Christmas 2007

We spent Christmas with my family this year. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with my parents, all of my siblings, and my two nieces and nephew. We had a unique program of Christmas carols in various languages (German, French, Ukrainian, and English) and some silly songs. We also attempted to read the Christmas story from Luke while the kids played the roles, but we ended up with only Joseph and baby Jesus by the end.

I am happy to report that Madeleine and Elodie were delighted with their Christmas gift from Santa (a Playmobil castle) even though it was a gift they had to share. In fact, all of their other gifts were either exact duplicates or shared presents to avoid a day of conflict. The plan worked well.

Camille was delighted with everything she received. I’ll just try to remember this happy holiday when we have three ornery teenagers in ten years.

The girls played with their new toys all day while the adults played Guitar Hero. It made for a fun day with lots of happy campers.

Viva Thanksgiving

We spent American Thanksgiving in the Las Vegas area. Yes, I know Vegas is a bizarre choice for the traditionally family-oriented holiday. However, all of our family living locally left the state for the holiday break. We were on our own, and we decided to take advantage of the school break to leave town ourselves.

We started our six-hour drive on Tuesday afternoon. The only event on the drive was stopping at Arctic Circle for dinner. Madeleine cried when she found out they didn’t have salad on the menu. We had to run across the street to Arby’s to get the salad she craved. Yes, I'm serious.

We arrived at Russ’s grandmother’s house (now empty) in Boulder City around 10:00 p.m. Camille went right to bed, but Elodie and Madeleine started exploring right away. They just loved all of the knickknacks in the house. They especially loved the laundry chute that goes from the second floor all the way to the basement. Luckily, the chute was too small for them to fit into. Still, they managed to fit all of the contents of their suitcases, some stuffed animals, a few cups, and some books down the chute.

Wednesday was a slow, leisurely morning. In the afternoon, we took the girls to Circus Circus. We walked past the roller coaster and other rides to find the arcade-style games. Oops, big mistake. Madeleine was very upset that we were playing games rather than going on rides, so she didn’t have any fun. (Or at least she said she didn't.) Still, we dragged her around and managed to win three stuffed animals while only spending a small fortune.

After we got our three stuffed animals, we relented and returned to the rides. Madeleine and Elodie rode on a ferris wheel while Camille rode a horse on the carousel.

We had another relaxed morning on Thursday. I turned on the Macy’s parade, but the kids weren’t very interested. They were too busy redecorating the house I guess. We FINALLY forced them to get dressed and headed to nearby Lake Mead. Russ bought popcorn earlier in the day, and we fed the huge carp, ducks, and seagulls at the Lake Mead marina. (Please don't report us to the Humane Society.)

After Madeleine managed to get soaked and muddy, we got back in the car and drove to a nearby casino for Thanksgiving dinner. Ah, Thanksgiving at a casino! It was very nontraditional, but I didn’t miss cooking and cleaning all day. In fact, the food wasn’t too bad. Besides, Madeleine only ate salad and mashed potatoes, and Elodie only ate mashed potatoes and an apple. It would have been a big waste for me to cook a huge meal for only Russ and myself. It was also nice not to have tempting leftovers the next day.

After cleaning the house and packing the car on Friday morning, we headed to Las Vegas to see the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Shark Reef is no Sea World, but I think the girls still enjoyed it. (I’m probably the only one of us remembers Sea World anyway.) We saw lots of cool fish, including sharks swimming above our heads, and we got to touch some manta rays.

We had a fairly uneventful drive home and arrived late Friday night. Overall, it was a very strange but relaxing way to spend our Thanksgiving break.

Superb Surprise

We found a wonderful surprise last night. I took Madeleine and Elodie to see the play Seven Brides for Seven Brothers while Camille stayed home with my sister and brother-in-law. (For those of you wondering, yes, it was a bit hard for the two of them to sit still through the play.)

When we got home, my sister’s car was strangely absent, but Russ was present! We were so surprised. Russ has meetings in San Francisco on Monday and Tuesday, so he decided to come a bit early and surprise us. His stop to see us means a very wild travel schedule for him (in SF until Tuesday, back on the plane to Geneva Tuesday afternoon, back in Geneva just in time—hopefully—for an important meeting on Thursday, and on the plane to the U.S. again on Friday). Despite the wildness and the shortness of his visit (less than twenty-four hours), it was very good to see him. The great news is that we will see him again very late Friday night and then spend Thanksgiving together.

In other news, Camille hit a major milestone today. She turned eighteen months this week and is now eligible for nursery at church. Up until now, Camille has spent two of our three-hour meeting block going to “grown-up” classes with me. Since we’ve been in Utah, she’s been the only person in the room under eighteen. In fact, most of the other participants are much closer to one hundred than they are to Camille’s age of one. Needless to say, it’s been hard for Camille to stay quiet (understandably) and we’ve spent many hours pacing the halls rather than learning anything in class.

All of that ended today with Camille’s introduction to nursery (the class for eighteen-month to three-year-olds). I was very worried about how she would react on her first day. This is the girl who screams when she sees my sister and hides her face in my neck when any male under fifty crosses her path. I also feared because Camille hasn’t had much interaction with children her own age. (She’s the unlucky third child who gets dragged to her older siblings’ playgroups and functions.)

I didn’t need to worry. Camille walked into the room with me and was immediately delighted to find toys and other little girls playing house. She hardly looked back as I snuck out, and her teachers reported that she did really well. Hurray!

Halloween, Halloween!

We had a fun and busy Halloween.

The festivities really started on Saturday with my sister, Kristi’s, Halloween party. It was a family party, but we all dressed up and had a good time. My brother-in-law, Will, scared Elodie and Camille to tears with his werewolf costume. He had to keep it off most of the night to preserve sanity.

We ate good food and ate doughnuts off a string. And then it was time for bed—just after Madeleine broke down because her baby cousin won a sucker for the best costume instead of her.

Halloween day itself was incredibly full. We began the day at a party at Elodie’s preschool. The kids were very cute but had a hard time following the teacher around for the “parade.”

Soon after that, we rushed off to Madeleine’s school for her parade. We sat in the cafeteria and enjoyed watching the entire school file by us. Unfortunately, Madeleine didn’t hear us screaming her name (not a foot away from her) until she passed us.

After the parade, Camille, Elodie and I got to help out with Madeleine’s classroom party. We manned one of several stations where the kids got to play a game or make a craft. Camille and Elodie did amazingly well on their own while I helped the first graders stuff plastic gloves with popcorn to make a scary hand.

At 5:30 we were off to a “trunk-or-treat” in our church parking lot. For those you wondering, a trunk-or-treat is where everyone hands candy to kids out of the back of their cars in a common parking lot. The cars were decorated really well, and it was a very fast way to make a candy haul. The girls especially enjoyed some of the more creative treats, including one car handing out cotton candy.

We had to rush off from the trunk-or-treat to meet our next-door neighbors who had invited us to trick-or-treat with them. However, their group had grown a lot by the time we arrived, so we actually went our own way after about fifteen minutes with them. Madeleine was VERY anxious to get to her friend's house. We skipped lots of houses along the way to get there, and fortunately we did get to see him at home.

To finish the night, we made a few trick-or-treat stopsand via the car and ended up at my brother’s house to see his kids.

Phew! It was such a day. Overall, the kids did really well trick-or-treating. The weather was incredibly mild, much better than the freezing cold or snow I remember on several occasions growing up. Unlike me, the girls didn’t mind skipping houses. Getting loads of candy wasn’t of primary importance to them. Camille didn’t go up to many of the doors, but she was delighted when someone would offer her a treat. She especially liked the pretzels. Way to go, Camille.

And now we have TONS of candy in the pantry. The girls have only eaten a few pieces. I guess they forgot we had candy? Wish I could forget.

My Unlucky Friday?

I had quite the adventure today. This morning I picked up my purse and found it to be far too light. My wallet was missing. I immediately panicked, trying to retrace my steps and where I might have dropped it or left it.

I filled the car with gas the evening before. Did I drop it at the gas station?
Did it fall out of the car when I was getting back in?
Did it fall into the cracks of the car seats?
I had imprudently left my purse near the front door, something I always thought twice about. It is a very convenient place to leave my purse, but it is also dangerous. Someone walked into the house and stole my mom’s purse years before. Did someone come through the unlocked door and steal my wallet from the purse?

All of these thoughts rushed through my head, but I couldn’t confirm any of them.

After I dropped Madeleine off at school (good thing I didn’t get pulled over since I didn’t have a driver’s license), I stopped at the gas station.

“Did anyone find a lost wallet?” I asked the mechanics.

“No,” they reported, but they took my name and number anyway. (Another problem—my wallet didn’t contain my current phone number anywhere within it.)

The younger girls and I then returned home where I cleaned and searched the kitchen. I searched the car earlier in the morning. My stomach had a huge knot in it.

It was time to put a hold on the credit cards. Fortunately we’d recently reduced our cards down to two, so the calls were limited. The customer service reps reported that the most recent purchases were my own. No suspicious card activity—yet.

My stomach continued to churn. How would I get money? My husband was on another continent. I had some extra checks, but I didn’t have ID. No one would cash my check without ID.

How would I get ID? I had an Oregon driver’s license, but I wasn’t in Oregon. Oh, dread the thought of having to take the driver’s test again.

A few hours into this whole process, Elodie asked me casually, “Mommy, do you need money?” Elodie was with me at the gas station and during the search through the house for my wallet. She knew it was missing.

“Yes,” I answered, very suspicious.

She then led me to her room and pointed under her bed. There was my wallet. Elodie had been prowling during the night and taken it from my purse. I found my wallet stashed with my missing scripture highlighter, three unpopped bags of popcorn, and a pacifier. Behold, Elodie’s secret lair.

Lesson learned—I must hide my purse, not from potential thieves, but from my daughter, the prowler.

Weekend at the Cabin

We spent a “sibling and cousins weekend” (minus Leanna, who is in Paris, and Steve, still in the marines) in Heber City this past weekend. (Heber is about an hour from where we live.)

We rented a five-bedroom cabin with themed rooms—The Pup Den, The Butterfly Sanctuary, The Deer Retreat, etc. Some of us found it a bit too woodsy for taste, but we really did feel we were nestled in the great outdoors. The cabin also included a hot tub, a pool table, and a ping-pong table. Some of us enjoyed the hot tub, especially the children, some enjoyed the pool table and some smashed their hands with the balls (Madeleine), but none of us made it to the dark basement for ping-pong.

On the whole, we had a very relaxing weekend playing games, watching kids’ Halloween movies, decorating Halloween sugar cookies, and taking turns cooking. (We all ate way too much good food.)

Here are my highlights from the weekend:

-Enjoying the first (substantial) snow fall of the year: It was gorgeous when the sun came out and glistened on the white snow everywhere. My girls enjoyed putting on makeshift snow gear and walking around in the powder. The drive back down the canyon on Sunday morning was spectacular. We were scared about driving in the snow, but we made it with only one small skid.

-Sitting in the hot tub with snow on my head: Having a freezing head but a hot body was a first for me. I wasn’t sure that I liked it, but the little girls in the hot tub didn’t seem to mind a bit.

-Playing American Idol until 1:00 a.m.: Kimberly (my sister), Becky (my sister-in-law), and I stayed up into the wee hours singing to a new American Idol karaoke game on the PlayStation. My voice could not compete with the two lovely singers challenging me, but we had a wonderful time. We especially enjoyed all of the rude comments from computer-generated Simon Cowell.

Overall the weekend was a chance to spend time with my girls away from the usual distractions. Sure, there was still lots of mom work (cleaning up after Camille threw up, constantly wiping Camille’s runny nose, wiping up a huge chocolate milk spill on Madeleine’s Sunday dress, etc., etc.); but I also got to play “Go Fish” with Elodie, watch Hocus Pocus with the four oldest cousins, and enjoy a wonderful time in the hot tub with Sydney and Madeleine (as I guessed what ocean animals they were and pretended to buy fast food from them).

Typical Morning

Today started out as a classic example of the dynamics between my three daughters.

Camille woke up first, as usual. After she ate breakfast, she accompanied me in my efforts to wake Madeleine up for school. Camille sat on the bed, patting Madeleine’s head and chatting delightedly at her. Madeleine didn’t move or respond at all.

Elodie, sleeping in another room, woke up due to the noise in Madeleine’s room. She walked in, wrapped tightly in her blanket and feeling groggy. Camille slithered off the bed and ran to Elodie, delighted to see her other sister. Camille tried to hug Elodie, but Elodie pushed her away and yelled, “Leave me alone!”

Elodie ran to the corner for refuge, but Camille pursued, still trying to hug Elodie. Elodie kept resisting, and so Camille resorted to plan B—attack. Elodie was leaning against an inflatable Dora mattress, and Camille attempted to smother Elodie with it. This continued, Camille delighted by her efforts to torment Elodie, when suddenly Madeleine emerged and toppled the mattress on top of both little sisters.

Just another morning with the sisters.

Weekend with Dad

Thursday afternoon I finished my ironing and made a huge dent in my “to do” box. I even got my eyebrows waxed with my sisters, an outing long overdue. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you aren’t interrupted every thirty seconds.

In the meantime, Russ and the girls enjoyed a country festival, at a venue called Thanksgiving Point (surely familiar to Utahans reading this).

Friday morning we accomplished some much needed chores, like buying a soon-to-be-needed winter coat for myself and salt for the water softener. (I was afraid to haul those forty-pound bags around on my own with Camille in one arm.) We then let the girls play castle to their hearts’ content while Camille napped. Vacations can be so nice.

Friday evening we met Russ’s cousin (Marianne) and her family to attend the “Scarecrow Festival” (also at Thanksgiving Point). The only problem was that I hadn’t anticipated how cold it would get after dark. The weather was very mild when we left the house, and Elodie and I set out in sandals. Brrr. They didn’t keep us very warm we got to the festival. Fortunately, Elodie likes things “coldie,” so she didn’t seem to notice.

The kids spent most of the evening jumping in bouncy castles and sliding down inflatable slides of every imaginable form (whale, dolphin, Pirates of the Caribbean). Madeleine and I even went through a “junior haunted house.” It was pretty tame, and Madeleine said she wasn’t scared. However, we weren’t about to take the easily-scared Elodie in with us.

Madeleine finished the evening by getting a very cute pumpkin painted on her face. The effort didn’t last long as she wiped it off as soon as we got in the car. Oh well.

We spent the night at a hotel in Salt Lake. Madeleine and Elodie LOVE hotels, so we decided to splurge. The two of them stayed up way too late and were way too wild. In the meantime, I had a horrible night sleeping with Camille who wakes up very thirty minutes, cries for ten seconds, and then goes back to sleep. Overall, no one got much sleep, but the older girls had a lot of fun.

After our complimentary breakfast (where Elodie ate boxed cereal that Russ bought at the grocery story the day before), we swam in the hotel pool. The pool was another HUGE attraction for us because Elodie and Camille have been banned for months from public pools in Utah, due to an outbreak of some parasite. They were so excited to finally dive in. All of them had a great time, and we loved having the pool all to ourselves.

After getting ourselves bathed, dressed, and checked out, we headed to the Gateway Shopping Center in downtown Salt Lake. There we visited the “Gateway Discovery,” a new children’s museum. It was a pricey outing (they charged us EACH $9.50, including little Camille), but the kids had such a great time. They shopped at the mini grocery store, played with balls, pretended to work on a construction site, delivered mail, “rode” in a helicopter, and more. (For you Oregonians, they had many of the same features as the Portland Children’s Museum.)

Overall, it was a great family weekend. It reminded me how nice it is to have a spouse. On my own, I don’t usually dare such adventures.

Russ's Visit

We picked Russ up from the airport last night. We haven't seen him for over a month-and-a-half. Madeleine and Elodie kept asking, "Can we get Daddy yet?" They were SO excited.

Camille stayed home with my sister, Kristi, and Elodie and Madeleine got a late-night treat of a trip to the airport. We were delighted to see Russ at the baggage claim.

I was apprehensive about Camille's reaction to Russ this morning. She can be very shy, especially around men. I figured that Camille wouldn't remember Russ at all and would have a hard time adjusting to his presence. I was wrong.

As soon as Russ entered the kitchen this morning, Camille walked up to him and snuggled in his arms. It was very sweet. Yes, she's already back to wanting Mom to carry her around, but at least she doesn't feel scared of her dad.

Madeleine had a break from school today, but Elodie still had preschool. We dropped Elodie off at school and visited the library and the park with Camille and Madeleine. It was SO nice. It was nice having a parent for each child rather than feeling like a sheep-herder the whole outing. It was also nice to enjoy time with them rather than feeling like I needed to rush and get things done.

Russ is now on an outing with the three girls, and I am at home alone. Wow!

I intend to tackle my huge pile of "to do items" and the huge pile of ironing. We'll see how much progress I make.

Growing Girl

Camille is seventeen-months-old today. She is definitely becoming a little girl. I promised I would post a few pictures of her new pigtails.