Do YOU use snow tires?

So it's been awhile since I've written in my blog (10 days) - I was previously writing about V�in� by simply using Facebook Notes.

Now let's talk tires. Here in Finland it is mandatory to have winter tires from December 1st until March 31st. Some people test their luck and wait until November 30th and sometimes get lucky because there hasn't been any snow. Some "All-season" or "All-weather" tires do qualify as "winter tires" but Finland has a particular criteria or rating the tire has to fulfill before it is accepted.
Yesterday we experienced our first "snow storm". Because it's not overly windy here - it just looked like "snow". The trees weren't on the verge of falling over, the power lines are all underground anyways - so no lights flickered...it was really nice and pretty.
I will take many pictures later on and post them. From our balcony the trees are coated in a thick white layer of snow and it's sooooo pretty looking!

I got V�in�'s documents from the Public Registar (Mastraati)'s office yesterday. We had it translated by Taneli during supper last night and V�in� is considered born "out of wedlock". Yes- they still use that term here...for those of you that don't know what that means - it means a child born to a parent(s) that are "not legally married". Not sure what the procedure is in Canada and how it affects a child - however here for us, it is a major issue.
As the mother - I am the legal guardian. As of right now- Tim has "nothing" to do with V�in� as he's not considered a parent or legal guardian until a paternity test is taken - either via court order or by him volunteering. Or by us proving our marriage - which we're still working on.
So if a father is not a legal guardian - does he have to provide for the child? No - he doesn't. From what I understand and have read (hospital provided tonnes of pamphlets) V�in� or I cannot accept any sort of monetary support from Tim given his birth out of wedlock scenario.
It's a fairly interesting system to say the least - however in terms of proving our marriage - that's stupid and a very lengthy process (which has been mentioned in previous blog posts).

On a lighter note - today we have an appointment with Katri, our Neuvola nurse (building behind us), to see how much weight Mr. V�in� has gained and so forth. Should be fun!