Advent!

 Week one:

 Tree waiting patiently in the background:

 Tree being decorated:

 Estelle points out an ornament that Wayne made......

 Week Two:

 Here, the girls enjoy Rudolph on a DVD, thanks to Uncle Paul.

 Below:  Our neighbor Jean-Luc and his wife just dropped this at our door a few days ago.  We hardly know them.  Santa comes in many forms.

 Inside were some great gifts- a educational shapes/forms case and a great science book.

Happy little girls.

Surviving the Stomach Bug!

My kids have been sicker than dogs lately.  Here are some odds & ends photos of the past few weeks when they were healthy!

Thanksgiving pancakes!

Face painting from "Kids at the Movies" week....  We saw Bedknobs & Broomsticks (dubbed).....

Léna knows how to peel potatoes....

A care package/Xmas package from Joanie really hits the spot!

Arts & Crafts:

Reading time:

They've been doing a lot of reading the new incredible recorded Hallmark book from my family, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", orchestrated by none other than Joanie. These photos show them enjoying last year's similar book with Charlie Brown.  Now they have 4 from the past 4 years.  They worship these books and listen to them over and over day after day.  We all know them by heart.

A little corn:

Now, that all the sick laundry is finally done, it's time to put up our tiny expensive tree!

Thanks Papy & Manou!

 From Oct 27th, until November 21st, Papy & Manou were with the girls.

 First in Calvinet for 2 weeks, then in Nice for 10 days.   They stayed busy!  Guess who kept them busy:

 And the "big" kids got some advice on things too:

 Lots of yummy meals were had as well:

 This is "truffade".  Simply sublime.  Tomme cheese and suffocated potatoes.  heaven.

 I wonder how many books Manou had to read in a month?

We are SO grateful for their help, especially when I was in Barcelona!  THANKS Papy & Manou!  They are now in Angers, recuperating, preparing for our arrival there on the 23rd.

Steeplebush

 This summer, I went to see the house I grew up in - Jericho, Vermont.

 It was an improvised visit - Martha & the girls and I had some time to kill between games at Jacob/Jesse's wiffleball tournament in Jericho, so it seemed the logical thing to do.

 The views are.....what?  Pick an adjective.

 South-east side, looking south.  Camel's Hump.

 South-west side, looking west to NY and Lake Champlain/Adirondacks.

To think he found the hill when he was out rabbit hunting. 

 Did I really live here?  Was I really raised in this paradise?

 Here are 2 of the Morse brothers, whose parents bought the house last year from the Jones', who bought it from us in 1989.  We surprised them on this Saturday morning and they could not have been more gracious.  (Estelle has face paint on).

 A few vestiges of the Alexanders hid around every corner.

 Steps down to the basement from garage.

 The boys told me their mother had ordered new curtains to replace Mom's blue ones, which is why there is a blanket hanging.

 Space.  Space.  Space.

 We even went into the barn.  Dad's chicken coop still intact upstairs.

 This stopped me short.  Reached out and put my hand on it, just to touch it.

 Joanie's father's day cards, still thumbtacked up in the barn.

 It's not red anymore, and our paintings outside are gone, there aren't cows, or chickens or turkeys, but it's still Dad's barn.

 This is where I caught fireflies.

Martha and I drove down the hill, the girls babbling away in the back seat, and us in silence, each of us lost a little bit in memory.