Snow days

We've had two snow days in as many weeks, and boy do we have snow here in Montreal!

On our first snow day, December 3, the daycare called us early to inform us that they were not opening. The radio news declared that all schools on the island of Montreal were closed. And it snowed and snowed all day long. The kids stayed home, Derek took the day off from doing work, and we all prepared for a fun day ahead. One of Solanne's friends from the daycare came to stay with us along with her brother while their mom had to make her way in to McGill, where there were still classes going on (and final papers to hand in!). So for a while, we had four kids in our house.

Here is Maïa, Solanne, and Emme having a grand old time. Emme's brother, who is nearly six, kept himself occupied playing with trains, away from the girls.




Later, our friends Arlene and Noah came by for a short visit. Noah is seen here, with his dad, Glenn, after digging out of the second blizzard (thanks for the pics, Glenn!).






And here are our girls playing in our backyard, after the first snow fall.





If these pictures give you a sense of déjà-vu, don't be alarmed; they likely remind you of pics I posted in December 2005.

Now, if you're in warmer climes, where there is less snow, do not idealise living in this beautiful stuff too much. Our city was crippled by the storm last time around, and it took a while for the snow removal crews to get to the most important arteries (uh, why were some side streets completely cleared before a very busy section of Sherbrooke ever saw a snow-removal truck??). Things are not much better this time around (read more about it here). And, on a more personal note, our parking is behind our building and is accessed by a long, narrow driveway. Every winter, we and our neighbours, who depend on this driveway, hire a plow to move the snow aside. We haven't seen them since the last snow fall. So last night, Derek and four of our other neighbours dug out over 45 cm of snow in our backyard and driveway.

I'm gonna miss this disorganised, snowy city...

Visiting Rubby & Susan

Our dear friends from Ottawa (or just outside of Ottawa), Rubby & Susan, invited us for their annual Christmas crafting fun. Since they are very crafty people, and since I cannot pass up Rubby's cooking, we happily agreed to go.

You can see all the fun here.

And now, Rubby, Susan and their crew have "made it onto the blog"–and we've made it onto their website!

Seven random things: Derek

In response to massive public demand, here are seven exciting things about Derek:

1) Derek really likes languages. At various times he has studied (besides English and French) Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Arabic, Hebrew, German, Russian, Classical Chinese, Latin, Sanskrit, Koine Greek, Old English, and Baby Sign Language. He can also say hello to you in Amharic, Dutch, Farsi, Twi, Polish, Japanese, Somali, Mandarin, Turkish, and Inuktitut.

2) He can touch his nose with his tongue.

3) Derek is currently trying to learn how to sing in Gregorian chant.

4) He can make a paper crane, with wings that flap when the tail is pulled, out of a 1 centimetre square of paper.

5) He used to be ticklish, but after marrying Cristina he taught himself not to be ticklish. In a surprising twist of fate, Cristina used not to be ticklish, but after marrying Derek has become ticklish. Speculations abound as to the explanation behind this strange development.

6) In high school, Derek had long hair and wore goth makeup. His favourite shade of eye shadow was silver-blue.

7) Derek has a secret identity, but he can’t tell you what it is because then it wouldn’t be a secret.

Seven random things: Solanne

1) Solanne can wink. Not one of those fake preschooler winks. It's the real deal, and she can do it with her right eye and her left eye, independently.

2) She has frightening (for me and Derek) night terrors, yet she never remembers them in the morning. She'll wake up screaming, usually because of some nightmare she's having, often involving Maïa taking something from her. It can take up to an hour to calm her down. Luckily, it usually only takes five or ten minutes.

3) Solanne loves dolls. Most children have at least a passing interest in dolls and parenting roles, but Solanne is quasi-obsessed. If it were up to her, she would have a doll under her arm every moment of the day. She also likes to say I'm a good momma.

4) She likes to make up stories and lyrics to her own songs. And we are not allowed to interrupt. Not even to comment on how interesting the story is. Ever.

5) She loves to dance and hates it when she sees someone watching her.

6) "I love you soooo much" is her favourite sentence this week.

7) Solanne used to love food but now it's a fight to get her to eat: she's officially a preschooler.