Happy Memorial Day

I've found that lately we lose sight of what our holiday's really mean.  So today, we are reflecting on what Memorial Day stands for.  We remember those, including our many family members, who have fought for our freedoms we hold dear.  We remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice doing so.   And we salute those who still fight to keep us safe.  Happy Memorial Day.

39 Things I (Will) Miss About Montreal

Today while driving home from dropping Arabella off at school and after receiving a text message from a friend there, it started to hit me.  I miss Montreal.  After all Max was born there, so we will be forever tied to Montreal and Quebec.  It wasn't an easy transition when we moved there, after all it was during a snowy December that we moved in, but once we found our groove it was a really good thing.  I'd still be there if it was my choice, but alas, we are a slave to the corporation known as Caterpillar.  And when they say jump, Jay says how high and he (we) like that he is in the field and that has its own set of sacrifices but we would rather have that instead of him being stuck behind some desk in Peoria, Illinois.  I loved the expat life and if they came to us and asked us to move overseas again, I know we would both jump at the opportunity.  It has some drawbacks but there are mostly positives to living the expatriate life and we were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to live in Montreal.

So as part of my healing and trying to move forward, I wanted to put down 39 things that I miss, or will miss about Montreal.  Why 39?  One for each month we lived there.  (Although, there are more than 39 things I (will) miss.)  They are not in any particular order but rather just as they come to mind...

1.  A Tim Horton's on every corner

2.  Hockey and it being like a religion

3.  Magic Circle Preschool

4.  My "Hot Hudson Moms" and our support system

5.  Zig Zag Zoo

6.  The in-store made jam at Metro

7.  Thai Express

8.  Our neighborhood and the mature trees

9.  Emily, the best and most amazing babysitter in the world

10.  The daily Lululemon fashion show at our pool in the Summer

11.  Pointe Claire swim lessons

12.  The Lakeshore

13.  Bram and his phone calls or better yet his impromptu visits

14.  The other Mom's at Magic Circle

15.  Canada's colorful and pretty money

16.  Loonies and Toonies

17.  June's Canada Day and Corn Roast parties

18.  Laura and her understanding of what it is like to have a preemie and all the worry that goes along with it

19.  Snow, snow and more snow

20.  Living close enough to hear the trains on the tracks

21.  Being close to the airport

22.  Marche Adonis

23.  Premiere Moisson

24.  Montreal traffic...I know sounds crazy

25.  Crepes

26.  Truly authentic French Macarons

27.  Having Arabella learn 2 languages from such a young age

28.  The Wolf gas stove in our kitchen

29.  Seeing signage and newspapers in French and English

30.  D&B's  a/k/a Ditch & Bitch nights with my girls

31.  Our neighbors and knowing that if I/we needed anything they would be there

32.  The culture and constant opportunities to get immersed in it

33.  A simple and less complicated way of life

34.  Tremblant

35.  Monthly cross border shopping trips

36.  Monkey Bar Gym

37.  Butterflies Go Free

38.  Poutine

39.  True changing of seasons

Wow...as easy as it sounded to do, that was so very hard and emotionally draining.

Seaweed Surprise

This past weekend, I opened a box of dried seaweed that we had moved from Montreal.  The movers sealed the box with packing tape and I just thought the only thing inside was the dried seaweed...boy was I wrong.  Just another case of not knowing where they are going to put things!

At least it was all food!

Green Thumb

Arabella loves to garden and we picked up a few plants last weekend.  We took advantage of a warm sunny afternoon to get them planted.  They are growing great and Max did a good job supervising!  Next up are some veggie plants!

Ft. Mill Strawberry Festival

We went to the Ft. Mill Strawberry Festival a few weekends ago.  We decided we needed a day out of the house and away from boxes so we met my friend Jennifer and her son, Shawn, (the only people we know here) at the festival for an afternoon of fun.  I was expecting more strawberry centered things, but it was really just a normal American fair/carnival.  Arabella had fun on a few rides, the lines were pretty long and she didn't like to wait.  She and Jay pretty much ate their way through the festival.  I have no idea how they did it, but they did.  I saved myself for the strawberry shortcake.  It was very yummy.  We had a fun afternoon and the only thing we went home with were 2 quarts of delicious, fresh from the field strawberries!

 Yup...we are so not in Montreal anymore!!

I LOVE the look on her face...the best thing she had to eat all day...yummy fresh from the field strawberry!

Happy Teether

Max has been teething and most days he is pretty happy.  He has moments where he is pretty fussy and I feel so bad for him.  Even Arabella tries to console him, but he still fusses on.  Most of the time he looks like this a happy, drooling mess.  I need to remember to keep bibs on him...

Max is 4 Months Old

Where is the time going???  4 months already?!?!?!

Strawberry Picking

It is strawberry season in the South.  I guess that is one good thing about living here, if we were still in Montreal, we would be waiting until mid-June for local berries.  And they local berries are so delicious.  The Hunter Farm is not far from us and they had a sign up saying "Strawberry Pick-Ur-Own...Coming Soon" for what seemed like weeks.  Each time we would drive by, Arabella would ask what the sign said and every time I would have to tell her soon.  Well, on May 1st, the day finally came when they were open.  We were so excited.  We both love strawberries and I promised her that after I picked her up at school we would stop and pick some.  The weather was overcast, which was perfect for us, not too hot and the fields only had one other mom and her son in it.  We had the pick of the patch.  Arabella was so excited to hunt for yummy red berries and we filled up a bucket in no time.  The berries were so sweet and juicy.  We couldn't wait to get home to eat them.  It was a great afternoon and Max even had a good time, no fussing and just took the whole scene in. 

My Loves

Special Mail

Arabella loves to get the mail.  She gets so excited when there is something in it for her.  And she received a very special piece of mail from one of her very best friends in Montreal, Cameron D.  She was so excited when she opened it, it so sweet.  As soon as she took it out of the envelope, she gave it a huge hug.  I had tears in my eyes.  The poor things misses her friends so much.  But this little gesture was such a bright spot for her.  Thank you Cam.

Max, Max & More Max

I can't believe how big he is getting and what a little personality he has.  As soon as he sees me he lights up in a smile.  And forget about Arabella, as soon as he hears her voice, he is looking all over for her, he watches her every move and babbles to her like it is going out of style.  And Arabella returns the favor and is so proud of her baby brother.  I just love the bond and love between the two of them. 

What is it With Kids & Boxes??

We ordered new patio furniture (finally...I have only been waiting 6 years for it) and when Jay put it together, Arabella had to have the box.  She colored it and made it into an animal house.  She had fun playing in it and it held her attention for awhile.  In the meantime, all her regular toys were hanging out upstairs waiting for her return.

The BIG Purge

One of the things I accomplished that I feel great about is purging my clothes.  It has really been years...since before we moved to Montreal...that I have done a purge on this level.  It helped that I had Lori here to say yeah or nay to items and to tell me that I was never going to wear something again.  This was the couch before the purge...

And many hours later this is what it looked like...

The purge included a huge box of shoes and accessories and a garment box full of suits and coats.

Now I hope I can make some money off these clothes at our garage sale or the consignment store!

Cool Kids

Auntie Lori To The Rescue

Auntie Lori saved the day!  If it wasn't for her, our house wouldn't be in as good shape as it is now.  It is hard to empty and unpack boxes with a 4 month old and a 4 year old, add to the all the traveling that Jay has had to do and there is no way I could have done it without her.  I know it sounds silly, but Max eats every 2 hours still and then I have to take and pick Arabella up at school, make meals, etc.  I was making very slow progress but with an extra set of hands, we made a ton of progress!  And I (actually we) are so very thankful for her help!!  She really cracked the whip and our house was in pretty good shape when she left.

We had fun while unpacking too.  It is always interesting to see how the movers pack things. 

Take this box for instance labeled stemware...

 This was what was inside...

 Or this one....

We also had a chance to enjoy a (few) glasses of wine in the evening when we had productive days.  Please ignore the lawn chairs in the living room...our new couch had not been delivered yet!

I know I enjoyed having Auntie Lori here to help out and Arabella and Max did too!  Thanks for all your help and hard work!! 

Dragonfly On Our Doorstep

We found a dragonfly on our doorstep one afternoon.  Arabella was very excited to hold him.  He stayed on her finger for a bit, then flew off.  It was a fun find!

A Little Celebration

Once we were a little settled and we found the champagne, Jay and I toasted to our new house!  Cheers!

                 So delicious, my absolute favorite Champagne!  Thank you Cynthia for introducing me.

Backyard Creatures

Who knew that we were going to have these in our backyard in Charlotte...

I'm still determining how I feel about them...