Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

So, we've decided to extend our stay in Geneva one year. We're really enjoying our time here, and the US economy clinched it for us.

Most of you probably know that we've been mulling over this issue for months. We first started considering lengthening our stay last Fall. We've both been back and forth in our sentiments many times. I don't like making decisions and waffle over what item to get on a restaurant menu, so you can imagine how difficult truly important decisions are for me! I've really been trying to avoid actually making a decision until recently Spencer's manager talked to him and said, "we really want you to stay, here are all the reasons we think you should, and we want to know before April if you are going to or not". We had planned not to decide until after our visit to the States in April when Spencer could talk to the OC office, so this shook things up. We decided Spencer better talk to them on the phone instead. So he talked to a friend in OC and then to the partner. The partner basically said, "if you can stay then you should". She gave him no cause to feel confident about returning at this point in the economic crisis and basically said you are taking a big, unnecessary risk if you decide to return this Fall. Then we actually had some evidence of her concerns last week when several of Spencer's co-workers from the OC got laid off. We finally hashed it all out one night with the pros and cons of each side, and made our decision, then took our answer to God, and we know its right. We feel so blessed that we have this opportunity to wait out the crisis in safety.

In addition to that very compelling reason to stay, we are also enjoying our time here, our kids are doing well, having fun and learning a second language, this gives us the best chance to build a solid financial foundation, we'll have the opportunity to do a bit more European traveling, we feel good about our service in the church here and missionary opportunities, and ... I'm sure other reasons that I don't feel like enumerating.

We know that we'll continue to miss out on a lot by being here and some main reasons for going back are to be closer to family again, have a yard and more space, and be in the sunshine more often during the year; but when we thought of all of that against why we love being here for now, the instability and uncertainty of going back, and the relatively short period of time this is in our lives, we knew what to do.

This gives everyone more time to visit, so make your plans!

Love, Harmony and Spencer

Mark your calendars! We will be in Utah first and then fly to California on the 13th. Hope we can see you!

There are so many posts I've been wanting to do for so long, and I am facing the fact that it isn't going to happen the way I want it to, so I'm going to do short un-fancy posts and check some things off my list! I've been wanting to share with the world Three great "change your life" books. I think they are must-reads,especially if you are married and/or with children, but regardless, are great for improving your human relations skills at any point in life.

To be a better parent (or learn good communication skills and also even if you have grown children, you're still a parent!): 

PARENTING WITH LOVE AND LOGIC by Cline and Fay

To be a better spouse (or understand your friends, family, children, people better):

THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES by Chapman

To be a better person (and understand the atonement of Jesus Christ better):

THE PEACEGIVER by Ferrell

If you are married and/or with children then you'll definitely want your spouse to also read the first two, and come to think of it the last one also. Anyway, I seriously highly recommend these books! Oh another book I liked in the be a better person arena is "A HEART LIKE HIS" by Virginia Pierce.

These are all super easy, fast reads that at least for me personally were life-changers, and will continue to be, as I think I'll continue reading them throughout my life. I wish I could be better at doing book reviews. I think its fun to share quotes, thoughts, etc. about the books I'm reading, but then I remember that just to be reading should impress me enough! And I try to be happy with what I do accomplish!

TODAY IS THE 7TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

OF MOI AND MR. ROUNDY.

So, Here's 7 lists of 7. You know 7 has always been my "favorite #" which seems pretty silly, and obvious, since I eventually realized its THE lucky number, so most likely its a lot of people's favorite. Nevertheless and notwithstanding, here's my list: 

1)  7 places we've lived: 

1. Moon River apartments (before marriage, not together, but hey, we did plan it)

2. honeymoon cottage in Orem UT

3. WYMOUNT in Provo, UT

4. 5th floor attic in Brussels, Belgium

5. living it up in Laguna Niguel

6. First (rental) home in Corona, CA

7. HERE! rue de la Dole 14, Geneve, Suisse

2)  7 places we've visited (among many): 

1. Cinqueterre, Italy

2. Paris, France

3. Florida

4. Havasupai, Arizona

5. Ensanada, Mexico

6. Catalina Island

7. Pennsylvania

3)  7 things we love to do together: 

1. Listen to music and talk about it

2. Mountain Bike

3. Snowboard

4. Travel

5. Sit and Talk and Laugh

6. Enjoy our children

7. Be with Family and Friends

4)  7 facts about Spencer: 

1. He's somewhat tone deaf, but he loves music (and in my opinion has great taste in it) and when he gets home he often turns it on.

2. He isn't a natural dancer, but for my sake he took some dance classes with me and he'll still dance with me and our family.

3. He is very particular about how the dishes are done.

4. He burnt down a field in his youth

5. He was perfect until 12, just ask his Mom.

6. He is handy and mechancial and can fix anything or figure anything out.

7. He didn't have to try hard in college, or at his job, and he did/does great with both.

5)  7 looks:

the "I have the most awesome,cool,         european chic                         One Hot Dadda                 au naturel

and beautiful wife ever" look

the "I only get a haircut once a year,      Sunday, lazy Sunday          the "I got this Daddy thing down" look

my wife made me blonde again" look

6) 7 memories:

1. The first time I met him he walked out of the restaurant without getting my number. I don't know that I really wanted him to have it, until he didn't ask for it. That ended up being a good tactic he didn't mean to use. He called the restaurant 10 minutes later and asked me out, I said yes but realized after that we still didn't have each others' digits, just my address and a time, so unless I stood him up there was no way out!

2. knowing he was starting to like me by seeing the way he responded (sulking) when faced with competition for the first time snowboarding on my birthday (after that he changed his response to aggressively pursuing under the guise of friendship).

3. Him surprising me and moving all my stuff from Moon River to the honeymoon cottage (in preparation for marriage) because I was too busy and overwhelmed to deal with it.

4. Him showing up at TGI Friday's in California from Utah wearing some kind of monster mask with Val in some other mask.

5. Our awesome first kiss

6. Him surprising me and coming down to California from Utah when we were engaged, showing up on my birthday to take me back. That was such a nice birthday surprise

7. Flying to Utah in the Summer to see him, and being so excited and feeling so at home when we held each other in the airport.

7)  7 things I love about him: 

1. He is normally more naturally patient and loving when the kids are not provoking such feelings, than I am.

2. He has a very strong and simple testimony of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.

3. He says "you look pretty" even at times when I'm wearing pj's, no makeup and have not fully recovered from bed head.

4. He makes me laugh

5. His smile, the real genuine one, where his eyes smile too.

6. He has a good solid head on his shoulders; responsible, logical, wise, reliable, level-headed, etc.

7. His committment to us and his family.

one bonus one, among the trillions I could add, How handsome he looks in a suit and how good it feels to have him walk in the front door at the end of his work day.

I love you husband-man. JE T'AIME Spencer.

As you may have noticed, I decided that February was going to be my month, which it naturally should be. It started with my birthday and a fresh outlook and it has lived up to my expectations! 

We've had some fun playdates with friends: Tisane (herbal tea) party at Alma's, lunch play date at Becky's, a week off of school for the kids, Valentine's day, and more playing with friends!

For the week off of school I really wanted it to be fun and have things planned otherwise I knew I'd just keep saying, "Ok, we'll go out as soon as I .... , right after...." etc. So I made plans and stuck to em! And I really enjoyed having Cado home all week. For whatever reason that week was really enjoyable. I enjoyed being a mom in both the tasks and the fun.

Tuesday we met Becky and James at the "stuffed animal" museum, and had lunch in the cafeteria for the first time ever, which is of course exciting! (you know how eating out is for kids, and lets be honest, for me too!)

Wednesday we met a bunch of friends at "Yatouland" which is a bouncy castle place.

Thursday I planned a "Secret Notes Day" copying the blog "NieNie dialogues" and my California friend Becky.

Friday I celebrated Valentine's with the kids and invited friends over for brunch and Vday cookie making.

Saturday was Valentine's of course, and we did a babysitting swap with the Cowan's and Spencer and I went on a lunch date. It was win win, the adults got to have their dates and the kids got to have a rare treat, playing first at their friends and then having their friends come over to their house! And they got to make (and eat) Valentine's cookies again (with Jennie).

Hope you're feeling the love this month too! If not, you still have two days left! Love them!

(More details on some of these events can be found in albums)

Grami, this is especially for you because we're thinking of you after your surgery. (but I'm sure there are others who might enjoy it also)

I just looked at the list i try to keep of cute things my kids do or say on my fridge, and thought I should share it. Its by no means complete. Most of the things on it are about Cado which is nice because I've shared a lot of Paisley lately.

Cado says: "my head told me ....(this or that)", "yeah, my head tells me things..." this is his explanation for how he knows things

This cracks me up. In Davos at the breakfast at the hotel, the waiter was joking with Cado and said (in english), "would you like to stay here and work with me today?" Cado said, "Weeelll...I'm with my family.  I need to be with them/do stuff with them today" (something like that) and then when the waiter walked away, Cado shook his head, let out a deep breath, smirked and said, "Awkward!"  totally like an adult would say and so correctly used!

A while ago after watching "Mr. Kreuger's Christmas" Cado said, "I'm not as nice as he is." (referring to mr. kreuger and how he gave his Baby Jesus to the girl) And was quite sad about it. I said, " i think you're very nice, but if you'd like to do something like that, you could." He got all excited and said,"I'm going to give a toy to Drew!" He went through his things and thoughtfully chose something he thought Drew would like and that he likes but said he was okay with giving away, a Batman action figure. He was very happy and excited to give it to him.

Paisley: "this is girly and this is "boy-ly". Cado: "you can't say boy-ly Paize, that's like saying something is boiling!"

me to Paisley, "You want cereal?" P: "I'm not sure, cuz I need my diaper changed."

Cado: "at school we talked about the people who wear silly shoes and speak nonsense." I thought for a moment and then said, "You mean Dutch?" C: "yeah." me: "well they don't actually speak nonsense, they speak Dutch." C: "well it sounds like nonsense." 

C: Momma do you see any new transformer in this house? (toy) No! So lets go get one right now because I'm excited." (we did go get one though not RIGHT then, and he we were proud of him because he had his heart set on a certain one to buy with his allowance, and he couldn't get it right away for various reasons, but he held out and though it took a few different trips on different days to different stores, was actually patient, though he pressed us to take him to get it very persisently.

C: "Uhg! I love this toy (the new transformer) so much and its bugging me from eating my food and cookies and getting an drink!" (meaning I'm so obsessed with this transformer I can't seem to get anything done!)

C: "I just love my style. My style looks great today." (he's always talking about his clothes and other people's clothes and planning new styles to try. Last night in his bed he said, after school tomorrow mom I want to dress up like Arthur." (from the books)

I hoped to get some video together to share too, but that's just a huge task that i don't think fits into my life! so skype will have to do and we'll try to do it soon!

I got tagged on facebook to write 25 random things which basically means just the first 25 things that come to mind. I think I should write this list 3 more times this year during each season. I know the list would change in both tone and words. I’m pretty sure I have seasonal  depression to some degree so I think this might be a downer. I actually edited my head so it wouldn’t be even more depressing! In honor of turning 29, I decided to make it a list of 29 things.

1.       I love and hate technological advancements. Like, when I opened Microsoft word right now and it asked me something about “office live workspace.” All the stuff always offering to improve my life gives me a headache. Just like facebook is great and cool but also a huge time-sucker and somewhat draining and overwhelming to me.

2.       I have a tendency to talk (or write or think) too much

3.       My husband and I rarely go to bed at the same time or even say goodnight sometimes and it makes me sad

4.       I’m not a big fan of winter. It does something to me, that is I find it hard not to be negative when its cold and gray and lifeless and the days are short…

5.       I really value good friends. I sincerely wish I could talk to, see, or otherwise keep in touch with everyone I’ve ever loved! And especially those who love me back

6.       My 3 kids are the cutest, smartest, funniest kids ever, and the greatest joy and challenge of  my life

7.       I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe He is the Savior of the world and that the World indeed needs a Savior and that every human being shares a heritage as children of a Heavenly Father.  And yet this does not mean I understand everything or don’t have my questions, I just know those things and feel that its okay not to understand or know everything

8.       I currently live in Geneva Switzerland

9.       No matter where I go I can’t seem to get California out of my veins. Its home

10.   This is taking longer and is just as hard as I thought it might be

11.   I love to dance and wish I was a ballerina

12.   I probably should have been a Beauty school drop-out instead of graduating from BYU with a BA in visual art (even though I’m not an artist and have barely anything to show for my degree). Or that I had majored in Theater art or that I could have been an MDT major (music dance theater)

13.   I wish I was really, really good at photography

14.   I wish I was so many things that I’m not

15.   This list isn’t getting any better and I’ll try to be more positive

16.   Hmmmmm

17.   I should go to bed right now, or like two hours ago

18.   My favorite color is still green like it has always been

19.   I don’t sing Harmony well, it doesn’t come naturally to me

20.   I like planning get-togethers and parties and doing things and going places and having fun with people. I think most everything is better with people. I’m not the type to say, “I just need some alone time.”

21.   I tolerate germs and bacteria and other such things more than my husband, as in I don’t keep the house as clean as I should

22.   I really like reading books, especially historical fiction or fiction that took place a long time ago, and I almost always end up doing additional reading about the time/place

23.   I think my life has been ridiculously trial free and that I have no clue what hard or adversity mean, and yet I still find a way to complain and be down on things

24.   I check email and blogs, etc. way way to often and spend way too much time on them. Everything in its right place needs to be my motto, but it hasn’t been and my whole life I have mismanaged and misused time. Time to turn a new leaf

25.   I think natural, unmedicated childbirth is insanely hard, and one of the greatest experiences ever to be experienced and I’m extremely glad and feel very grateful that I got to experience it

26.   Paisley didn’t receive vaccinations until this year and I’m not vaccinating Genève until she’s at least two.

27.   I cut and color my own hair and sometimes others.

28.   I love Cado, Paisley and Genève like only a mother can and know that the most important thing I can do in my life right now is make sure they know it

29.   For better and worse Spencer is my other half and I’m grateful for that.

  In honor of Paisley's 3rd birthday, I had a 3 of my favorite things interview with her.

This was trickier than I thought. I said, "hey Paisley I want to ask you some questions."

She came over to me and after counting her fingers 1,2,3 a few times, I said can you tell me 3 of your friends?She then said, "3, 4, 6, 9..." So then I stopped asking for 3 things and just tried to get her to talk. even that was pretty difficult because it was such an unfamiliar type of conversation. I ended up probably influencing her answers instead of them being totally authentic, but I do know her pretty well. So first I'll put 3 of everything and then some extra info.

3 Friends: 

Avery

Asia

Justine

3 favorite Toys:

My new Mommy Barbie with the babies and the stroller

My Big and Little Cinderella (Barbie sized, and tiny sized like a polly pocket)

My Dishes

3 Foods I like:

Apple pie (we never have apple pie. occasionally we have apple tart, but she doesn't really eat it)

French fries

Chocolate

She and I continue the list with: 

Chicken nuggets

Cake

Cheese

Yogurt

Cereal

3 things I like to do:

Do my own chores  (sweet! she really does like being helpful: making bed, setting/clearing table, helping with laundry, washing windows, etc)

Play with toys

Go on the potty train

(those were the first 3 things she said, and I did not influence them. The potty train was a surprise because she has given up for now on that. I think its a desire of hers but something holds her back that she's not ready or unable to overcome at the moment. she does talk about it, like to read about it and draw about it, so hopefully its coming back soon!)

I helped her give some other answers, which are what she spends most days doing: 

Singing

drawing

my steps and dancing   (She talks about doing her steps a lot)

Climb trees and play with horses (yeah, we do this all the time. not. this must be a dream or a wish, and as she knows very well and sings often, "a dream is a wish your heart makes!")

3 movies: 

Sleeping beauty

Cinderella

Ariel mernaid (thats how she says it)

with some prompting she also added: 

Peter pan (she normally calls this movie Wendy)

Barbie movies (nutcracker, 12 dancing princesses, princess & pauper)

3 books I like: 

Marie

12 Dancing Princesses

Babar

I will add:

Usborne Fairytale book (w/several tales)

The Princess and the Potty train (by Mommy)

3 favorite colors:

Pink

Blue

Purple

3 songs I like to sing: 

"I know you" (sleeping beauty)

"A dream is a wish" (Cinderella)

"Part of your world" (Ariel)

She knows these songs very well, and sings them all the time, mostly currently the first two, and she adds lots of verses, and sings them very very loud sometimes, but also very soft. she is a very dramatic and emotional singer.

3 places I like to go: 

Gruyeres

Avery's

Asia's

After some further discussion she also said:

the Beach. But I will add that I know she also loves going to the park and pool too, dance class, and of course to Grandma's houses and Disneyland.

3 people who love you:

Mommy

Daddy

Cado

Geneve

(She said the above in that order and very quickly, and for this one, it has to be 4 minimum)

Then she continued with: 

Asia

Avery

Drew

Justine

Grami & pop-pop

Grandma Roundy & Grampa Intos

So that's our interview. She used to be the cutest 2 year old, and now she is definitely the cutest 3 year old. She really seems to have reached a new level of cuteness recently, cute big-girl-ness is what I think it is.

Today at lunch I said, "Tell me about your life paize"

P: "The holy ghost"

Me: "Tell me about the holy ghost"

P: "It gets our things and gives them back to us.  It gets our things back"

Dad: "How does it do that?"

P: "One time I left my doll at Avery’s house and the holy ghost got it back for me."

So that's just one example of how cute she is. She is absolutely head over heels in love with Geneve, as in sometimes her heels are up on the couch as she supports herself on the ground with her arms and her head rests on Geneve's where she lies on the floor. She's obsessed with her. She's also obsessed with princesses and singing at the top of her lungs and dancing. She loves playing with Cado and they are often pretending together, and cracking each other up.  I for one am so in love with my sweetheart Paisley.

Happy Birthday Princess.

We Celebrated Paisley's birthday on Wednesday with a

Barbie Dancing Princesses Party! 

the invite I made and planned to send but emailed instead.

This marks the fulfillment of her wanting a Barbie cake, that she's been talking about for months. It was fun to plan a girly party. We had nine princesses and ballerinas: Paisley, Avery, Asia, Hannah, Anais, Camille, Elsa, Justine, and Claire and 2 princes: Cado (Prince Phillip) and Drew (Prince Erik).

I was up until dawn when I took a short nap. Having just gotten back from a weekend trip, it was a terrible time for the party! It all came together at the last second though, with the help of my guests.

We had a finger food lunch, then I read the 12 dancing princesses Barbie story, we played kiss the frog prince (pin the tail adaptation), then made crowns and searched in sand for a jewel pendant to make necklaces, the kids watched some of the 12 dancing princesses movie, then we played dancing stones (musical chairs sort of idea), ate cake and opened presents. I had hoped to incorporate ballet/dancing more and there was a lot that wasn't perfect about it,  and it was pretty chaotic with such a tiny place to work with, but it seems the kids had fun, and Paisley was very happy.

It makes it all the work worth it seeing the big smiles on Paisley's face and the fun that all of the kids had. She's had so much fun since the party too playing with all of the new things that she was given. Her friends were very generous, plus Grandmas and Grandpas and Mom and Dad. But she really appreciates her toys and takes good care of them so I don't mind that she has too many most of the time! 

I think the cake took the cake though. It seems it was everything Paisley hoped it would be. When she came out in the morning and saw it and the other decorations, she gasped and exclaimed, "Pretty!" with a big smile. And I have to admit I enjoyed making it too.

I sure do love my dancing princess Paisley!

Last weekend KPMG ITA  (information technolgy advisory? the department of KPMG that Spencer is a part of) Switzerland, had a ski weekend. Which means that they paid for a hotel stay and a company dinner party in Davos, Switzerland. Davos is about 5 hours away. They actually paid for two nights because its so far from Geneva.  The kids were so excited about being in a hotel. A hotel is so cool to a kid for some reason. I remember feeling that way too. The hotel was nice and we planned to get out the next morning for some snowboarding and possibly ski lessons for the kids.

But, neither of those things happened. Instead we wandered around the big ski city of Davos trying to figure out what to do which is a bummer because when we finally figured it out, it was too late to do it! So, we just sledded, ate lunch and then went home for quick naps before getting ready and going out for the night for the dinner. I thought that Davos would be more like Zermatt or the Berner Oberland, more like a little mountain swiss village, and that we'd be really connected to the skiing and it would be obvious. But its a really big town with a lot of dirty snow and stores and a ton of different ski resorts.

We took a funicular (a train thats on a steep mountain, it looks like a rollercoaster, but it is very slow) up to the restaurant. It was really nice. For me it was worth the trip to have a night out and feel a bit a part of Spencer's work life, feel connected. They had the older kids watch the little ones, so it was good for them and us. We talked, ate, played a team charades/pantomime game, ate desserts, and finally sledged down the mountain. no thats not a typo, here in Europe you sledge, not sled. I was nervous about it as our kids, especially Paisley were very tired, and they said the path was only occasionally lit and all lights go out at 11:30, not to mention that they sent a photo of a guy who last year ended up in the hospital with his face a bloody mess. But we went ahead with it because our kids really wanted to, and it turns out it wasn't scary at all, but rather annoying because it was so slow! I pretty much pulled Paisley in the sleigh most of the way down, until near the end it was finally consistently steep enough for us both to ride and that was pretty fun. It was an adventure though and a unique experience. 

The next day we thought we'd stop somewhere and see something, so we decided to go to Zurich on the way home. But we were all exhausted and we didn't have a stroller and it was raining, so what we saw of Zurich was the walk from our car parking to the train station and back! But there was a cool frozen fountain. And we ate some German area food at a cool restaurant in the station called "Marche".

And That's that! Hopefully we'll do a real "SKI" weekend another time!

So, I guess I will actually do some writing for the millions of pictures I"ve posted recently. Thanks to anyone who took time looking at them! 

Our Christmas break was nice. Unfortunately we were still present scrambling up until Christmas eve. Things got off to a late start this year I think due to the Ward Christmas party. But we had a nice Christmsa eve and Christmas. The kids got a lot, but I don't feel like we went overboard or lost sight of the spirit. We went sledding and made a snowman, ate fondue, ate at the Gaags and Tschumi's, had the Hiatts over for fondue, went on a date and saw Australia, went to the ward New Year's party, Spencer and Cado defrosted the fridge, we attempted another go at potty training, and pretty much just relaxed. It was perfect.

So, as far as potty training goes, we have closed that book for awhile again. Paisley was ready a year ago and would be potty trained now if it were not for the big mistakes I made. Please do not contradict me, I know what happened, and I know that everything I've read and know tells me this is true. I only say this to let ya'll know that Paisley is not behind, she was stunted by my lack of knowledge and the mistakes I made. Because Cado potty trained with pretty much no effort on our part I thought thats how it would be, and I'd never done any reading or learning, so with Paisley I just went forward with those expectations. I handled Paisley's accidents terribly and a while after we gave up last winter, when I finally did do some research about potty training I realized how poorly I handled it. I know that when Paisley's ready the next time, it will happen, until then I just want her to feel good about herself and know that we love her and are proud of her regardless of whether she wears panties or diapers. She gave it her best shot this time but it was clear that she thought it was Mommy and Daddy's thing and her heart wasn't in it. Once she said,"...I want to go potty in the toilet, cuz I want you be proud of me!" It broke my heart. One day when she was wearing her "panty diapers" and she poopooed I made it clear that this is her decision, and I support her either way and said, do you want to put panties on or diapers and she said diapers and things have been great ever since. 

I haven't been very good lately at recording the cute things my kids do or say. And I don't know if I can think of anything right now, but I'll try. Paisley is so into her Daddy right now its adorable. She'll sidle over to him for a cuddle, or suddenly say, "I love you Daddy." This is a big change from how she used to be where Spencer would say, "do you love me Paisley?" and she'd say, "No!" and tease him or run away, etc. She's very open with her love and feelings now. Yesterday while eating she cuddled up to him and said, "I love you Daddy," and a while later I told her I loved her and she said, "yeah, but I love my Daddy actually." She says "actually"  A LOT. Its really cute. Another thing about Paisley is that she is almost always singing or dancing or both, and usually seen doing these things wearing a tutu or princess dress. She knows the Sleeping Beauty song really well and has even added verses. Its pretty much the cutest thing to watch her while she plays, and you'll call her Paisley and she'll say, "I'm Sleeping Beauty actually." 

We had a couple extra Christmases because Grami and Poppop's package came a week late, and then Uncle Brian and Aunt Doreen's a bit after that. Ever since Grami was here Cado has been talking about how she is going to send him overalls. I think he got the idea from a book at school or something. And when Cado gets an idea its stuck until its fulfilled. He would ask, "did my overalls come today?" and say, "Grami's sending me overalls." I had no idea if this was really happening, but sure enough, Grami actually did send them and he has pretty much worn them ever since. He looks super cute in them. His word lately is usually. He uses it like "normally". He'll say, "I don't like that usually." He has really gotten into learning and speaking french. Its really cute. And its fun to watch him interact with his peers in french. He'll come home from school or church and just decide its time for everyone to speak french. His accent is amazing. To me he sounds native. He'll correct me and he really does sound way better than me. When he speaks french he also uses the french name for mom and dad: "Ma (a like apple) mohn" and "Papa." If he doesn't know something he'll say, "C'est quoi ca?" He learned a bunch of Christmas songs and his school did a performance of them. He did really well and he's been singing them ever since. Cado exhibits a very full range of emotions and lately he seems to be practicing them. He will have a darkness take over his whole body and face and sometimes it is clear that it is more for dramatic effect than it is reality. He's been throwing things out of anger, but sometimes we can tell that his anger didn't overpower him but he thought if I throw this it will show how angry I am. So yesterday he broke one of his favorite toys from Christmas, a transformer, because of this behavior. After he calmed down and we could talk about it, I think that he learned something useful and we might see less of the destructive side. On the other hand, he is such a sweetie and will say, "Mommy, I love you" and give me a hug. or take his sister under his wing and just do whatever she wants and be her buddy or say, "Daddy, you're so handsome," etc.

Geneve tries to sit herself up when she's laying or reclining or in her swing. Its funny when she's slightly reclined on a pillow or something and she tries to lift her head and feet at the same time and fold in half. She is a really good baby. She loves to grab things now and is always stuffing her hands, fists, thumbs into her mouth. She cooes and smiles constantly. She's a sweetheart. The kids can't get enough of her and are constantly smooshing their heads into hers or kissing her with just a bit too much force. Paisley is always trying to meet or foresee her needs. She's a great helper. She doesn't like her to cry very long and will say, "Geneve wants her mommy! Mommy come! she's crying!" She always says, "I just want to kiss her." when we ask her to back off a bit. Cado has really gotten some giggles, smiles, laughs and talking from her. She is really responsive to him. I think Paisley is usually a little too close range for Geneve to be able to do that, as in she smashes her face into hers. Geneve loves to lay under her hanging toy thingy and talk to and grab the toys and kick. She lays and kicks vigorously. She has just started grabbing her feet too.

At Christmas Cado has two cute misunderstandings. One is that snow and Christmas are synonymous. If its snowing it must be Christmas and on Christmas when it wasn't he said,"its not Christmas, its not snowing." The other is that on Christmas day Cado said,"Is Jesus coming today?" I hated to say No to him, but I did. And he said,"Well is he going to come next Christmas?" It almost breaks my heart. I look forward to that day too. 

The kids have really been enjoying all their new things. Brian and Doreen sent Cado a playmobile pirate ship and paisley a little dog in a purse that she named "red red rose" because of Sleeping Beauty. In addition to the fun new clothes Grami and Poppop sent they also got a little batmobile and cars, Wall-E and Paisley got a Cinderella toy set that she loves. There's lots to do around here which is good because it is freezing outside, and I only go out if I absolutely have to!

We rearranged our front room/toy room and I love it. It is so much cosier on one hand and open on the other. Its already helping with the feeling that i was having of the walls closing in on me.

I guess this suffices as a summary and update. At least its all I can think of right now. A la prochain!