Big Boy Bed

Michael's been talking a while about: "Jonah" "Big Boy Bed"

Well, he's now part of the big boy bed club!
Michael is taking his nap right now in his big boy bed. Brian built it for him today! There's still egg crating at the foot/head of the bed and his mattress doesn't have a sheet because I have it in the wash. There is a stupid story about that, but I don't think it's worth blog space.

YEA! Michael! Big Boy Now...sniff...sniff...

Well, I got these shots of Michael today. Not exactly astronomical, but I like them. And they are quite innocent enough at first glance:

Until I tell you that he was right here when I took those pictures:

Don't worry, Brian was spotting him to the right. Don't want any "good golly, THIS is how they take care of Michael??" comments. Or Social services come knocking on our door...

It's a bright beautiful sunny day in Paris. If Paris was like this the first winter we were here, I might not have fallen into a deep depression...

Ski and snow

Interlaken, Face.

Ode to being a mom...

I am so glad I don't have a friend like the one who wrote here! All our friends without kids are amazing and so understanding about everything to do with kids!

If you can't see it well, click on and see if it will enlarge.

Thanks, Gina, for sending the article!

Love,
P

Sensors

I have been setting off anti-theft sensors at the entrances of all sorts of stores all over Europe. Spain, here, and Germany. I always wondered why...thinking it was my camera bag. Then it started happening in Paris when I didn't have my camera on me.

Turns out, I have not been removing the tag that says, "Remove before wearing or washing" on some of my bras. AND not doing it on some of Michael's clothes. So we've been setting off sensors all over Europe.

NICE.

And if you have been looking at my facebook...there is some explaning to be done. I went to my favorite little papeterie near my house and was reading People magazine for free there (as it is 6.70 euro for ONE)...and I notice a rather burly looking guy standing very close to me arranging all the magazines around me.

I continue to read about halfway through the magazine and then I start to feel uncomfortable as he is quite in my personal space.

So I move to the TV guides and he moves with me...glaring at me...all the way, standing there...glaring, standing, and glaring, and standing.

So I calmly put my TV guide down, and give him as mean of a look as I can muster up since I am "stealing" magazines and I walk straight out of the store. Vowing never to return.

And it is a disappointment to me and I feel no guilt about it all. It's the "Barnes and Noble" phenomenon. Where I go and read all the things I want for free...but whenever I need to buy a book, I go to Barnes and Noble. No amazon, no nothing. Only Barnes and Noble. So I don't feel badly about my "stealing" of the magazines.

Same goes with this papeterie! If I want to buy my 7 euro edition of American Elle, I buy it there. For a while there, I bought a TV guide from them EVERY week. AND I buy my Interntaional Herald Tribune newspaper there. So I was quite upset to be "mobsterred" out of MY neighborhood papeterie since I had never seen that guy there in the 2 years I have been here. AND I have been to that papeterie a lot.

All for the love of celebrity gossip. Guess I'll just stick to the internet website.

Plays!

I took Michael to a French play today and he LOVED it. It was a story about a little frog who was looking for Frog Country. Come to find out, Frog Country existed in the audience and all the little kids were the frogs.

http://www.akteon.fr/spectacle.php?ids=71

It was precious and had TONS of instrumentation and songs so Michael just had a field day. One guy could play a mini accordion, 2 types of recorders, a mini piano, a tambourine, a guitar, and a kazoo. Some people get all the talent!

When we got up to leave, Michael looked at me and said, "MORE!"

Then, he proceeded to act like a heathen at lunch and refused to eat the noodles he asked for at the mall. I decided to have a nice lunch out with Michael so we could make a whole fun morning of it and instead he was crazy. And when mom gets woken up at 1am and 5am every night, the first irritated mom to show up is NOT a nice one.

P

P.S. I am going to start posting about Michael here too. I can't keep up 2 blogs. It's ridiculous.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

Happy Chinese New Year! We happily welcome the Year of the Ox!

As Brian's Mom pointed out, Obama was born in the Year of the Ox. Here is what the Chinese Zodiac had to say about people born in this year:

The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Now, most of you know, I did not vote. But if I...

1. ...was Chinese,
2. ...didn't know anything about any platform,
3. ...could only go by the description of the character of his Chinese Zodiac sign...
   
   ...I'd say, I would have voted for Obama.

Very interesting!

No huge Chinese New Year events during these 3 days. However there are some this weekend and at the end of the week that I plan on bringing Michael to!

Enjoy yourselves! Eat Well! And May your year be full of prosperity, health, and happiness!

Love,

Phuong

Les Cheques!

So, we've been asking our bank for checks now for about a year. We've asked about 5 times and we finally got them. They were waiting for us at our branch. No notice or anything telling us they were here. We were supposed to just know.

Anyways, Brian picked them up and our checks have the picture of the Arc de Triomphe on them! HOW COOL IS THAT? We are going to keep one as a keepsake. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to write "VOID" on there without ruining what it looks like.

Preparing for Chinese New Year now! Cleaning and buying food that does not have any nut products or uses any nut oil in it. Not incredibly hard but I do have to take the time to read the labels.

So get ready, Chinese New Year is Jan 26-28. Don't spend any money on those days (except to gamble or eat), do not sweep or mop your house (or your money will just fly out all year long), and don't take out the trash.

I'll say, the last 2 things are NO PROBLEM in our household!

Review Meetings

My review went pretty well. I completed most of my serious objectives. My boss, Christophe, told me I have to be more assertive this year. Every one of you could have told him that. Other than that he seemed very pleased with what I did. We discussed the rumors as well that I would be sent back early, and he said that if it was mid-year and there was a manageable amount of money left, he would try to put me on the GPE group payroll so I could finish the year. So that was good news.

The START meeting was disappointing but good in its own way. They just wanted to inform us that they are actively searching with our home country HR teams to try and find us (all expats except upper upper management and experts) positions and move us back early. They didn't seem to have a real plan developed yet, but they told us they would get back to us in a month with something more concrete. In the meantime, I guess I just work as normal and wait for a call from the HR chief in the US. Then we have 2-3 months to move back is what it sounded like.

There were three of us there, and we were the last ones to have a meeting amongst the START bunch so there was a good reason for the rumors - they were more like meeting minutes.

I asked about what my manager had said and Sandra told me that the home country has priority - basically if they find a position for me, I'm going, and there's nothing Christophe, CRCD HR or I can do about it. I guess they can tell HR US not to look very hard for jobs, but that probably wouldn't reflect well on the HR manager in the US.

Fair enough, glad to know. While this isn't great news and they don't seem to have a concrete plan, at least they're telling us rather than hiding it and springing it on us without a moment's notice. I'm planning on going back in April or May. If we stay later, party. We can't go before March, I already bought my ticket to Phoenix.

Now I have some moral questions - should I take 2 months of vacation right now - which I will likely lose when I go back to the US? I'm taking a week in February - vacances scolaires - everyone takes a week in February.

My husband...in a nut shell

First of all, this is my latest fav pic of Brian. So cool, handsome, and happy:

Today is an interesting day for Brian. He's got a meeting about right now or very soon with his manager for his year end review. And then he's got another meeting about the START program (the one he's in that sends him over here to work). Which may or may not be a good thing. We're still wondering exactly what it will be about.

Anyways, you can check back soon to find out. I'm sure I'll blog about it.

We were in music class last Saturday. We go as a family. And as in any Children's music class, you start by going around the room and saying your name to a little song. And this one not only had you saying your name to a little song, but also tapping out the beat with your hands at the same time.

Needless to say...when it got to Brian, Brian did a STELLAR job singing his name. But when it came to tapping out the beat with his hands, not only was he COMPLETELY off beat with the rest of the group, but he was completely off beat with himself. So he's singing and tapping to God only knows what song and God only knows what rhythm.

AWESOME. Then we sing another song and the teacher says, "This is a good song to introduce duple and triple meter." Brian looks at me and says, "What's that?"

And I say, "You know...we are getting our money's worth out of this class because it is teaching both YOU and Michael about music."

Last night, we had this conversation while Brian is surfing espn.go.com (otherwise known as the black hole of man time on the internet...oh wait, that's myfamily.com for Brian).

Brian: You know, I don't really like the NFL that much.
Phuong: Oh yeah, why not?
Brian: Well, I like baseball.

OK. Didn't realize that you could only like one or the other!

Brian is funny. And even after nearly 7 years of marriage, he still surprises me with how funny/weird he is. I am glad he picked me to be his wife. Good thing he has a thing for Asian chicks.

Just a random post. That's all.

I will do anything to procrastinate doing my French Homework

Including blogging!

So...there are some rumors flying around about Brian's company sending the expats back earlier than expected. Very unsubstantiated. Like I said, these are rumors but they do inspire some reflection on our part.

Getting sent back early. I should be doing a little booty dance inside my head...but I am not. If they sent us back much later than expected, I would be desperate. If they sent us back on time, I would be ok. But...if they sent us back early? I had never even thought about THAT being an option!

And I don't like it. NOT ONE BIT. I started to get really nostalgic because you know what? The grass IS always greener on the other side. Here, I yearn for properly grilled steak, Piranha sushi, barbeque, queso with beer, and a good enchiladas suizas. And I think about America all the time. How efficient it is, how friendly, how clean, how the shopping carts are huge and have wipes next to them so you can wipe them down, and how you can drive places. Easily.

BUT. When you say I have to leave Paris...

I think...wait, so I can't have my croissant or baguette tradition whenever I want? Or have cassoulet made for me anytime I want? No Luxembourg Gardens to play? Excuse me? I still have to see Greece/Norway/Egypt...

So it is weird...thinking about leaving...the most hardest thing though isn't any of the above. It's the fact that we raised Michael here. That all of our young childhood memories of Michael involve Paris. How our boulangere just adores him and he knows which way to go to get bread there. How he loves the duck pond and the Medici fountain at the Luxembourg gardens. How he says, "Merci, Au revoir, and bouge pas." Every time I think of Michael as a baby, I will remember Paris.

And so I find it hard to leave.

I better get back to my French homework now. My french teacher has me doing exercises from the French exams they give to French students to get into La Sorbonne (college). So I DO NOT WANT TO EVEN GET TO IT. It wil depress me.

P

Tower of Power

Michael is doing this right now. Who would have thought boxes from grocery delivery would be a toy?

groins

I played four plays and called it quits because I couldn't run. I'm just glad I didn't pull two hammies and two groins, which would have been the outcome had I played any longer. I'm just old.

Love You

Yesterday, I was eating dinner with Michael. He looked at me and said, "Hug. Hug." So I give him a hug and while I am doing that he says to me, "Love you."

WOW.

football!

I'm off to play football in 30 minutes.

Last week I played for the first time. Two hours and a half. I couldn't move all week. My groins were about to explode. My hammies hurt and I was all bruised up on my knees and elbows from diving and sliding on the frozen tundra of Les Invalides. It was above freezing that day but the ground was frozen and there was still snow on the ground. So I'd like to think my muscle problems were less about being old and out of shape and more about the fact that I did the splits every play from a lack of traction on the ice. But it was fun nonetheless. I think I'm fairly fast which is a sad commentary on the physical ability of the other guys we play with.

So pray for my groins today.

Walnut

Phuong was making dinner Friday evening and Michael and I were sitting in the kitchen waiting. I had bought a bunch of nuts - walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts - and a nutcracker. So I took one of those walnuts and with excessive force, destroyed the shell and splintered the nut inside. Since there were small walnut bits everywhere, I decided I would give a bit to Michael. So I told Phuong, hey I'm going to give Michael a bit of walnut. As she's busy cooking, she says, I don't know, well whatever. I reply, well we have to find out sometime whether he's allergic or not.
Two minutes later, he's pointing at his tongue and telling us it hurts. Then he starts getting red in the face. 5 minutes later, his lips were all swollen. So we were like, well, let's go to the hospital (St Vincent's is only 3 bus stops away) and if it clears up, we can turn around and if it worsens, then well, we'll be there. By the time we get to the hospital his head must have inflated by 25% or so it seemed. His cheeks were all red and puffy, and his lips looked like those of Bubba in Forrest Gump. Good thing there were no tripwires at the hospital.
We checked in, had his vitals measured, and then he from either pain or fear of doctors - probably a little of both, started wailing until he got his first round of medication an hour later. I'd say he got a dose of oral medication around 8:00 or 8:30 and then around 9:30 they put an IV in his little hand to administer another medication around 10:00 to make the swelling go down. Then we had to wait until the swelling and redness went away completely before we were allowed to leave. Michael and I fell asleep around 11:00, and the doctor finally came in just before midnight to tell us it was fine to leave. He was late, but there was a young newborn that was really sick and he was spending most of his time and rightfully so attending to it. In the end we made it home around 12:30 and Michael was fine. He was a bit red yesterday with a small red rash and today he is fine.
The nurses and the doctor at Saint Vincent were really nice and helpful. We did allow the intern to put Michael's IV in his hand. I think she did ok, maybe she took a little bit longer than the older nurse, but she didn't have to fish around for five minutes for the vein like the person in Arkansas did.
The staff were really funny though because they must have told us ten times, no more nuts for the boy! Maybe they thought we didn't understand. At midnight they finally found out we weren't tourists so that's certainly a possibility.

Adventures...Adventures...

Yesterday, Michael and I took a field trip. Michael has a little book with flaps. And under the flaps, are pictures of artwork like the Venus de Milo...and his favorite...The Mona Lisa.

He has been asking to see the Mona Lisa for weeks and he knows it's in the Louvre! He points to the picture of the Louvre and will say, "Louvre...Mona Lisa."

So. I took him.

BUT FIRST, I took him to BHV (crazy store here) and we had lunch at the cafeteria. When we walked in, a whole gaggle of kids walked in with their teachers. Apparently, BHV is a popular field trip destination in Paris. I grew up going to NASA and Jesse H Jones Park. The kids here go to BHV. It's just sad really considering BHV is like Dillards, Home Depot, and Office Depot rolled into one.

I digress.

So we had lunch there, I shopped for some cheap Le Creuset items and walked down Rue de Rivoli. I am looking for a sparkley t-shirt for a friend. All this while Michael is napping.

I digress yet again.

SO...after this, I took napping MIchael to the Louvre. I shopped all in the Carrousel du Louvre. Michael is STILL napping. So finally, he wakes up and we stop to look at the Winged Victory, which is also in his book. He says to me, "Statue...big...up high." Yes, that's true.

Luckily, we were able to avoid all the stairs by the Winged Victory and found the Mona Lisa after making only 3 turns. If you've been the Louvre, you know that you will take many stairs to go see the Winged Victory up close, then you will make many strange loops through much Italian Renaissance before you stumble upon the Mona Lisa.

We got there and Michael reacted as most adults react. He looked at the picture in his book, pointed to the wall and said, "Mona Lisa!" and gave me a HUGE smile. Then he said,

"Outside. Done."

Ok, so that's it. We looked at the Louvre pyramid out a window and left.

VOILA!

And next...to keep you highly in suspense...Brian is going to blog about our Friday night date night which involved:
Walnuts, Hopital Saint Vincent, and 12:30am.

Food, Etc.

So...Michael has a fetish. He likes to put whatever is shaped like a ball in his ball popper, especially if it will fit. Look what we found recently:

Yup, that's a clementine.

Lately, Michael has had a standing lunch date with the letter "P." We eat pizza, pears, and peas and the letter P shows up to eat with us:

Next, I'm going to do the Letter A. Artichokes, Apples, and ... anyone have a good guess for something starting with the letter A that is a protein?

Michael's Stories

Michael tells me stories about things. Here are some:

Michael: Grandpa
Phuong: What about Grandpa?
Michael: Texas
Phuong: Yep, Grandpa is in Texas
Michael: Drive
Phuong: Oh yeah, what does Grandpa drive?
Michael: Big car.

OK.

Michael: Balloon
Phuong: Ok, let's play balloon
Michael: Mommy cry
Phuong: Did I cry?
Michael: Pop
Phuong: Oh yes, Mommy did cry when the balloon popped in her face because she's a scaredy cat. It was a fake cry, for the record.

Last Tuesday, Michael was the only one in gymnastics so he got to do all sorts of things he normally does not get to do. The teacher usually leads the kids in running around in circles, taking big steps, jumping all while she beats this little drum. Well, she graciously let Michael lead the 2 adults there for him and Michael ran around in circles really quickly beating the drum while the adults followed. Like HE was teaching the class. It was precious.

And then the other little whiny girl showed up. She apparently had fallen on some ice like 15 minutes ago and was still whimpy about it. Figures. GIRLS. This is the same girl that Michael ran smack into on the 1st day of class. Michael got up, and continued running like crazy. The girl stayed on the floor and cried for 5 minutes and had to get a cream for the welt on her head.

Very funny, but makes me glad I don't have a girl. Or rather, it is me rationalizing with myself and making me feel better that I will never have a girl. So for those of you who have girls, don't take offense. I'm just REALLY jealous.

FINALLY!

It has finally warmed up in Paris to a high in the mid to upper 30s. Thank GOD. Because before, it was too.cold.to.function.or.leave.the.house.

I'm sure Team Besancon Boston will be laughing at my shivering with the highs in the mid 20s.

We have not been doing much. Just trying to get back into our routine here with the cleaning/cooking/etc. So we have nothing interesting to report except the snow from last week which blanketed Paris and made it more beautiful than ever.

Today, I was walking back from the market with Michael and singing ABC's for him. And I looked up at all the pretty buildings and actually thought, "I am going to be sad when it comes time to leave here."

GASP

Chopper dead

Michael killed the chopper crashing it into walls and the floor. He broke off the rear rotor and that was it. That didn't stop him from flying it for two days along the ground just to make it move.

Snow Covered Paris

Click here to see some great pics of snow covered Paris. Scroll down a bit...it's the 2nd blog entry. You won't miss them! They are amazing:
http://www.sarahgardan.com/blog/

Tagged!

My sister-in-law, Kelli, tagged me in a photo search, I guess you can call it! It is fun, so I'm doing it!

Here are the rules:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 people to do the sameNO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Unfortunately, no one is in the picture! But it is a picture of some wildflowers (duh) at a winery we visited in the Hill Country in Texas. I remember that it was a Saturday after I had worked a 70 hour work week to set up a tool and I had this one day off before I was back at work on Sunday. So we drove out to a winery and sampled some of their goods!

Now, I tag Kim Kropka, Gina Dickerson, AK Besancon, and Renee Nieh!

Love,
P

Chopper

Mom bought my brothers and I a remote controlled helicopter for Christmas. Michael loves it. The past two days, all he can say is chopper, chopper when I come home. He can really control it well too, or at least we can get it in the air. The landing rails broke so I hold it in the air in the middle of the room and he holds the controls sitting on the chair. Then he starts up the rotors and I let it go. It looks like a dying dragonfly and buzzes all around the room. I try to avoid it and then try to catch it before it crashes and burns. Michael sits in his chair giggling and trying to fly the chopper. Phuong sits in her chair praying not to take a chopper to the face.

Better

Most of us are feeling better. I hate to speak too soon about Michael since I did in the last post. Right after I posted the last post, his fever came back. We went to the doctor yesterday.

So we'll just see what happens today!

Fever broke!

Michael's fever broke early this morning so I don't have to worry about medication and whether or not a doctor will be open on Friday, January 2nd!

We're all thankfully feeling a bit better but it was nasty along the way! And I think we watched every animated movie and Baby Einstein 30 times each.

Love,
P

Vacation is OVER

We are all sick. Brian and I have been sick sick sick since Sunday but are slowly (very slowly) getting better.

However, Michael's got it too, poor thing. And it's awful! He's got 104 fever and we're giving him fever medication every 6 hours. And every time he coughs, he cries for a while because it hurts. We know exactly how he feels because we felt this way on Sunday.

Oh well, there goes our wonderful plans for the week. I was going to go to a baby shower for my friend Kirsten on MOnday and get some more maternity pics for her at the Louvre and at her shower. And then Tuesday, we had a get together at a friend's house. And then Wednesday night we were going to ring in the new year playing pinochle at the Atkins.

ALL CANCELLED.

Love,
P

Cook!

Michael and I were sitting at the table while he was eating his dinner and I was encouraging him in his endeavor. Phuong was over at the counter making hot chocolate and then she came over to talk to us standing next to Michael's chair. A short while later, he pushes her away, points towards the counter and yells COOK! Then 30 seconds later, even though he has a whole plate of food that he's not eating, he yells ME WANT FOOD!

Well then.

My Goodness!

Brian is having a massive vacation right now! Two and a half weeks off for us to all look at each other all day! Here is a run down of activities:

Friday, Dec. 19: Dad's Day Off. Brian went Christmas shopping in the morning and then watched movies all afternoon at home while Michael and I hung out! We had delicious carne adovado for dinner. Thanks to Jamie and Kim for that New Mexican gift!

Saturday, Dec. 20: Mom out shopping with Su. Christmas shopping mostly done.

Sunday, Dec. 21: Christmas gouter/party at the Daniels. Their son, Jonah, is Michael's best friend. Sure helps out that Kirsten and I get a long GREAT as well!

Monday, Dec. 22: Christmas shopping with Kirsten around Paris. GREAT fun. Original day for her maternity photoshoot, but it was raining so shopping just HAD to be it! We went to Galeries Lafayette and then Cyrillus and then bopped around Opera.

Dec 23-24: Family time!

Thursday, Dec. 25th: Christmas and breakfast at home. Then Christmas dinner with the Atkins like we did last year! Super delicious and super fun. The kids all played well together and didn't eat a SINGLE thing for dinner. However, Michael did enjoy his 5 scoops of ice cream. We were glad he was quiet. It's the holidays!

Friday, Dec. 26th: No Day After Christmas shopping frenzy here! It is COLD. Like almost freezing cold. However, Brian and I braved the winds and walked all the way to Chatelet (40 minute walk) and I exchanged a couple of presents and bought Kirsten's shower gift. Shopping for girl clothes is SUPER fun. So I guess there was still Day After Christmas shopping...but no FRENZY to go along with it.

Which brings us to today! It was gorgeous and cold so I called Kirsten to come out and do our photoshoot. Here are my fav 3 pictures from today. She's gorgeous!

Alsacez-Vous!

Brian's parents came in on a whirlwind trip to Paris to deliver Christmas goodies (both edible and non!) and to run off to a region in France called Alsace, known for its German influence. We were in search of schnitzel, but found mostly sauerkraut and sausage. Yeah, we'll take that too!

We stayed in this AMAZING gite (French for rental house) that was situated up HIGH in the mountains with snow everywhere. There were just tons of live Christmas trees, covered in snow, growing everywhere! It was like in a Christmas storybook. And at night, it was even more enchanting. Incredible! We took many opportunities to take pictures!

Family pic:
My favorite pic of Michael from the vacation:
Happy parents with their adorable hats:

And boys conquering piles of snowcovered wood:
One of our first adventures was putting chains on our tires. When we first arrived at the gite, we were met by the owner who was waiting for us by the side of the road with a flashlight. After some exchanges, we decided it would be best if he drove our car up the mountain without chains and Dad would drive his. So far so good!

Then, the guy who drives very often in snow left. Something about meeting his friend. I thought our snow driver was included in the cost! Anyways, we put chains on the back two tires of the vehicle and proceeded to slide down the snow covered hill 3 times before a nice Belgian living upstairs told us, "You need to put the chains on the FRONT 2 tires of a front wheel drive vehicle. NOT the back 2."

Why yes...that seems to make sense now doesn't it?? Here's a nice picture of our chains:

Later, we found out those same Belgians were driving fine up and down that hill with neither snow tires or chains. NICE! I guess that's what the owner meant when he asked me, "Are you guys used to driving in snow?" Ummm...that's a resounding "NO!"

The parents, Michael, and I arrived in Colmar in the early afternoon before Brian. We picked up Brian late that night at the Colmar train station and settled in after our eventful first day. For more random and possibly humerous stories, see the end of the blog.

At the beginning of the 2nd day, Saturday Dec. 13th, we got an early start at 11:00am. Ahhh...it is so nice to have a VACATION! The first place we visited was a quaint little town called Riquewihr.
We drank lots of hot beverages (cocoa, wine, etc):
And had fun exploring the small village. We bought choucroute there (sauerkraut and sausage) and poele alsacienne (potates skillet fried with cheese and sausage) for dinner. And by skillet fried, I mean in pans as large as a 18 wheeler tire. It was super cute and we had a great time wandering the little cobbled streets.

On our drive up and down the mountain, we had some amazing views. Here's a really cool cemetary we found:
And I just love this snow covered view:

On the 3rd day, Sunday Dec. 14th, we explored Colmar! The German inspired colored houses were too cute and the market spanned the entire town. In Nuremberg, the market is really in their main square. But in Colmar, we went to different parts of the village to see different markets. Really cute! Here's a family picture there, of course:
And my favorite night market picture:We had an amazing apfelstreudel in a cafe near Petit Venise in Colmar and some Frenchies in the table next to us were seriously enchanted by Michael! All he was doing was eating a mini ice cream cone!

While in Colmar, we shopped, ate, and Michael rode the horse ride and the mini carrousel a ton of times. Check out this great picture Dad took:

On our last day, Monday Dec. 15th, we explored Eguisheim. It had a sign greeting us saying, "One of the most prettiest villages in France." Any time we see this sign, we brace ourselves a bit because what France considers one of their most prettiest villages, is a bit different than what we expect! While Eguisheim was cute (the streets form concentric circles), it was just ok. I think it would have helped had we come on a Sunday since Monday was pretty dead in the village. As in most villages actually! Usually Sunday is a dead day too but since it is Christmas season, things are open. Either way, we got our family picture! Dad already had Michael snuggled in his coat so we just said, "Hey, you can get in the picture too!"

After this, we returned the rental car in Colmar and had a nice uneventful train ride back to Paris with sauerkraut in our bellies and visions of whittled Christmas ornaments in our head.

Michael had a great time with his grandparents and these 2 shots show just that:

VOILA! And that was the end of our trip! Amazing!

Love,
P

P.S. Funny moments:

• While waiting at the train station (Gare de l'Est) to go to Colmar (we were an hour early), we helped a Chinese guy who was seriously stressed out about the trains in France. He couldn't imagine why they would be late. And I wondered, are trains always running perfectly in China?


• At this same train station, I got pooped on by a bird. This is my first memory of the trip. This should teach me NOT to come to the train station an hour early!


• We had to transfer trains in Strasbourg to a regional train that went to Colmar. Brian left us 10 minutes to do this transfer. By the time we got on the train, it was pulling out and Brian's mom was reaching for her inhaler so she could breathe.


• When we got to the Avis rental agency, they only had 2 cars for us. They took us to the parking lot and showed us the car we ordered, a Citroen C3 with no chains. Reasonably sized car. Then they showed us a Ford Fiesta with chains. The Ford fiesta was small. To put it generously. But we went ahead and chose it because it had chains. Luckily, someone returned a big Volkswagen Touron which easily could seat 4 and a carseat AND it had chains. WHEW. Otherwise, I may have had to ride tied to the top of the Ford Fiesta.


• When we were looking at the cars, Dad and I had to walk nearly to the other end of the parking lot. Then, when we were going to pick up our huge Volkswagon Touron, they drove us to it. And I am serious when I say it was like a 30 second walk away.


• Don't ask about navigating within the city of Colmar itself, OR finding our way out of Colmar to Kaysersberg for the first time. Let's just say, Brian's mom said, "Look for the D4 on the map." I couldn't find it until we went about 5km north of Colmar. Oops, better go WEST.


• Since Brian did not join us until late Friday night, I did all the information gathering in FRENCH! I am super proud of myself so I have to toot my horn.

2 nights ago, Michael did not want to go to sleep. We put him in his crib like usual and he got up and started crying. So we went in and had this conversation with him through his tears and while hugging him. He was holding 2 dogs, a penguin, and a blanket all at the same time:

Michael: Mommy, Mommy
Mommy: Michael, it's ok. You are going to sleep in your crib
Michael: No, No, No
Mommy: Yes, it is ok. Tomorrow, we'll come in and get you when you wake up.
Michael: Get you...get you...
Mommy: So you be a big boy and sleep in your crib like a good boy ok?
Michael: Good boy, good boy...

And Brian layed him down, we left, and we shut the door. He went to sleep.

I guess we said the right things this time.
P

Battu Part Deux

Today Michael, Phuong and I went to "Breakfast in America", a diner where they serve American style breakfast and hamburgers and all things deliciously American. We ordered our 2x2x2 (bacon, eggs, pancakes - B) and breakfast burrito (P), which came with toast. Phuong gave Michael a piece of toast and then a package of butter so he could spread some on his toast. We got to talking, wooing each other if you will, and we look over and the butter is gone and the boy is just sitting there with a spoon in his hand and greasy lips. He ate it all! Then he started asking for more battu, but we resisted and gave him syrup for his pnacake instead.

The Possible end of Scrapbooking

I think the end of scrapbooking is coming near for me. I just don't have time with my photography habit as well and now people are asking for photoshoots so I spend some time proofing.

Anyways, Kim Kropka introduced me to this site today for photobooks. It looks amazing. And guess what? They can turn your blogs into books with just some clicks of a mouse.

http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

You guys may be seeing A LOT more blog entries since I can just import it into a book and get it published. I think I am going to reserve my most favorite pictures for scrapbooking still...but I do believe my hobby is going to start taking a backseat to technology. And I better get a lot better with my grammar and spelling if I am going to put it in a book form.

My Cup Runneth Over

Tonight, Michael and I had the following conversation at bedtime:

Michael: Daddy?
Phuong: Daddy is playing poker tonight.
Michael: Friends.
Phuong: Yes, Daddy is playing poker with his friends. Do you have any friends?
Michael: Mommy, Joda

And he meant it too because he said Joda right after me, which is his best friend here in Paris (Jonah)

Are there any words to explain how you feel after your son tells you that he thinks of you as his friend? I must have done something right!

Then, I remember that line in The Wedding Singer when Adam Sandler's nephew tells him that "Everyone is saying you are coocoo." And Adam Sandler replies, "What do you mean everyone; you only talk to your parents."

I may be only 1 of 3 people he ever talks to but I am happy to still be his friend. Do you think he'll add me as his friend on Facebook one day?

Good night!
P

Elle a Fait Ci

Thursday afternoon, we went to playgroup at Laura's place across the street. I met a mom who has a 22 month old girl who's got tons of health problems. She's hooked up to an oxygen tank and has a medicine dispenser box that is connected to her leg. She's had heart surgery and has possible liver problems, etc. She's gorgeous and so cute and my heart just goes out to her and her family!

Anyways, Michael has gone twice to French Music class. And today, I'm singing the song that they sing when they hold hands and go in a circle...and MICHAEL KNEW THE WORDS!!! It was incredible. Here's how it started:

Phuong: Ma grand mere fait tous ca
Michael: Elle a fait ci
Phuong: Elle a fait ca
Phuong: Ma grand mere, Elle a fait ci
Michael: Elle a fait ca

And he was saying over and over in the elevator, "VOILA!"

INCREDIBLE! Gotta get Vietnamese in there next!

Love,
P

SMOOCH

Yesterday, Michael has started kissing for REAL! He's been kissing us for a long time, but with wet open mouth kisses on our cheeks.

Yesterday, Michael put both his lips together, put them next to my cheek and made a kissing noise! He is thrilled with it!

One of his delay tactics for naptime is to smother me in kisses all over because he knows I love it and I let him do it all he wants! It is too cute to stop.

Other funny things:
On Tuesday, we went to gymnastics. He loves it and was running around the little play area that they set up. And as he went by, I could hear him under his breath saying, "More..more..more.." He just loves it!

However, he does not follow instructions well in gymnastics. The teacher will tell him in French to sit down and he'll just stand there staring at her. So she'll switch to English and he still does not obey, even though all the other kids are sitting all in a row. What do I DO??? Is there anything?

Michael was throwing around a football at home and wanted to throw it at a picture frame. I said, "Michael, don't throw it there or Mommy will get upset." And he looks at me and points to his timeout corner as to say, "yup, I go there if Mommy gets upset." Then, he pointed to the laptop and said, "Touch." Because he knows if he touches that, it's timeout too!

Michael can play memory now. It's a bit crude, bit it's there. I noticed it yesterday. I pull out 6 cards and put them face down and he knows to turn one over and look for the "match." And he can remember too! If he's turned it over before one time, and he sees it again somewhere else, he'll know where he saw it the first time. BONAFIDE. It's amazing! He's still learning how to take turns, but for now, I am letting him remember what he's done.

I taught Michael to say "crazy." So whenever he's turning things upside down and making a mess, he'll say "CRAZY!" while doing it and then point to the mess and say, "Mess."

This week so far:
Monday - No playgroup, fever recovery
Tuesday - Gymnastics in the morning, babysitter in the afternoon
Wednesday - MOther's coffee break in the morning, french music class in the afternoon

I think that's it. We'll see.

Michael got himself all ready to watch Baby Einstein shapes today. I turned around after putting in the DVD and found this:

Half an hour later, he's back to banging on balls with hammers!

Love,

P

Crayon on the wall

The Thursday that the Kropkas came into town was November 6th. I was chatting with them in the living room and Michael was being very well behaved and quiet in his room.

At least I thought. I found blue crayon marks all over 3 of my white walls and 2 of my white doors.

Thank God for washable crayola crayons.

Love,
P

Michael has a fever today. 100.5 taken from the armpit so that means more likely around 101-102. I know, super accurate right?

Anyways, I gave him some fever reducing medication before bedtime and that seemed to help. *sigh* I hate fevers because you just have to sit around and wait for it to break. And then 3-4 days later, if it doesn't you have to call the doctor.

So here we go again.
P

On Saturday, we celebrated Thanksgiving again! There is a building in the 7th arrondissement that houses about 4-5 Air Liquide expat families. Isn't that incredible? I can't imagine living in a building where I knew 4 other English speaking families! Sounds amazing! What ISN'T amazing is that they spend an extra 600-800 euro PER MONTH to live there next to the Eiffel tower. I'm happy to be either saving that money or traveling with it!

Anyways, they call that building the Air Liquide compound so we had Thanksgiving there! They moved all the tables to one apartment and all the couches to another. So we had Thanskgiving dinner on the 3rd floor and then the babysitters took all the kids to the 6th floor to play. THEY HAD BABYSITTERS! How amazing is that? The babysitters were really the teenage kids of other Air Liquide expats living also in the 7th, but not necessarily in that building.

It was a lot of fun!

That's all. That's an entry for me.
P

Michael asks us ALL THE TIME for his "show" on TV...like ALL THE TIME. It is annoying. I only let him watch it once a day for 30 minutes and that is it. It's just baby einstein words so it is educational and harmless...but still!

He has started saying no to us. We are not happy about that and are trying to restrict it!

That's it for now.

Thanksgiving at the Daniels!

On Thursday, we celebrated Thanskgiving at Michael's best friend's house! Kirsten, Jonathan and Jonah hosted an amazing Thanksgiving!

They had a great turkey with all the fixin's! I brought chestnut stuffing, celery stuffing balls, cranberry salad, and green bean casserole. Kirsten made this amazing sweet potato biscuits that Brian has been asking me to make now! She is about 8 months pregnant and made an amazing Thanksgiving. I am super impressed!

The boys decided to crack open a bottle of wine for us:

And after our huge meal, we celebrated with Thanksgiving bingo, complete with awesome prizes like a box of nails and a magnifying glass. Target came through with it's pin the hat on the turkey game. Jonah was pretty good at it:

Thanks go out to Brian's mom for sending us our post dinner/dessert entertainment! We had the adults playing too:

It was great fun and we had an amazing time! It is nice to have other American friends here to celebrate with us since we are so far from family. Today (Saturday), we've got another Thanksgiving to go to!

We are so thankful for our friends here and our life here. It is an amazing experience that constantly rewards us in surprising ways. But the thing that always stands out to me, is how much we miss our family and friends back at home as well. What a blessing you all are to us and we thank you for being a part of our lives!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Shopping!

Love,
P

Black Friday

Yesterday, we had a fun day! Michael and I met Brian at headquarters and we had lunch together. Brian found a good Pho place!!!! FINALLY! So we all had pho for lunch. Michael LOVES it so it was a huge treat for us, especially with this cold weather! And it is always nice to meet more Vietnamese people...reminds me of my parents! :o)

*SIDE NOTE*
For those of you who do not know, pho is Vietnamese beef noodle soup. And not all pho is made the same either. How do you know if a pho place is good?

• The broth is clear. You should be able to see down to at least the middle of your bowl. If the broth is cloudy and murky, it is usually not a good pho place.
• You are not incredibly thirsty after you eat a bowl. If you are really really thirsty for about an hour or so after you have eaten the bowl, they have used too much MSG for flavoring.

**SIDE NOTE END**

Then, we headed over to a Salon des Vignerons, which is basically wine tasting on SPEED in a convention center. It was in a HUGE convention hall at Porte des Versailles (nowhere near the chateau incidentally). Imagine just HUNDREDS of little booths of people selling wine and offering tastings. Aisle after aisle...of wines from EVERYWHERE in France. And mostly small independent wine makers too! We made out with some sweet wines, Gerwurstraminer, some chocolate, and macaroons! VERY overwhelming but interesting at the same time.

Then, we headed home and ate Thanskgiving leftovers. I made 40 cupcakes and Brian watched Underworld 2. Hardly our best date night yet.

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving has been dandy!

Love,
Phuong

YESS!!!!

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/25/business/25usecon.php

Guests in Paris!

In November, we had a slew of great visitors!

First up, Devina, also known as The Dirty D! She was an amazing house guest and helped out a TON! She did dishes, did laundry, and helped with Michael even though he spilled her juice and caused a pen to run all over her. I am surprised she could even call it a vacation! Here is a picture of her with Brian and Michael at the market close to our house, Auguste Blanqui:
We had fun times hanging out with Michael and even had one day where Devina and I could hang out. We checked out the Carnavalet museum on the Tuesday before the Kropkas came. Then, we had coffee underneath an overhang that was dripping on us...which then ended up in a torrential rainfall of gutter water on our table. NICE. Should have noticed the wet spot UNDER our table to begin with...

After which, we went shopping! Devina bought a super cute/chic Paris coat and I found a great scarf. Between the two of us, the boulangere couldn't even get our order straight...although I doubt it was because of our stunning fashion accessories. I am thinking it was because I couldn't say almond correctly in French.

Then! The KROPKAS came to town! They were awesome houseguests too! They played with Michael, did dishes, and were great entertainment for all of us. I guess doing dishes is part of the package when visiting our place! ;o)

We went with them on a whirlwind trip to Provence. We took a train to Arles and stayed there while exploring the region.

On the first day, Sunday, we wandered around dead Arles. It was pretty quiet as all the shops were closed and it was Armistice holiday weekend. Nonetheless, we found a nice fountain that Michael spent a lot of time playing in:


Then, we hiked up to the top of the Roman arena that is a ruin there. It is used for bullfights now! You can see the bleachers here in our picture:

On Monday, we did our best to get out early to catch the train to Avignon! As we were walking by the train station, Brian heard a train going by and jokingly said, there goes our train! Little did we know he was correct. We missed it by 5 minutes! So we ended up renting a car for the day, which actually was MUCH better for our trip!

The first estimate for the rental was 200 euro for 1 day, 1 night. After we balked at the price, the clerk asked if we had any discounts like Carte Enfant plus or brian's work discount. Voila, badda bing, badda boom, 200 euro went down to 80 euro! SWEET!

So we drove to Avignon and split up for part of the day. Jamie and Kim did some awesome shopping and our family explored the palace of the popes. It was big and empty. So no extremely exciting pictures. We met up with them at the end of the day and saw the pope's gardens. Here's a picture of the Kropkas with the fall foliage. They are too cute: Gotta love another photographer on the trip with you! Kim is amazing at exposing correctly:


Then, Jamie and Kim watched MIchael for us while Brian and I went out on Pont Saint Benezet's bridge. Thank goodness too because there wasn't much of a rail on it! We walked out to the end and thought...ok, guess we'll head back now. Not too exciting.


On the final day of our trip, Tuesday (Nov. 11th), we visited the Pont du Gard again, the huge roman aqueduct! It is still impressive even the 2nd time around. And I finally got my family picture:

Gotta love riding on Dad's shoulders!
Then, we drove to Chateauneuf du pape to do some wine tasting at the Cave des Vergers! We were rewarded with a great view of the golden vineyards and of course, got a family picture!

We had an amazing wine tasting where we learned lots of things, like how to aerate the wine in your mouth and check the color of it over a piece of white paper. Michael was more interested in the ants he found. Whenever we look at pictures of the wine tasting, he tells me, "BUGS!" YUP! Bugs.

Here's all the wine we tasted:

We walked away with a case of wine. A great muscat, 2 bold reds, and a white wine that's good for something!

What a great way to end our trip! We caught our train from Arles back to Paris and then spent some more time relaxing. Kim, Jamie, and I went to a very famous kitchen shop called Dehlerrin. I still can't spell it. But it was AWESOME. It caters to both restaurant chefs and normal people like us. I found a ladle that could ladle up 1 liter of liquid at a time. I am going back with my camera one day! Kim bought some great copper pots and got a good deal on them and I bought a madeleine pan! SUCCESS!

We were very sad to see our guests go and quite frankly, I went into a bit of a funk after they left. For the first couple of days, I was glad to catch my breath. But then I started to feel really sad and missed their company.

So let that be a lesson to all of you! We are never put out to have guests! We love them and they make our days more interesting and brighter!

Love,

P

Date Night and a Soggy T-shirt

On Friday nights, Brian and I have date night in. We do something special and only hang out with each other. No internet, phone calls, nothing! The something special could be ordering in pizza, or having cheese/tarts/wine...or sitting in our pajamas early! Whatever!

So this past Friday was no different. We ordered pizzas and watched the latest episode of the Office and started on Quantun of Solace. I feel asleep somewhere in there and woke up to find Brian had fallen asleep too. And so I woke him back when I got up. The following conversation happened between 2 apparently sleepy parents:

Phuong: Brian, did you fall asleep?
Brian: What? Why am I all wet??
Phuong: What do you mean all wet?
Brian: Get me a towel?
Phuong: What for? Why are you all wet?
Brian: Just get me a towel!
Phuong: What did you spill?
Brian: I DON'T KNOW!! There's wine all over me and I'm holding my empty glass.
Phuong: How did you spill wine all over yourself?
Brian: I DON'T KNOW!! Just get me a towel and a new t-shirt. JEEZ!
Phuong: Why were you holding your glass?

Oh...it was pretty confusing for the two of us. Moral of the story, never watch Quantum of Solace while drinking wine and being 2 tired parents.

Funny Day

We had a funny day yesterday, it started with Michael waking up. Here's what Brian wrote to me about it:

"He was really funny this morning when I fetched him because he had his blanket and his two doggies but he fussed when I took him from the room and was clearly upset when I put him in our bed. He got out, went back to his room, and made me get him his penguin before he could go to sleep next to you."

Michael has been into re-enacting things. Like if he falls and hurts his palms, he does it again to show me what happened. Yesterday, I opened the freezer door a little too hard and hit him in the head. After closing the freezer, he walks over to the door and does this gigantic headbutt to the freezer door to show me what happened. Then, came over and asked for a hug because that's what we do after we get hurt. We get hugs and kisses.

Michael was reading his Spot book next to me and we get to the lion. I said, "Oh! There's a lion in there." And Michael lets out this HUGE ROOOOAAARRRR! He was quite proud of himself for that one.

Michael was sitting in my lap and he started to look closely at my nose. Then he points to it and says, "BOOGER!" Thanks for the heads up!

Today, we went to gymanastics/tumbling/movement class for the first time. It was awesome! Will take pictures next time and post them in the blog!

Posting Comments

So I changed my settings to put that "Anyone can comment" even anonymous people. I figured that I already password protected the blog so you have to log on anyways to see it. So Anyone can comment is really anyone who can log onto the blog.

So if you read, please help me by posting in the comments to see if it works. If not, then I have to try again!

Thanks!
Phuong

Things to put down so I don't forget

I used to have a paper calendar where I wrote down all sorts of things we did. Stupid things like, "It rained all day so we were stuck in the house." But I lost it so the blog is going to have be it!

Saturday, a cold front blew in. It was windy and COLD! We went over to our friends, the Atkins, and had dinner with them (Chili!) and played pinochle until 3:30am!!! It was awesome and our kids were good too! We put Michael to sleep in their bed and he slept the whole night until we fetched him to sleep with us! PERFECT! And their 3 sons are so good with Michael so the kids have fun too.

Sunday, we had a delicious French toast souffle and the kids played some more. They were in the back room playing and we hear distinctly in the living room: "MICHAEL! Come down!" Come to find out he had climbed into the top bunk of the bunk bed. BOYS! ;o)

Sunday, we went home while it was snowing in Paris! How amazing is that? We spent the day inside and then had afternoon tea with our British friends across the street. I was supposed to be taking family pictures for them. Which I did...but the lighting was awful and so I am afraid only 2 pictures came out semi-acceptable. *SIGH* I really need an external flash/diffuser for my camera now that people are starting to ask me to take pictures.

That's all I need to remember for now!

Barbeque

I don't have the attention span to read this whole article, but what I did read was entertaining.

It's an article on an article in Texas Monthly about the top 50 barbeque places in Texas.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_trillin

In case you're bored.

Love,
P

Finally

On Monday, I got Michael enrolled in his gymnastics/tumbling class. I did it all in French. I understood about 75% of what she said. Yeah me!

Then, I went to get Michael his haircut on Tuesday and the hairstylist didn't understand me at all. It was like we were having 2 separate conversations. Back to being depressed about French

Schedule

If you are wondering what Michael does during the week, I just keep him at home with me and we look at each other ALL day.

No really, when we are not sick, here is what we try to do:

Monday: Afternoon, weekly playgroup
Tuesday: Morning, weekly tumbling/gymnastics class. Will start on Tuesday!
Wednesday: Morning, bi-monthly Mom's Bible Study with kids playing downstairs with the sitter
Thursday: Morning, bi-monthly Storyhour at the American Library
Friday: Usually nothing, but normally playdate with his best friend Jonah.

Just an FYI.

'Tude

Michael's been giving me 'tude (attitude) lately.

Michael snatches a toy away from Jonah, his friend

Mommy: Michael, please share that toy with Jonah. He was playing with it first.

No response. Continues to play with toy.

Mommy: Michael, I am going to take that toy away from you if you don't share.

No response. Continues to play with toy.

Mommy: Michael, are you listening to me?

Michael: No.

Toy gets snatched away by Mommy and is put "up high."

UGH. With the funny conversations come the confrontation as well. At least I know where he gets his 'tude from.

More Stuff

Yesterday, we had some funny moments...seems like EVERYday we do!

I was trying to convince Michael to go in the stroller so I could run a quick errand. When he walks, it takes FOREVER because he's exploring the leaf in the street, running up steps, etc. So I said, "Michael, Mommy has to go fast! That's why we are taking the stroller." So he looks at me, says 'FAST!' and runs as quickly down the hall as he can. He looks up at me and says, "fast." Yup, that's it Michael! Now do that in the STREET!

Then, after bath, we always let Michael run around naked to his room. Yesterday, he decided peeing on the floor was funny. Especially in his parents room. So we dealt with that. Brian tried to show him to pee in the toilet, but that is not as fun as peeing on the floor and seeing it.

Today at lunch, Michael and I had this conversation:
Mommy: Do you remember if I gave you a snack today?
Michael: Yes
Mommy: What did I give you?
Michael: Cheese

I don't remember giving Michael cheese for a snack, but maybe I did.

Love,
P

bat-tu

Before Michael goes to bed at night, Phuong puts some creams on him to help his bad skin. Lately she's been putting vaseline on him instead of the steroid cream we used to use. He loves it and calls it "bat-tu", and we had no idea why. Until yesterday. We were at Franprix and I hear him saying bat-tu and I was like what the there's no vaseline here. I go over to him and find him fondling a block of butter and lovingly calling it bat-tu. Now we know, he thinks we're buttering him up every night. I'm surprised he's not afraid that we're going to put him in the oven.

It's been nearly a month since we posted. How utterly embarrasing!

I blame it ENTIRELY on Facebook.

More later!
P

It's been a long time! And to our defense, we've had a FLOOD of visitors, all of whom we adore!

Random things to nibble on about michael:

My mom taught Michael how to say "happy." Which we then taught him to say when his dad comes home because he's ecstatic to see him. He runs around and throws himself on the floor. The Kropkas call it "Going Wild," and their daughter does the same thing! Anyways, Michael now uses it all the time when he's happy. It's adorable. He'll be sitting and eating strawberries and he'll look up with a HUGE grin and say, "HAPPY!" Same with when we spend family time. He'll look at both Brian and I and say "HAPPY!" It's awesome.

Michael knows his name now. But he says it with a HUGE Texas Drawl. Like "Miiiiiiiikuuuhl". And he says his name all the time. When you try to help him with something that he wants to do all by himself, He'll say, "No, Michael, Michael." And you have to let him do what he wants with whatever.

He has taken to reading his bedtime stories by himself. He'll have his books on the floor and pick one up, open it, and say, "Michael, Michael." And he goes through and names the things on the pages and flips through it. While sitting on the floor. We are just watching.

He brushes his teeth now. But that just means he sucks on his toothbrush and sprays spittle all over the sink.

If you are an overnight guest in our house, he HAS to give you a goodnight hug and kiss before going to bed. It is obligatory.

Michael LOVES to cook. He'll pull a chair up to the counter and stand on it, waiting for instructions.

He is so happy and a joy! It's time for another....God willing!

Love,
P

2 Year Check up

Got the Priorix vaccination. IN January, need to get the Chicken Pox booster.

Stats:
Weight = 12 kg, 50th percentile
Height = 88 cm, 75th percentile
Head cirumference = 48 cm, 50th percentile

And anything called "Furry Trapper Hat" has my vote. This is from The Gap:



Imagine if I had a girl! I wouldn't be able to put her in hats like these...or would I have????

Lasagna Genovese

I can't believe this. I can't find a recipe online. In English.

I am looking for Lasagna Genovese, which we had in Rome. It's a lasagna that isn't made with a tomato based meat sauce. It's made with the standard cheese/cheese sauce and layers of pesto instead. I know pesto isn't everyone's favorite thing...but I LOVE IT.

So I'm going to keep going. If The Google can't find it, I don't know what I am going to do. I might have to try to make it myself without a recipe. Interesting, but doable. But DEFINITELY not stupid proof

Has anyone else used The Google and not found what they are looking for? This is a first for me.

40 minute meal

Growing up, I don't think anything we made at home took less than 45 minutes. Asian cooking is involved, but as a result, it is quite tasty as well!

However, as a mom, I don't have time on the weeknights to make involved dinners so I enjoy any shortcut cooking that I can! My friend recommended to me Everday Dinners by Martha Stewart and I tried my first one last night!

It's light sesame chicken with broccoli and rice. It was delicious, easy, and only took 40 minutes total. That's the time from when I turned the pot on to boil water to the time dinner was plated on the table! Not bad! And I don't chop as fast as Rachel Ray either.

Here's the link if you are interested:'
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lighter-sesame-chicken?autonomy_kw=sesame%20chicken&rsc=header_5

Love,
P

What's in a name?

Did any of you catch the last episode of the Office, The Baby Shower?

Cuz if you did, you just got a sneak preview of the girl name Brian picked out (if we have a girl, which we won't). ASTRID. Not ASTIRD.

Things to be thankful for today:
1) I won't ever be having a girl. Much less a girl named Astrid.
2) Brian did not propose ASTIRD as a girl name to me.

Love,
P

Parallel Lives with Rick Steves

We are leading parallel lives with Rick Steves! He visited the same fois gras farm we visited in Dordogne. His article here in the latest Travel News:
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/tribune/dordogne.htm

And check out our October 2008 - Dordogne album to see our pictures! I guess it's easy to lead a parallel life with Rick Steves if you do everything he tells you to do in his books. I assume he takes his own advice! ;o)

Now, if we could only get Brangelina and their brood of children off our tail!

French Health Care

While in Sarlat, I ended up going to the emergency room to check out my foot that I couldn't put any weight on. After my visit to the emergency room, xrays, and doctor's visit...I got the bill in the mail.

A whoppin' 81 euro. Not too bad for an emergency room visit. In the states, the Copay alone is $100!

I'm not trying to take sides or anything or push for government regulated healthcare. I am just stating a fact about how cheap medical care is here.

That's all.

P

Absentee ballot

We got our absentee ballots in the mail yesterday! There were 4 sheets of paper in two different colors in 2 different sizes. There were 2 different envelopes in 2 different colors in 2 different sizes.

And then so much Spanish that I had to hunt to find the English. I find that appalling.

But we are excited to send our ballots in!

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Parents in Paris!

If you had a choice, which one you pick? Hurricane destroyed Houston? Or 3 weeks in Paris? My parents chose 3 weeks in Paris. And luckily, their house was spared enough so that they could leave it!

We are having fun eating and running around the city! Here we are on a nice Sunday morning at the Luxembourg Gardens before heading to Chinatown for Dim Sum. Michael was JUST not in the mood for pictures:



On October 1st, we decided to explore the lovely Dordogne region of France. This southern area of France is known for truffles, strawberries, walnuts, and the controversial fois gras. We stayed at this cute rental house with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, pool, and TONS of toys for kids. They had badminton, pingpong, and bikes! Plus movies! It was amazing. Here's a pic:


The first day, we arrived in Bordeaux and drove the 2 hours to Sarlat. Along the way, we stopped at an adorable little town called St. Emilion, which is known for wine. Shocking right? No pictures though because I left the camera in the car!

Anyways, we learned a bit about the best years for St. Emilion and stocked up on some wine to drink for now and for later. For those who are wondering, 2000 was a good year and 2001 was also excellent. Ready to drink now. Buy a 2005, the vintage of the century, and save it for at least 2 years to drink for later. The Grand Cru Premier Classe cost 280 Euro so we bought some Grand Cru instead.

We checked into our bungalow and then rested for the evening.

On our 2nd day, we explored the prehistoric caves around the area, which are famous for its cave art that is 14000 years old. No pictures either of this because cameras are NOT ALLOWED!!!! :o(

We visited 2 caves. The first was Font de Gaumes in Les Eyzies, which was amazing. It is the only original cave art open to the public. When you enter it, it is really a cave. A very small dark confined space. This German woman opted out and left about 4 steps in. The guide showed us these amazing paintings which were so faint you would never have seen them had he not pointed them out. The cro magnon man used the natural curves and indentations of the caves as part of their animals that they drew and painted with water and natural substances. It was amazing. I learned a lot more things about cave art so if you are interested (which I know you are not), you can post in comments and we can discuss more there.

The 2nd cave is the most famous, the caves of Lascaux. The original Lascaux caves were shut down due to the level of calcite that had built up on the original paintings due to human exposure. So we saw the replica, which is supposed to be amazingly accurate. It was absolutely awesome to see these HUGE animals being drawn on cave walls. At one point, the guide turned off the lights and held up a small lighter so we could see what the paintings would look like in the original lighting and it was amazing. They were painted to where they looked like they were moving if you had a flickering light. And it was indeed just that. Good ole wikipedia for pictures of cave art for ya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux

What was impressive too was that for the first tour, Brian and i understood almost all the French. For the 2nd one, about 50-75% of what we could hear. We were pretty happy with that!

Anyways, we ended our day at a fois gras farm where we learned about the process and how it is made. Brian got to feed some geese. Michael was not too impressed.

The geese are bought as geeslings (?) and then fed normally until 5 months old. At which point, they are force fed for about a month. Then, slaughtered for their buttery fat livers. This is then canned with salt and pepper. After which they are sterilized in hot water, which also cooks the interior of the can. Not for everyone, but we adore it.

The 3rd day, my angelic parents took care of Michael in Beynac while Brian and I canoed down the Dordogne. That definitely earned the 3 stars in Rick's book! My parents took a river cruise with Michael and Brian and I canoed for 3 hours from Vitrac to La Roque Gagaec and finally to Beynac, where my parents were. Here are some of our views:
Brian being the steering for our boat:
We only went around in circles 4 times and never got beached so I consider that to be quite successful!

We drove and enjoyed touring the French countryside. We stopped near a walnut tree and took pictures. This is my parents before we got a finger shaking at us for trying to gather up walnuts to take home!

Our last day, we went to the Saturday market in a little town named Sarlat. It is the most amazing market I've been to yet in France. It was magical.
They had LOADS of gorgeous and sweet strawberries. Tons of tins of fois gras. Bottles upon bottles of Walnut olive oil and truffle oil. And a walking band to provide the music. And that was just the food market! My parents explored the clothing market and loved every bit of THAT!

We found this funny statue of 3 geese in Sarlat. Had to take a picture of that! Family picture at that!

We spent the last day strolling around Sarlat and headed home for a calm evening full of games and movies. But then I was chasing after Michael, stepped wrong, and did something to my left foot and couldn't put any weight on it.

So instead of enjoying enchanting Sarlat at night, Brian and I went to the emergency room to make sure nothing was broken. I did this once to the same foot in college and had a fracture and had to wear a weird blue shoe for 3 weeks. So we wanted to get it checked out before we headed back to Paris and I'm running around pushing a stroller and wearing my carryon sized backpack like a pack mule. Luckily, nothing was broken and I am hobbling much better everyday!

That was it! We had fun!

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Earmuff it

I'm standing around the other day and Michael comes running up to me and says "Fock!" I thought, oh geez, I thought I'd curbed that sort of thing. So I turn around to reprimand him and he's sitting there smiling at me holding a fork. Relief. Temporary.

Today we were on our way to throw out the trash and the road was lined with little rocks. Michael points to a rock and says fock. I say no, it's a rock. And he starts yelling like a machine gun, fock fock fock fock and pointing to the rocks. Luckily we were in the country.

But then we went on the train today and I hear him in the four seater next to me saying fock fock fock. Apparently he was trying to say 5.

It looks like we have a good deal of work ahead of us.

TV

No matter who you want to vote for, I thought this opening skit from Saturday Night Live was hilarious:
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Interesting

Brian and I have been following the $700 billion bailout plan proposed by the current administration. I read an article on yahoo and thought the following quotes were interesting:

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said, "This massive bailout is not a solution. It is financial socialism and it's un-American."

"Just because God created the world in seven days doesn't mean we have to pass this bill in seven days," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.

Rest of the article can be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

Thoughts anyone?