Never a dull day...

Well, the plague is still going strong in our house. It hit the woman and children first (polite, right?) and we're hoping it will avoid the man. But that's not exciting.

Switzerland has big sales in January and July. I've been sick most of January so I haven't been able to get downtown to shop. Today is the last day of January and Xavier is sick, so it didn't look good for me getting to shop the sales. Ulysses volunteered to stay home with the boys for the afternoon so I could shop alone. On the bus, we were stopped at the border. In the past couple of weeks, they've been doing random security checks. I don't know exactly why, but they get on the bus, look at a few people's passports, look at everyone's faces, and usually get off. Today they removed three people from the back of the bus. I was sitting with some newcomers to the city talking about things to do with a two year old, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the ride.

When we got downtown, I noticed there was an excessive amount of police and armored cars parked at the train station. Against my better judgment, I got off and headed to the shops. I had a fairly successful afternoon, a new outfit and tights for me and got my rings checked for the warranty. I know, still dull.

Well, when I went to leave the store, I was not allowed. There were security guards about 25 feet in and they weren't letting anyone even near the doors. I had less than 5 minutes to catch my bus, so I hurried to another exit onto another street. I walked out right as security was getting ready to block them. When I got on the street, I heard lots of shouting, saw lots of people waving flags, and heard pops in the distance. I also noticed there were no cars, no buses, no trams. Saturday afternoons in Geneva are usually very busy. I got in step with a family and another shopper and starting walking as quick as I could to the train station.

I got to my bus stop and saw lots of police and no public transportation. I wasn't worried because there were lots of other people waiting for my same bus. At about the time the bus should have been there, a police officer came up and explained that there were not going to be any buses and we needed to leave. The closest a bus could come was at the UN (about a 30 minute walk). Thankfully there were two women there who understood and explained to me. They headed into the train station, but another man that spoke English said he was going to walk to the UN and I could walk with him. We turned to go and I heard lots of loud pops. I turned around and saw a big cloud of smoke coming from where I just was. I all but ran to the UN. The man stayed with me and let me talk to try to calm myself down. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew I wanted to get home.

We got to the UN, caught our bus, and ended up getting home only 30 minutes after I would have if there was nothing going on. I've found on the AP what was going on here. Apparently, the store security was trying to protect me from tear gas and had I been two minutes later my eyes would be very sad. I'm glad I was wearing my glasses.

How's your weekend going?

The Plague

Ugh. I'm sorry I haven't posted for awhile. A stomach bug has decided to take up residence in our house and will not go away. The boys are doing pretty well. It hasn't hit Xavier yet and Ezekiel was only sick for an afternoon. Ulysses seems to have gotten what Ezekiel had and I'm on day 5 of my nightmare. The boys begged to go to church this morning and Ulysses took them. I thought I'd post some of what we've been up to before I go back to bed. I hope you're having a healthier 2009 than us!

Thanks to CNN, we got to watch the Presidential Inauguration during dinner on Tuesday night. Just proof that we did it.


Xavier enjoys wearing our clothes. This is him in Ulysses's flannel pants.


Ezekiel loves to build. We let them have the extra wood pieces from my new kitchen counters until they started to beat each other with them.


Joelle doesn't want to have a nap schedule that coordinates with Xavier's school schedule, but Ezekiel and I picked up Ruth for a morning of fun at our house. (Before the plague hit)

Last week's Sunday School lesson was on Saul's conversion. Xavier's been telling us all week. I finally got it recorded, but he's lost a few of the details. I just love the way he pronounces Ananias and Damascus.

Of course, Ezekiel has to tell a Bible story too and the story of Stephen being stoned is right next to Saul. So, this is Ezekiel telling about Stephen being stoned and then a little about OSU and his cowboys thrown in there. You didn't know they were in kid's bible's, did you?

Can your church do this?

This morning, at church we read Psalm 145. We read the last two as a congregation, but the first 19 were read from people from 18 different countries and not even all the countries in the congregation were represented. Pretty cool, huh?

THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa!

Well, as I previously mentioned, we really didn't want any gifts this year. We just don't have the space for any more things and what we do want/need just can't easily be shipped. So, we asked (okay, I actually begged and pleaded) for money so that the boys could start some activities. We decided that they were old enough to each handle an activity and I really need them to burn some steam outside of the house. Like everything else here, it was all obscenely expensive. But, I found some swimming lessons that I could stomach the price of and gymnastics that I was pretty happy about. So, I gave the boys a choice. Xavier really wanted to do swimming lessons and Ezekiel really wanted to do gymnastics. Neither choice really surprised me and I was happy that I didn't have to run Xavier to gymnastics right after school and make a long day even longer.

Xavier's swimming instructor (who speaks English - yeah!) told us we could watch from his office last week, but it was really better if the kids were alone. That made me a little nervous since it was one man with 15 four year olds, but we watched through the glass last week and got a few pics. This week there were two two teachers who didn't speak any English, but they let me stay in the pool area the whole time. I think Xavier will do better without me. Hopefully the man who speaks English will be back as well. Xavier enjoys playing in the pool and really wants to learn to swim like his cousins. He can't wait to go swimming with them! I don't have the heart to tell him we're not planning on going to Georgia this summer.

Waiting for class to begin.


Xavier received a lot of one-on-one attention last week. I'm not sure if it was because the instructor was having to re-explain things to him in English or if he's the only one who didn't take the class in the fall.

I am very happy with Ezekiel's gymnastics. A lot of times gymnastics for two year olds is just run about the gym, play with a parachute or bubbles, or just do non-sense. I understand the need for those programs, but I want Ezekiel learning proper form for flips. He does them all the time and I need someone else showing him how not to break his neck. He doesn't listen to mom and dad. The gym that I found they actually use the equipment in the manner it's supposed to be used! Ezekiel walked on the real balance beam, flipped forward and backwards properly over the bar and got to jump off the pummel horse. The instructor showed him and us the first time and then we helped him as the class made a circle around the gym.

Forward flip with Daddy


Doing the balance beam with Mommy


I'm posting this for any of our Champaign therapists, pediatricians, or nurses to prove that Ezekiel is showing some fear. Not only is he growing like a weed since he doesn't need any neb treatments, his sensory seeking ways are becoming safer! He's still full of bumps and bruises, but he does ask for a kiss on most of them and recognizes that he's hurt himself. Growing update - 18month clothes in June when we left, 3T clothes right now!

So, THANK YOU Grandmas and Grandpas for giving us the chance to let the boys do some activities. They love them!

The REST of Christmas Break

Someone's been giving me a hard time for not updating and giving all the good points of our school/work vacation. For those of you that don't know, CERN shuts down for the two weeks around Christmas and New Year's just like the schools. That meant that we got to spend two whole weeks as a family with no where that we had to be, or had to do. It was wonderful! One of our friends was traveling and while they were gone, we took care of their cat and got to use their car. We had a few adventures in cat sitting. We would go over in the morning to feed her and let her out for the day. She followed us home, where a neighborhood cat started being mean, so I had to walk her back to her own neighborhood. I have never walked a cat before, but I learned the true meaning of "herding cats". We decided she was lonely, so we went over to their house to hang out for awhile. Ulysses set up a huge Thomas track and we watched "The Polar Express." Xavier is not ready for "real" movies yet. The boys were hilarious with the cat though. All week they were so excited to go feed Tina. They kept saying they wanted a cat and they wanted to play with Tina. But, everytime we were there, they were petrified of her. If she even looked at them, they would cry and beg us to lock her in the kitchen.

While we had their car, we took care of a few more household set-up things that just aren't easy on the bus. We made another trip to IKEA that wasn't as successful as we had wished, but we did get another bookcase and some odds and ends for the kitchen. We also got to the local hardware store for some lumber. Ulysses is in the process of building me some more kitchen cabinets. :-) I'll post a pic when he's done. We also got our 2.5m Christmas tree. It was very beautiful and I learned they don't water their Christmas trees in France. I was very excited until the noodles/pickles (according to Xavier) started getting stuck in the carpet. Over a week after the tree has been removed and we're still stepping on them.

We also tried to do some fun things for the boys. Geneva has a Winter Circus/outdoor fair. I don't know whose brillant idea an outdoor fair in December was, but the boys enjoyed "fishing" for ducks, riding a roller coaster, and eating cotton candy. Our camera battery died, so we didn't get any good pictures. :-( Maybe someday I'll get my new camera, but even it wouldn't have solved the battery problem.

If we get out of Ezekiel begging us for a motocycle it's going to be a miracle. Xavier's still obsessed with trains.

We didn't do anything special for New Year's, but it did snow several inches of slush for us. We were able to take the boys out sledding and they had a blast!

Mostly our break was spent just doing nothing. It was great. We had a lot of plans for projects around the house, but I think we needed the rest more than anything. We slept in every morning, had fun breakfasts, and just enjoyed our time together as a family. I hope you all had wonderful break as well!

As far as reflections of 2008 goes, I've given up. There's too much that goes on daily for me to truly reflect on the last year. Plus, I've decided that if I forget 2008, I must have truly lost my mind. In short, 2008 was a year of endings, two weeks of pure insanity where I truly saw God's hand working directly in my life through the love and help of friends and family, and then finished with all new beginnings. Thank you to all of my friends and family for all of your love and support. I'm sorry I'm so bad at corresponding with all of you. You are in my thoughts and prayers and I miss you all greatly.

We spend so much time outside, the boys needed something a little more "heavy duty" than their hats. Xavier loves his new hood. Ezekiel's not convinced, but he doesn't get a choice most days.

Ugh

So, I've been planning on posting some sort of "reflection" on 2008. It was an extremely wild year and I'd like to have some sort of record of my feelings after surviving it. But, life keeps getting in the way of giving me time to reflect. We haven't really had a lot of fun kid time during break. We've gotten a lot of shopping (with a car!) and stuff around the house done, but nothing thrilling for the kids. One of the houses we're watching has a TON of Thomas stuff, so on New Year's we headed over there, set up a huge track for the boys and watched Polar Express. Not a bad day, except that we didn't get back home to start dinner until 8pm. Late night, very grumpy parents, especially when the boys still were up and at 'em by 7 the next morning.

Everyone keeps telling me about the amazing, huge sales that everyone has in January (they only have sales twice a year). So, yesterday, since we still have the car, I wanted to go to some of the shopping centers that are hard to get to on the bus. Well, guess what? No sales. I was pretty bummed. We were gone all day with no naps and nothing to show for it. We did however get to eat out! Since shipping is so obscenely expensive and our space is minimal, we asked everyone for money this year for Christmas. I know it's not as personal as a gift, but it was REALLY appreciated. Plus, no one would probably send me what I would really want if they're mailing a box. Crisco and Stain Stick just don't say "Merry Christmas".

Anyways, we went to McDonald's! I know all of you reading this that hit McD's a couple of times a week probably think I'm nuts. But, it was my first hamburger in 6 months! The boys were thrilled to get chicken nuggets and play in their INDOOR play place. So, the highlight of our day out was a $30+ meal at McDonald's.

Ezekiel had a little trouble with the climbing (there were too many kids), but he discovered he could flip over this ledge and land on his back. I don't think I've mentioned and big THANK YOU to Grandmas and Grandpas for gymnastics lessons!

That is until we got home. I was so proud of myself after the 8pm dinner the night before that I was going to have dinner on the table by 6! Until I forgot the rice and dinner got pushed back to 6:15. Not a problem, I was still happy. We let the boys watch a movie while we were getting dinner on the table. Xavier likes the lights off, but we had to have some on so we could set the table. Ezekiel climbed on the couch to reach the light switch to turn it off. When he succeeded (laughing because he knew he was in trouble), we yelled to turn it on and he lunged for the light switch again. Well, since it was pitch black, he missed the wall, flipped over the side of the couch and hit his head on my computer power cord. Ulysses brought him into the kitchen for ice when I discovered blood all down Ezekiel's shirt.

This is the new highlight of the day. We get an ice pack on and the bleeding slows down so we can look at what's going on. It's nothing big, but we're not sure what the stitch qualifications are in France. I know my emergency numbers and I've been told they can speak English. They can't. But they can understand very badly mispronounced French translated through Google. There was no doctor available, so they said if we should probably head to the hospital. A call to a friend got us directions to the hospital in France (yeah car!) but then I remembered the private (aka - English speaking) pediatrics was open until 10. I called them and finally got to talk to a native speaking doctor! It was a huge relief. She was able to explain to me everything that I was looking for and said we were probably okay not to come in, but call back if something changed.

After bath (a painful experience for Ezekiel) we were able to get a good look at a clean cut. Well, thanks to the swelling, it was expanding and Ulysses and I both decided we wanted a professional opinion on a stitch. The plan was Ulysses and Ezekiel go while Xavier went to bed, but Xavier was not letting his brother go to the hospital without him. So, all four of us loaded into our friend's car and headed to the hospital. We decided on the private hospital in Switzerland because it was so late (the French hospital is much farther away) and we were hoping for English.

When we got there, after waiting in line, the triage nurse (I'm assuming) asked why we were there. I showed her his head and said stitch? She took him into a little exam room, cleaned it real well and said nope. Just disinfect real well for a few days until healed. She then said au revoir! We didn't even give her our name! Plus, parking was free for the first 30 minutes. So, we had an "Urgences" visit that didn't cost us a dime, or euro, or franc! It was extremely exciting.

We got home and the boys went to bed at 9 again. This time though they went straight to sleep. A trip to the hospital really wears them out. Hopefully we don't have to make it a nightly occurance.

Maybe I'll get to write my "refections" this weekend, but I hope you have all had a hospital free start to 2009!