V is making noice - and silence

This is based on a true story. Well. The whole blog is a true story so that begining of a post might not be so dramatic as in the movies. But I wanted to try it out anyway.

Recently V has taken more interest in my iPad. He can play some of the Toca-games. Toca Kitchen and Toca Train are his favourites. But lately he want´s to play the same games his brother is playing. And since A is almost 5 it´s hard. And sometimes accidents happens. V fools around and suddenly a savefile is erased. 20 hours of succes could be gone.

A is not happy with how things has turned out. He´s used to play almost whenever he want´s to (quite often) but now my wife and I try to devide time between them in a fair way.

So now there´s a lot of high voices around the iPad. V is standing up for himself. And though he can´t speak he screams and makes signs to us so that we should see if A is not being fair.

That´s good. And very annoying to hear.

We got 100 000 SEK (15 000 $) from our insurance company when we reported V´s disease. Yeah. That´s all we got. It made us aware of all the exceptions in the fine print.

But we concider using some of those money to buy another iPad and fill it with apps for V. There´s actually a few especially for disabled kids. The people behind www.babblarna.se has one, you should check it out! (Don´t mind it´s in Swedish, you and your children will understand it anyway)

In excactly one week V will become 3,5 years. Still not speaking. Only a few words: Mom, Dad. Monkey (it´s almost like dad in Swedish. Wonder why.)

But he has learn to nod and to shake his head. That´s huge. Now he can communicate in a whole new way. All the same... I just can´t help thinking... that I miss so much to hear him talk. Speak.

It will be like to know him as a person. Or... To know him better as a person. And I really want that. Now please!
  

UPDATE ON MY GOALS:

Goals reached:

35 out of 35 Rubber Tires Piston Cup Race Cars

100 % 

11 out of 11   Team Chiefs from Cars 1

100 %

Goals left:

90 %

25 out of 28 Pittys from Cars 1 to collect - 3 left















10 out of 11 Rubber Tires World Grand Prix Race Cars
from Cars 2 to collect - 1 left

95 %

1 out of 10 Team Chiefs from Cars 2 to collect - 9 left

10 %

2 out of 6 Ultimate Chase Cars from Cars 2 to collect - 4 left

Great News for us collectors of Cars Diecast

Mattel has announced a new way to collect their Cars models 2013. All the cars will be devided into 9 (?) new categouries. That is maybe understandable,  this way cars from the first and second movies melt together in the whole line.

One categourie is the World Grand Prix.

This one contains all the racers from Cars 2 and the team chiefs and some of the cars around the race, such as David Hobbscap and Eric Lanely.

Another cute categourie is the Lemons.

According to Mattel, this theme contains 7 cars and of course it´s the bad guys from Cars 2 such as Acer and Grem.

 

The first two themes makes me think, yeah I wanna do this! I´m gonna collect this way from now on! But. The next theme makes me wonder...

The Mater Series...

It will feaure cars such as Race Team Mater, Ivan Mater, Kabuki Mater and You da bomb Mater. Not my bag...

No I would rather go for the Piston Cup Theme!

18 cars from the race in the first Cars movie. But not only Racers and Team Chiefs/Pittys. No, several service cars are included such as Marlon Clutches McKay and race Tow Truck Tom.

Another theme that I don´t know if I´ll care to much about.
The Retro Radiator Springs:

Brand New Mater is a cool car, and maybe I could care for Edwin Kranks. And Mildred Bylane looks like a new release. But why do they put Sally in this categourie?

She should be in the Wheel Well Motel:

Red, Flo, Sheriff, Sarge, Filmore, Ramone... 11 cars in total. But not Sally...

Another theme that I might be intrested in is the one with the least good looking cars in.
The Rust-Eze Racing theme:

Dusty and Rusty are followed by six more rusty cars like Vern, Donna Pits and Jonathan Wrenchwoths. I love when Mattel try hard to make the cars look torn down and worn out.

But the cars that look more like clowns, well that´s not what I seek in a Cars Diecast. So I guess I´ll leave this categourie alone:
Tuners

I already got Boost, Wingo, Snot Rod and DJ. But now they want me to get Suki and Kabuto and 4 more cars to got them all... I´m not convinced.

The cutest theme is the Festival Italiano:

 

Luigi and Guido and 8 more cars. Uncle Topolino and Mama Topolino. Very nice diecasts. I will follow this carefully to see what the other 6 cars will be in this series.

As a whole, I like this new way of order the cars in. I´ve already done almost this when I decided which cars to collect and which ones to leave behind.

So when I´ve reached all my present goals, this is maybe a way to move on.

Shiny Wax Pitty - straight from the US

I just love to order stuff (cars) from America! It´s a beautiful thing this internet invention. Just think about it - 20 years ago this wasn´t possible at all.

A week ago I bought Shiny Wax Pitty on Ebay for 15$ - today he arrived!

A small scratch mark on the hat, yes I see it, but I don´t really care. It´s great to find, to browse around, look and then buy. Then the wait. Looking each day in the mail box. And then finally - a foreign package!

On the other hand... I love going to a store and just pick a car from the shelf and put my money down right there and then. That´s what happened when I bought Tank Coat Pitty (in the magical flowers and cars-store I´ve been telling you about before.)

Actually I first found Carlo Maserati, for something like 19$. That´s what new cars cost here in Sweden... So I bought that one, just to get a quick fix when my car abstinence was too strong.

Damn good looking car!

But as I was standing there, swiping my credit card, my eyes fell on a package of cars behind the counter. So I asked about pittys. Which ones? Tank Coat? Yes. How much? 30$. Ok!

That wasn´t smart. It´s way too expensive. But sometimes I just go wild!

And just look how sweet they look together!

Carlo Maserati and Tank Coat Pitty

I´m feel like I´m going to get sick so this will be a very short message.

These are my newest loot in my garage!

Tank Coat Pitty is my 24th pitty from the first movie, now I´m only 4 pittys away from completeness!

Carlo Maserati is just a cool looking car from the second movie. It looks like I have to collect all the singles from that movie. Just a feeling I got.

Another feeling is this indisposition I got right now... They rang from the daycare center today. A wasn´t feeling well. He had diarrhea. So I got him home early.

Now I feel like shit. In Sweden we have this seasonal sickness called "Vinterkräksjukan". To translate it word by word it would be something like "Winter vomit sickness".

Yes. That´s exactly what it is.

Please let it not be that shit I feel right now...

Moose safari

I took the kids on a roadtrip this weekend. My wife hasn´t been alone in our house since we first moved in, almost three years ago. So she felt it was about time that we left her for some quality time by herself.

Fair enough!

Me, A and V took the car down to my sisters. It is a four our long ride and it´s no pic nic to do it by yourself. V had enough after threee ours. The last 55 minutes I kept singing kids songs over and over again. But when we got to my sister and her husband (not married, what do you call it then?) it was sure worth the trouble.

Yesterday was a smash hit. We went for a short car ride into the woods of Småland (Small Country to translate it word by word) and there, in the middle of nowhere - there was a Moose Safari!

Wow! They are big!

Especially german people like the Swedish Moose. A lot of small houses in Sweden has been bought by Germans who love our nature and of course we had some Germans on the ride in the Moose Park.
They seem almost babyishly fond of moose, the Germans...

We gave them apples and potatoes. (Not the Germans, the moose!)
A dared to give them from his hands, V did not. But both the kids were extremely thrilled!

And... well, so was I!

Two hobbies - two worlds

There´s a competition I can´t win. A comparison I´m bound to loose.

My wife has a hobby. It´s nothing at all like mine.

Her hobby gives her fresh air. It gives her dirt under the finger nails. It boosts the real estate value of ours. It makes our world look better. It produces oxygen. Yes her hobby even creates life. How could I ever compete with that?

My wife loves our garden. She loves gardening. She also has a blog where she writes about the progress, the changes and her running projects in the green place she has turned our small back yard to.

Meanwhile in a garage nearby...

I arrange my cars. I build some lighting arrangements. I put the cars in different orders. But mostly I take photos and writes on my blog. Or looks online for new cars.

My wife makes coffee and we drink it IN HER HOBBY. We invite friends over and barbeque in her hobby. And she often plants new flowers or vegetables together with our kids. In her hobby.

Meanwhile in a garage nearby...
A certain dad closes the doors to the collection of toys his own kids mustn´t see.

But I love it anyway. A small world of my own. Where I can breathe and power up.

It´s the same with my wifes world. Only... She invites the rest of us...