Paris with Preschoolers

Just got back from Paris a few hours ago- and we had as much fun as you can have with 2 children in tow. I mistakenly cursed us by saying this trip will be much easier than my post college backpack trip. Like lugging a backpack is harder than dragging a 4 and 2 year old around the metro with bags:) Here are the hi's and lows of the trip to Paris and EuroDisney.

Highs

1. The French in general- we found them very helpful- lifting strollers- giving directions, recommending restaurants-no comment if this is this is the after effect of the Brits
2. The weather held up for us- we were ready for rain but it never came down a lot (we might be use to England's monsoons)
3. CJ and Casey were troopers- we had eurotains, regular trains, and subways and they held up thru it all
4. At the Notre Dame Catherdral- CJ said a cute little prayer for his new nephew Danny-" I hope he is warm and cozy"- quickly followed up by "I hope Aunt K feels better so she can go to the store to buy me safari whale for Christmas."
5.French bread, cheese, and wine!

6. Watching CJ and Casey go nuts at the Disney parade- fun times as the kids actually believed all the characters were real.

7 Casey was in heaven as she dressed as Cinderella and then met all the princesses- Seriously Chris and I are going to be hard pressed to find something that impresses her after that Princess dinner.

Lows

1-subways with kids and bags- elevators broken at metro stations lugging stroller and bags up and down. City parents I now feel your pain- its darn hard work

2-Chris and I mistakenly thought our high school french would help us order (NOT)- we both ordered andouilette which is tripe which is cattle stomach made into sausages. Chris attempted to eat it (he could be on fear factor)- one whiff and I almost hurled. I tried to scam some food off the kids but they were having none of it. But I had wine and bread :)

3-Having to ride roller coaster by yourself- Space mountain is fun but I felt like a loser going on by myself. (chris was with the kids)

4-The day of our departure from the Paris train station we were greeted by the French military and police with machine guns walking around the train station. CJ thought it was cool but my mind was to terrorism plots:(

5-Chris being on his blackberry and me not checking my iphone in fear of ringing up a huge bill (I am addicted)

6- The kids didn't thing It's a small world was that cool- (I loved that ride growing up)- they were all about Buzz, Peter Pan's Flight, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

7- Parisian teenagers- the 13 yr olds who were sometimes accompanied by their parents were full on making out in line for rides. ( R rated stuff-) and they acted like no big deal. Chris and I were covering CJ and Casey eyes.

My new nephew

Daniel James arrived in Dallas last night via an emergency c section. My sister and son are doing well and we are thrilled to have a new nephew. I want christmas break to start tomorrow so I can get my hands on this little man. He is going to be covered in kisses and Burberry baby very soon!

A little sunshine

Well CJ was sick on monday from school- poor little guy went to school for 15 min and then came home. He didn't look well in the morning but when I mentioned staying home he got stressed out that he would miss phonics and get behind (think we have an ulcer patient on our hands)-

So he came home and we had some fun before Casey got home- we went to the bookstore and bought some books and I got him a juice from starbucks (latte por moi) . I pushed him in the stroller and we had fun just the two of us. Then I let him lay on the couch with 7 up and watch some awful Jolly Phonics dvd so he felt like he wasn't behind (ridiculous that you can think you are behind in preschool). Still perturbed that the Brits call Z- zed just plain wacked.

Anyway after I had been pitying myself about friends, life in England in general; I had 2 other moms from nursery school (call or text) to let me know they could pick up casey and take care of her in the afternoon if need be. Always nice to have people willingly help you out. Then when I went to pick her up- one of the mom's(knowing that we came from warm TX) brought some warm clothes for Casey to wear on off days that her daughter outgrew.( she even noted she removed all blue clothes as everyone from that nursery school has Casey's high pitch scream ingrained in their minds "I hate blue tracksuit.") I promise to have a celebratory bonfire when the jumpsuit ceases to be in effect in 2010.

random things that bother me-(can't all be sunshine)

1- having to watch SNL clips on You tube
2- Chris took my Tom Tom for his trip and I literally can't drive without it- even Casey asked where is Tom Tom as I have it in on all the time.
3-Carved pumpkins have been tossed because it bloody rains all the time so they were covered in mold within a day.
4-diet coke still tastes awful here- my sister will love it-I might actually drink diet pepsi here.
5-pay to park your car at the park (the principle in itself annoys me)
6-the only volunteers I have gotten for the christmas fair are people that already have a lot on their plates. (e.g one women commutes an hour each way to work and she volunteered her and her husband and then said she could help out Friday night although not until 8pm (when she gets home from work)- wish everyone else would follow her lead)

D&G

Be prepared for Doom & Gloom this week- Chris is out of town for most of the week and for some reason I am pretty awful at staying at night in any house by myself. England no different then MI, Chicago, or Texas- I pretty much have my usual game plan

1) stay up way too late
2)have all lights on
3) try not to watch CSI, Law and Order, but it never fails I will be watching MTV and a horror movie trailer freaks me out. So pretty much I am stuck watching HGTV or the Food channel.
4)sleep with cell phone (they cut the landline first) and house key, (they may try to lock me in my own house), scissors (don't ask- started in chicago when I saw Sydney Bristow go to town on an enemy with scissors)
5)Allow CJ or Casey to sleep in the bed with me. (who am I kidding I will carry one of them into my room if need be)
6) Usually I have a friend call in the morning to check if I am alive so if I don't answer she can help CJ get cereal (etc). I have not found that person yet in England-usually need some just as neurotic as me . So, Chris is on duty for morning check calls. He knows better than to complain.
7) wake up grumpy due to lack of sleep- which I am sure will hamper school drop off.

Other news- Chris may have wanted to kill me on Sat. I had a family picture scheduled at 10 am- (yes the kids are in tartan plaid for the holidays)- ends up our Tom Tom ( stat nav) takes us on a wild ride through dirt roads where the only vehicles encountered were horses and hunting dogs. So 45 min later with a nauseated car load of kids (okay just CJ and Casey) -we arrive there. The photographer was fine - he seemed mildly annoyed I didn't do the casual approach (He mentioned a zillion times that a plain shirt and jeans photograph best; like I even considered doing that). Chris let him know that there was no way that Casey Jane was wearing anything other than a dress after blue tracksuit week. Still amazed about photographers - the good ones get kids to act natural and get good photos. He had - Chris and I step out ( we volunteered before he asked!)- and said he got some beautiful shots- we shall see!

The vacation is over and photos of my purses

Everytime I think we are getting settled- I realize we are not-
No real news- CJ keeps asking philospohical questions that keep me up at night wondering if this will be a good memory or a bad one in CJ and Casey's childhood. For instance- "Mom- things are weird here in England- "What do you mean?" (trying to keep an open dialogue instead of jumping in with darn straight kiddo this place is whacked)-"I had more fun in Frisco- school's a lot of work." I am a rule follower but man this school is giving the kids 45 min of homework a night plus recording every book they read- we are both exhausted. So we skipped homework last night and watched Wonderpets and drank hot chocolate to keep our sanity. Thank God- fall break is one week away. So Chris heads home late last night- and I let him know the vacation is over and I want to go Home. Of course- Chris tries to play mr positive about all the trips and sights we will see- and that if we headed back to TX we can't live in our house because we have renters (etc)- All very useful information but I was having none of it. I did buy another purse to cheer me up yesterday. (instead of postcards I am collecting handbags:) (Burberry is top pix and London Osprey is bottom pix)

We have a stay at home dad and his son coming for a playdate this afternoon. Should be interesting- so funny at these afternoon playdates you are expected to serve dinner to the children. Kind of awkward to me to host and cook dinner at the same time but I suppose nuking fish sticks or jacket (baked) potatoes doesn't really qualify as cooking to me.

Ready for Fall and Rain

I am loving Casey's pigtails- we spend a good 10 min in the morning doing hair (hers not mine)-

CJ won "Star of the Week" last Friday and was given an award at the school Assembly. This was quickly followed by a short parent /teacher conference after he broke a classmates hairclip and pulled her hair. His teacher made a huge ordeal over the broken hairclip (it was a piece of junk)- but we had CJ write a letter of apology and the made in China barrette has been replaced:)

We like to keep it interesting at the Tebben household! Casey Jane has a new best friend Georgie (from school) who she likes to pretend to call daily.

Overserved

Sat- started off rocky- I forced the family into wearing autumn colors for the pumpkin patch. Chris was complaining from the get go. Get to the farm and we ask where the pumpkins are they said they don't start selling them until Oct 26- so no pumpkins but at least I got some hay bale shots and the kids ran around. I was in such photographer mode- I dropped my camera on the cement. It's totally broken- Chris was telling me to find a canon repair shop and I just nodded my head and ordered the same model off the walmart website here, (seriously no point in driving 20 miles to find out the repair is more than camera-gone down that road before so my dear husband will be none the wiser when the same camera magically appears)

Once babysitter arrived -we caught the train to the city and head to a tapas restaurant to meet my college friend (pat) and a friend of friend (elizabeth). Started getting nervous that this was a disaster- had an awesome margarita which helped my nerves subside. Pat arrives first- funny as ever still looks like he did in college. Chris and I literally crack up every time we are with him because he is so much like us (he gets all of our references and talks as much as I do). Elizabeth arrives next- super cute , confident, outgoing girl. She was so at ease with our conversational topics (fountain drinks, ND football, the Hills, Sydney Bristow,where to travel to, Palin/Tina Fey, Obama sneaking ciggies). So we had a great time- lots of sangria (3-4 pitchers can't remember details). Not sure if it was a love connection but I will definitely hang out with Elizabeth and she gave us great tips on where to travel to (she's an analyst for a hotel benchmark company). Pat seemed glad to have other contacts in the city and not freaking out they he will be living here as of Nov. Train ride home uneventful besides me getting that queasy feeling that 2 margaritas and 3 glasses of sangria coupled with calamari and olives can give you:)

Babysitter with the best resume I have seen

The weather is so fickle here- it is freezing in the morning and then by afternoon short sleeve shirt. Went for a playdate this morning- where the other child shrieked and threw tantrums most of time (all I could say was I 've been there)- Have a new sitter coming on Sat just quickly asked her about her childcare experience- She's a montessori preschool teacher, concurrently getting her masters in child psychology and has been a nanny for 10 years. Her resume was 2 pages and she has every certification you can imagine. She more qualified than me to parent:) Got her number from one of the mom's from school who is a partner at one of the big accounting firms. She enquired if I ever wanted to go back to accounting- I had to laugh that a 3rd try at being a CPA was not in the cards for me.

Sat night we are headed to the city where we are meeting 2 americans for dinner. One a friend (guy) from college the other a girl ( I have never met) but is a friend of a friend. I think they are both single so perhaps my matchmaking skills may work. Chris thinks it spells disaster we shall see. I will update the blog later

Random annoying things

1- We have one tv which we thought would not be a major deal but it has turned a little crazy- whenever I get up Chris grabs the remote and turns it to baseball (love baseball games live hate them on tv)-I was so petty last night I took the remote with me to the bathroom:)

2-Blue tracksuit- it annoys me to know I have another 22 months of battles with this uniform

3-CJ started the british talk- "I have to tidy my room"- " I have to go to the toilet"- good news his girlfriend has started using the american version.

4-No baggers at the grocery store- super annoying no drive thru starbucks- saving money but need my caffeine; no ice in drinks and their diet coke formula is so off

5-I am getting very very pale-

6-everyone backs into parking spaces at the school- which I can't do

7-Nursery worker at the gym letting me know that Casey Jane has a very loud scream. (like I haven't heard it over the last 2 3/4 years)

8- No awesome mani/pedi place (still looking)

9- No sushi in our village, No great thai in our village, but plenty of indian food (I keep picking the wrong things)

First Love

Well- it started we first had the tears on Wed that Molly picked Alex as a dance partner in dance class - But it seems Molly has decided she is "in love" with CJ (she's a sassy little 5 year old another stronghold on calling him Christopher as well). It all started when we had a playdate and these 2 classmates played for 2 hours outside with safari animals lining them up, hiding them, and pretending to be in Africa. Well- all we heard about was Molly this and Molly that and since her mother is the sweetest person I have met at the school- I was fine with it. Well we had another over the top 5 year old bday party this weekend- where besides the bouncy castle they had a dance floor with a disco ball for dancing. Well they had a dance contest (to high school musical music) and our little guy danced his way to winning it (He gets his moves from his mama)- Then they started to play slow songs and Molly and CJ take the dance floor and start doing the 8th grade sway side by side dance. Then CJ runs up to me and says I have a secret Molly and I are getting married. It was pretty funny stuff. Of course I didn't have my camera to witness this slow dance:)


Sunday just got better in England- we have season 4 of the Hills (we hate Lo- she's so not needed on the show)- and we are loving the new show my mastermind JJ Abrams (LOST, Felicity,ALIAS)- Fringe- we stayed up past midnight watching this show. Other news- Chris drove the kids to school this morning and Casey Jane was of course perfect putting her uniform on and going to the teachers. Lastly, I received my absentee ballot from TX- and poor Chris did not apply in time:( I say that jokingly because I sent him the website and said you need to fill out the form online and he never did. Oh well his vote would have cancelled mine so c'est la vie !

7 Random Things About Me

1- I love trashy magazines, MTV and pretty much anything with a target audience of 14
2- My husband and I both love slurpees (me cherry, he coke)
3-I love board games but hate losing (love game shows too)
4-I love brother,sister smocked outfits, (pretty much anything at Strasburg) and plan out my christmas card in Oct (sad but true)
5-Don't really like driving (especially in England), more night than morning person, have been known to not be recognized since I look completely different M-F (track pants and pony tail) vs a sat night (heels and flat ironed hair).
6- Some of my nicknames- Nini (sister), Moe (middle school), Glitter Girl (college and beyond), Mimi (TX)
7-my fave number is 7 (soccer number)- I attended 3 NKOTB concerts back in the day -I will try to save my children from the hair don'ts I had ! (perm and sun in- need and I say more)

Yeah!!!!

Our son is being called CJ!!! Chris and I are toasting with a glass of wine (red because its 50 degrees and freezing) to our victory. We are craving Pei Wei in such a major way but settled for Indian take away (still have no idea what to order)- so here's to small victories in life. BTW I swear the British think we are crazy with initial names but we all can't be named Jude or George or Simon or William:)

School Drama for a 4 1/2 year old-might homeschool

Nothing to really to blog about- sent Chris to the school meeting since I had enough of the PTA and school drama for the week. Chris approached the teacher at the end to let her know that we would really like our son to be called CJ- we were fine with him writing his name Christopher and nameplates and what not but we call him CJ and want his friends to as well. As usual - it seems it went in one ear and out the other. I miss the over active American parents- I am helping to chair the school's christmas bazaar and I sent an email for volunteers to CJ's classmates (34)- got 2 positive responses- makes me so irritated that people think they don't have to volunteer just because they pay for the school. Find it mildly amusing that I am in charge of refreshments for which we are not doing mince pies or sausages rolls-leave an American to do all the work and you are going to get stuff that I would eat. (can you tell a rebellion is starting!)

Lastly- I know I touched base with many of you letting you know that Casey's uniform was still dramatic. ( On wed she took her pants off in the parking lot and we drove home with her in ariel underwear.) Well tomorrow is mufti day at the school- they get to wear jeans and whatever shirts she wants. (so we have pink sweater, a necklace, pink fuzzy crocs, and floral jeans) laid out tomorrow. She is becoming quite the poet; "Mom- Blue makes me sad."


Lastly as always god helps me find the perfect friends- a new Zealand girl who is super sweet and utterly confused with all the British formality as well -spotted my fave wine (Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc- it is sold out in the states) and bought a few bottles for me!


So looking forward to the dropoff tomorrow and dealing with the Christopher/CJ name game. NOT! Think I might add quesdillas to the christmas bazaar menu:)