49th Month

Susanna is now 4 years old!! She had a Halloween Barbie birthday cake (it was her request).

 But, the big news this month—Daddy is being transferred for his job—to Montreal! He will begin his new job there in September, not sure yet when Mommy and the kids will make the final move. Should only be a temporary move, 2-3 years. Lots to do—selling the house, finding a new house and schools. Mixed emotions all around.

 

50th Month

Plans for the big move underway. Looks like Rachael and Liam will attend Kuper Academy for school in Montreal. They didn’t have a spot for Susanna in their preschool, so Mommy is looking for a place for her. Daddy went and found us a house to rent for the time we will be there. It looks like Mommy and the kids will make the move at the end of October, so everyone will start school here in NJ.  But, we did make the decision to pull Liam out of football—we didn’t want him to start and then have to leave before the season was over. He doesn’t seem to be as disappointed about it as Mommy and Daddy.

Susanna has started her school career—Little Friends preschool! It’s hard, though, knowing she won’t be here long. Mommy did find her a preschool in Canada—Orchard House. She will get to learn French, too! Also, we decided not to have her start dance classes, since we will be leaving soon.

 

Daddy left for his new job in Montreal this month—it was very hard to see him leave, but the rest of us will be very busy getting everything else ready while he is gone.

 

52nd Month

Wow, what can be said about the month of October?

The movers came to start packing us up the Sunday before Halloween—Hurricane Sandy hit us the next day. It was two days before they could even get their truck back into the neighborhood. Of course, power went out Monday night, which made the movers’ job even more difficult. Luckily, we didn’t have major damage to the house. They had packed up the kitchen on Sunday, so what little non-perishable food we did have was packed. Thank goodness for Pam Deiss and Norm Glover—they really took care of us during that week. We were supposed to have been packed up and headed out on Wednesday (Halloween) afternoon. It was 4:30 Saturday afternoon when the moving truck finally pulled away from the house. The kids were such troopers during that week—just took everything in stride, even the cold, dark house. We got as far as Maw Maw’s house Saturday night (it was wonderful to be in the land of lights and heat), then made it the rest of the way, crossing the border, on Sunday, November 4. We heard from friends that the power didn’t come back on in our NJ neighborhood until Tuesday evening. Needless to say, we didn’t get to have a Halloween this year.

 

 

53rd Month

And the adjustments begin. We spent the first week living in Daddy’s temporary housing apartment while we got the house ready to live in. It was the middle of the month before Rachael and Liam were able to start school at Kuper Academy. Susanna was able to start a week after we got here. Liam seems to be adjusting extremely well—even the French doesn’t seem to bother him too much. What was really strange for all of us was going to school on Thanksgiving—not being able to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. We did manage to have a turkey dinner that night, though.

Maw Maw and Pots were our first visitors this month. We hope they will be able to come as often as they did in NJ.

 

54th Month

Christmas in Canada!! We had a nice first Christmas here—the kids were very glad to see that Santa tracked us down. They are very much enjoying the snow, too. We were hit by a big storm two days after Christmas. The kids also enjoy having two weeks off for the holidays, too. We made our first trip back to the States to Maw Maw’s house for New Year’s Eve. It was wonderful being “home” again.

 Susanna had a wonderful holiday program at school—it was fun watching her sing in French.

 

55th Month

Cold, cold, cold!! We have realized quickly just how cold and snowy Canada can be. One day, when the kids got out of the car at school, the car thermometer read -20F. Brrr! We are just trying to take it one day at a time, making sure everyone has snowpants, boots, coats, hats, mittens every morning when we walk out the door.

 

56th Month

Ok, even the kids are getting tired of the snow. As soon as it starts to melt, more gets piled on. We are looking forward to two weeks off for Spring Break next month. Mommy and the kids will spend it in the States.

 Susanna might not be “reading” yet, but we can tell she is picking up a few words.

 

Mommy and the kids had a wonderful trip to NY, NJ, and PA for Spring Break this month. We got to Maw Maw’s house on Sunday and spent a couple days getting caught up on doctor’s appointments and shopping for things we can’t find in Canada. Then we went to East Windsor to visit our friends there. We even went to WCB for lunch. On the way from NJ to Manheim, we stopped at the King of Prussia Mall and had lunch with the Pickar family—it was really good to visit with them for a while. Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We went to the Sturgis Pretzel House in Lititz (the oldest pretzel bakery in the US) and learned how to twist pretzels. It was wonderful to be in a place with no snow and warm sun. We came back through NY and spent one last night with Maw Maw before coming back across the border.

 

Grandma Mel came for a visit for Easter this month. It was good to know that the Easter Bunny visits folks in Canada.

 

Mommy and the kids took another trip to the States this month—just a quick weekend trip to Maw Maw’s house. We also went to Ottawa one Saturday—saw the U.S. Embassy and went to the Canadian Aviation Museum—the kids loved it.

 

Our first school year in Canada has ended. Susanna is no longer a preschooler—she will start Kindergarten at Kuper Academy in the fall.

We all took a weekend trip to Vermont this month. Went to an aquarium and to the Cabot Creamery and watched them make cheese. Took the ferry across Lake Champlain to NY to come home.

 Summer is fixing to be busy with trips and camps.

 

5th Birthday Cake