Sweet Potatoes for Thanksgiving

When I think of fall, the vegetables that come to mind are all shades of orange- pumpkin, squash, and sweet potatoes. I have come to believe that even in the States, we eat more sweet potatoes in the South than anywhere else in the country. Just an assumption. There is only one store in Albertville where you can buy that wonderful vegetable. So, if we’re to have sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving (which we’re celebrating with the other students on Wednesday because we have class on Thursday), it requires a bus trip to ED’s, a store across town. So, Friday during our lunch break, I caught the bus (in the rain) and made a quick 45 minute trip to load up on sweet potatoes so that I can make a huge casserole. It’s a bit of a whirlwind trip to do some shopping in my 2 hour lunch break (without a car), but well worth the effort.

Now, what about turkey? Well, the French only eat turkey one time a year- at Christmas, and they don’t cook the whole bird like we do for Thanksgiving. So, one of my classmates has been working on ordering all the turkeys (special order) for the big meal. Unfortunately, there’s been a mix up on the exact cost of the bird and she found out on Friday that we were looking at more than 700 Euros (more than $900 US) for 8 turkeys. Wow! I would be sad to not have turkey for the Thanksgiving meal, but not that sad. I think she’s worked it out to buy fewer turkeys and add some other types of meat. Regardless, it’ll be fun to share a common meal with our classmates and the staff here on Wednesday.

The Little Things

Some of you may remember the blog entry I wrote a while back about my trip to the local sports store and the excitement that came when the store alarm went off when I was trying to leave. Well, for the past 2, almost 3 months, that story has repeated itself over and over again. Almost every time I have gone into a store with an alarm it has gone off. It has gone off in the toy store, the grocery store, and the sports store.

I tried wearing and not wearing all kinds of different things to try and find out what it is that trips the alarm. I was beginning to think that my parents put a plate in my head when I was a kid and not told me about it. (If that were the case, it might explain a lot more than just alarms going off in random stores)

Just the other day our family was planning on going to one of the local grocery stores. It happens to be the store where the alarm has gone off every time I have been in it. In preparation for our visit to this particular store I was running down the list of possible combination of pants, shirt, jacket, belt, and shoes that I could go with to see if I could find a winning combination (I’m not talking about style…one that would not set the alarm off). After selecting what I hoped was just the right combination I started gathering the other little things I need for our trip. One of those little things was my wallet. I looked through my wallet before, thinking maybe there was a chip in one of cards I had in there. My searches before turned up nothing, but I was desperate and thought I would look again. This time I decided to search every little pocket my wallet that I could find.

At this point you have probably already guessed what happened. In one of the small back pockets of my wallet was a sticker. It was not just any sticker. It was a security sticker. Before we left for France I bought a new wallet because most money in the world is wider than the American Dollar. With a mix of feeling stupid for not checking before and excitement that I had finally found the cause of the problem I peeled the sticker out of my wallet.

I will admit, my heart was pounding when we got to the store. I let Amanda and the kids go through security alarms first. With my heart beating and Amanda looking back in hopeful expectation I walked through, and the strangest thing happened…nothing. Nothing! It was great. The alarm did not go off when I went in or when I left. It may seem crazy, but I told Amanda on our way home that it was a huge blessing to have that mystery solved. I can now go to the store without fear of alarms going off and awkward conversations.

I kept that little security sticker I found in my wallet. It is on my bedside table so I see it every day. It is there to remind me of something. Sometimes the little blessings turn out to be the biggest. I would have taken finding that sticker over getting a new music CD or a new movie. I would have taken finding it over a day off from French class (now that should tell you something). It was a small, but huge blessing to me, and that is the way it works sometimes in life. We think a great blessing equal a big blessing. We think waking up and finding a brand new car in our drive way is a great blessing, or something like that. However, God in His great wisdom, being a perfect Father, gives us better gifts that we think to ask for. He knew just how to encourage me that day in a way I would never have though of.

Over the Break

Wow! We jumped back into class two days ago and went straight into all French. That means class is only in French and we're only allowed to use French during the breaks during school hours. It's a stretch, but already we can see the benefit.

Over our 12 day break we mostly hung around our grand little city- Albertville. The first several days it rained very heavily, so we found ourselves infected with cabin fever after about 3 days. The next week was filled with finding creative ways to spend time with other families here- potluck dinner, games in the evening, meals together, and even a little Halloween party (they don't trick-or-treat here in France as in the US), complete with bobbing for apples.


BUT, the main even was potty training. Isn't that what you would want to do with your vacation? Well, it is nice to be using a few less diapers, so it's time well-spent.



We did manage to take one trip out of Albertville via the train system here. It was quite an adventure. We planned to visit Annecy, known as the Venice of France, for the day, but when we took the wrong train in Chambery (toward Lyon, the opposite direction), the day changed a little. Rather than spending the entire day in Annecy, we spent 2 hours in a little town called Pont de Beauvoisin while we waited for the bus that would take us back to Chambery and then to Annecy. We made it to Annecy in time to spend 1 1/2 hours there before our train ride home. As crazy as it was, it really was a nice day. This part of France is just beautiful, so riding the train through the mountains and countryside is really nice. Malachi thought riding all those trains was the plan the whole time...he was quite content.

Snapshots of Life

Last week we took a field trip with the school to experience a bit of French culture and history. We visited a glass blower, who explained the process of making glass- all in French, of course. After that, we visited a museum/park dedicated to the history of mining in the Savoie region in France (the region that we live in). It was a bit of a rainy day, so that spoiled the outside tour a bit, but it was nice to have a break from a regular school day and see a new place.

Did you know that our apartment came with an indoor gym? You can see here that our hallway doubles as a workout room. Working out is still a priority to Eric and, as you can see, it's rubbing off on Malachi too. He's getting in his daily push-ups while Daddy works on his pull-ups.

The day we receive a package is always a special day. Here you can see the kids enjoying the discovery of the contents of a package from our family in Georgia.

Riding the bus, our secondary mode of transportation (the 1st being walking, of course), is always a hit with this little man. Can you blame him? No seatbelts, people getting on and off all the time, and a great view of the city. Here, he's avoiding a picture and drinking some applesauce. Yes, I said drinking applesauce. Applesauce comes in these neat little foil packages with a spout for the kids to suck the applesauce out of. It's both convenient and yummy at the same time!

A Parenting Moment

When I was in college, I had a professor who said that if you can simplify a concept enough to explain it to a kindergartner, then you really have a good grasp of the essence of that concept. For example, how do you explain grace or righteousness to a child? You must really know the essential components to that particular concept and be able to explain it in language plain enough for a 5 year old to understand.

Well, yesterday I had an opportunity like that. Recently, there has been a bit of talk around here regarding the upcoming presidential elections. We've all been working to register to vote absentee and there's been talk of candidates, voting, etc. Yesterday, on our way to the postoffice (which we found closed, of course, because everyone knows that the post office closes for some reason on Tuesdays at noon- except me, of course) Hannah asked me, "Mommy, what is voting?" So, as I tried to explain voting, I had to also define candidates, democracy, what a president is, etc. After we got through all that, the question came, "Mommy, how do you know who to pick?"

Well, for me there's a very simple answer to that question. Abortion. It's the very first thing I ask of anyone who wants my vote. It was one of those moments when, as a parent, you ask yourself, "Do I really want to answer this question honestly, or should I give an easy answer?" No doubt, there are certainly times when you must do the latter. Sometimes Hannah's not ready to know the answer to the questions she asks, but yesterday, I think she was.

So, asked her, "Hannah, have you ever heard the word abortion?" As the words came out of my mouth, I was shocked by the immediate sadness that overtook me. Maybe it's because I carried her inside of me and helped give her life, maybe it's because I knew that what I was about to tell her would be very difficult for her to understand or would change the way she looks at the world. For whatever reason the sadness was overwhelming to me. How do you explain to a child the depravity of such an act? As simply as I could, with as much composure as possible, and in as G-rated language as possible, I explained to my 5 year old daughter the horror of abortion. She asked me why people do such a thing, how they do it, what happens to the babies and more. It was a very difficult conversation, but one that I want her to have with me and not with someone else later on down the road.

The questions that fell from her mouth are the same ones that many of us adults ask as well. "Mommy, that's so mean. Why can't they give the baby to someone else?" To her, it just didn't make any sense, and really, it doesn't, unless you understand and believe in the innate sinfulness of man.

Moments like this hit parents out-of-the blue, usually when you feel least prepared. No one tells you that kids ask the most difficult and simple questions with such an abundance of ignorance as to the depth of the depravity of man. No one tells you that you must be prepared for these kinds of moments...you just have to be on your toes all the time.

Thank you Lord for your grace to us in showing us the Truth and please help our little ones to see the very same thing. Lord, please protect the lives of the unborn.

...And Then it was Winter

We woke up this morning to one of the most beautiful and cold things. The picture above should make it clear. Two things came to mind when I saw the scene above. The first was, "The heavens declare the glory of God." If these mountains were made for me they are way to big and beautiful, but if they are for God they could not be big enough.

The second thought was, "What happened to fall?" Right now there snow is only on the mountain tops, but we have two little kids who are hoping it gets much closer. When Malachi saw the snow he asked if he could go up there.

An Interview with Hannah

We thought it might be interesting to give you a glimpse into Hannah's perspective on this new phase in her life. First, we'll let her answer a few questions for you and then we have a couple of 'Hannah moments' we'd like to share.

What are your favorite things about living in France?

I like that I have nice friends who live in the apartment building with me and I like my class at school. I think it's neat to sleep in a bunk bed with Malachi.

What is school like?

Something that I really like about my school is that we have a library (in the class). We have neat toys at school like toy tools and stuff to play house- a baby room, a kitchen room. My teacher is nice because she tries to keep me comfortable and help me know what's happening in class.

What new foods do you eat here?

I like the chocolate cookies that we get at la boulangerie (bakery). Sometimes we walk there and get treats. Mommy and Daddy try new breads when we go. I like it when we eat taco salad at home with beans in it. There are a lot of new yogurts here, like the ones my friend Hayden (another kid whose parents are students here at CEF) brought to class.

What does it look like outside in Albertville?

Right now there's snow on the mountaintops and trees on the mountain. I like when it's sunny here and I get to go outside and ride my bike. The roads are different because they have bike lanes and places for people to walk.

Now, a couple of glimpses into Hannah's life:

Last week when she was making a card for a friend's birthday, Eric thought it would be fun to spell happy birthday for her using the French alphabet (same as English, but with different names/sounds). To our surprise, as Eric spelled the words, she wrote them down correctly. It was shocking, to say the least.

A couple of nights ago, Hannah woke up early in the morning after having a nightmare. I asked her what happened in the dream and she said something about Dora coming out of the television with something scary. So, I suggested she think on something good, like Dora going on an adventure somewhere exciting, like Six Flags. Hannah replied, "No, Mama. I think I'll think about Dora going to the Eiffel Tower." What in the world.