Je Porte Bonheur

No school yet again for these kids! Actually, Quincy and Tabitha did have school this morning but Max and Calvin had their usual Wednesday free day. Tomorrow, everyone has the day off --- even Josh! It is a national Holiday, May 1st is Labor Day. Here is a little snippet about the holiday in France.... This national holiday designated as International Labor Day also includes a custom to present un brin de muguet (stem of lilies of the valley) to loved ones to bring them good luck and happiness (porter du bonheur). A friend of mine came over today and brought me a pink rose with a stem of lilies of the valley. She explained the tradition to me and after our crazy trip to the U.S. last week, decided that we needed all the good luck we could get! Actually, since all of our adventures last week turned out just fine, we feel like we are already pretty lucky. Anyway, since the kids were all home for the most of the day, we just spent the day playing outside, building the usual forts on the mezzanine, going to various practices, and visiting friends. Coco is feeling pretty good today but can't quite understand why she can't go outside and play with the kids. It's pretty heartbreaking....

Morocco and Egypt

Not too much going on today since it rained almost all day and I was stuck at home with our recuperating puppy. I am enjoying all the lilacs and wisteria that our blooming in my yard. And, I did have a friend come over for coffee this afternoon. The son of Sabine just spent the last 3 weeks living with the family of a wonderful friend of mine in Batesville. Jane offered to take in Pierre-Louis for 3 weeks so he could work on his English and get a taste of American life. Sabine came over today to tell me all about his fantastic experiences in the US. He apparently loved every minute of it and didn't even complain about going to school every day in a place where he knew no one and hardly understood a word! He came home with some American jeans and some great memories. Thanks Jane!
The kids were talking to some friends today about their vacations and found out that many went to very interesting places! Some people went to Morocco, some to Egypt, some to Greece, some to Tahiti, etc... etc.... In Egypt, one of Calvin's friends told him that it was 43 degrees Celsius every day! Wow! Now I have new destinations to add to my ever expanding list!

Flip that Switch!

My French teacher always tells me that there is a switch in your brain that flips when you learn another language. She always says that you have to reset that switch when you are away from that second language for awhile. Well.... I need mine reset quickly! The kids seem to have jumped right back into their French but Josh and I struggled a bit today. We already had the kids translating for us yesterday during our traveling.... Max had to translate for me on the plane while Calvin and Taba had to translate for Josh at the drive through at McDonald's when we were trying to grab lunch before leaving Paris. It's a painful process to try to get back in the French mode. At the grocery store today while running my one million post-vacation errands, the poor clerk was just trying to ask me if the Orangina was mine or if it belonged to the woman behind me in line. I could not understand that most simple question for the life of me until she finally reverted to some very broken English! Sorry! We also all struggled with jet lag and fatigue today! Our night was not the most restful last night.... Josh and I had a very difficult time falling asleep despite the fact we were exhausted. At 1 a.m., Coco got restless and whiny in her crate. We ignored her and told her to go back to sleep, just assuming that her little body clock was off too. At 4 a.m., Calvin came downstairs to tell us that he had puked.... He often has some motion sickness with travel and unfortunately, it doesn't always occur at the time of the motion! We spent about 20 minutes cleaning up that complete mess as he sleeps in the top bunk..... Shortly after falling back to sleep, we noticed a terrible smell in our room and determined that Coco had had an accident in her crate.... She hasn't done this since we first brought her home as a new puppy..... Guess she was trying to tell us something at that 1 a.m. wake up..... We then spent time cleaning her and her bed up..... Anyway, we were all very tired today. Calvin told me quite confidently that he really woke up at about 9 o'clock at school today. I said "Wow, that's great.... I didn't really feel awake until after lunch". He said, "That was after lunch, I meant 9 o'clock US time!" Calvin had to read a silly French story out loud to us today.... I thought you might enjoy a bit of the video.
We took Coco in to get "fixed" today.... She was gone all day at the vet's. The poor thing is so tired, so sore and so confused! Why do we keep torturing this cute puppy?

Back in France

We made it! We left Detroit last night at 9:30 p.m. and landed in Paris at 11:30 a.m. Gathered up the dog and our luggage and hit the road. We arrived back home at 6 p.m. and are thrilled to be here. We had a great trip back to the States with lots of good quality family bonding time and even some friend time for all. Thanks to all of our wonderful hosts, especially Josh's mom who took in Coco for most of the week. Quincy and Max even made a killing by helping Grandma with a spur of the moment garage sale! We made it through two sick grandpa's, an earthquake, a brush with Hillary Clinton, a runaway dog, and a brush with an armed bank robbery in only 10 days! Too much excitement for us. We plan to sleep long and hard tonight and reset our brains for our French lives.

Family Time

Now that most of the immediate stress has abated... we are just spending some good quality time with family. My dad is home and doing a bit more each day and feeling good. Josh's dad is getting as much rest as he can and needs. The kids are enjoying grandparent time and we are all doing our summer clothes shopping where the dollar actually means something and the prices are great!!!

World traveling dog....

Josh and Coco arrived safely last night without mishap. Josh said that it was more hassle to travel with a dog but not really a big deal. Coco is happily exploring Josh's mom's home and yard today and seems just fine with being in the States. The kids got in some good cousin visit time yesterday and today and are now on their way to Batesville with Josh to visit friends. My dad was really doing super today and was moved out of ICU finally and into a regular room. He is following all directions and really gaining daily in leaps and bounds. Here's a picture of us with Josh's dad from the other day.

Improving

Things are going well here. Tiring and stressful but that's okay,we are happy to be with our families. The kids and I had lunch with Josh's dad yesterday and he was looking good. Seems to be handling his chemo well. My dad is still in ICU but looks like he'll be moved out soon. He has had many of his medicines taken away or reduced and last night he was able to sit up in a chair for 90 minutes and eat solid food. He was thrilled!
Josh and Coco will fly in today. We can't wait to see them and see how Coco handled the flight!

Doing Well....

Thanks to all of you for so many good prayers yesterday.... The kids and I arrived in Ft. Wayne last evening without incidence.... Flying to Detroit from Paris was probably our easiest transAtlantic flight yet. My dad came through his open heart surgery with flying colors and with 6 bypasses! I was able to visit him quickly before going to bed last night and he was tired and having some pain but seemed great. Josh's dad also made it through is first day of chemo without incident. So, today we will spend time visiting with family and allow ourselves some time to relax and enjoy the good ole US of A!

Heading Home

Just a quick note with some pictures from yesterday... We have decided that sometimes you just need to be with family so we are heading home... The kids and I will fly out tomorrow and Josh and Coco will join us on Saturday. We can all stay until the following Saturday night since school doesn't resume until Monday, the 28th. We got a computer chip implanted in Coco today as well has getting her official "passport" so she can meet all international travel requirements. Amazing how much work is involved. The rest of today, I spent packing our bags while the kids enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine.
There is nothing like watching the ocean waves to calm your stressed out nerves.....

Hate Being Away...

Monday started out well with a fun trip for the kids and I to the nearby ocean beach and the discovery of a wonderful medieval castle only 20 minutes from our house. However, when we got home, we discovered that my dad had been hospitalized back in the States for a heart attack and will have surgery on Wednesday. Josh's dad will begin his battle against cancer on Wednesday as well.... So, we are hating being so far away and so unable to help.....

Not Much Happening....

I'm sorry, really not much to report today... We spent the day baking and working in the yard. The kids are on vacation so there is no homework to do and most of our friends are out of town so we all just hung out around home. I'm afraid this will be a fairly dull week. We look forward to just relaxing and enjoying it....

Hitting the Slopes

Quincy's home!!! We are so happy to see him again, all in one piece! Quincy had a great time skiing in the French Alps with his group from school. They skiied 6-7 hours a day. He progressed with his group from the beginner slopes to three levels up by Friday. Not bad for a kid whose only previous skiing experience was one day with a church youth group in Michigan! Anyway, I'm including some of the pictures that he took while there.... We were happy to hear that we did everything right that needed to be done for him to enjoy his trip, despite the confusion of the multitude of notes and meetings that we had to deal with in French about this trip. The only thing we forgot was to send some soap and shampoo along with him, but since he's a 13 year old boy, it didn't bother him a bit to be without both for the whole week! Quincy said that while not on the slopes, they were very adequately supervised, ate some great food, and played lots of poker. We were wondering how this would all pan out as there is a lot more independence in children here than in the States.
I had a great time at my English speaking potluck last night! There were 5 women there.... me, 2 others from the US (Connecticut and New Orleans), one Canadian from Nova Scotia, and one Irish woman. They are all married to French men and have all lived here for at least 15 years. They loved having a "newbie" in the group to teach and explain things to. We had some good food and lots of good conversation!
Today was nice and relaxing. It is the latest school break so no one had school and only Calvin had a basketball game. His team finally won! They have only won 3 games in the 8 months that they have been playing every Saturday.

A Cold Morning

We woke up to no heat or hot water this morning due to the pilot light having gone out on our boiler. Not a great way to start the day.... something was actually broken, so Josh quickly called a repair guy and he was here and had the problem fixed by 10 a.m. That was pretty darn fast and efficient! Not much else going on today... Max headed off to school because he was feeling quite a bit better and it was his last day before their 2 week break. I had coffee with a friend and Coco and I took a long walk in the gorgeous 55 degree day. Tonight, I am going to a ladies' potluck.... I was invited by this American woman that I met in February through mutual friends. She actually grew up in New Orleans where she attended a French-speaking school, she then worked in Paris for a few years before marrying a French guy. She has now lived here for more than 20 years and her children only speak French. She calls herself American but..... Anyway, when her kids were babies, she gathered a group of English-speaking women together to create a playgroup. Their children are all now way past the playgroup stage but they still get together once in awhile to speak English. Beth invited me to join them this evening, so off I go!
Quincy comes home from skiing in the morning! I can't wait to see him and hear about his adventures in the Alps! We have all really missed him. Tabitha even admitted that this evening!

Fennel and Little Red Berries

Max was sick again today with a sore throat so he and I just took it easy most of the day.... I think he'll be ready to go back to school tomorrow though as he certainly has a lot of energy! He did finally sneeze that last front tooth out this morning so he is anxiously awaiting the tooth "mouse" to come tonight - yes, they have a tooth mouse here instead of a tooth fairy.
Last night, I had a message on the answering machine that I could not understand for the life of me. So, when Josh got home from work I had him listen and translate. This is the guy who works in French all day long and can get us through almost every daily situation... However, when he listened to the answering machine, he was quite sure that the message either told us that 1) we were being evicted, 2) the vet was ready to give Coco her rabies vaccination, or 3) the people that we had called about a vacation house in Spain were ready to give us more information! That's how well phones and answering machines work for us! Needless to say, I had the kids' tutor listen today while she was at our house and it was simply a message from our home rental agency telling us that they needed to add one item to our home inventory.
The produce around here is often very much of what we are used to, but two things that are very commonly used here are not something that I am very familiar with. Red currants (groseilles) and fennel bulbs. I made a roasted potato and fennel soup tonight with a red currant tart for dessert.

Our Little Ones

Wow, this week seems quiet without Quincy being home! We miss him! I checked the ski report for his part of the Alps and it looks like the temperature was right at freezing today and that they were getting some rain. Hope he's still able to get some good skiing in! We had a lazy day around here with lots of "pain perdu" - "french toast". No one had school this morning (just work for Josh - poor guy) so I made some French toast for breakfast which we all enjoyed so much that the kids asked for "croque monsieur" for lunch - that is basically French toast ham and cheese sandwiches. Max had soccer this morning... so during his practice, Calvin, Coco, Taba and I did some walking along the port - enjoying the sunshine. After soccer, Taba went to a friend's house to play for the rest of the day while the boys and I headed home. We had a nice relaxing afternoon but unfortunately, Max seemed to get sick as the day wore on. He complains of a very sore throat and has no energy and no appetite. Hope this doesn't last long! One thing that I keep forgetting to blog about but that bugs me every time that I am in the grocery store is that it is completely acceptable to separate multi-packs of things. Milk comes in 1 liter bottles packaged as 6 to a package and they are always torn open for someone to take just one or two. It's even acceptable to take one can of Coke out of a 6 pack!! Crazy! I've never seen anything like that.

Excellent Work!

That was written (in French) in big letters at the bottom of Calvin's 2nd trimester report card that he brought home today. He is so proud! Out of about 64 grades, he had all "A's" except for 3 "B's". Pretty impressive. His teacher had had him in the medium difficult work group but today moved him up to the hardest level group. All from a kid that couldn't understand a word of French less than 8 months ago. No word from Quincy so we are assuming he is still in one piece as he swooshes down the slopes in the Alps. Another gorgeous day today with sunny skies and cool temperatures. I have started planning for our family trip to Spain. We will leave on April 19 during yet another school vacation for the kids.

It's a Block Party!

A very quiet day today.... Quincy is gone until Saturday morning, my mom and dad left for a few more days in Germany before they fly back to the States, and Tabitha, Calvin and Max were at school all day. We sure hated to see the grandparents leave! We really had a great visit!
Tabitha found out today that the 9 year old brother of her very good friend, was hit by a bus on Saturday morning. He has extensive injuries but did regain consciousness today. Horrible. This is one of the times that I feel very badly about not being able to communicate well. I would love to call the mother and offer to help out in some way but I'm not sure that I could communicate the offer... I did send her an email because that's easier than talking on the phone but I don't know that she will be checking her emails these days.
This evening, a neighbor stopped by. She lives two doors down and wanted to introduce herself as well as invite us to the annual block party in early June. She said that it is great fun and a good way to get to know our neighbors. It is also apparently held right in front of our house so I guess they had to invite us! She was very friendly, spoke quite good English, and said repeatedly that she cannot believe what a difficult undertaking we have taken on. She was either very impressed or thought we were quite nuts. Everyone in France has high, stone walls around their houses and yards so we certainly don't see or talk to our neighbors as much as in suburban America. It will be nice to get to know some people.
Calvin made a rhubarb pie today with the rhubarb we bought at the farmer's market on Saturday. We woke up to temperatures below freezing today but the sun shone all day and the temperature rose to about 50 by the middle of the day.

Some French Friends for Mom and Dad

We just returned from having drinks and appetizers (it's 10:30 at night) with my great friends, Valerie and Denis. They wanted to meet mom and dad, and mom and dad wanted the opportunity to meet some French people and see the inside of a French home. We all had a wonderful time! Valerie and Denis speak excellent English because of traveling extensively in the US and living one year in Canada, so we were able to talk, laugh and eat for hours. Again, it's very fun for us to have our two lives intersect and become part of each other.
We had a lazy morning this morning with sleeping in and not doing much until shortly before lunch. We then headed to the town of Auray where we visited the port area of St. Gustan. It is absolutely gorgeous and a very good representation of an old French village. Benjamin Franklin landed there in 1776 and made quite an impression so the USA is represented very well. We all enjoyed walking around the town before ducking into a creperie to get out of the cold (the temperature dropped about 20 degrees from yesterday to today) and enjoying a delicious crepe meal. After a long lunch, we headed back home to relax before Quincy had to meet his school class trip and get on a bus for the Alps. He left at 5 p.m. for his week of skiing. He was quite nervous (since his previous skiing experience consists of one day with a church group in Michigan) but also very, very excited! We will see him again on Saturday morning. Hope he's all in one piece!!
Coco got her first "haircut" yesterday - she looks like a different dog!!
Mom and Dad will leave tomorrow. We will really hate to see them go! I think they have realized how exciting our lives have become but also how difficult even the simplest things can be. Certainly a challenge and an eye opening experience for all!

Market Day!

I'm blogging a little late tonight as we just got home from a long and late and delicious French meal out. Josh and I settled the kids with some pizza and a movie so that we could go out for an adults only meal with mom and dad. We chose our favorite French restaurant and dined in style on some yummy food. The four of us really enjoyed ourselves and tried some new things. I mean, how many times can you see foie gras on the menu before you try it? Delicious! Today was another great day although with cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. We started out the morning by hitting the Vannes biweekly open air market. Mom and Dad were amazed at the huge selection of organic fruits and vegetables, the multitudes of seafood, the numerous meats, cheeses and breads, and the huge crowds of people that were present. We also all enjoyed the cobblestone streets of the old city of Vannes, the half-timbered buildings and the huge portions of the original city walls and gardens that still remain. Beautiful! After our market time, it was time for all of our usual Saturday morning activities. So, we watched Tabitha's horseback riding class followed by Max's soccer game, followed by Quincy's basketball game, followed by Calvin's basketball game! Whew! Good times but a bit tiring so by the time we got home (around 5 p.m.) we were ready to just enjoy some card and board games and just hanging out with the kids. Everyone sure loves having Grandma and Grandpa around!

Concarneau and Carnac

Mom, Dad and I visited two beautiful cities on the coast this morning after taking the kids to school. We started out in the 14 century walled city of Concarneau about an hour north of here. They were having their bi-weekly open air market so we strolled the market before going into the walled part of the city. Inside the "fortified" city, we were able to walk along the ramparts as well as the narrow cobble-stoned streets and peruse the stores filled with traditional Breton items. Concarneau is still a busy fishing port city so there were lots of boats to admire out on the water. We ate lunch in a beautiful little creperie before hitting the road to head back toward Vannes. About 30 km outside of Vannes, we went to the town of Carnac. Carnac is the home of the largest site of megaliths in Europe. Megaliths are huge stones that were stood upright out of the earth and aligned in a particular order for some reason. The Carnac alignments are from the Neolithic era and believed to be from the time period of 5000 to 2000 BC. In Carnac, there are nearly 4000 stones aligned in this manner. There are many legends as to why these stones were aligned this way but there are no real certainties. The mostly likely reason has to do with worshipping the sun god. Anyway, it was very interesting to stroll through this area, admire these stones, some of which are more than 13 feet high, and to marvel at the amount of work that must have been put into this. After the megaliths, we headed into the village of Carnac which houses a pre-history museum, a beautiful 17th century church, and many cute little shops and restaurants. By 4 p.m., we needed to head home, pick up the puppy, pick up the kids and then head out to the town and beaches of Sene which is where we lived when we first moved here. We showed Mom and Dad our old house, our favorite beaches and then strolled the seawall and collected some shells. The weather could not have been more perfect with temperatures of about 20 degrees and perfectly blue skies. Gorgeous!!