Ansel and the Dress-Up Chest

There really wasn't ever any question whether he would love it as much as his siblings. Here is some proof.

Most of the time we're just grateful he'll put clothes on!

Has anyone had a child completely potty-trained, but won't wear underwear? I'm not too worried. He's barely two.

Since we're on the topic of "The Booch," each of our children has enjoyed the paci. And, we have taken similar pictures of each of them with the pacis in their mouth. Ansel took it up a notch by successful shoving three in his mouth. Ahhh, for the love of a paci-or "babi" as Ansel would say.

l'Escalade

We had the privilege of enjoying another Swiss Holiday this year. The city of Geneva celebrates their success over an invasion from the French. A very worthy cause I would have to agree!
We began with a history lesson and tour of the city with Sophie. She is the lovely lady that helped us get settled here. Shops all over are filled with these chocolate pots.

The tradition goes something like this: The French were nearing the outer walls of Geneva. A lady was preparing some soup and heard the intruders. So. . . she poured the soup on their heads and deterred them from making it up any further. Apparantly it also bought the neighbors some time to get the ammo ready. Here's to soup for ammo!
Now they celebrate with chocolate pots that they fill with marzipan vegetables.

On the day of l'Escalade, it was December 12. Everyone eats vegetable soup. At Henry and Elsa's school the kids all brought vegetables and they cut them up and made the soup to serve at the party.
Apparantly soup wasn't enough for this party. They also sold hot dogs-which were very popular. Can you find Elsa and Henry in this crowd?

The afternoon was freezing! We ended up leaving the playground early. The whole thing was on the playground. Poor Ansel was sooo cold.

After school we had a party at our house with some friends. I forgot to take pictures. It was more of the Christmas variety.

After our party was over we head straight to the church for more veggie soup and a celebration with the Stake.
Somehow the dressing-up for children invaded the Escalade tradition. (I bet they were jealous of our Halloween). The kids really don't need a reason to dress-up. They had a great time.

So count them, three parties in one day! What fun.

We waited until Liz and Chris arrived on Monday the 15th to break our own pot of chocolate.

Escalade was a good time. Maybe next year we'll join much of the others in the city for the fun run!

The Last Day of Fall

I've got a lot of catching-up to do. The Holidays have kept us very busy.

We spent one of our last fall days at the neighborhood park climbing trees and building in the sand. We like the neighborhood park. They've got a great tire swing and a wading pool in the summer. There is also a great promenade for bike riding. We'll try that out when it gets a little warmer. Elsa rode her bike the other day. Ansel got a like a bike for Christmas. He's looking forward to trying it out.

Now that most of our activities are sledding, skiing, ice skating and indoors. These fall days seem so far away.

Christmas Cards

We're about to take the holiday cards down. It was such a thrill to receive so many over our first December abroad. Thanks to all of you who sent your trans-Atlantic joy. You made our holidays great!

Can spot yours in this picture?

February Plans

The kids have an entire week off school in February. It's also the week of Elsa's birthday. So we've book a hotel near the Neuschwanstein Castle, and a few days in Munich. We made sure the hotel in Munich has a pool. For the kids, pools are the trip highlights no matter where we go. We were hoping to do a tour of the BMW factory, too (Rick Steves says it's very cool - you get close enough to get hit by sparks from the welding bots). But we found out the minimum age to take a tour is 7. Maybe Greg and Henry can go and Henry can stand on his tip toes. We're really looking forward to this!

 

Family in Town

We've had Greg's mom and sister in town for the past week. Liz has to leave tomorrow to get back to her husband in LA. But Chris is staying with us until the 29th! We've been visiting Geneva and the surrounding areas almost non-stop. Chris and Liz spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva. Thursday they took the train to Chamonix and Mont Blanc. Friday we went to the Christmas market in Montreaux. Saturday, we drove to Bern. And Sunday afternoon we went to Annecy, France.

Chris and Liz in downtown Geneva

Liz and Elsa

Greg, Henry and Ansel in Bern.

(These streets are full of statues that look like something from a Tim Burton movie: a bear wearing a knight's helmet, a gryphon, Moses with rays of light that look like moose antlers. But our favorite was the statue of the man eating babies for lunch. I'll post that one soon.)

Elsa in the pews

Elsa in the Münster Cathedral 

This was the runner-up photo for the holiday card. Yep, this was the second-best pose we could get our kids to take. Compared to the others ones, this one makes us look halfway normal.

Christmas is coming

Sunset from our balcony

Ansel Sits In Judgment

Ansel is judge, prosecutor and jury of the breadman we found at the store.

Verdict: Guilty.

Fall in the Alps

These photos are from our trip to the Jungfrau region a couple of weeks ago. Beautiful. We stayed on the Thuner See. It was just a lovely way to enjoy the changing of the seasons. It has been nice entering our second season in Switzerland.

Mom and Granny

So I just want to document, as good as my life is here, and as content as I feel. Last week was a bummer. My Mom had a heart attack and her second coronary by pass surgery (a redo of the first). That was stressful enough. Of course I wanted to be there. By the time I found out it was happening, it was happening. Then you have to figure anouther 36hours to get there. I missed out. Before my mom was released from the hospital my grandma (my mom's mom) passed away
I thought that I would go. Even the airfare was acceptable at 24hrs. notice. I was so sad-especially for my mom.
I loved my Grandma. She opened her home to everyone. It was truly a gathering place. I knew the last time I saw her it would be the last. Since then I've been wearing her scent and sipping her drink, diet cherry coke, in her honor. It hasn't been hard. I love the way she smelled and I love diet coke in all its forms.
Also in her honor I will buy a new dress and a pair of shoes to match. That's what she would have done.
I didn't end up going, and that's ok. Granny is ok with it.
My mom is doing well. I'm so grateful that she was able to make it out here and spend time with us before all of this happened. I miss her and talk to her as often as I can.
This is the hardest part about being here. With technology you feel so close. It is so easy to communicate and even see each other. It's even easy to trick yourself into thinking that you aren't that far away. But when it comes down to it. . . in the words of Elsa, "We are from the other side of the lake." That is one big lake.

Halloween? You bet!

When we saw Halloween costumes and decorations in some of the larger stores we were stunned. It turns out, Halloween is catching on. I give it five years for full infiltration. We all waited anxiously to see how the holiday would pass. We had heard that the church Halloween party was the event not to be missed. A huge draw for American ex-pats. Greg was in charge of the party, and surely felt the weight of the community.
The party was a success. Americans had been importing candy for a month from the states to hand out to the kids. Thank goodness, good old American starbursts and M&Ms (yes, I know they have M&Ms here, but they just aren't the same).
We actually were able to take the kids trick-or-treating in a friend's suburb. We even had a few come by our apartment. That made us feel so good.
The kids were even invited to a Halloween party a couple of days before. Thrown by a couple of American moms.
By the time the Ward Halloween party was over, we definitely felt like we had celebrated.
The Banshees had a great time dressing up, naturally!

The Booch Is Two!

Happy Birthday to you!

I wish I could just give everyone a little slice of this baby cakes.  He is so sweet-you'd just eat him up.  

He's been the most cloistered of all my children, you'll just have to believe me when I say he is one nugget of greatness!

I know I'm bias, but seriously the boy just has coolness radiating from his everything.  Since he was very very young men would just say-"he is such a cool baby."  Once would be fascinating twice charming, but over and over the dudes just think he's cool.  

When I'm walking down the street with him men will just give him the dude grunt broo ha ha noise.  Apparantly he's reaching them.

For me, he just melts my heart.  He falls asleep with his arms wrapped around my neck.  For two years I'm the only woman he would let hold him.  

This year all that will change.  The last signs of baby will go away.  He'll leave those pacis (bobi) and diapers behind.  Two is bitter sweet.

Back to School

Don't expect any photos in front of the school. We haven't gotten that far yet. The transition into a French speaking Swiss school has been exciting enough, trying to get the two banshees to pose for a back to school shot might put them over the edge! Henry and Elsa both started school on the 25th of August. Today we finish week two. phew. I am humbled by how well these two have handled it. They have been so courageous. I'm glad they're mine!
The school doors open at 8:00 AM, but they have until 8:45 AM to arrive. We usually leave the house at 8:30 AM. Today we actually got there right at 8:00 AM and witnessed the process. All of the children gather according to classes and their teachers come and get their class. Classes enter the school one at a time. It's quite calm and orderly. The kids loved being early. Maybe we'll try it again sometime.
They come home for lunch at 11:30 AM and stay home until 1:30 PM. It is nice to have them home for lunch. It gives Henry a chance to relax before going back to school until 4:00 PM. So, I have 6 trips to the school dropping off and picking up. My day is busy.
Henry started a "French as a Second Language" class this week. Half of his day is spent at a different school across town. Monday and Tuesday he goes in the morning and Thursday and Friday he goes in the afternoon. I am so glad he is in this class, it will really help his French.
The kids are adjusting well. It is scary and they will usually say they don't want to go to school, but when it comes down to it-they go. Henry has never complained about going back in the afternoon. They must enjoy their teachers and the students. From what I've seen all of the children are very nice and try to include Henry and Elsa. Their teachers are also very nice and keep me posted on how they are doing.
Elsa's teacher has really gotten a kick out of her. Elsa has refused to paint in class because she doesn't like the painting smocks that I've bought her. I've bought two! The other day her teacher said "Elsa won't stay in her chair."  I said, "Oh really?  Who is she sitting next to?"  The teacher replied, "two boys."  I knew exactly what the problem was.  When I asked Elsa why she wasn't staying in her seat she said, "I don't want to sit next to a chubby boy and a thin boy!"  ahh yes.

Part II.

I haven't posted this in what four weeks?  I don't know why, maybe I thought a picture would be possible after all.  Well no.  There is still no back to school photo.  Elsa still complains about going to school every morning, but really I think it is just habit.  She always has a nice time.  I continue to be amazed at my children.  They are so brave.  I love them for that and try to give them so many extra hugs and kisses.  

Maybe next week we'll get a photo.

Felix, Hyena and Henry

This is how Henry makes his bed in the morning.  Such a sweet boy.

Ansel in a Cast

Greg manages to keep up three blogs and then uploads (or is it downloads) pictures on my blog in hopes that I'll write something.  It would be so much more interesting if he'd just write the commentary as well.

Yeah Ansel "hurt" his leg.  They didn't find a break or a fracture.  We go back tomorrow for more x-rays.  So why the bright red cast?  The little Booch was in so much pain they decided to use the cast as pain control.  He was in so much pain,  it was so sad.  Now I wonder what they will do about my back-ha ha.

Here is the story.  We went to pick the kids up from school.  Henry got out first and wanted to play on the playground.  Ansel wanted to join him.  I was watching of course.  Elsa came out and I greeted her.  As we were heading to the boys her teacher called after me and I turned around.  That's when it happened.  Henry catapulted over the safety fence on the sling bridge.  Ansel thought that looked cool and attempted to do the same.  Without success.  

I knew something was wrong immediately.  His little foot was just trembling.  I took off his shoe immediately.  The foot nor the leg swelled much.  He cried non-stop for an hour and wouldn't stand on it at all.  I took him to the ER right away.  You can imagine the rest-not much different from an ER in the states except that I got to speak German with the nurse and Italian with the Dr. and French with everyone else.  It was nice when the head Dr. spoke English.  I love that about Switzerland.

Ansel with the bright red cast his siblings got to pick out!

His new mode of transportation.  Well really it's me.

Ansel's Haircut!

Yes. Those are a pair of sewing shears and a brush.

Ansel has been in desperate need of a haircut.  Not being much of a haircutter myself, I've just avoided it.  But one day last week I couldn't stand it any longer.  I remember my cousin telling me she use to cut her sons hair in the bathtub(less messy).  Lots of people have used the television distraction technique.  Ansel isn't interested in television and I just imagined him trying to climb the wall of our high bathtub slipping and cracking his chin open to get away from my big shears.  So I waited until he fell asleep, put a towel underneath his head, and just started cutting.  He was definitely distracted and the clean up was a cinch.  I wonder if I could do the same with Henry?

Not too bad. His face is pretty forgiving!

Des Alpes-Saint Cergue

Our family spent Saturday experiencing "When the cows come home."  It is a Swiss tradition to bring the cows off the tops of the mountain in the fall.  They have a festival in the village to greet the farmers and the cows.  The cows and the farmers get all dressed up and parade into the city.  What a fabulous experience.  I really wanted to cheer, but the crowds were pretty mellow.  Maybe because it was so cold?  Maybe because it is Switzerland?  As with the beginning of any parade-I did get a bit misty eyed.

Elsa and Ruby

Ansel and Pony

Henry and Alex

We met our friends the Claytons up their.  The kids had fun getting their faces painted, feeding the animals and playing around.  Ruby is pretty special to Ansel.  He only says a handful of names and hers is the only one that isn't a relative.  He already has great taste-she's a cutie pie.

On our way to the parade while walking through the village, we came across a restaurant roasting their meat for lunch.  Shocked to see a little piglet-we pointed the barbecue out to the kids.  They haven't really made the connection between the dinner table and the petting zoo.  When Henry saw the pig it came together.  At first he was a little bit disgusted by the thought of eating an animal.  Walking away he was still a bit shaken so I told him that ham comes from pigs.  It all clicked and the carnivore in him came out . . ."well, I sure do like ham."  

The Whistling Toilets

Suzy hasn't had a chance to post in a while. I posted this link on my blog. She asked me to post it on hers, since this is a shared situation.

- Greg 

As you may recall from a previous post, we have interesting toilets. No handles. No discernible tanks. Just the big flush/little flush control panels.

When we first moved into our apartment, I was a little distressed to realize neither bathroom had fan. A bathroom without a fan is like a room that’s on fire without an exit. But after several weeks we realized these bathrooms have one of the most efficient ventilation systems I’ve ever seen. But in addition to being very capable, it’s also very musical.

In the photograph, notice the shelf behind the toilet. That’s not just cosmetic. I don’t have the schematics, but somehow air is being continually sucked into it the vents behind this shelf. I removed the iFlush panel and held up a piece of paper for confirmation. Air is being sucked out of these cracks at a impressive rate.

The good news: These bathrooms are virtually stink-proof.
The bad news: These bathrooms whistle. Sometimes quite loudly.

With the panel in place, the air that’s sucked through these cracks sounds like a 1950’s B-movie UFO landing. It’s worse when the toilet seat is up. Something about the bowl amplifies the sound. Remove the iFlush panel entirely, and it sounds like there’s a tornado behind the shelf.

The best solution I’ve found so far is to keep all but one of the iFlush panel corners secured. This leaves a large enough crack between the panel and the wall for air to pass through without becoming a high C.

Thus, my pre-bed routine has become:

1. Detach the panels.
   
2. Lower the toilet lids.
   
3. Shut the bathroom doors.
   
4. Lie in bed wondering if anyone else in Switzerland has this problem.

Nestle Chocolate Factory

We visited the Nestle/Cailler chocolate factory this weekend and it was pretty amazing. We liked pretending that we were visiting Willy Wonka's factory. The wallpaper was a collage of chocolate with pieces of fruit here and there. We were tempted to taste it but opted for sniffs instead. It didn't smell. Here's Henry shouting that he found the golden ticket.

They invite you to watch a movie that was made pre 1965 for sure. Then you get to walk through the factory and see the progression of chocolate making machines. Interestingly the Swiss have just honed their craft of making chocolate because of their passion for chocolate. The raw ingredients for making chocolate are far from Switzerland.

Then you enter a room full of chocolate and sample as much as you like. I guess they figure you can only eat so much chocolate. I could only handle about 6 pieces. Kind of a bummer it has to end. In fact I couldn't even eat chocolate the next day.

We had a great time this weekend with the Davis family. We already miss them. Henry is especially sad that they are gone. He really does miss being home in the States with friends and family.