Cleaning House

Tomorrow at this time, movers will be here. And over the next 3 or 4 days all our stuff will be packed into boxes and then big wooden crates to be put on a ship for their journey to the New World. We fare slightly better than our belongings and we get to travel by air in a few weeks, after we've cleaned our empty house and severed Ben's ties with the Army. Needless to say, it's a busy time for us.

So just a glimpse into life in the Morrison household lately...

Ben
Ben's last day of work was Friday, October 9. Yay! He was happy to say, "See you later, suckers!" and took in a magnificent cake on his last day with the words "I Quit" written in frosting. The following week, his first week of "freedom" and free time to take care of the million little details involved in getting out of here, he got sick. Really sick. In bed, quarantined to our guest room, feeling like he was going to die for daaaaays sick. He didn't get much checked off his to-do list. He has recovered, thankfully, and is working his keester off making up for lost time. Cleaning the garage, tying up loose ends, being an organizational superstar.

Ellen
Well, I spent last week taking care of Wes, taking care of Ben, keeping the house clean and everyone happy while also keeping Wes and I as far as possible from Ben because we did NOT want to catch whatever he had. Seriously. I also have been on a mission to use up baking supplies so they don't go to waste and I have baked a couple loaves of bread, a bajillion rolls, two batches of granola bars, and a batch of Ben's favorite cookies. If there is a carbohydrate shortage, we're all set. And in my spare time (hahahahahaha) I've been making soups and freezing them for easy healthy meals once our kitchen in packed up and I can't cook. Tada! This week my mission is keeping Wes out of the house as much as possible while the movers are here. Wish me luck!

Wesley
Everyone's favorite shorty has been up to everything. Constantly. Moving. Climbing. Babbling. Playing. Reading. (Okay, looking at pictures. But whatever. I'm pretty sure he can read. He's a genius baby.) And moving some more.
He has been starting to talk more and more. His vocabulary now includes: Mama, Da, doggy, bye bye, night night, Papa, teeth, cheese, moo and woof. Very important things, obviously.
His current favorite activities: Taking walks to go visit cows, ponies, sheep (all of which he gleefully calls "doggy!"). Vacuuming. Riding his tractor. Sitting on Mama's tummy when she tries to do crunches, poking her belly button and bouncing up and down on the Mama Pony. Reading books, lots of books, especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Pat The Bunny. Listening to music and dancing (he's a big fan of Beyoncé music videos. He's going to be a star! I'm sure of it! Or at least a back up dancer!) Playing with his little buddies at play group - riding and/or pulling the wagon, playing with balls, stealing toys, running around and climbing things. Talking on the phone.

And a few pictures, because he's a cutie patootie:




That's all for now, folks. Wish us luck with the big move and hopefully I'll post again before we leave the Netherlands. If I haven't run away to Starbucks to drink tea and take a nap and hide from responsibility, that is.

And one more photo, special from Wesley:


Bye!

Au revoir

I'm feeling achy. It's not the swine flu, I'm pretty sure. I think it's the "I'm never going to get back to Paris, wah wah wah" flu. Symptoms include moping around sighing, boohooing over Paris photos, and asking for one more day, one more croissant, one more walk around Montmartre.

Earlier this week, the day finally came that we had to say goodbye to Paris and we don't know when we'll get to go back. During our 3 years in Europe we have been to Paris so many times that we really did lose count. And last Saturday Ben and I packed up a very fancy rental car, gave Wes a big hug, and left him with his Papà when we took off for our farewell tour of our very favorite place in the world. (You can see what went on back in Eygelshoven on Papà's blog).

The next few days were completely, totally perfect. Seriously. I would not joke about zee Paris.

We did all our favorite things one more time, visiting our favorite stores, our favorite restaurants (Le Bar à Soupes!), walking through familiar neighborhoods, spending hours wandering grocery store aisles. Ahhhh, Pareeeee.

We also explored some new places, hit a couple restaurants I had been wanting to try (like Breizh Café - yum!) and finally made it to the Rodin museum, which was definitely worth visiting, and finally bought a painting from and artist in the touristy-kitschy-French-artistey Place du Tertre.

Oh and we ate a lot of gelato and baguettes. And a few croissants. And cheeeeeese crepes! And chocolates. Don't judge us. We had to eat enough to last us a while.

A few highlights in photos:

Picnic dinner on the Seine, at our favorite quiet spot with Notre Dame in the background





Breakfast at Sacre Coeur


The Eiffel at night





Enjoying time in our apartment on our anniversary





The Rodin museum




A farewell brunch at our favorite boulangerie



We also spent the morning of our anniversary taking some of our annual portraits for our anniversary album





We'll go back someday, I know, because we have to. Home is where the heart is, and that means wherever Ben and Wes are, I will be. And we'll be happy whether we're here or there or wherever. But a tiny piece of my heart will always be in Paris.