2 videos

The first video is Julia singing with her class. They had a special show last Thursday, called Rock Vedette. The principal introduced their song by saying that the children had learnt how to express their "wonder" to God, author of all life, and how to appreciate each other's importance. It's too bad that they put the music with the words so loud.

The second video is my attempt at filming Zack walking.

He's not giving up crawling just yet.

And for those of you wondering how Kelden's second morning went, here's the update.
He was again disappointed that he couldn't take the bus with Julia. However, on our way to the school he was already asking if he could go home. At the school he was crying and screaming "maman maman" and the teacher told me to just leave. When I came back to pick him up, she wanted to talk to me. First, she said he will only speak English.  Then, she told me that he doesn't do anything on his own. He won't unzip his bag, take things out or put things in, etc. She said he's far behind the others as far as independence goes. Since she knows he doesn't go to daycare and is not used to a routine at all, she told me that I should check the programs at the Early Years Center and I told her that he was registered for their "Get ready for school" program. Starting next week he will go to school from 8.30 to 11.30, Tuesday to Friday for 5 weeks. She seemed relieved as she hopes it will help him catch up and be more prepared for September. I also told her I was going to try to make sure he does more things by himself. So, when we got home, after Kelden took off his coat and his jacket and then lied down waiting for help to take off his shoes, I told him to do it himself. Of course, he said no, that he needed help, etc. I said I was going to check to see if we had Smarties, for people who take off their shoes on their own. In two seconds he had taken his shoes off and put them in the basket...

Kelden's First Morning at School

Today was the day Kelden had been waiting for for weeks. The day he can finally go to school. Indeed, the school he is registered to has a program called The Little Spoon. They invite the future students for 4 mornings. The kids get an idea of what school is going to be and the teachers get to see how many difficult kids there will be (and then try to split them between the classes in September).
After such a long wait, Kelden was ready. At least he thought so.

He was first quite disappointed not to be able to take the bus with Julia. Then, when we had made it to the school, he wanted to go to the library and buy books (which is what we did last week as they had a special sale). He started pulling me towards the library screaming: "It's not too expensive!" His teacher (who is actually Julia's teacher, Mme Michèle) told me what classroom they were going to use and to just bring him there when he was ready. She knows me and my shy kids! So I told Kelden that there would be books in the classroom and he reluctantly led the way. I pointed to some books and as he was going to check them I left. Mme Michèle was coming in with the other kids and she made sure he wouldn't see me. (I told you she knows how it works with my kids). I stayed in the hall for a few minutes (changing Zack from the back seat to the front seat in the stroller) and, since I couldn't hear Kelden screaming (at least not over the other kids) I decided I was safe to go.

He wasn't crying when I went to get him at noon but he wasn't smiling either. Just like Julia, he prefers to stay with his Mom. Mme Michèle told me not to worry. Just like Julia, he'll get used to it.
As you can see in the above picture, they made necklaces. They didn't get to go outside as it was raining, but instead, they colored.

I'm not certain coloring is his thing.
One thing's for sure, school is tiring!

Mother's Day

At 7 this morning, Keld and the boys had a pancake breakfast ready for me but I was still waiting for Julia to come "wake me up" with a song. She had been asking me all week if it was okay to come and wake me up on Mother's Day by singing to me, which is what her teacher had told them to do (having taught them a song). However, she slept longer than the boys (having gone to bed late since we had just come back the night before from our ward Temple trip). When she did get up though, she wanted to go eat right away-the smell of pancakes I guess...
This is the song with which she was supposed to wake me up.

She had already given me my gifts. On Monday, she had mailed a letter (they've been learning about addresses) and I received it on Wednesday.

Translation:

Dear Maman
You are beautiful.
I love you.
I give you a big kiss
on the cheek.
Julia XOXO

Notice the specification on the cheek. 


In the envelop, there were also two pictures. Other gifts for Mother's Day. Food and flowers.

Then on Thursday, she gave me this:

 Translation:

Beloved Mother
To you a cup of tea I offer
To recover
From your day's labors

Happy Mother's Day

It's actually caffeine free. I thought it was a cute idea. My mom, a herbal tea fanatic, would surely like it. I should ask Julia to make her one for me to send to her for Mother's Day (which is June 3rd in France, so I'm not late yet).

And finally, today, both Kelden and Julia were invited to sing with the Primary during Sacrament meeting. Of the two, only Julia sang. Kelden did go up and stood with the other kids, but he did not sing a single word. Instead, he put on his best unhappy face. Something like that...

...but ten times worst. This is what he was supposed to sing:

But trust me, Kelden is still pretty proud he did not sing it.

Zack may not have sung either but at least he was a good boy all day. And being good is probably the best gift you can give your mother.

Because if you're good, you can be with her forever !

Happy Birthday Keld (Round 2)

We celebrated Keld's birthday on Sunday as he was finally home. His Friday night flight was cancelled and he only arrived on Saturday afternoon. So we fasted from supper to supper and James waited for us for the cake. He waited and waited and waited and waited. (Others waited too, but for some reason, the wait was only excruciating for James). Keld even opened his present (a nice sweater from Mom) first. Finally, James' patience was rewarded. He even got to eat two pieces of cake (there was enough since Jeff and Becca never came).

We heard that Linda helped make the cake. I wonder if she saw a difference between a birthday party for a kid and one for an adult. I think she still had fun with her cousins.

In this last picture, she is laying eggs with Julia..I know... By the way, Simon doesn't lay eggs any more and her feathers are growing back. She has been adopted by a new family and we hope that she's happy.

Waiting for Keld

Keld told the kids that he would bring them too McDonald's if they behaved while he was gone. So Julia has been perfect (well, almost). Kelden didn't understand at first and thought I had to bring them to McDonald's every day...Zack must have thought the house was too quiet because he started a new ritual: scream, scream, scream and bite everything around. We were able to calm him down a bit by going outside every day. He loves playgrounds. Kelden too.

I should mention too that Zack took his first step yesterday and walked a bit more today. Let's hope he will use this new way of moving to get his energy out instead of screaming.

Julia had energy too this week. She built her own robot and also played "chef."

She made a toque at school as they were learning about cooks. That's her favorite job so far. Might be her French side (but if she's got the talent, it sure did skip a generation).

Happy Birthday Papa !

Who said we couldn't celebrate Keld's birthday without him? Just watch us.

Don't worry, Keld did get cake (twice), and people singing to him (although probably not as well as our children) because he was smart enough to get someone to tell the restaurants that it was his birthday today. What can I say, he likes cake just as much as I do. Apparently always has.

For the romantics out there, this kitchen is the place we first met...

Anyway, we probably will have more cake on Sunday, with the family, when Keld is actually home to celebrate!

Birthdays, snow and pirates

April has always been a busy birthday month in my family. My older sister was born on the 18th, my youngest sister on the 27th and my grandma on the 24th (which is why I remember Uncle Jim's birthday so well).
My mom used to buy our first strawberries of the year to put on Carole's birthday cake and so again this year I kept the tradition (well, the tradition of having strawberries on the cake, not to wait for the 18th for strawberries...)

For Géraldine, I wasn't too inspired, so I thought I would just focus on what  birthdays mean: getting older. Ahah!

She wasn't with her daughters to celebrate (she is with her husband touring his mission) but her girls didn't think they needed her to party (I wonder which aunt taught them that!).

Growing up, my sisters never had snow on their birthdays. They might now that they live in Switzerland. They sure would if they lived here. Julia had another snow day this week. Kelden begged her to go outside and build a snowman with him but she didn't want to. I wanted to go during Zack's naptime (because he doesn't like to just sit there and watch us play) but he slept during lunch. Anyway, when finally we went outside the snow wasn't good any more, or maybe that's just my excuse because I'm horrible at making snowmen. We made a "castle" instead.

Yeah, I guess being raised in France and by the beach, I'm more of a castle-making person than a snowman one. I did try the following day though, but even our mini-snowman family looks more like menhirs/dolmens (that you can find where I live) rather than snowmen.

Oh well, Kelden had fun, that's what matters.

He's also been having fun dressing as a pirate, or at least changing into one.

Julia prefers to be a mermaid. The ocean, the sand, the heat. I think she's tired of the snow.