Smallish Update

A little video of Wyatt walking from a couple weeks ago when it was very very new.

1.  So Hazel is gone this whole week with her class to Kandersteg for Landschulwoche, meaning the week where your class gets to go to the mountains.  She was out-of-control excited and it was all she could talk about for the previous two weeks.  I was a very mean mom--on a Friday she reminded Brett and I at dinner that she needed to give the money to her teacher on Monday.  Brett asked how much, she answered $165, and of course we acted astonished and said that we could never pay that much and that she'd just have to not go.  She was a little nervous, but she figured we were joking, but then on Monday when she came home from school I asked her if she had told her teacher that she couldn't go because he'd probably need to know that, she started crying.  Then I yelled, "I'm just kidding!" and she started crying even harder and stomped over to me and hit me.  She was soooo angry with me.  I know, I'm very mean.  Then later she told me that when she was uncertain whether or not we were being serious, she was going to tell us that she didn't need any allowance or presents on her birthday, or to go out to dinner for her 10th birthday date, or anything.  Poor thing, I almost feel contrite about messing with her.

2.  We recently found out that our apartment is going to be renovated in October.  They'll redo the bathrooms, kitchen, and put in new windows.  This makes things kind of ...interesting, because it means it would be IDEAL for us to move out before then.  For one thing, if you move out before the renovation, you don't have to do any leaving-the-apartment-cleaning/touching up, which in Switzerland is a HUGE deal.  I mean, you can be charged an ENORMOUS amount of money if you don't have everything in immaculate condition.  Obviously, with the amount of wear and tear we've put on this apartment, that would be a huge blessing.  Secondly, you don't have to give 3 months notice if you move out before then or alternatively, pay the rent until you find a new renter.  Thirdly, if we didn't move out before then, we'd have to figure out what exactly to do with ourselves during the six-week renovation.  Supposedly you can stay in the apartment, and they'd provide a small fridge and 2 little burners in the front room so you can still cook, but really that just doesn't sound feasible for our family.  Some of our neighbors are moving away because the rent will also increase once the renovations are finished.  So, this is our new, unofficial move-by date.  Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we will automatically find a good job by then.  But we're crossing our fingers and toes and Brett is looking and looking and sending out resumes as much as he can.  It's always weird to be in the limbo state, needing to plan for staying but hoping that it will be unnecessary after all.  Brett says he's starting to feel 'trunky.'  Anyway, if you happen to know of any biomedical engineering jobs or anyone who might, let us know! :)

3.  I cut my hair, despite Brett's protests, and now- oh the REGRET.  The great, great regret.  But then, it wasn't actually my fault that the stylist cut off like 3 inches more than I wanted.  Chin-length does not equal bottom-of-my-ears-length.   It's awful and I can't do anything to make it look good except wait for it to grow.  Brett was very kind and never said any I told you so's.  However, he is funny because on the way to church one morning when I was feeling particularly sad/grumpy about it he said, "You act as if you have a skunk on your head.  Maybe you don't really like it, but it's not that bad."  I was like, "Uhhh, not that bad?"  And he said, "I mean it's fine."  I was like, "Also not comforting."  And then he said, "It's GREAT!"  And I said "Thank you."  That guy.  :)

4.  A doctor came to the school and gave Hazel's class some screenings.  She came home with a note that she needed some further investigation because she had some indications of scoliosis and that she didn't pass the hearing screening for high tones.  So I took her to the regular doctor and he said that he could see no sign of scoliosis.  So that's good.  We will make an appointment with an ear doctor, and I have high hopes that her hearing will also be just fine.

Here's Hazel dressed as a little French girl. She was looking in the yarn bag and found this hat that I had begun crocheting but never finished and decided it was a beret.  So she completed her outfit with the pretty coat.

I just loooooove this boy.  It's amazing how much love he generates in our family.  Everyone (except maybe Orrin) just adores him sooo much.  He really is a joy-bringer.

5.  I'm planning a little vacation for next week.  We will go to Southern France.  I like planning vacations, but it is kind of a lot of work, because I don't like surprises so much and so I try to read all the opinions of the whole internet to get the best idea of what a place is really like to try to determine if we'll have a good time.  I could probably scale back a bit.