Trip to France!!

Victor took his first flights in May when I took him to France to introduce him to my family and my friends... 10 days by myself with my sweet and easy baby touring around and seeing so many people!! 

Mark took some time off to stay home and be Mr. MOM while I was away... Mark handled things very well, cooked, cleaned, did laundry, managed to get Adam to school and Antoine to his various activities (Joyschool and REC Center class)... He told me that it was A LOT of work and that it was certainly a FULL time job! =)

I think he has a better appreciation for my job now!

Back to my stay in France... My sister came and picked me up at the Paris airport (she took a huge detour to go to Brittany from Normandy - for those who know a little bit of French geography - just to spend more time with me! =). Unfortunately, my flight left 1h30 late (in the middle of the night - Victor was exhausted and so hungry but I was waiting to be seated on the plane to feed him for the night...) so when I finally met Emmanuelle it was the beginning of rush hour traffic and we had to go all around the Parisian beltway to get to Brittany... a much long trip than expected but we were so happy to be together again...

We arrived in Penestin at my parents' beach house for the week end and my brother and family as well as my best-friend from Junior High Esther joined us... We had a fun weekend together mostly around the table eating my Mom's delicious food and enjoying each others' company...

Here are some pictures of the week end:

 Victor at almost 8 months did not want to eat solids... I tried over and over at home before we left but he refused to eat with the spoon... My mission while in France was that someone would get him to eat baby food! Everyone tried even with different techniques, more or less successful! =)

 

We then left for Nantes for a couple of days where I had so many people to see... It was a marathon and I loved every part of it! 

First we went to see Pepe my grandfather (without my grandmother who passed away in Nov 2011). He has changed so much since the last time I had seen him... He is 98 years old and he can barely see or hear... He feels so lonely without his wife, it is heartbreaking to hear him talk about it. He is grateful for his children and grandchildren who are taking care of him but it is definitely not the same for him.  It was sweet to see him holding Victor... We had tender goodbyes as I am pretty sure this is the last time I will see in this life...

  

I had lunch with my cousin Isabelle who I had not seen since 2006... It was wonderful to catch up with her and her family. Then off to a short visit with another cousin Jacques and his family (one of the few cousins I have on my Dad's side) - it is always wonderful to see them!

I had sent an email to a couple of good friends from back in college and I was really hoping to see them since I had missed them in 2009 on my last trip... I had such a fun night at Samuel and Claudia Jube with Christophe and Valerie Favreau and their respective "crew"... Again, I had not seen them for at least 6 years and it was great to catch up with them. It is a real bummer that I was so busy enjoying my time with them that I forgot to take pictures... =(

One more stop that day but for the night this time at my cousin Marika who opened her house to us. We spent hours talking until the early morning! =)

The next day, I met with my best-friend from College Sonia and her family. Her parents even joined us for lunch and we had a great time... Her daughter Julie is getting so big! Her baby Chloe is just a few months older than Victor.

 Victor would going from one place to the next with a smile, sleeping wherever when he was tired...

 What a trooper!

We came back to Penestin for a couple of days and had a wonderful visit from my aunts Maite and Ginou whom I love to be with...

  This is how I found Victor after his nap... kind of stuck and not sure what to think... =)

We took advantage of a sunny afternoon to go to the beach and introduce Victor to the sand... He was intrigued at first but it was a hit!

 

It was then time to leave Brittany behind us and drive to Normandy to spend my last four days in France at my sister's house. On our way there, we stopped by Rennes to have lunch with Aline and Joel, some other relatives that I love spending time with. While there, I took off for a couple of hours to visit with my dear friends Mary and Cindy and their adorable babies... a short visit (and no pictures) but I was grateful to see them though.

Normandy is so beautiful and picturesque... I love it! 

 

My Dad and Carlo worked on the boat while we enjoyed being at home, cooking and enjoying watching Zelie interact with Victor.

 

 I also spent some time helping my sister organize her office (she has recently started her new business as an expert accountant and now works from home).

It was sad to say goodbye but I was soooo glad that I was able to have an amazing time in France!!

Adam is 7...

We had a simple birthday celebration for Adam but he enjoyed very much... Gety surprised him with huge balloons and ice cream!

Playschool graduation

A bunch of girlfriends have been getting together on Friday mornings at Lynne Owens' house (our mega creative and super achiever friend) for our kids to attend Playschool - games, crafts, storytime and lunch all with a weekly theme...
This is our graduation themed (as you can see) airplane! So much for the kids but also for the moms!

Mother's day

The boys were so cute sharing their gifts of love... I am truly blessed to be a mother...

Easter at the Mpanu Mpanus

Gety Mpanu Mpanu has been part of our family since she moved into our area in October 2010. We met a few years back when we lived in the same ward in Alexandria and she was a recent convert at that time. When Gety arrived in Burke, she was very hesitant at going to a new ward, having only known HER ward in Alexandria. So I took her under my wings and made sure she kept her wonderful testimony alive.

We have come to be extremely close and she is an aunt to our boys. We love having her with us, as she comes to have FHE with us or just to hang out and have dinner with our family.

For Easter this year, Gety's sister-in-law Marie-Claire had her whole family (or mostly) gathered from all over the US and Europe. They invited us and the Riggs for an Easter celebration.

We had a wonderful day with them. The house was beautifully decorated and filled with children and laughter. It was great getting to know the extended family as well.

The children could not wait for the Easter Egg hunt in the huge backyard!

Random silliness

Random cuteness...

Turning 40...

Here are a couple of silly pictures of Mark and the boys the day of his birthday. 

 

I decided to throw a surprise Bar-B-Q birthday party for Mark for his 40th birthday at Gety's house.
I invited a small group of friends (Mark is more comfortable with intimate settings) and ordered a delicious and beautiful cake that, by any standard, was huge!

 The party was a lot of fun – but not entirely a surprise. The plan was for Mark and I to drop off the boys at Gety's house, then we were going out for dinner to celebrate. As Mark was getting the boys ready, Adam repeated the plan to Mark, but Antoine tried to quiet him, saying something like, you’re not supposed to tell him.”
Adam replied, “no, that’s what I’m suppose to tell him ! ” At that point Mark knew something was up, just not when and where. When it happened, he appreciated the “surprise” anyway!

Circus in town...

The boys had never been to the circus, so when it came to town this year, we seized the opportunity. We told them that the circus is one of the few places where it is appropriate to yell and scream as much and as loudly as they want. They regularly took advantage of that rare bit of permission, but
otherwise watched the rest of the performances in quiet fascination (of course).
Before the main show, early arrivals could go down to the circus floor and watch performers up close. The acrobats and clowns were terrific, but their favorite part had to be the elephant that drew a picture with his trunk. Watching our boys taking it all in was one of our simple parenting pleasures this year.

 

 



I love my Daddy...

6 months...

 

An awesome birthday party...

Antoine was SO excited to dress up as a pirate to attend one of his friends' B-day party (Riley)... 

We arrived to a magical setting... Wouah... I can't imagine the hours (or should I say days...) of preparation!

Antoine has such a blast, playing on his own in the inflatable house before joining the crew on their adventures...

The kids were having so much fun that I took a ton of pictures!

I will never put that much work into one of my boys' B-day party (am I a terrible mom for saying this?) but I thought it was an amazing party and I know who to ask for great tips!

Sweet Angel...

Happy chubby...

Growing like weeds!

I took these pictures to show Adam's funny teeth... He certainly does not look like a little boy anymore... I wanted to have our Family pictures taken in the Spring before he lost his top teeth but it did not happen!! Oh well...

 

 I think that sometimes Antoine looks so grown up... He is still our sunshine and a joy to be around...

But we also have another sunshine in our home... I love this baby so much!!

Victor is learning to sit on his own and is enjoying this new way of playing with his toys!

 

I love my Daddy... and my fingers!

Loving it!

Teething cheeks...

 

Full of expressions!

An UNordinary Christmas...

Everything started great. We had a beautiful month of December, where the boys enjoyed all our traditions, from setting up ALL our Christmas decorations inside and outside to making Bratzelis and attending our annual events (Mount Vernon bells Christmas concert, our white elephant gift exchange...), not to forget about our daily mini devotionals along with our advent calendars...

The boys were so excited for Christmas morning to come and we were all ready... Adam ran to the presents under the tree (and there were many!!) and started opening speedily his. But he started having a bad attitude envying his brother's gifts  or complaining about what he had received... I have to admit that it made me sad to hear theses negative comments. In the meantime, Antoine was thrilled with his toy animals and was playing with them, leaving aside his other gifts.

After a delicious breakfast and a little bit of clean-up, we had a great time together playing with their board games and the boys had fun discovering their new toys.

Christmas was Sunday this year and we had church at 3pm. By the time we put the boys down for their naps, they had been arguing and fighting. Then they resisted taking their nap and kept coming out of their bedroom. I had had it by that point and told Mark that the boys should not be able to keep their Christmas presents and that we should pack them away until Adam and Antoine would earn them with their good choices...
You might be thinking that it is quite a harsh treatment...
Mark and I even wondered at some point that night if it was too severe of a consequence for their behavior... Well, we really want them to realize that our Family Laws are in our home for a good reason and not just to decorate our walls. We are now going back to Basics and focusing on Obedience, Peace, Permission, Respect and Order. We have created a behavior chart to evaluate how their day has been and earn one present back per 3-score day!! This is quite a motivation for the boys and we have seen quite some progress in their attitude!!

Merry Christmas!