Erik's Class Photo

Where is this school year going?! My little baby boy is going to be in Elementary school next year! This is the LAST class photo of his time in "La Maternelle" (French pre-school)! AMAZING!!! So, can you find Erik amongst all of these little French kids? (HINT: He is smiling widely and standing tall in the back row...Need another hint? Wearing red, and standing right next to the Christmas tree!) You can click on the photo to see it LARGER. :)

February is flying by!

I've been MIA for a spell, mostly because the kids are on school vacation and I don't have a minute for the computer!!! We've been busy cleaning out rooms, having friends over, shopping and playing in the neighborhood and yard. I've also been busy working on my backlog of videos waiting to be put onto DVD. I'm FINALLY getting there and it feels great to have the old videos on DVD. The kids just love watching their old home movies on DVD. Even Kaitlyn seems interested in seeing herself.

So, these are a few photos (and a video) of our Valentines Day. Toomas got me pretty flowers and a card and the kids did drawings for me too. We ordered pizza for a treat! Kaitlyn LOVES pizza. She ate 2 whole pieces herself! What a little piggie. Plus Grandma sent the package and there was a whole bar of Hershey's chocolate in there. I couldn't say to to her on Valentines Day so she was busy eating her chocolate at 8:30 a.m.!!! I'm a pushover :)







Here is a video clip of the kids getting a Valentines Day package from Grandma...complete with musical cards. They had a blast!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

GRS Pre-Competition

Last night Krista had a gymnastics 'pre-competition' or a dress rehersal/ practice session. From their gymnastics group they have selected a group of 4 girls who will represent the team in May in a separate compeition. The music was from The Fiddler on the Roof, "If I Were a Rich Man" but last night there were technical difficulties and the CD kept skipping. For Krista this was VERY frustrating. She left the practice feeling very mad that things didn't go as well as she'd liked. She listens to the music very attentively when she performs and does everything right on note. With the music skipping she felt it looked disastrous! I reassured her that she did just fine. It was a cute little show even with the musical flaws!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mardi Gras! (CARNIVAL)

Today is Carnival in France (or mardi gras). It is very widely celebrated. It is similar to the USA's Halloween...in the sense that the kids get dressed up and walk around. They even get to wear their costumes in the afternoon to school. They also get to go on a walk around the village with the school and throw confetti everywhere! It is a lot of fun for them...and the big snack of the day are DONUTS!! They get to have donuts, dress up and have a fun school party on this very special day. This year Krista was an Indian Princess and of course Erik was a cowboy--the perfect couple. Kaitlyn was a cute little bunny, although she didn't get to participate in the fun (but I did buy her a french donut (called a beinget) to celebrate. Which she LOVED, by the way. I went to drop the kids off with Kaitlyn in the stroller so I could stay a bit and take photos. I also stayed long enough to walk around a bit with the parade and take some pictures of them on their village walk.

Krista and her friends.

Erik with his pre-school teacher.

Erik and all of his cowboy friends.

Erik's classroom.

The walk around the city. Krista and Carla--center.

Krista (the Indian) and her 3rd Grade Teacher (the cowboy).

Erik's class walking around the village (Erik in the red coat).

Kaitlyn as our carnival "bunny".