Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

I spent a couple of minutes trying to think of some other title for my blog and I gave up.

So, here's what we were up to in May.

We started off in utah with the exciting wedding (see below posts) and then we got back from Utah and spent a considerable amount of time jet-lagged. NOT fun. Geneve was especially difficult. She has always been a pill about going to sleep, and international travel magnifies and gives new life to the problem. So things have been rough ever since. Last night she snuk out of her room and we found her asleep and curled up at the foot of Paisley's bed. She really loves her brother and sister. I'm so glad they have each other, they're such sweet friends. It just confirmed what we had recently considered of moving them all into the same room for sleeping and moving all the toys into one room for playing.

Anyway, then we celebrated Mother's day of course. It was nice and relaxing. The family gave me a clean house and Spencer made me a grilled hamburger dinner and we had pot de creme (a store bought treat like creme brulee) for dinner, and my kids made me things at school and church.

I took the kids to a big fun toy store and spent allowance money. Paisley got a Strawberry shortcake car. And Cado got "Gormiti" which I had to that point never heard of, and which since then he's hardly played with. kinda frustrating. I thought he was going to get one of the things he's talked about and wanted forever, but he could not be convinced away from these horrible monster looking toys. It was really an outing too because it's on the other side of town and though that's only a few kilometers in a city it ends up being quite the trip, we drove and driving in the city is a bit stressful and frustrating--one wrong turn and you may have just added a half hour to your drive.

Then there was a day off for "Ascension." That's right-- to mark the day when Christ ascended into heaven after his resurrection. Cado actually said, "Hey I have a day off tomorrow because it's the day when Jesus went back to heaven, my teacher told us." Wow. Does that strike anyone in America as amazing. I'm pretty sure no teacher or anyone for that matter is allowed to say anything anymore about Jesus or God there. We have a minority complex in America which is to say that we honor and value the minorities "rights" and opinions more than the majority, we have minority fear. America is largely Christian, and yet.... yeah, well you know what it's like. Anyway, I thought it was cool that his teacher just said that, and that it's not a problem, and why should it be? If I lived in a majority Muslim country, I would expect there would be a Mohammed day or two, and so what! I don't get it. Anywho...

So for the day off, we went to "L'hoptial des nounours" which is "Stuffed animal hospital". HUG, the Geneva hospital puts on the event by the lake, with a bunch of tents and as far as I could tell actually doctors or nurses who examine the kids stuffed animal. It was so cute. They have a consultation and the kids get to say what's wrong with their animal. Cado's Stripey and Paisley's Rose (a dog she got from Uncle Brian and Aunt Doreen) both had broken legs and Stripey had a fever. They took xrays of the animals and got casts, and then they gave them prescriptions for gummy bear "medicine" that they explained was magic and when consumed by the child would actually help the stuffed animal. Too cute! They even had an ambulance come and out came a large Pooh bear doll all hooked up to stuff, and then later the kids got to go in the ambulance and hear all about it. The whole point is to help kids feel comfortable with hospital and ambulance stuff in case they ever are in a situation to need it.

We also did some family biking. We went to a sports store and got helmets and bells, and a seat and trike for Geneve, and we've been on a couple of rides. Geneve LOVES it. she grabs her helmet all the time and tries to get on a bike and is very dissapointed if we aren't going. Spencer has been doing a TON of road biking. He goes in the morning and has logged a bunch of miles. I'm really impressed and proud of him. This is the first time he's road biked, he always mountain biked before. Cado and Paisley both love biking too. Paisley is still a beginner and pretty cautious, but Cado is like an old pro and I think he's following in Daddy's footsteps, or bike pedals...

We've spent a lot more time lingering outdoors and at playgrounds which is just lovely! When we were rushing to and from because of cold I longed for these days! When I drop the kids off I often play with Geneve at a playground for awhile and she obviously loves this. She adores playing at the park. And when I pick the kids up from school we often linger awhile and play there too. On one such occasion Cado and Paisley were able to try jumproping for the first time and they did really well! I was proud of Cado because he has a really hard time if he doesn't succeed...sound famililiar Mom and Dad? Yeah, it comes from me. He says, "I can't do it!" if he doesn't get it right the first time and he beats himself up or he says he doesn't care and never wanted to do it or liked it anyway! So I've been trying to help him and I feel like I'm my parents parenting myself! But there are these awesome moments where it clicks for him and he remembers the things I've tried to teach him and this day was one of those. He said, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it, and I said, You probably won't be able to at first, but if you keep trying I know you can. And he chose to be positive and he said, Yeah! I'm just going to keep trying until I get it Mom! And he did! It took him a few times, but he got it! It's so obvious that our minds have so much to do with how we fail or succeed in life or how happy or miserable we are. 

We had another day off in May, this one was for Pentecost. The ward had a picnic and it turned out really well. We grilled, we ate, talked, played some games and Cado had a ton of fun with his friend Mathias. Cado and Daddy biked to the park and all the home again, don't know how long exactly, but a pretty long bike ride for a 5 year old anyway.

To finish off May Paisley had THREE dance recitals! It was so fun. But I'm going to post that seperately...stay tuned!

Well, that title may be a bit much...though come to think of it with our anniversary, st. patrick's day, and a 5 friend baby shower, a couple of Relief Society activities, among other things... we did do quite a bit of merry-making!

For our anniversary on March 2nd, Becky was kind enough to watch the girls so I could meet Spencer for lunch. It was probably the first time since Spencer has worked for KPMG that we have met for lunch, so it was special for me, sneaking off with my handsome prince when we would normally be at work. Plus we went to Sushi, and besides a few California rolls, it was my first time really eating it. And I did like it as everyone said I would. It's fun to eat too. I just love being with my husband, so it was really nice.

We also had a great time up in the snow with our kids at Col de la Faucille in France. The kids loved eating snowballs probably more than sledding, but the sledding was fun too. Geneve would have liked it more if snow hadn't flown up violently in her face so much. She looked so cute as a big puff ball. I blogged about this day here.

5 of my friends (who all go to the English speaking ward at church, we go to a French ward) are having babies! And 3 of them are actually moving soon too! Suzy, Alma, Sarah, Christina and Jessi were all pregnant at the shower! Aimee hosted and we just to get together to celebrate.

When we went to the snow with our kids, it suddenly occured to Spencer that we absolutely must go snowboarding one more time (we went once in Utah) this season before the snow was gone. I made fun of him for the sudden urgency with which this idea struck him, but if it could work out then why not. Our friend Manuela is always asking how she can serve us, as well as my visiting teachers, so I snagged Manuela and Sabina at church and asked if they really wanted to do it! They said yes and then Ruth was dragged into it too, and we ended up with three babysitters taking shifts!

I call what we did that day "snurfing." This is actually one of the terms originally used for snowboarding, and it really fit this day because the snow was probably 50% water and it felt a lot like surfing. After I got a bit used to the different feeling, you have to dig in more and use your knees a lot, I rather liked it, but it is more work and thus more exhausting than with good snow. It's at once more slippery and more sticky. There were huge patches of very thin snow or even uncovered areas of rock and dirt. The snow was literally melting off the mountain right under our feet. It was, to be honest, Spring skiing at its worst, but do not mistake that to mean that it was an awful day...not at all. Something about the whole day just made me laugh. It was quite fun and  a unique experience to be sure,  especially when it started raining at lunchtime (and continued until we left), and when you consider the variety of lifts we encountered.

Oh, the lifts! I have to chuckle when I think of them. Of course we rode on your standard bench lift which we now have a renewed appreciation for, but we also got to experience snowboarding up a mountain with an upside down T bar lift and a pole with a ball on the end of it. Having never used lifts like these I was a bit intimidated. However there was no way to avoid them. We watched people doing it, but mostly skiiers. When it was our turn, i think we tried to get on it together as the skiers had done, but you have to be opposite footed and we're not and i was triying to sit on it (like the skiers) but you have to straddle it and basically snowboard up the mountain. Anyway, I fell. Then a kind skiier took it upon himself to help me and he held onto me the whole way up.

The next time went a lot better....until about halfway up the mountain. I had managed to get on and ride by myself and was feeling pretty comfortable until for some reason I decided I needed to look down. Well, that was all it took, I started writhing and falling and the rope suddenly had too much slack and then not enough and sufficeth to say I sincerely wish Spencer could have seen it and been recording it. Even though it was stressful and exhausting, even at the time I could hardly keep from laughing to concentrate on not falling off. I am proud to say that I did manage to hold on and made it to the top! I was being dragged and my board was twisting all over the place, but I refused to let go! I finally succeeded after at least a full minute to get myself back on the bar. And I had a good augh at myself, though nervously still afraid of doing it again, for the remainder of my ride. Spencer was waiting with the camera and if you go to his link you can watch me finish. So in addition to being exhausted from the watery snow, we were also exhausted by these lifts. Normally you get a break on the lift, but it was not so this day.

But alas my trials were not over, I actually had more lift drama. Another time on the pole- kind of lift I fell off right away, had to start over, then I got 7/8 up the way of the hill and suddenly caught an edge and the pole immediately jerked out from under me, and... it was over. I had to return to the bottom of the hill and start again. This time I went in front of Spencer and I guess I couldn't resist stupidly looking back at him and yeah, I fell off. Well it being pretty close to the end of the day and what with my exhaustion and frustration, I sat there for a good 15 minutes before having any desire to try it again. I had this defeating vision of doing this over and over again and eventually having to hike out of the mountain or be airlifted, that idea actually almost became tempting...maybe I could be airlifted! Anyway, I finally pulled myself together and exercised all my might, positivity and concentration on reaching my destination, which I did. But I was keen to take a break from the odd lifts for awhile. It was really quite ridiculously funny.

As we came toward the bottom of the mountain to get to our car we passed over several puddles. I'm glad we went but I think it's funny that the worst snow yet of my life was not in Southern California but Switzerland!

That night we went to the burning of the "bonhomme" festival which symbolizes the beginning of Spring, at a nearby park. Us girls arrived at the end of the burning but we got to see giant ladies on stilts and eat soup and cheese and bread and watch a guy spin firey things around.

We also experienced unnaturally FREEZING weather and WIND in February and March. It was awful. Hand and face crippling, biting, bitter, frigid, cold wind. Along the lake it causes the water to come up and freeze on things. My friend shared pictures with me from when she went to the lake and saw it. We were running as fast as we could to and from school. Cado loved that there were icicles on a fountain along our route and one day I allowed him to snap one off. It became a treasured possesion until it broke.

I also planned with Becky an Easter playdate at the church. We have this playdate group we are trying to do once a month. We did an Easter craft, an Easter egg hunt and had a snack together. Paisley and Geneve loved it. It was funny though whenever poor Geneve leaned down to grab something, all the contents of her basket spilled out. It was cute though because she never got upset, she just calmly began putting it all back in again. And by the way, she LOVES chocolate. She really really loves it.

Normally I get pretty into the holidays, but with St. Patricks day we just made sure to wear green, and we played at one of our favorite parks, bois de la batie, with our friends.

I also was in charge of planning our March enrichment night. We decided on an Easter theme, but in the sense of the last Supper and Jesus' message and resurrection. It was really special. I had great help. We had lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs salad and grape juice. We talked about the symbols and meaning of passover and how the passover applies to us today and about Jesus' last days and that He lives! It was a very spiritually uplifting night where we really enjoyed our sisterhood in Christ.

We also got a dishwasher. I cannot believe how much it has done for our level of happiness and cleanliness! I am so thankful for amazing people who have invented so many amazing things! Take a moment to think about your amazing dishwasher if you have one, and thank God for  those amazing people who came up with it. I'm glad we went without one for awhile, we are still amazed by it. We get all excited when we take out our sparkling clean dishes!

In other news: Cado had to get another tooth pulled. Spencer had the brilliant idea of doing lots of practice beforehand because Cado does not handle the anticipation of pain well. This helped him a lot. We are hoping and doing our best, to make sure this is the last of pulled teeth. Some have been as a result of the car accident (see links below to read about it) when he was three and got hit by a car, and some have been as a result of "sugar bugs" or in other words serious decay. Also, Daddy has continued reading the kids stories, which now is even easier to do since he can download them to his iphone. He read them Dr. Doolittle recently. 

http://roundeo.com/harmony/blogs/view/cc0c485b414b76404960e60f858ba1af

http://roundeo.com/harmony/blogs/view/ee4b37f01637b629f1dc65d2318b95f2

Enjoy the pictures!