Happy birthday, Grace!

Today, Grace turned 4 years old.  Sounds trite, but wow, has that time gone fast.

We were reading The Children of Noisy Village last night (another Astrid Lindgren novel) and read of a Swedish tradition of having hot chocolate on your birthday morning.  Thus, this morning, Nordic hot chocolate.   

Couldn't resist taking a picture of Isaac in his state of dress - his shoes on the wrong feet, pull-up, and paper gun in hand.   

The birthday girl 

Prepping Elmo for the lighting of the candles

Grace sings "Happy birthday" almost every day - it's one of her favorite songs - so she sang right along with the family as we serenaded her.

Elmo was sacrificed for the greater good.  He was quite tasty.

Isaac kept saying, "Poor Elmo."  But that didn't stop him from eating his nose.  I love that in this picture you can see all the way through the dining room and living room out the window to the Nidaros Cathedral.  

The "frosting" on Elmo was all marzipan, which the kids ate like candy.  I'm never going back to frosting again.  The marzipan was so much easier to work with, and seems a bit healthier, as it's made with almonds instead of butter.  Here's Grace feasting on Elmo's eye.

What a tasty nose 

Katie took this picture of her handsome pop. 

Father and daughter 

Grace took a bite out of Elmo's mouth, and then decided to reposition it on the cake. 

The orientation of the mouth probably correctly reflects how Elmo was feeling at the time.

Birthday presents - an umbrella her size!

Sam made Grace her very own paper gun.  She knew just how to hold it.  Double sigh.  Love how her mouth is coated in marzipan, but she still means business.

Her other present was a diaper bag for her to use with her baby doll.

Grace got right down to work, putting a diaper on her baby.

Sam created an awesome lightsaber out of a flashlight, a paper towel tube, and some blue paper.

Katie visited our neighbors after dinner to play with their daughter Ingvill.  When I walked over to pick Katie up, Ingvill's mom, Anita, gave me another stack of warm clothes for the little guys.  People have been so generous with outdoor gear to keep the kids warm and dry.  We are incredibly grateful.

Isaac models his new sweater from the neighbors.  

Grace put on her newly inherited snowsuit, hat, mittens, and boots, and she was out the door to test them in the evening weather.  We went for a walk around the neighborhood.  She was all smiles.

She didn't want to come back in the house.

Our Norwegian boy.  He speaks more Norsk than any of us.  But it's all the Trønder dialect - if he moves to Oslo, they won't understand him.