Can't WAIT to go back!!!

For those of you who know me well, you will know who this gorgeous lady is, one of my oldest, most cherished and longtime friends, someone who grew up a stones throw from my house way out in the middle of the sticks, someone who I hung out with in high school, roomed with in college, and then lived with after that, a very dear friend, and a very special lady, we even moved out to matching jobs "Out West" (Canadian lingo for the western provinces, Alberta, to work here) for several months, we were inseparable. Someone who feels like family to me, sister's neither of us ever had, we shared it all, the good, the goofy and the god awful...lots of stories, lots of laughs and lots of tears...

She moved away to London (England that is), many years ago and married this very special man, and they are very happy and though we still speak, and visit often, she is Riel's Fairy God Mother, and a SUPER one at that...her leaving Canada left a big hole in my heart. Makes you realize how much you can appreciate someone, and miss them. (Gosh I AM sappy these days...apologies in advance, but just keeping it real). I must say though her courage at picking up and starting a new, cool life have served as an inspiration to me and I have always figured hey if Barb can do it, so can I.

Barb, you will always have a special place in my heart, and if there is EVER anything I can do for you, anywhere, anytime, you know...all you have to do is ask.



The coolest part about living where we are now though in northern Germany, and I JUST discovered this, is that we are an inexpensive and mere 50 minute flight away from one another...I LOVE that!


So last week, I decided to take Riel out of school for a couple of days, so we could go to London, and visit Barb and some family...Yes I DO love Barb, but did I ever mention how much I love London? I have images of Carnaby street in the 60's, cool British rock bands all mixed up with Gary Glitter and David Bowie with a fluffy underbelly of the Chelsea flower show, topped off by a stiff Bobby...You know what I mean?



Soooo..we saw a little of thisor I guess I should say allot of this or maybe a large of this or something like that...a little of this, including a performance by Midori, linked only in case you do now know who she is like I (Cultural Boob that I am) didn't, reviewers say she "IS" her violin, and ...I can concur...wow...music was incredible but connection with an instrument verging on bizarre...OK now I am exposing the real soft underbelly of my Cultural Boobness ...but hey...you guys will be nice to me right?) and on the way we saw a few of these, gotta love those red buses, and also saw some of this, performance art, a sampling of chairs taken from the Barbicon and set up like the seats on a 747...(like I need to see more of those...) I was looking for a section of 3 in a row so I could sleep...HA...cool no?
and then a few pics in front the the Victoria and Albert Museum
while gawking in absolute and complete astonishment and awe at the Prince Albert Monument in Hyde Park...some of the most exquisite statuary I have ever seen (next post)...and of course you HAVE to love English Gardens...

Oooh I LOVE London..Can't WAIT to go back

Experiments with the Truth or If walking feels too slow you are living too fast...

Ten years or so ago (who is counting anyway), when I was travelling in India , I got a tummy bug so bad, it was all I could do to hobble to the bathroom for the necessary, and to wobble out to the hall to pick up my plain rice and broth, all that I could stomach. Having been on the road for 8 months, staying at the most in one place for a week at a time, I was sick and tired of travelling.

I stayed holed up in that hotel room hiding and nursing myself better for more than a week. I could describe every feature of it in detail from the mustard colored carpet, the grey-white linen on the bed to the soft cool marble floor in the bath and the wet smell and sound of the never ceasing air conditioner, which I thanked my lucky stars for as it was as hot as hell. It was then, holed up in that hotel room hiding from India that I read all-in-one-go, Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography "My Story of Experiments with the Truth ", a dog eared and undoubtedly pirated copy bought from a dubious bookseller on a dusty street corner for a rupee or two.

One of the most important books I have ever read.

Gandhi presents us, by example of his daily existence, a conscious and thoughtful lifestyle that demonstrates the value of caring for ones self, by growing ones own food, weaving ones own cloth, cleaning ones own house, doing ones own laundry. A lawyer from a wealthy family living in a time where society dictated servants, Gandhi's communal and self sufficient existence sent out a clear and powerful message of change. I still remain impressed by the courage and strength of this singular man who succeeded by successfully challenging and changing the political status-quo with a massive peoples passive resistance, indeed his message is still with me.

The time and place and the powers at work reflected differently on his ideas then, than the things at work in our culture today, and but his ideas are no less relevant.

Does it seem to some of you in our day of the National Enquirer and Hollywood and Britney and consumer debt that some of us seem to be loosing our way? Floating soulless in the face of the fast material world, motivated to look outward towards images of increased social and financial status instead of inwards to our true value and sense of self? Gandhi's message of living thoughtfully and consciously, taking the time to pause for reflection and being self sufficient are all things that have always seemed to me to be things that restore our somewhat lost sense of self.

Slow down, take time to value yourself by caring for yourself and for others. What a simple and yet profoundly truthful message. Or is it?

So what is truth, is it fixed; or fluid and ever changing?
How does this or any truth connect with the context of daily reality?
Can we really have "Experiments with the Truth"?

It seems we have been having our own set of experiments in our household, as (anyone else?) seems when you are seven years old these things come into question, and it does take some thought and energy to figure out EXACTLY what the TRUTH really is.

Dear Son,

First....I wish you were old enough to read Gandhi.

I love you SO very much and I am watching you try to figure out how much to tell the truth and how much you can get away with 'fudge'. Even though you don't realize it you have a very odd expression in the very back of your eyes and around your mouth when you are "eating fudge'... so just like my Mom told me, and I will tell you, and you will tell your kids...here are some simple rules to help with the truth...

1)Your Mom always KNOWS when there is 'fudge' around...

2)Contrary to Gandhi the context of our family is not in flux and the TRUTH is not so very fluid.

3)The TRUTH is simply the truth, it IS ONLY ONE THING, it does not change depending on who is hearing it, and it certainly will not change no matter how much you want it to.

4)If you tell a lie you will get into double the trouble than if you tell us the truth.

5)When you ALWAYS tell the truth people feel like they can trust you, no one ever disbelieves you, you will be seen as a good honest person, someone to be relied upon... and that just feels good.

6)Telling the truth is simple, you will never get caught, and you never have to try to remember where you left the "fudge"....trust me it is much easier...

7)I will do the very best job I can to help you learn this very simple but ever so important TRUTH about life... because I love you...more than anything.

8)And because contrary to popular opinion...I REALLY don't like "fudge"...

Love you forever, Your Mom.

Bach and Sushi...Date night with Riel

Riel has a great friend at school who shares lots of his interests. His parents share our philosophy of exposing their kids to lots of interesting and stimulating stuff, much like we do.

Dee , Sam's mom suggested we take the two boys into Hannover to a Bach concert in a beautiful old church, and I suggested we go for sushi before hand...so there it was ...Bach and Sushi...

We decided to take the train into town , more fun that way especially since we can walk the several blocks from our house to the train station, and it was a lovely balmy day.

The kids and I love the bright red colour of the train as it snakes its way through the green country side. We proceeded inside and took our seats, the commuter trains are super plush and very clean.

I love it. An image of the hills and farm land near where we live, we have lots of windmills around us though I see I did not capture them in this shot...they are so cool, and I love how many of them there are here.

Why don't we have them at home?

Riel on a stair case in the Hauptbanhoff (Main train station) at the centre of Hannover, posing with the girl holding the chocolate bar...

And the boys all giddy and excited out side the church before the concert... (Imagine??!!)


The concert was wonderful. Though we were expecting the emotional and petulant strains of a centuries old great pipe organ we were treated instead to the wafting melodies of a children's choir singing funerary music...We were enchanted none the less...

Buche Noel

WE are just buzzing with Christmas preparations over here I tell you. I am teaching Riel to cook and we made a Buche Noel together last week, even did chocolate leaves...

check it out,

It was Yummy!!!

5 Euro Baby

Whew...sorry it has been sooo long...

So the tooth finally came out, only took about a week, and happened a bit by accident.



During roller-blading class at school he fell face first onto a jump and guess what...yep...it fell out right then and there. I think the poor child was a little traumatized by the abruptness of it all...Good news is the tooth was found and the tooth fairy paid up a whole 5 Euros for that baby.


Like Beth said the first one is worth more and I think I can go with that.

Our little guy is growing up!!

Urgent: Tooth Fairy needed

“Hey Mom!!”

“I have WIGGLY tooth!!”

He rushes over to me; immediately I give it the wiggle test and sure enough it is moving a LITTLE tiny bit.

Riel had been asking me for a while when it was going to happen to him as one of his best buddies has been all toothless and whistley-like for a while now.

After that came a barrage of questions like what happens next and does it hurt, how do the new teeth arrive and what do we do with the old ones and so on.

So of course we launch into the whole entire Tooth Fairy thing (and all you experienced parents out there are going to have to help me out here) the tooth under the pillow, fairy finds baby tooth and leaves a little something.

Riel’s eyes are getting wider and wider…

I for one have a few questions…

1) How does the “Tooth Fairy” find a tooth the size of a grain of Kat-kibble under the head of a sleeping child’s pillow in the dark??

2) What is the going rate for the tooth fairy these days?

3) Does the Tooth Fairy wear anything special? (Yes loaded question I know...)

4) What does the Tooth Fairy do with the Kat-kibble after he/she has retrieved it…surely the reappearance of any particular tooth that a parent might happen to be attached to might just blow the Tooth Fairy’s cover….? (No?)

When I mentioned casually that ALL of his teeth would eventually fall out and be replaced his eyes widened in surprise…and a little bit of concern…

“Ohhhhh…”

Then it was all real quiet like.

…………..,

“Can I watch TV Mom?”

“Sure Honey”

Riel climbs the stairs and sits on the top step so he can see the TV and a mirror and proceeds to watch TV and check on his tooth every 60 seconds or so.

“Watchya doing honey?”

“I don’t want to miss it when it falls out…!!”

Silently to self….Oops…forgot that part…

Boxed In

The tedium…the humdrum…it is starting to get grey and chilly here (plus the chocolate is all gone) …*yawn* and it’s not even February yet…

My kids are at school all day today and so far I have had a German lesson, lunch and a nap. Not so good. Sort of gearing up for a crazy weekend as we have some of our friend’s children for two days and TBG comes home today (at least that’s my excuse). Somehow I always feel compunction to have the house compulsively tidy whenever he gets home…sort of like I feel we need to rack up against Sofitel…(*Chuh*)…like he has not seen our place a mess and like it is my job…*ughhh*

Gosh gotta get to the laundry, run some errands-sort out dinner yada-yada-yada…

Whatever

My kids more specifically. Riel is utterly, utterly absorbed right now with making houses out of cardboard boxes. On my last trip to Ikea I came home with a slick office chair which of course included a nifty kid sized carton and the lights I bought also included even niftier doll sized boxes. Quick as a blink Riel had fashioned himself a set of carving knives out of Lego, (really)…with such an imagination the child will never lack for anything that’s for sure, and he instantly set to work carving out openings and fitting little boxes into big ones and constructing all manner of magic access panels and such.

This cardboard box thing has reached epic proportions and has been going on endlessly for about two weeks now. Every time I go into the play room, nay even turn around, he and Lily have built an entire subdivision out of a combination of boxes, the play table, its chairs, a compilation of the dissected elements of both their beds including the foam mattresses and blankets. The room is FULL. He has his quiet time in there all fortressed up, roofed in under some sort of contrived combination of things, having dragged in his comforter and Cleo. One day I walked in to discover him on the floor lying IN the barely big enough box on its side head-first-with-just-his-bum-hanging-out happy as a clam. Very funny.

All well and good. But the mess and subsequent Mommy driven reconstruction bi-daily not too mention the constant distraction from the things-that-must-be-done is driving me INSANE. Every time I turn around it is like a Greenspan building site in there and the child cannot walk past any of it without completely losing his way. I have threatened to pitch the whole kit and caboodle, as it is driving me crazy, but can’t quite bring myself to do it as they are deriving such obvious pleasure from it all.

Yesterday I picked up something downtown that had been ordered and had arrived (god forbid) in a box. Riel was with me and his eyes instantly lit up. He timidly asked the sales clerk if he could have the box.

“Oh yes, yes” she breathed in her French-sales-clerky way…”Ve have many many boxes here, you can always come and pick up as many as you like…

More on Annie

Today Riel is feeling yucky...

He has a fever and the chills, a headache and a yucky tummy.

Poor guy.

I called his teacher to let her know that he would be staying home for the afternoon, and she said that she could see he was tired and not feeling very well.

The she said "Give him a big kiss for me and I hope he feels better soon."

(In french of course...)

She IS so sweet!!

Little Miss Lily Turns Three!!

Lily has had a pretty good time of it this year, what with a birthday party with my family, another with Bruce‘s and still a third here in Dijon with her two best buddies Hannah and Lea.

So what does a three year old like for a Birthday?

Lily was lucky enough to get Polly Pocket, Playdough, a Doctors kit and a bath for her baby doll “Lulu”.

Yup...it sure is good to be three.

Lily LOVES to bake with me and was more than pleased to help make her own yummy chocolate birthday cake.



And then to blow out her three birthday candles and share her cake with her friends.



We played the Lily’s favorite games
”Charades”,“Hot Potato”,“What Animal am I?" and “Pin the Present on Lily“... made even more fabulous by the creative efforts of Riel...



Happy Birthday Lily!! We love you!!

Badge of Honor

Riel is a carbon copy of me in little boy format. He can be very gentle, funny and gregarious and at the same time kind of barky…oooh who knew our kids would be such accurate mirrors of our own personalities…

He is so sweet now that he has started CP, the French version of Grade one. He sort of wears it like a badge of honor. He is very proud of himself since he has HOMEWORK to do unlike his little sister (underprivileged home-work-less child she is who is just 3) and approaches it all with great seriousness.
He adores his teacher and she tells me he is a dream.

Riel can now go into the school by himself which is a big deal if you are 6 (or his mother watching carefully from the car) and we have just removed the child lock form his side of the car door…you know the stages of independence.

On my return from dropping Lily off in her class I have just discovered that I can catch a glimpse of Riel intently setting up his things at his desk. So I wait to catch his eye to blow him a kiss silently across the room and then I do.

I love the way his eyes light up with a start when he sees me and secretly sends one back.

Helmets and Crowns

So I have to write about our last Sunday, it was sort of like a bear (or rather mother bear and her young) coming out of hibernation….With the two weeks of stress getting over jet lag and back into the rhythm of school, Bruce gone for a week…Lily yelling and then Riel yelling at her and then me yelling….my goodness why are we ALL yelling????

Figuring out all the details for school every morning in which order everyone does what and all the minutae of what makes for a smooth or rocky start to the day…not too mention all the bureaucratic paper work imaginable for school activities, fees to be paid, photos signed, permission slips delivered…. we emerged **ahhhhh** into the sunshine of a weekend day.

Suddenly we all seemed refreshed, rested and ready. At the same time. Miraculous.

Soooo… what to do.

Ok Mom has a great idea….. let’s do papier mache for your Halloween costumes!!!!!!

(enthusiastic yes it is a great idea pitch to kids who have absolutely no idea what in the world I am talking about…)

What am I talking about?? (ever do Papier Mache with a three year old??)

So I get busy



and mix up 8 (please note quantity) cups of sticky warm gloopy paste and strip kids down to skivvies and we all enthusiastically get to work.

A crown for Lily




and a knights helmet for Riel.





Everything was going so well until some one’s elbow connected with the gloop and then you guessed it….

Oh la la.

So to those of you who have been checking and have had no blog joy my apologies.

I will try to post a little more regularly and try to get over my blog fright…kind of like stage fright.
Let me know what you want to hear about. (Is mundane OK??)

So we had a fabulous trip back to France, the gods were all looking the right way (either away from us or towards us not sure….) We had bulkhead seat so the kids could stretch out . I could stand sleepy guard (not sure where they will go on a plane but none the less feel compelled) and we all managed to get a little shut eye….tho I caught Riel peeping a few times at whatever in flight (“in fright” in his case) adult movie was on the big screen.

The kids (I have to hand it to them) really seem to know the drill now and were just as good as gold all round. Our train trip was uneventful even tho there was some Old "Gaseous Grand Dame" in the truest sense of the word who happened to have the 4th of our 4 seat booth (to her obvious delight) giving us the hairy eyeball for most of the trip. Like it is a crime to be a kid. Sheesh.

So we are back in Dijon.
You ever feel like you are moving from one series of piles to another?
For this summer for us it was a rather consistent stream of

**pack** unpack** pack**laundry** pack** unpack** pack**laundry**

and then all over again. I guess I have nothing to complain about.

I must confess I was starting to feel a pull to come back here around the start of school (quelle surprise), as it is hard to leave home and all the nearest and dearest. As you can see by the photo went throught this bizarre uncontrollably tacky desire for Canadiana... even bought some good old red and white roots gear...now to see if I have the guts to wear it.

Sooo..We are now back in the throws of settling into the new routine for the school year. Riel is starting "CP" which is the French equivalent to Grade one and Lily is in “Petite Section” like PRE jk (if you can believe that). For those of you who may not know the school day is staggeringly long, starts at 8:45 and ends at 4:45.Oh my goodness!!! Poor little souls. Riel is so proud of his new “homework” he brings home every night. (See how long that lasts….)

The kids are settling in better than ever before after the jetlag. So either they are figuring it out or we are. (not sure)??

It seems to be a case of anticipating the natural rhythms of the last time zone and not letting them fall asleep when their bodies want them to until the “new” right time in the current zone.
No easy task …like feeding them candy non-stop all the way to my Mom’s on the Canada end while singing songs at the top of our lungs to bribing them with movies to keep them up at this end…

Oh La La.

"A Sailing boy"
Riel with a bit of trepidation departing with his dad, his uncle and his Grandpa for a sail across Lake Ontario. The first night it was very windy and what else blowing out of the wrong direction, so they had to turn around and go the other way than intended. Gladly it meant a nice downwind sail directly across the lake from the Eastern side of Toronto to a small historic village called Niagara on the Lake.

“Children of the Corn”
Riel is back from his sailing trip and we are shucking corn for supper, Bruce text messaged me at 5A.M “Made it” so presumably he is safely back in France. (I just heard my phone go bloop bloop…)
The cottage has a fabulous hammock right on the edge of the bluff overlooking the lake, great for a book or a romp with the kids or…shucking corn.
It has been unseasonably cold and windy so even thought the lake has been glorious in its surf I must confess our visions of sand digging and sunbathing are fading just like our tans from last week. 

"Bubbling with Lily on the front lawn"
It was so great to be able to spend a little quality time with just Lily this week while Riel was with his Dad on the boat. We did some crafts, spent lots of time reading and napping together, swung on the swing and just chatted. It is amazing what a 2 year old has to say. Lily got her own special pedicure as well.
She is always so full of ideas and questions. Such an great age. My Little Lily.

"Thanks Mom"
Oh my goodness I LOVE visiting with my mom, just past those angst ridden 30’s into a really wonderful place where you forgive all those perceived “mistakes” and into a great space where you really appreciate them for the great and amazing women they are.
We had such a fabulous time, every evening just talking and us both doing our own quiet thing while thankfully this kids slept exhausted from the day activities.
My mom is someone I can really be with and really be myself with….what can be better than that??
I admire her, all the amazing things she does, so many talents and skills always learning and always doing and like myself a little more than obsessed. I love to see her with my kids, it makes me realize all the great gifts she has given me by just being herself.

Thanks Mom.

NEWS FLASH - THE BIG READER - July 7th, 2006 ...........the day that Riel read his first book from start to finish all alone!! 'The Big Bug Dug'.....not 'War and Peace' but a huge accomplishment quand meme! He looks forward to the next book and is proud that he may now be able to read to others instead of being read to by others.