A few photos of life in Lethbridge

We're thawing out from our first (and brutal) cold snap. It was -25C for about eight days, and it seemed to snow about three inches each night -- just enough to need to shovel. Then, on the last day, a Chinook came along (the west winds that bring sunshine but unbelievable wind)... and we endured winds gusting between 50 and 90 km/hr for more than a day. The drifts we woke up to were incredible -- perfect for building snow caves, according to Jack and his buddies (who have a better ability to look for the silver lining in the windy clouds).

Yesterday and today, though, we've had the payoff for the Chinook.... gorgeous blue skies yesterday, and a regular old normal November weather today (the kind where you want a jacket when you go out, but that's it).

We are planning a small (and scaled down) Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow with American friends (chicken and not turkey, and only a few of the trimmings). I love celebrating Thanksgiving twice a year (of all holidays that could be celebrated twice, I think Thanksgiving is the best.... you can never be too thankful, right?). And it's funny -- my internal "holiday" clock really FEELS like I should have been at home on Thursday, cooking and expecting friends to come over. Instead, we went into work and ate frozen pizza for dinner because I had to go and teach my night class... and it felt like something was just not quite right. So hopefully some poultry tomorrow will set things back in balance.

And now -- some photos of life in Lethbridge from late October til this week. In the first, we took a walk down along the river bottom in Popson Park one Sunday morning in late October or early November. Usually we'd just walk along the bottom but on that day, the kids wanted to go up and up and up the coulee (the hills). So up we went... and we ended up walking home! John went back once we got to the top to get the car (stressing Kaia out terribly -- she did NOT like the idea of our pack being split up), and was again amazed at the hikers we seem to have raised. The first shot is looking up the hill. In the second one, if you look down to the river... well, that's where we started. (Kate in red and pink)

The next picture show Kate and Liv in the new Christmas dresses from Costco -- which we got for them to wear to their big Christmas concert on Dec. 8. Unfortunately, we found out this week that their class is to wear pajamas for the concert. Sigh. I am sure the dresses will get plenty of use anyway. (Liv in purple).

Below, you can see my soon-to-be patented system of getting kids out the door for the bus on time in snowy weather. Each step contains an item for each child to put on... starting with snow pants, then boots, the coat, then gloves and scarves, then backpacks. This ensures all the pieces are there the night before (when I set it up) and that we don't spend all morning scrounging around for a lost glove. You can see Jack once he is ready to go -- and some of the snow he faced on his way to the bus this week (pre-huge-drifting).

And finally, here are some shots of the girls in their ski gear. We are hoping to get them skiing well this year (the last year they are free) and we (I mean, John) have been picking up pieces at the ski swap and garage sales over the years. They are SOOOOO excited. First up, Liv in goggles, then Liv trying on skis, then Kate trying on hers, then the dynamic skiing duo looking very pleased with themselves! Don't they look like naturals?

Catching up...

Posting about Katie last night reminded me that it had been a LONG time since I had updated the blog. It really has been just too busy here, very un-French-like (or at least very much not our reality of life in France). We do our best to slow down when we can -- and the recent arrival of snow and cold makes staying the house and baking VERY appealing -- but as I just emailed a France friend, there are many nights when I fall into bed thinking that France seems very far away... both the place and the pace.

Alas.

But here are a few pictures of the last few weeks. First, the much much overdue photos of Jack in his Halloween Ninja costume (good weapons make the costume).

And here you can see Kate and Liv showing off their new boots (Liv on left).

And finally, a photo of me and the girls outside of their school after Jack's class danced at a school assembly to celebrate Diwali (the Indian festival of lights). I tried to upload a video of the dance, which is fabulous and at times hilarious, but after 90 minutes of trying, it said it failed. Really. I might try again, or just rely on still photos!

Homesick for our France home

"Will we ever go back and live in our France house?" Katie asked me tonight, after we had read all the books and Liv had fallen asleep, as she was almost asleep herself. "You know, the house with the big shutters on the windows?"

"I think we will, one day," I told her. "And when we go back, we want to go stay at that same house."

She then told me she wanted to go back tomorrow, or at least for Christmas. And we'd have to stay at least three days, or maybe five, but definitely not just one.

And then she started to cry. Real tears. She missed her big friend Laurie, she said. Did I remember how when Jack had his big run, Big Friend Laurie gave her some bread and juice and a little candy? And she missed how the park was so close, even closer than the one here. She really missed the house with shutters, she said again, and how it had good places to play hide and seek, and the big front yard. And there were all those vineyards -- those were so pretty, she said. She missed little Penny (the youngest daughter of friends Alli and John), and big Penny (the second of four daughters of Marine, the daughter of the family I lived with in Dijon as a student).

I told her I missed France, too. I told her that I missed Geraldine, and how she would come over and we would cook together. Did she remember that? I told her I missed Alli, and the wonderful things she introduced us to (cheese, butter and wine being high on the list... although I didn't get that specific with sweet Kate). I told her that I missed how much time John and I had at home when we lived in France, how we weren't as busy and how we didn't have to go to teach at the university or work late or go into the office on weekends (she said she missed that, too).

Then she said she missed the yogurt we got there. And the croissants. And she said in Canada, she feels sick because she misses Grandma and Grandpa and Grannie and Poppa so much, but in France, she didn't miss them at all because there were always castles and interesting things like that to see.

I told her we will go back some day -- and we will. We are working on a plan now to go back for three months in May, June, and July of 2012. But those kind of far-off plans do little to help a homesick five year old on a cold winter's night.

The sobbing brought John into the girls' room. I gave a brief update... and he took Katie into his arms.

"Do you know who misses France as much as you do," he asked her, "who feels like crying sometimes because she misses friends and being in France?"

Katie shook her head no, cheeks glistening with tears.

"Your mama," he said.

"It's true," I told her -- especially when it's -25C and has snowed for a week, I muttered to John.

Trying a different tactic, I told her when we go back, everyone will be so surprised because she'll go up to her French friends and be able to say "Bonjour! Je m'appelle Katie. Je suis une fille..." and so many other interesting things.

This briefly made her cry again because she remembered how in France she forgot how to write her name in English (with upper and lower case letters) and now, she sobbed, she has forgotten how to write her name in French (with all uppercase letters). And when she writes her Christmas card to Big Friend Laurie tomorrow, she told me, she wants to write her name in French, so Laurie can read it. I assured her I remembered how to do it and could help her.

Then John distracted her with his new iPhone, which worked, although she reminded him that even though turning the phone into a flashlight was, in fact, pretty neat -- she still missed France.

We all do. It was a remarkable time. I think this incredibly busy fall has made us appreciate it all the more, those long days with few obligations, the slow pace, the food and friends and fabulousness of it all.

It won't come tomorrow, or even at Christmas. But I am pretty sure that one day, we will go back to "our" France house, the one with the big shutters and pretty vineyards nearby. It won't be soon enough for Katie -- or for me. But it will come. One day.