Maelis the superstar

Anyone who knows Thomas has seen him make this pose along with his trademark "Fait tout peter!" I don't need to translate that to let you understand her excitement at finally being allowed to open her presents.

 
 

Paola's second Christmas

She didn't quite seem to understand the idea of opening presents but quickly got the hang of things with a little help from her cousin Maelis and Mom Elodie.
 
 

Waiting for the presents

I hid in the kichen with the girls while Pere Noel set out the presents under the tree. Maelis was so excited!
 
 

Dinner preparations

Two brave volunteers ready themselves to de-feather and clean our Christams dinner.  
 

Merry Christmas!

I was able to talk to a few of you today but the time change makes it difficult to get everyone on the phone. That and the ski conditions in Tahoe (you know who you are). At any rate, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I'll try and catch up with everyone sometime this week.

I'll also post pictures of our Christmas dinner with the Duroux family tomorrow before we leave for Pau.

Joyeux Noel!

French schools

Interesting article on the grandes écoles from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/international/europe/18france.html

You know your mother-in-law is Italian when

your husband spends six hours on a Saturday afternoon making hand-made tortellini with her. I was there for the last two hours but mother and son make a great team: 1.5 kilos for Christmas dinner. I had planned on being there from start to finish but with the way they were arguing in the beginning, I decided to take my cue from my father-in-law who was sagement reading the paper in the living room.

Today's project: after the wood for the chimney arrives, we head off to the Capucins market. We're on a mission to reserve the main course, two faisan with plenty of carrots, potatoes, and (Thomas' favorite) des navets. I just hope the volailler will clean them this time because the smell of burnt feathers in the kitchen doesn't inspire holiday cheer.

*sagement wisely; faisan pheasant, navets turnips, volailler poulterer

Aunt Sophie or just Sophie?

Interesting conversation with Thomas at dinner last night... We started talking about what to call the grandparents and the grandaunts and uncles, and got onto the subject of why some family "titles" aren't used in France. Or more precisely, why they aren't used in his family as in all fairness I'll have to do a sondage to find out what other French families do before making generalized assumptions. Thomas said that only the bof's call their tante or oncle by anything but their first name.

I grew up with the idea that my Aunt Fran was always Aunt Fran, never just Fran. In fact, when I was in college I once tried to call my Uncle Jack only by his first name at the dinner table and I can tell you that my slip was followed by a long and heavy silence. I quickly understood his point and, to be honest, I can't imagine ever feeling natural about calling him anything but Uncle. The only family member who escapes this unwritten rule is (Aunt) Denise who has always made her aversion to the title crystal clear.

Boo should end up calling my sister Aunt Zoe and my brother Uncle Patrick, unless they choose the Denise path. But apparently the same doesn't apply for Sophie and David. I've always thought it strange that my nieces don't call me Tante but, then again, the oldest met me before Thomas and I were married and I was just the girlfriend. And really, between family members it's not such a big deal.

*sondage (survey); bof (low-class); tante (aunt); oncle (uncle)

And one more...

Boo from the side... These pictures are not quite as clear as the set I posted back in October. It's strange to think that not long ago we could easily see the entire Boo but now he's so big that we only see a leg or an arm at a time...

 
 

Boo's coucou

Boo's left hand giving us a little 'salut' in the doctor's office

 

We're back!

It's been so long that I've posted anything that I actually forgot my account info. Oops...

I had my 5th month sonogram the day after Thomas got back and YES, we do know the sex now. Those who are curois can send me an email but I won't list it here as there are some people who don't want to know. It's only fair, really. But at any rate, rest assured that little Boo is in great shape, moving a lot, and is a bit over the average size for his age. I guess all that turkey and pie helped!