Oh the Metric System

They always told you in school that you needed to know the metric system because someday everything would change to it.  Although I don't think that will happen in the US.  I am getting a crash course in it and for some reason it hasn't come back to me!  Everything from the temperature outside and oven temperature in Celsius, speed limit signs with Kilometers per hour, putting liters of gas in the car, Doctors asking how many Kilograms my kids weigh and trying to cook French food converting grams and milliliters.  We are bombarded daily with it and I still find myself converting everything back to what is normal for me.  I have made a chart for the kitchen that has temp and measurement equivalents and also a chart in my wallet with the kids weights. This is something I never considered having to deal with when we decided to move halfway across the world but it's also not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things and I guess I will live with it!!  Oh and I didn't even mention the Euro to Dollar conversion, that's a whole other category but is a lot easier.

Thought this map from Wikimedia was interesting.  The countries in green have adopted the metic system and the countries in gray have not. 

Bonne Journée

Mothers Day

Today on Mother's Day I'm reminded by my family that I am appreciated and loved.  I was greeted with breakfast in bed which consisted of coffee followed by chocolate cereal in a buzz lightyear bowl and a mimosa (my favorite).  I also got pampered with presents, cards and pictures.  I love being a Mom but it's not as easy of a job as I expected it to be but I don't think any job is.  You have great days like today and you have crazy frustrating days when you question your decision!  Yesterday for example, we took the family to a space museum in town and generally had a good time.  My 3 year old had to go potty, "real real bad" as I left the others with my one year old in sling in search of a bathroom; it couldn't be that hard right?!    As we followed the 1/2 mile of bathroom signs I was growing very frustrated almost stopping and letting him go in the bushes, we are in France and it's socially acceptable to let your child relieve himself in public but I am a little more modest so I scratch that idea because we have to be close.  As we finally approach the bathroom I know he really has to go.  I help him undo his pants as fast as I can but I can already feel the wetness running down the front of my jeans so I flip him around and lift him so he doesn't pee all over everything (I still have my one year old in sling).  So if you are trying to keep up I have pee on me, there is pee all over the floor, all over his pants, underwear, socks and shoes.  He's sad and frustrated because of what he has done and I am calmly trying to clean and deal with the situation.  I pitch the underwear convince him its ok to have wet pants, "see Mommies pants are wet too and they will dry".  We enjoyed the rest of the day and I enjoyed changing my clothing when I got home.  Not everyday as a mother is perfect but no job is, no matter the path you have chosen in life you have the good, the bad, the ugly and the really ugly.  I wouldn't change a thing about my life and I try to take time to enjoy it all because you don't have any do overs, you have one shot so you have to make it good.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and I hope you feel appreciation and love from those around you.

Bonne Journée

Enjoying Mother's Day brunch

American Food

We recently had some family visit and were super excited at the food they had brought us.  Although you can find peanut butter and brown sugar here they are just not the same.  I really have been enjoying the chocolate chips and the kids love the mac and cheese.  The mac and cheese is at the bottom left, I realized when we came back from Christmas last year that it was a lot easier (space wise) to ditch the noodles and just bring the cheese packets.

Bonne Journée

Andorra

This trip could have easily been ruined and we momentarily thought about cancelling but quite frankly my family needed a break together to remind ourselves why we love each other and why we are a family.

Some of you don't know that after we returned to France after the Christmas holiday we found our house flooded and soon after this the mold started to grow on the walls.  We moved into a long stay hotel that seems nice but it's not home.  After a month of waiting on the house to be cleaned we have given up faith that this will happen so we have started looking for a new house.  My boys are rambunctious, as most little boys are and being cooped up in a hotel doesn't help, they are not free to just run and play outside unless I go with them and it's been unussually cold here in the south of France and we had a snowstorm that left more snow than Toulouse has seen in 10 years.  So with being cooped up with too much energy, boys will be boys and Ben had a tooth injury that has left one of his front baby teeth pushed up into his gums and Dylan broke his leg while they were wresting on the couch.  These things could have happened no matter where we were living but it just adds to the stress that has consumed us this year so far.  If we had a French medical punch card it would probably be almost full, and maybe our next visit would be free!  I try to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope to be in a mold free home soon.

The day after Dylan broke his leg we set out on the 2 hour drive to Andorra.  For those of you that don't know (I  hadn't ever heard of Andorra till recently) Andorra is a small country between France and Spain.  They speak Spanish there and shifting from French to Spanish was difficult, I frequently said, "Merci" when I meant to say, "Gracias" even when I did speak Spanish they almost always responded in English, I guess I wasn't fooling anyone!  Derek and Ben went skiing and Ben took right to it, although the stopping part was difficult.  Dylan was disappointed but we have tried to make this trip special for him as well.  Derek took Dylan sledding and he really enjoyed that and he loved watching the skiers.  Dylan has figured out how to get on the bed and scoot on the floor but he can't walk (he is too small for crutches).  It's difficult to push a three year old in a stroller with a one year old in a wrap attached to you while being on the snowy, hilly streets of Andorra.  Just a walk down the street to the store is enough for me!   We really had a relaxing vacation and now ready to get into a new home!

Bonne Journée

Gruissan and Narbonne Plage

France is beautiful and although it's winter you can still find green.  This past weekend we took a very impromtu trip to the beach and stopped in Gruissan to climb up the Tour Barberousse (Redbeard Tower in Engligh.) Tour Barberousse was built in the 10th century to guard the town against invaders and I believe it said it was destroyed in the 16th century and that is how it remains today.  It was very windy but not very cold so we had a great time.  The kids wanted to bring their swords which made great sand toys (I highly recommend) instead of hitting each other they were stabbing the sand!  My kids love playing in the sand and could do it all day if we let them.

We are on our way!

We climbed to the top.

Beautiful view of a beautiful town.

Boys playing with their swords.

This is what happens with boys, wind and sand!

Bonne Journée

Going on a Hike

It is really beautiful here in France and last weekend we found 2 great little hiking areas.  It is the perfect activity to do with rambunctious boys.  They loved running, collecting sticks and rocks then throwing said sticks and rocks and climbing and jumping off whatever they could.  We had a great time too the trees are changing so the scenery was so gorgeous.

Bonne Journée

Thanksgiving Abroad

The task of making Thanksgiving here initially seemed overwhelming and it really was!  I made many trips to the store and had a friend help me with some of my translations, she was a great help.  I couldn't find canned pumpkin so I made my own, which really wasn't hard just time consuming but I think it was worth it because the pie was delicious.  I planned my week accordingly and Derek was in charge of the turkey!

Making a Pumpkin Pie

Start with a pumpkin

Then gut it

Cook it

Puree it

Then make a pie but after all that I forgot to take a picture of one!

The Food

Ben had school on Thursday but he came home for lunch so I made the boys "turkey sandwiches," and we had pizza for dinner.  Not very traditional but we had some great family time and we got to skype both of our families.

We celebrated traditional Thanksgiving on Sunday with two families and had a great meal.

Our turkey, we also had stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes,

cranberry sauce, green beans, pumpkin pie and apple pie

They are gobbling like turkeys!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bonne Journée