Ten on Tuesday

I enjoy reading Ten on Tuesday each week on my friend Sonja's blog, so I thought I'd try one too...

1. This evening I am feeling particularly blessed that many of our closest friends have kids older than ours and are so willing to share wisdom, experiences and encouragement with us as we go through the ups and downs of raising children in today's world.

2. Tomorrow will be 1 week from take-off for Camille, Danika and I as we travel to my hometown in Washington State to visit family and friends. I am hoping for a smooth flights (both literally as in no turbulence and emotionally as in no crying babies under my care).

3. Soon after the girls and I get home from Seattle, our school-aged kids will have spring break. Following that, Pierre will be return to work -marking the end of his 9 months off on parental (paternity) leave. The little girls and I will certainly miss having him around during the day. It was an unbelievable opportunity for our family and it went by so fast.

4. After a great outdoor soccer season last summer, Christian chose indoor soccer for his winter sport and has taken off in skill level. It has been a blast to watch, being a soccer fanatic myself since back in the day. There have been 2 select teams that train for out of town tournaments and he has played with passion and made both. I can't say enough about the coaches and boys involved...an amazing group for my son to be a part of. We look forward to a 2 night trip with the team in March.

5. Our kids made a switch in schools in November, mainly due to a change in busing service to our neighborhood. They are in grades 5, 4 and 1 and I have to say that all 3 have adjusted beautifully, both socially and academically. They came off the bus smiling that very first day and really haven't looked back. Kids are so resilient!

6. Well, the patching is already starting help Camille's eyes. Her first appointment since starting with the glasses and patch brought improved results. We have ordered up some new patches with fun patterns that are stick on, but not supposed to hurt your skin...so we will see how that goes. There won't be any cheating with these ones!

7. Recently I too had an eye exam after an embarrassing number of years without one. To my surprise, I was told I also needed glasses. I have astigmatism, was seeing at 20/40 and my prescription was twice as bad as the Dr.'s own (even he wears glasses). I believe in natural punishments and I admit that as a kid I thought my vision was fine and yet wanted glasses, so I always fudged the results of vision tests...and never did get glasses. Funny part being that you are born with astigmatism, so had I been honest, I likely would have gotten the glasses I desired then...AND been able to see better than I thought possible.

8. I have known 3 sweet ladies who have passed away since November. Rolande, Lucy and Sue. All made an impact on my life at different stages. Three irreplaceable people who will be missed. Each was 65 or above and led fulfilling lives. I realize The Lord called them home, but it has still been sad to see them go. I like the other part of the circle of life so much better. I sure hope to hear about some births soon.

9. Pierre and I have been enjoying the best dinner parties each month with good friends. We have a wonderful babysitter who not only gets four kids to sleep, but does dishes and tidying?! Jackpot!! So far we've had Caribbean, Thai and French-Canadian cuisines. There are 8 couples on average and each is responsible for one item. Whoever hosts makes the main dish. People have gone all out and these have been gourmet, five-course meals. More importantly, the visiting has been 5 star too!

10. We were so fed-up with our satellite provider for their fraudulent ways that we finally cancelled. The last straw was the $400 bill they emailed to us after charging our card- hoping we wouldn't notice- for 1 month's service. We had to work hard for a refund and even then were told it would be 6 wks. before we received it. We don't watch a lot of tv, but when we feel like it, we stream in movies/shows from Netflix for $7.95/month, use You Tube, and even found that some channels have their shows available in HD online. 3 months later: we don't miss cable one bit! There was so much junk on there that was not at all family friendly and the commercials were totally out of hand. No regrets.