at home than when traveling. It has been a thrill to witness my second daughter finish her reading project: the very first abcedaire! She finished it on the 24th and oh they joy of choosing the gift for the work well done! Our son is hooked from the morning to the evening with the  new car circuit Santa brought. Every five minutes he reminds it is HIS own, nobody else’s. My eldest daughter seems so relaxed and happy. It makes me feel relaxed and happy. And our baby girl is nothing but relaxed, she teething and learning to run, climb and find all forbidden activities with her height of 18 months. It’s all quite wonderful. I don’t need to prepare and pack. And I already look all the more forward to our Skiing holiday in February😄

Wisdom from my eldest daughter

Parents meeting this year ended with tears of laughter, when the teacher of my eldest daughter (9 year), revealed me sides of her I oblivious. As it turned out, the Teacher, let’s call her Madame, had announced in class that she would be having her two young god children aged 4 and 6 visiting her soon. A side note, Madame herself does not have any children herself, has an impressive long international career in teaching in international schools worldwide and is the type you generally would not give any advice. Anyways, my daughter thought differently. At lunch time, she had squeezed next to Madame and said: “So, you have these children coming to visit you, right? Well, as you don’t probably have that much experience with young kids (!) so I could give you some tips”. I don’t think she waited before she started.

Rule number ONE: “You will probably want to go to the store with the kids, so my advice is, you set the expectations right and you tell them already before hand: “You won’t get anything”. This will avoid a lot of humiliating bargaining and crying in public”. 

Rule number TWO: “You should always carry “jokers” in your purse (like gum or lolly) that you can hand to the kids if there is a crisis anyways, But remember,  you cannot give these all the time, otherwise they loose their effect”. 

Rule number THREE: “When you have a meal, have them eat half of the plate and then you can give a dessert. Like a piece of cucumber or dried fruit (!!)”. 

Rule number FOUR: “Kids of that age, you will need to tire them before putting them to bed. Swimming late in the evening would be best, but since they are not your own kids you probably won’t dare to go to the public pool with them(❤️).”

Rule number FIVE: “ At any case: DO NOT LET THEM SLEEP TOGETHER! Otherwise, nobody sleeps..”

Madame told me she had applied EVERY single rule, each of them had worked like a dream, and she had even passed these instructions to the childrens parents for further use..

I was already rolling on the floor by this time, obviously also superbly proud of my daughter and her insights at the height of her nine years of which six as an older sister. I also realised the responsibility she -without being asked to do so- is already carrying in her little shoulders. The teacher concluded, that she has innate qualities that will surely serve her tremendously well in life❤️

Corsica in October

Our Toussaint holiday destination this year is the amazing Island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. The island has been on our destination list for years, especially while living in Nice, and we should not have waited so long! The island has impressed us all with its breathtaking views of mountain and sea, river beds in the wilderness, white sandy beaches and villages perched in the mountains. The locals have turned out to be very friendly and caring for children. Today is the third day of discovering the island, and we are ready to stay for good..

We are based at a little village Solenzara, little over one hour drive down from Bastia. Our villa is clean, basic f3 with a view to the sea and a (non-heated!) swimming pool. The lady welcomed us warmly, despite they have a long season behind and we are their last guests. During these first days we have been blessed with sun shine and an ideal of 23-25 degrees temperature. The close by beach is small, but offers all our family needs: clean, sandy beach, crystal clear water and only a handful of other people. We spend there the whole first morning. There is a little river Cannelle coming down with fresh water and the kids love floating boats and searching fish along the spring. Our 18 month old baby girl also prefers the river bed to the sea - there are no salty waves washing over!

The second day we head up to the mountainside and stop on an impressive natural river bed. The kids are amazed and despite the chilliness of the water, they adventure across the spring and back helping each other out. What an adventure! After a quick nap of the two little ones, we visit the village of Porto Vecchia, which is little over one hour drive from Solenzara. We can feel the end of season in the air, boutiques and smaller places closing. There is an idyllic little market in the centre of the village with a carousel, which our little boy obviously wants to try out. While walking down to the harbour, we grab few very acid mandarins from a tree. Kids thought it was so exotic! The harbour of Porto Vecchia is small with wonderful atmosphere. We sit down on Sucre de Canne to enjoy ice creams, this is holiday😀

The third day started early, as we had an ambitious plan to catch already the 9:30 am boat from Bonifacio to visit the islands of Lavezzi. It turned out to be such a fantastic day! The boat left an hour later, we had time to take a stroll at the harbour. Our eyes could not leave the majestic ship “Lady M” , which dominated elegantly the harbour. It made us dream. Girls thought it was slightly too big even for our big family😀 With my husband, we thought it was quite perfect. We later read it belongs to a Russian oligarch and costs only 55 M dollars..

The Islands of Lavezzi is something spectacular. They are deserted islands with peculiar rock formations. After 30 min. Boat trip from Bonifacio, we arrive to this intriguing bits of land. With my husbands nose for “ perfect spots”, we discover little corner of sandy beach only for us. The water is shallow and crystal clear. The kids get to swim to the other “island” of rocks and back. Their big concern are the little Medusa’s, which we all see plenty at the beach. I stand behind our baby girl the whole time patrolling that she won’t catch one. I manage to do parasita padottasana while doing so. Suddenly time is up and we leave hastily to catch the return boat - I feel slight anxiety with the idea of staying at this completely deserted island. The return boat trip is impressive. We learn many celebrities come to spend their holidays there, including Carline of Monaco. We stop in a cave to
admire the stalagmites hanging from the walls. But the most breathtaking sight is obviously the village of Bonifacio hanging on the edge of the hills, I wonder if the owners ever have sleepless nights about erosion..

It is time for lunch. We stop at the harbour and taste the local delicacies. I opt for an Aubergine prepared in Corsican style, which was delight. The kids eat their french fries and strawberry mousses.
We ponder if we should walk up to the citadelle on top of the hills, but the little tourist train wins.
The village has extraordinary placement on the hill. It has maintained its old time allure with little narrow streets, artisan boutiques and tiny restaurants. On downside, there are no pedestrian streets in Bonifacio! I had a feeling I should have an extra pair of arms..with tired 1, 4, 6 and 9 year olds!Fortunately the happy crowd settled down in the car and we returned to Solenzara around 18h00, just as the sun set down..

Wonderful Firsts

In the midst of the October rain, I seek and find joy in my surroundings by witnessing the uniqueness of every moment and the manifestations of the very “firsts” ..


Hearing laughter upstairs, my eldest hooked up with friends for the first what’s up call..
Receiving fabulous photos after the first weekend escapade with new friends..
Feeling proud and grateful for having defended my case at peace with new hierarchy..
From silence to expression, my little man explained his day at school..
Feeling intrigued and inspired after the first session with a coach..
Learning to hold and care for our two new little belier rabbit friends..
Seeing the smile on new student’s face when leaving my yoga class..
From one sister’s arm to the other, witnessing my baby girl to take her first steps..

There are as many opportunities for bewilderment as there are moments unfolding in front of our eyes. You just need to open your heart to see them ❤️

About our Planet

I feel the need to write something about our environment, about climate change. This is more for my children, if ever they will be reading my blog in the future and wondering what an earth did we do or not do at this particular period of time!

Since last year, the main stream media ( in EU) finally picked up environment and climate change and thematised it. We hear on daily bases about the fires in Siberia and Amazon, the poles melting, the plastic saturating our seas..It is difficult not to feel overwhelmed with all the information and I have decidedly limited my daily intake of news. This does not mean I am not doing an effort to do my part in protecting our planet. For my family’s and friends and future grandchildren’s sake.

On a global level, I sign petitions to support the Youth Climate marches and choose to voluntarily support environmental projects. 

On community level, I take initiative to keep our streets clean of garbage (emails to the commune, discussions with local cleaning team and neighbouring school), promote organic and locally produced food in my kids daycare (succeeded!) and kindergarden (through parents associations). I bring awareness through social media on ways to reduce co2 footprints by choosing vegetarian regime, sharing the beauty of our seas through my sisters videos to trigger emotions and willingness to make a life style change. I raise awareness among my friends and neighbours about limiting waste, eating healthy. I teach yoga to bring happiness and serenity in my surroundings. I secretly wish those intelligent ladies in powerful positions will make the right decisions for us all after the weekly meditation😇 Oh, and I am waiting for my certification from the US to instruct kids yoga too. They will be blessed to learn to center  themselves from young age❤️

On individual level, we recycle our plastic, paper and glass. We by organic vegetables, cereals and milk. We have let go eating meat, eat little fish and even then select only sustainably sourced fish. We have introduced vegan concept of eating. We have little food waste and freeze left overs. We reduce water bill by showering kids only every second day 😄 We no longer use plastic bags and have bought  food covering and sandwich wrappings made of washable tissue instead of plastic. We sell our clothes and furniture in second hand and get lots of kids clothes from friends and relatives. Next Monday, we will finally get the 16 sun panels on our roof to save energy. We select train to travel whenever possible, whether in Finland or in France. To my children, I explain about the importance of protecting our environment, to save energy and water. I am thrilled to notice they already are peaceful protectors of our Mother Earth. My 4 year old son commenting with disgust, why dad took a car instead of bike to go do groceries..yes, the time will come for a hybrid, but we are not yet there my dear❤️

I tell myself we need to be optimistic for our children’s sake and start making changes where we can: on personal level. Young brave Greta Thunberg, you are not alone, we are backing you!is 

The creative power of Estonia

The view from the window reminds me of my children’s favourite story book Anneli and Onneli. I see in the garden the apple tree bursting of ripe apples next to a wooden, red-coloured, time tinted shed. I see a swing slowly swaying in the wind. Did the time just shift to the last century? We have been staying in this beautiful last century old oak manor for a week now and have come customed to its squeaky wooden floors, holes in the ceiling and lovely feel of warmth. The kids have each their own bed and corner, my eldest even her own room. As often in holidays, we live with the nature and light are shut in the evening with the sun sets.

The manor is managed by a bohemian lady with five grown-up kids. My husband came up the first evening rather inspired by her life-story: she is travelling the world with her kids, introducing the vegan kitchen to restaurants while home-schooling her kids. I am not sure it is as glamorous life as it first sounds though  - I found her in most days sitting in the garden with a big glass of wine and rather sad look in her face. I think she has suffered in her life.

I witness the same melancholic look at times in the faces of older people when travelling in the trolley buses in the city of Tallinn. Faces with life stories. To me, this also part of the charm of Estonia.The multilayerness of its people and culture. There are currently living perhaps five generations of people together, with one generation who has lived during Russian empire, Estonian first independence, German fascism, Soviet occupation and the second Independence..all this in one persons life time! I cannot begin to understand how tremendous amounts of adaptability these courageous human beings have been faced with. I look at them with great comprehension and respect. It gives perspective - help to see our own struggles shrink.

Our holiday continued visiting the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. If time seemed to slow down in Pärnu, it stopped in Saaremaa. The beauty of the island, it’s nature, humorous and discreet locals, the presence of the sea charmed us all. We attended a wood carving workshop at the Angla windmills run by a warm-hearted arts teacher, listened to the tales of a retired geology about the meteorite hit at Kaali. Kids were fascinated by all these new people and experiences, us too. My eldest made a business plan of a bed&brekfast with yoga ateliers, animals and vegan food, we all loved it😀

Thank you inspiring brave little Estonia for offering the best of you ❤️ See you soon!

The healing power of Finland

There aren’t many places in the world that fill my heart with such joy as when passing the Baltic Sea from Estonia and approaching the Finnish archipelago. Finland! Home! The feeling gets even more intense, as I catch the train from Helsinki towards the North. I take a cup of freshly brewed coffee, a piece of the Finnish flagship chocolate by Fazer and set to enjoy the journey. The scenery that unfolds from the windows makes my heart sing. It alternates between rural fields, pine forests, lakes and quaint villages. I witness my co-patriots in their favourite summer hobbies: enjoying the lake sides in small wooden boats, fishing or dipping into the lake. There is an omnipresent tranquility in everything. My mind rests. Brussels’ energy and buzz fades away, as I dive deeper into the Finnish country side. We have six weeks of holidays ahead of us. It makes me smile.

I had made a silent wish for my holidays this summer to spend time with my parents, children and husband, enjoying the simple pleasures, such as walks in the forest and generally slowing down. At times, our wishes manifest in unexpected forms, or together with pain.

This time, out of blue, after a fun-filled day of birthday celebrations of my son, I found myself in the morning with strong pain in the abdomen. My father ( surgeon) made a diagnosis of appendicitis and drove me to the local hospital. I became a patient and entered the world of hospital protocols. Three hours at the local hospital with a second diagnosis  of appendicitis followed by a one hour drive to the regional hospital. 7 hours waiting at the emergency unit, where nobody checked on my condition or asked how I was doing. I asked myself three times to see a doctor. After five hours I see a doctor, who - despite the previous two diagnosis - prefers to have a further analysis. I wait two more hours before getting a third diagnosis of appendicitis. He decides not to operate during the night, but see in the morning how I feel and strongly suggests to be treated by antibiotics only. I was moved to the
Gastro unit.

At the end, I was operated 24 h after my father had made the initial diagnoses. I woke up the next morning and wrote to my parents to say I was expecting to get home soon. Understandably, I was speechless when the doctor told me I had an infection in my abdomen, had got the much feared peritonitis in my intestines and would have to stay in hospital to be treated further. How on earth did this happen? Under the controlled hospital procedures, where every party seemingly had made “their best decision with the information they had”? Questions were pouring in my mind. Did the doctor make a judgement error during the night not to operated ( in my mind absolutely yes!) Could I have done something different? Should I have complained more? Should I have come directly to the regional hospital? Should I have told everybody my family is full of surgeons? Would it have made any difference?

As I am writing this, as the universe works, the doctor who operated me just called me. The discussion was not very coherent. On one hand, she assured me that she would probably have made the same judgement call of not operating as her colleague during the night, based on the computer pictures. I asked her what then made her operate in the morning? She says different hospital traditions (within the same hospital roof? This is a clear management problem!). She again returns to assure me, that probably the appendicitis had already erupted before the computer pictures, but it is not always easy to see and it doesn’t show yet in the blood test. What to take from this discussion? I feel she was calling to cover her back and avoid a complaint.

Three weeks after the operation, the pain of operation is disappeared, the swelling in my abdomen gone and the scars fading away. I am happy to be back on my feet and available for my family. Personally, it was a strong incident and set my life upside-down for a moment. I think many would say these kinds of experiences are “good for you”. Facing your own vulnerability forces you to re-evaluate your whole being. I feel I have started a new journey.

I am ever grateful for my parents and husband who took care of my little tribu during my absence. Thank you for giving me the time to heal and regain my strenth❤️

Thank you love

Words aren’t enough to express my gratitude to my husband and family for the amazing birthday they orchestrated. With so much thought and love. The months of May and June were filled with visiting amazing places and spending time with people I so appreciate. I feel almost overwhelmed. We spent an amazing long weekend in France visiting the Monet gardens in Giverny and friends in Orleans. My husband knows I love Monet. He was well prepared and had come up with a truly creative concept. During the preceding week, he had invited an art teacher at home to teach the kids ( and himself) about impressionism, Monet and how to paint the famous Water lilies or ‘Nenufares’ as they are called in French. As part of my gift, I was given these moving pieces of art, so well representing each of my child’s (and my husband’s) character, temperament and inner life. They had gotten the freedom to choose themselves the colour palette for their pieces of work and consequently the schemes varied from flashy autumnal orange tones (my son), through springy pastels (my middle daughter) to ripe summery greens (my eldest and my husband). With this, the visit to the gardens had a context and meaningfulness to the little ones and they were truly impressed while standing on the Japanese bridge and admiring the beautiful setting from the paintings.
We had woken up after a long evening of driving in an cute gite close to Giverny where the day started very French: my husband took the kids to an early adventure to search for a Boulanger. And yes, they came back with divine freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolates. The kids were over the moon for this special treat! And the gifts. I got a unique gift from each of them, beautiful and tastefully chosen. And as if I was not already overwhelmed by emotion, I got two beautiful love letters, one from my husband and one from my eldest daughter. I will keep them in my heart forever.

We left Giverny and headed towards the beautiful valley of Loire, and our friends house in Orleans. What an immersion to the best of French Joie de vivre! Visits to the idyllic old tow of Orleans and walks by the lush and green river side, delicious food and wine, long evenings enjoying the early summer’s warmth..
The trip was parfume to all my senses: the aesthetics in the gardens, the warmth of our friends hosting and most importantly, the deep love from my husband and children. I am ever grateful.

P.s My husband got clearly bitten by the ‘joie de vivre’ bug. Last night, our romantic dinner for two turned into a surprise dinner party with our closest friends and neighbours! And I was delivered a speech from him together with a collage of my childhood pictures and reasons why he loves me ❤️ I think he (rightly) considers his birthday contributions are now done for the next decade😀

Almost 40

” I don’t need two more years as in the movie, I am there” I am thinking three days before my big birthday. Since weeks I have felt the excitement in our house, the secrets whispered, my husband’s apparent contentment of himself in organising something special. I started my celebration two weeks ago by leaving the family and hopping into Eurostar to spend the weekend with two good friends. It was wonderful. I was exhausted of the week, tired of the organisation of the WE, but it was worth it. To feel a bit freedom that I haven’t felt for years. We did everything we cannot do with small children: museums, art galleries, musical, excellent restaurants..dancing in the evening, long walks and conversations. I loved it. And want some more, regularly. Our everyday life is super hectic at home. Kids are now 9, 6, 3 and 1. It looks a bit frightening even just writing it. We are super well organised with my husband though ( yes, learning to give credit to own achievements) and the kids are thriving. For a reason too, we invest a lot in them: in time spent together and money. Holidays are planned according to their needs, their can satisfy their individual needs in hobbies, whether it be music, tennis, swimming or dance (except no dog for the moment..) . We feed them with healthy fresh food, take them outdoors to stay fit and invite friends to play dates. As most parents fortunately do. We don’t get much support from our families, but get a lot of credit from our surroundings, friends and even strangers in the streets. Many wonder how do we manage with a big family abroad with little help and both parents working? For one, we are very hardworking people  😃 We know how to prioritise and use time efficiently. We know when to put personal interests at a distance. We take care of each other and our marriage. We take time every Saturday to go out to theatre or dinner. We plan for future and talk about nothing and everything. These evenings are so important. They remind us of not being project partner or room mates, but of the fact that we have something bigger going on. We have active social life,  love our neighbours who have become friends with similar baggage to carry. The kids energise us and poor us with love. If only I could bottle the positive energy  of each of them to share with people in need! They would hear the excitement of my son having found some big fat snails in the morning at the terrace, or the happiness of my daughter after sleepover at her best friends house or of the incredible song of Ariana Grande and the latest trends of summer fashion (large flower print pants of course). We hear who put blue paint in his hair, who is cool at class, who is going on holiday and who threw up. I am asked if I saw any rabbits during my morning jog, if we will get a dog, or a guinea pig. Of course we hear  also of whining not to play piano, put leggings on or go to school. I don’t have a minute to myself before 21:00, cannot have an uninterrupted conversation with an adult or privacy in the toilet. But this is it, our life, at this moment and I would not change anything of it. At the eve of my big birthday, I have never felt more blessed. Thank you.