Bluebird's Nest

Happy Holidays Everyone!

This year was a big year for us in the Jermann/Howe household! So much to tell – where to start – let’s start with the littlest…

Little Winter had a wonderful carrot and parsley filled year this year, thanks to my dad. Unfortunately, it was her time to go and visit her sister in guinea pig heaven due to a growth on her back. RIP little Winter we miss you dearly.

Our next littlest family member has had an event fill first year! Violette was born on January 4^th. Her adventures began in July. She drove across Canada, crawled around Egypt, explored almost all the corners of Switzerland and saw the Mont Blanc in France. Oh and we mustn’t forget the trip to the wine district of Alzace, France. 3 continents by her first 9 months isn’t too shabby. To say we think she’ll be a world traveler might be an understatement. She also keeps us hopping. She had 8 teeth by her 8^th month, she’s climbing stairs at 10 months and pushing around furniture. She’s a powerhouse! And not surprisingly for all that energy, she sleeps quite well (now). Oh and starred in her first Groupon ad!

Jaedyn turned 12 in November. My tweenager was involved in dance this year and finished off grade 6. One day after finishing school we set off on our cross Canada trip. JJ was initially nervous but after getting into the swing of road life she quickly settled in. After driving clear across the country we flew to Switzerland (from St. John’s) and began yet another chapter. JJ started public school here and fit in straight away. Her French was at the perfect level for school and she quickly began picking up Swiss/Vaudois slang immediately. She misses her friends in Canada but has also made new friends here. She likes it in Switzerland but is also looking forward to going home in the new year.

For me, I’ve been on mat leave all year and LOVING it. I’m so happy to be able to take the opportunity to travel with my family. The cross Canada trip and our trip to Egypt have really been life long dreams that I had. I’m enjoying spending the days watching my wee babe grow up and loving being able to spend so much time with my almost teenager. I’m really looking forward to Christmas here to see what kinds of traditions the Swiss have and to finally see real candles on a Christmas Tree! I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed watching the changing of the seasons. I miss my family and friends back home but you really can’t beat this weather here. Vevey is situated in such an area where it’s sunny more than it’s rainy. We’re loving it!!

Luc took a leave of absence from school for a year and a leave of absence from work for 6 months. He has been enjoying watching his little mini-him grow up and making her laugh and smile. He also has been enjoying his time in Switzerland spending time with his family and friends. He celebrated his 30^th birthday this year with him and 4 other close buddies by throwing themselves a huge dance party (the theme was fluorescent). It was a blast!! Thanks to him, we started out our first month in Switzerland rent-free by doing a house exchange. It was wonderful. Then Luc found us the most incredible apartment in Vevey with stunning views of the lake and mountains from our balcony.

Our trips around Switzerland consisted of visiting Luc’s Grandma in Valbella, his aunt, uncle and cousin in Zurich area, and our Canadian best man in Thun. We also walked to Montreux and took part in Desalpe when my mom came to visit. And just 2 weekends ago we went high into the Swiss mountains to Bretaye with some friends of ours to take in the fresh mountain air in a cozy little chalet. We’re looking forward to visiting Santa at Rochers de Naye this weekend, as well as spending the new year in Valbella with family.

We have had an incredible and fortunate year touched by so many generous friends and family. We wish everyone and their families a peaceful and fulfilling holiday season with love and warmth felt throughout.

Love, Light and Laughter for the New Year
Robin, Luc, Jaedyn and Violette

Click here to view our holiday eCard
Clique ici pour voir la video

Click on the image above to view our holiday eCard

We made it through the first day of Swiss school for my tweenager/baby. She’ll always be my baby. And I think she’s overjoyed to be going judging by this quote from her:

“Don’t take offense to this or anything but it’s hard when my friends are only you guys.”

So, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Swiss school, I’m going to shed some light on it for you.

First of all, your first day of school is for an hour and a half in the AFTERNOON. From 2-3:30. Crazy I know. I think it actually works out better as you can spend your time getting ready for it. Or in our case, moving homes. I kid you not. The morning she started school, we packed up and moved from our house exchange home to the apartment in Vevey.

Secondly, all of your school supplies are given to you by the school. You pay NOTHING. The stuff is the best stuff too. Not crappy Walmart specials. We’re talking high end Swiss designed school supplies.

The most shocking for me is that there is a two hour break in the middle of the day (and from what I’ve heard, they are planning on getting rid of it soon but it’s really old school mentality that the mom is at home so the kids go home for lunch). We live 12 minutes away from the school all down hill. So in the morning we walk the tweenager to school, then I walk home back up hill. And if you’ve seen Switzerland, it’s uphill. Then back at lunch to fetch her and bring her home and back to school after lunch. And then home again. And an hour and a half later, we walk her back home from school. Oh and did I mention we have 7 flights of stairs too? I’m hopefully going to have buns of steel when I return to Canada if I don’t eat too much cheese and chocolate (and bread!) before then.

What else? Ok, so on Tuesday’s they go to school a whole hour later and on Wednesday’s they get off school at lunch for the rest of the day. Cool!

Oh and there is never homework to be returned on Mondays. Not after a long weekend, a big long holiday break, a weekend. Never homework on Mondays.

The tweenager will also get to go on a week long trip in 3 weeks with the school to a 3.5 hour drive in Switzerland somewhere. Not camping but riding horses, hiking, crafts, biking, etc… I’m shocked.

But they are a tad bit strict on being on time and making sure that you have everything with you when you go to school. I think if you’re late 3 days you have to do an hour after class with more homework. And if you forget your stuff 5 times, again more homework and an hour after school.

All in all, I think it’s a fabulous system. I guess that’s what you get when your educational system isn’t wrought with cut backs. Makes me think that maybe my tweenager is missing out on a better education that she could have here. I can safely say that in this difference between Canada and Switzerland, Switzerland comes out on top by 200%.

Back to the story, so she met some new friends. There are 20 kids in her class. (Yeah, another bonus) most of them are boys and about 7 of them are girls. One friend has already made her a bracelet. This is a big step for her and for me. I’m so happy that they are reaching out to her. She’s easy to make friends in Canada but you just never know in a foreign country. A few others asked her if she wanted to walk with them to the stadium for PE. Oh, get this. PE is crazy brutal hard for them. They have to walk for 10 minutes to the stadium where they do their class. The run uphill and then do a bunch of stairs and then 900 meters around a track. Oh and the temperature is around 28 degrees. Yikes. I felt so sorry for the poor soul.

But I think there is a girl that she can walk to and from school with so once we get her a pay-as-you-go cell phone (we already have the phone just need to buy some minutes) I’ll feel much more comfortable letting her walk to and from school. I know. I’m a freak.

On our first night in Vevey, it was screaming hot and an electrical storm came through. (There was also an amazing sunset.)

View from our patio

We could see the torrential rain coming our way and when it did, the tweenager and I let our hair down and let the rain soak us through and through from the balcony. It was awesome. And then the lighting show started. It lasted for over an hour.

Our view from our patio is simply to die for. It makes it all worth it. I can’t wait to see the mountains covered in a blanket of snow. I’m really looking forward to Winter coming as I’ve only ever been here in Summer and I understand it is so completely different.

We’re here and settling in nicely. I did some shopping today in the morning after dropping off the tweenager. I managed to find a shirt for the wedding on the weekend, got wart stuff (eeeeewww…), bought some stamps, got some groceries and found a bathroom all by my lonesome. Not too shabby.

We had coffee and hot chocolate, sang happy 6 month birthday to the wee babe, packed up the tent and car and hit the road. It wasn’t until we were 400 km’s away that the hubby realized he’d left two of our towels in the bathroom. Really. Guess we’ve got to buy those now. The tweenager was happy that it wasn’t her that forgot the first thing

We didn’t get far as the hubby wanted to visit the local museum. There are 250 people who live in this town so you can imagine how small the museum was.

When we got there, there was a baby girl falcon that had made its way into the museum over night so we got a photo. The museum was quaint.

On the road again and we drove to Moose Jaw and had our first sit down meal at Smitty’s. We had checked the budget first and it was all system go!

After that we headed over to Sobey’s to grab some snacks and food for breakfast tomorrow. Couldn’t pass up the monstrous moose for a photo op.

We forgot to get gas so about 40kms after we left Moose Jaw I realized we were pretty low on gas and about 5 minutes after that the gas light came on. Oops… stress level cimbing.

So the hubby grabbed the gps and it said we needed to make a detour 40kms off the highway. I was freaking. We pulled into a farm and asked a man there and he said to go back to the highway and drive for 4 miles and then we would find gas and also the place where “Corner Gas” the tv show was made!! Crazy.

Tried to look for a sticker again. No luck. I’m having absolutely no luck at this sticker business. And as it turns out, we didn’t end up finding one before we entered the States so mom and Aunty Terry could you pick us up one?

We got a photo with the cop car from Corner Gas. Back on the road and we went through some flooding area where my stress level was peaking again as our you couldn’t see the road there was so much water on it.

We made it to the North Dakota border where the border people said that there were about 3 main highways shut off due to flooding so the hubby is going to have to figure it out for tomorrow’s drive. They also scared the bejesus out of us by telling us that there wouldn’t be any hotels/camping for another 5 hours. It was already 5pm.

We rolled into Kenmare, grabbed a hotel, unloaded our stuff and then went for a drive around the town, grabbed some bottled water (as you can’t drink the water due to flooding), some fireworks for the 4^th of July, some burgers and ice cream and then back to the hotel.

It’s going to be a tame night, watching TV in our air conditioned room.

Until tomorrow!

EXPENSES:

Hotel: $69.95
Wee babe disposition: Great!
Weather: 27 degrees average
Items lost: two beach towels
Stress level: 85% when searching for gas, 95% when driving through the flooding, 45% when fending off mosquitoes in the car.

I’ve been reflecting lately on perspective and how one gains perspective. I’ve always thought that gaining perspective has a lot to do with removing yourself from the situation. Being able to be an outsider looking in. Taking a break from what’s happening and giving yourself time to reflect and rejuvenate.

But I guess you could also gain perspective by being in a different environment. If you go to a third world country, you would gain the perspective of how fortunate we might be with running water for example. But then it also might give you perspective on how superficial we are. A stick may be a little boy’s toy in Peru, where we need (insert fashionable toy of the minute here).

I think gaining and getting perspective is so important. A chance to see things a different way.

I’m beginning to think that gaining perspective also builds on growing you as a person. Because if you think about it, if you can look at something differently, doesn’t that help you to change and perhaps grow just a little?

I’m thrilled to be able see how my baby grow and thrive in the next 6 months of her life. Changing at the same time as I write this blog. But what I’m even more looking forward to is seeing how my tweenager grows by gaining perspective.

Seeing a different way of living in a new culture, meeting new people, missing old friends, learning new things… if I know her I think she’s going to embrace the differences and this in turn, will help her to see life just a bit differently. Not that there is anything wrong with the way she sees it now.

Just differently.

Today was epic.

Or maybe I should say yesterday since it’s 11:37pm and I’m in bed, listening to my wee babe blow raspberries in the play pen at the foot of my bed. I am *willing* her to go to sleep.

We’ve had one of biggest days of her life so far.

Let me start at the beginning.

We woke up at 6:20. The wee babe decided it was time to wake up. So papa and her played for a bit in bed (he not much of a morning person so when she’s tired of playing on his tummy, I need to get up or breast feed. I chose breast feeding.) I breast fed her to sleep around 7:15 and managed to get another hour of sleep in before she woke again. That time she was serious. It’s time to get up.

Coffee, eggs and toast with a discussion on how the day was going to roll out.

I took off to CT to pick up a cooler for the trip. My hubby and tweenager sorted empties to take back to the recycling depot to get some moola. Last bottle depot trip.

I came home and got the tweenager ready for her dance rehearsal and recital. Hair and makeup.

The hubby came home and we all left for downtown. First stop, theatre to drop off the tweenager for her rehearsal.

My Swiss mister, the wee babe and I walked down to the harbour and stood in line for an hour to get fish and chips. if you’ve ever had fish and chips from Red Fish Blue Fish, you would understand why we stood in line for an hour.

I should interject her with the fact that it was a BEAUTIFUL day. There was also a bike thing going on in the harbour. BMX biking. They had huge ramps, jumps and a barge and blow up mattress thingy, food stalls and TONNES of people mulling around.

I got the text from my tweenager that she was done the rehearsal so after we finished eating we took off back to the theatre to get her.

After a quick visit back to the car to get changed, we headed BACK to the bike thing in the harbour so the tweenager could check it out. We perused around, saw some cool jumps, some weird people, a bunch of tourists, a dance floor outside, and lots of music. Oh yeah and a naked bike ride through downtown Victoria. My tweenager got some video footage of it (is that a bit weird?) but for now I’ll just post a still photo or two.

Then we decided to head to Wanna Waffel to cash in a Groupon that I bought. Not the healthiest of choices given the fish and chip smorgasbord that we devoured but what the hell. All the walking should have helped with the added calories. And anyway, this was probably the last time in 6 months that the 3 of us were going to be altogether in Victoria before we leave.

After that we grabbed a Frappacino (we had another gift card to there so why not) and walked on over to Bastion Square. Phewf. We parked ourselves on a bench for about 20 minutes and people watched the time away. It was a great break to recharge our batteries for the next leg of our day.

We headed back to the car to do another quick change and fix the hair and makeup. Pit stop at a Mexican joint to pick up a couple of wraps (yeah I know) and then off to the theatre.

Ok, this is where I get pissy. My tweenager takes off to where she’s supposed to be. My hubby, the wee babe and I get our 2 tickets scanned and just as we’re heading into the theatre when one of the ushers say, “You’re going to have to get a ticket for the baby too.”

“Huh? Why?” (get this)

“For fire marshall/safety reasons.”

“Are you kidding me? How much?”

“$15.” Actually it was $19.50. WTF.

Ever so calmly my hubby and I grill the ticket sellers. “Why? She’s going to be on our laps the whole time SLEEPING. Sure charge us but make it $5. She’s only 5 months for gawds sake! Is there any way around this?”

There’s 2 ticket sellers and the one we’ve been dealing with says “Nope, you have to pay.”

The second one says “Don’t tell anyone but sometimes people drop of tickets that people don’t need. If that happens we can hold it for you for you to have.”

I’m happy that she is sharing this information but pissed that this is happening. Immediately I decide that if I pay for a ticket and my baby cries, then I’m getting my $20 worth of crying in.

There’s something you have to understand. This theatre is a top notch theatre. Ok, I get that. BUT this isn’t the Phantom of the Opera. This is a dance recital that happens EVERY YEAR. Not to belittle the dance recital (they put on a damn fine performance.) But come on! Airplane tickets cost NOTHING for 2 and under.

So my hubby and I go outside. We contemplate setting up a sign and a hat to take donations of money or tickets to get our precious baby inside. (Ok, we had the money but I refuse to pay $20 for this baby to SLEEP through it.)

We tell everyone we see what happened. They are flabbergasted. Then we see another unsuspecting mom with a 4 week old. “Did you pay for a ticket for your precious bundle. No? Oh you’re screwed.”

Finally, someone comes through for us. It seems that a little sister is going to sneak in with her older sister who’s in the recital so we can have her ticket. There are small miracles.

As we head inside, another woman has over heard our story and happens to know the owners of the dance company and she says that if we had asked for a comp ticket for the baby we would have gotten it and that it’s outrageous that the theatre was making you pay.

You’re telling me and noted for next year.

Dance company = rocks. Theatre = sucks.

The performance is wonderful. My tweenager was fantastic. She worked hard all year to show us her stuff and it showed. I was so proud.

After it was over we congratulated her and headed home.

EEeeeek! My tweenager is growing up!

Today we hit a milestone for her. She probably could have done this ages ago and she probably is totally embarrassed that I would draw attention to this fact but I’m sure every mother and father can relate.

My tweenager did everything this morning. By. Her. Self.

What’s the big deal you ask? Think about it.

When she FIRST started going to school, it was everything in my power to just get her to eat her breakfast at a clip faster than a turtle. And forget about shoes. Every morning I needed to ask her to put on her shoes and jacket. Every. Single. Morning. I swear, everything was a big deal. Getting out of bed. Brushing the teeth. Getting dressed. Doing her hair.

We had check mark lists. We had sticker systems. We had reminders. We tried to get up earlier. We tried to go to bed earlier. We tried changing the order of things around.

I lost my cool many times. She lost her cool many times. My hubby lost his cool many times. I remember even her and I having all out battles with me screaming at her and then dropping her off at daycare or school her crying, me crying feeling like a terrible mother…

Then she got older. And she stopped dilly dallying as much. She had more of an interest for time. She wasn’t perfect but she understood. But toast and/or cereal was still made for her. We needed to tell her to get dressed and brush her teeth. We needed to tell her how much time there was until we needed to leave. Counting down… 10 minutes… 5 minutes… You know how it goes.

And still she got older and she got an alarm. She knew how long she could sleep in and how long it took to get dressed. She knew when she needed to leave and what she needed to do to get ready. But we still got up with her. Helped her get breakfast ready and ate with her.

And then today. Both my hubby, me and the wee babe slept in. My tweenager got up, had a shower, fed herself, brushed her teeth, her hair, got her backpack ready, wrote me a note telling me to have a wonderful day and she was just about out the door when I woke up.

What the?!?!? You were going to leave without me getting up? I have mixed emotions about this. I’m freaking out a bit. The day has come where she is totally self sufficient. She doesn’t need me anymore. No more prodding. No more helping. No more hugs and kisses before you leave?

Stop right there.

There ain’t no way you’re walking out of this house without a hug and a kiss from me. You might be growing up but you’re still the little girl I BEGGED to put her shoes on not that long ago.

The difference is you’re all growed up.

The soft July wind pushed past her sun kissed cheeks. Her little sister was busy frolicking in the surf and kicking the blow up beach ball through the waves daring it to go just a little further each time toward Greenland.

She was content. Warm. Happy. They had been on the road driving across the country for what seemed like weeks. They left the Pacific Ocean 22 days before. This was the first time she had stepped onto the beaches of the Atlantic. She’d been waiting and waiting.

Now she was here. iPod tuned to her favorite song, book at the ready, sunscreen applied, sun shining, blanket warming in the sand, frosty drink perched beside her and not a worry to get back into the car for another hour. Time to relax.

“Come play wit me.”

She turned to see her little sister pulling on her toe, begging her to get up.

“Beat it, I’m relaxing.” Her sister was 11 years younger than her. She loved her without a doubt but playing on the beach wasn’t really her thing anymore.

“Pwease??”

Those eyes. They pleaded with a longing  that resembled a lost puppy dog. She feared that if she said no, her sister would burst into tears right then and there and then she’d have the wrath of her mother onto of her.

“Ok, but only for a few minutes.” Relaxing would have to wait.

“Sand cass-ew”.

“Sand castle? O.k.”

She grabbed some of her toys that hadn’t been played with in years. She remembered back to the last time she had used her pail and shovel reminiscing… realizing that now her sister would be making memories with these same toys that once were hers.

She dug in, pouring wet Atlantic sand into her pail, turning it over and repeating.

“Yay! Cass-ew! Cass-ew!”

Her little sister began collecting stones, shells, beach glass and sticks and decorating the castle that she was building. She was her little helper, doing and getting whatever she asked her to get. Never whining that she didn’t want to do it. She had a joy in her big blue eyes that only a little sister could have.

It grew bigger and bigger. She was really getting into this masterpiece of artwork. Her little sister by her side, working together with each other. Not just sisters but friends.

“Time to go girls.”

Disbelief. What about the iPod? The book?

She turned to her sister who was standing beside the glittering magical sand castle that they had created, grinning from ear to ear and realized that the pail and shovel were there all along to make a wonderful memory for her sister…. and one more for her.

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This post was prepared in response to a RemembeRED prompt for the Red Dress Club. The prompt asked the writer to write something about sand.

This post is fictional.

My tweenager. She’s one amazingly beautiful person.

I can easily get caught up in the details of life. Easily. I sometimes need to force myself to take a step back and look at all that I have. I am truly blessed. And I am proud. I am proud of her and I am proud of me.

I am proud of me because 11 years ago I was faced with being pregnant after returning from a year holiday/life experience in Australia. I made the decision to “do this thing” and became a single mom. Looking back I think this was the best and most proudest decision I had ever made. I had and have amazing support from my parents and my friends and I raised that little girl to be the best that she could be.

Today she’s grown into a wonderful, brilliant, creative individual. This year she is being published for her first time in a book of short stories. She also is in the process of working her way up in a french speech contest that she will be competing in at the provincial level (we’re heading to Vancouver this weekend). If she wins that she then has a shot in Quebec (and at a scholarship). Whether she wins or loses, I’m so proud of her and all that she has become. She’s a passionate, sensitive young woman who has the world at her fingertips.

I know this post is supposed to be a post about what I’m proud of in myself. But in all honesty, there’s a little bit of her in me and I like to think a lot of me in her.

I’m proud of where she’s come in her life and what I’ve been able to give her.

Whether or not you make it to the next round, whether or not you ever get published again, follow your dreams. Do what makes you happy kiddo. Lukey and I will here for you always, cheering you on, your biggest fans. We love you.

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This post was prepared in response to a RemembeRED prompt for the Red Dress Club. The prompt asked the writer to write something about which you’re proud of yourself.

I said I wanted to write about memories. I had a memory making moment the other day. Actually, it’s more akin to an embarrassing moment. Or more accurately, 3 embarrassing moments. Let’s just say my tweenager was looking at me like I was a freak job.

After picking her and her friend up from a sleep over, I needed to stop for gas. Please keep in mind I’m four month post-pregnancy so not only am I a tad bit thick at the moment but also, I haven’t pumped my own gas for probably about 10 months now (my wonderful hubby saved me from the gas fumes).

So I pull into the gas bay and grab my credit card. I get out of the car, walk over to the credit card payment machine. I slide in the card. The machine read “quickly insert and remove card.” Easy enough. Yeah right. It doesn’t work. I try again. No worky. And again. “See attendant.” No way are you kidding me? So I go through it all over again. It’s not working no matter what I do and let me tell you, I feel about 80 years old.

With my tail between my legs, I walk into the gas station and ask meekly for help. Some helpful woman comes out and slips the card in and out and wouldn’t you know it it works like a dream first time. Turns out I am 80 and was putting the card in the wrong way. Embarrassing moment #1.

I pull the nozzle out of the holster and realize I’m on the wrong side of the gas bay. I need to put the nozzle back into the holster and you guessed it – I now need to do the slide-the-card again. No worries, I’ve got that figured out now.

So I climb back into my car and both the girls say, “What’s going on?” “I’m a loser” I say and pull forward a tad and at an angle so that the hose will reach. Embarrassing moment #2.

I get back out, do the credit card thing again. I grab the nozzle and (embarrassing moment #3 is upon us now) pull it out of the holster and gas starts pouring out. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen gas come out of a nozzle but it’s like a hose on full blast with your finger stuck on the end of it spraying everywhere. And it was spraying everywhere. “Oh fuck!” I yell! The gas was spraying all over the side of the car, window, the gas bay until I finally get the hose under control. ‘Somehow’ the nozzle was stuck on!!

How freaking moronic. The same woman that helped me with the credit card comes running out of the gas station ready to help me again. She ended up giving me a full service experience in the self service bay.

As I climb back into the car reeking of gas, the girls say “What happened??” I explain that I was sorry for whatever expletive ran out of my mouth. My daughter said that after she heard me yell, she looked around and noticed a woman in a white truck slam on her breaks and throw her hands up to her mouth in disbelief.

I’m not perfect after all

My talented tweenager wrote this for me on a day where she got in trouble for a few things. It’s so touching and beautiful I just wanted to share it with you all. It’s also a keepsake for me to look back on when the craft that she made me is old and tattered or lost even, I’ll still have this momento.

I love you too ma belle.

Mama

A gift is not always

sealed with a nice ribbon

sometimes you can’t even see it

or touch it

even feel it

you don’t even know that it’s there

but it always is.

In the darkest times

to the most beautiful

love is always present.

There is one person in my world who is perfect

I love her to the extreme

and she loves me back.

She is my mama.

For all the things I did wrong

I am sorry

and for all the good times

I’m thankful.

I say I love you.

- The tweenager, age 11 (2011)