Snow Days

Monday was a Snow Day, and so was Tuesday. Since I wouldn't want Julia to think that staying at home is more fun than going to school, I made her work very hard on Monday.

Don't worry, Kelden works hard too, every day.

After the cleaning, she did some homework.

Then, to make sure she'd always hate the cold and snow days, I sent her to a very sunny vacation spot.

On Tuesday, I softened a bit and after cleaning her room full of toys, she did some baking.

Then I sent her to the gym- well, the ballroom (dancing is a sport, right?).

Of course, she had to change for the occasion.
Now, what to do tomorrow,  pd day?

Zack's new tricks

Zack can say yes, no and bye-bye. I tried to tape him but it's not always easy with his siblings around.

Granny's birthday

We usually have a KFC party at the Manor for Granny's birthday, remember, for example, when she turned 76?

Some people party harder than others 

I put those pictures as I couldn't take any this year; we were not allowed to party because of the stomach flu going around. Julia still made her a card and we went to see her yesterday.

I like the fact that Keld still has his grand-mothers alive. I like pictures of four generations. I like the thought that we are all linked and that families are forever.

School Registration

I like how they organize the school registration at Don Bosco, the French Catholic school Julia (and soon Kelden) goes to. While you fill out papers with the secretary and review them with the principal, your child goes with the kindergarten's teachers in one of their classrooms (they don't have their regular classes that day). That way, you get to meet most of the team you will be dealing with during the school year. Of course, I already know them through Julia. Actually just last week Mr René (the principal) called me two days in a row because Julia complained to him and wanted to go home. She complained the following day as well, but he didn't bother to call this time and just sent her back to class. Yep, last week was the first week after the holidays and it's hard on our little girl. She was especially disappointed because, having been told Kelden would go to school with her "next year" she expected him to come with her last week already. She had been playing school with him during the holidays, preparing backpacks to bring on the bus and singing the alphabet song...Poor girl...We made it extra hard on her and her teacher as she saw us on Monday for the registration.  Her teacher had to carry her to bring her outside for recess.

I thought she would like the piggy-back ride, but she apparently didn't.

Seeing his sister's mixed feelings about school (crying in the morning but proud to show you everything she's done when she comes home) had Kelden exclaim: "No! No!" when we told him we were bringing him on Monday. He was fine though. We had no problem leaving him in the class with the teachers. It helped I guess that he found Mac (from Cars) to play with. And some trains.

When we came back the teachers expressed their concern. "He only speaks English" they said, "except for the colors, although he seems to understand everything." It didn't surprise me. Everything happening outside our home is in English, so he gets into his English mode as soon as he leaves. That's why I really want them to go to a French school, so they realize it's not just me! Anyway, I was actually proud that he remembered a color (we've been practising for months and he still only knows just a few).

I asked them how he was with the other kids. Apparently, interaction didn't interest him at all. He did have a little altercation with a girl at one point they said. A good thing it wasn't with a boy, they were much bigger than him (you can't tell from the picture, but the teacher did say Kelden was short. Maybe those boys were born in January. Keld said he just wasn't as chubby as the the others..I won't tell him, he'd want more Nutella...).

Anyway, Kelden played on that carpet the whole time, he barely looked up for the picture.

Notice his ear thing again.

Julia had me dig out her picture from her registration, she remembered from the frame :)

We had a hard time convincing him to come home with us. A good thing you got a balloon on your way out.

He also got a few more things, including a blue apron.

Had Julia warned them he likes to make chocolate chip cookies????

Next school experience for Kelden is May 15th. He will go to school for a couple of hours everyday for 4 days. I know, it's not much- especially when you think that in France he would have already started school last September...But eh, I need my time with my Kelden at home, right?

9 months

Zack is now 9 month old, a good excuse to make a cake put pictures on the blog. As if I needed an excuse...

Zack is still such an easy baby, at least compared to his siblings. I just can't believe that I can put him down for naps in his crib and he doesn't scream. I might have to go put the soother back in his mouth once or twice, but he doesn't cry. I know, it's probably what "normal" babies do, but Julia and Kelden would scream for hours (literally, so I had given up and would take them with me). They still have a hard time going to bed on their own actually. They also wake up at night (not every night but way too often for me) and Zack has been copying them lately . I wish he wouldn't. So now, he wakes up a few times before midnight and the past few nights he's even asked for a feeding after midnight or he stays awake screaming. I wonder if he wakes up because his 5th teeth is coming? Or is it a growth spurt? I just hope he goes back to sleeping without waking up- soon, instead of getting used to be fed at night again. I also wish he wouldn't start the day at 5.50 am. No matter how long he's been awake at night, or the number of feedings he's had, he's up at 5.50. Keld was out of town last week but I didn't bother asking him if he had put the alarm clock on for me, I knew there was no way Julia would miss her bus, I'd be awake well before she needed to get ready. Otherwise, he's still trying to stand up on his own, but has only made it once. He shakes his head for yes and no, and since he's not sure when to do which one, he sometimes does them both at the same time. Maybe I'll put a video later. For now, just a last picture.

  

Epiphany

The Wise Men are celebrated on January the 6th (a few weeks after Christmas, since it took them some travelling time to find Jesus). I haven't heard anyone in Canada celebrating them, but here at home I keep the French tradition because (you'd have guessed) it involves a cake. The "real" cake is called la galette des rois (the kings' special cake) in which you put a fève. The person who gets the piece with the fève is the King (or Queen) and gets to make the next cake (and it can go on and on all month-you see why I would like this tradition).
That special cake is traditionally made with almonds, so it's not my favorite, and I therefore usually just make a plain chocolate cake and put in my fèves. Yes, I cheat by putting two (more chance to be a King or a Queen and also, that's how many my Mom sent me a few years ago after I gave up trying to find any here).
Anyway, since you could find the fève while cutting the cake, someone goes under the table and calls out who gets which piece. Julia likes that part.

She doesn't like the part that says anyone can get the fève and so she often gets it. (I'm good at cheating with that tradition).

When you buy the cake in France, it comes with a crown, here we use Julia's and, if Kelden didn't seem to mind, I'm not sure Zack liked it.

This year, my sister Géraldine sent me the recipe for the "real" cake. Keld got all nostalgic at reading her email, remembering the "real" cakes he had in France. He likes almonds. I like him. So I decided to try.

I first asked for more details about the recipe (anyone knowing any member of my family knows how approximate they can be in giving recipes' directions). Then I went to the store to buy the almonds and the pastry doughs. The part that worried me was the crème pâtissière, supposedly the easiest thing to do but baking and cooking are not my friends. Neither is maths. I didn't convert properly and so I had way too much milk and nothing happening. Géraldine came to my rescue via Skype and I finally thought my mixture was ready to be put in the middle of the two pastry doughs I had bought. But when I opened the first one I realized it wasn't one piece, it was 18 sheets-not what I expected. On the box, in French it does say what I want, but in English it's called "phyllo dough" and like I said it didn't look like what I needed. So I put my mixture in the fridge and had Keld go to the store later on. He brought me back something that I thought would work and so I went on with the final step: baking in the oven. Of course, I can't even get that part right. After putting the cake for longer than required, it was brown on top but still all liquid inside...pfff...I persisted though and finally got what looks like a galette des rois.

Well, almost. Here is what it really is supposed to look.

 

Keld didn't get a Marcel Proust's moment, but still, he said it was close to what he remembers. He likes me too.
After all this, you'd think I'd quit baking. Not me. Some call it perseverance, others stupidity, but I had to use all that leftover milk that I had started to heat and also that opened phyllo dough. For the milk, as I was still making the cake, I decided to make extra crème pâtissière (now that I  knew the trick; doing a little at a time) for chocolate éclairs. In France, at least, chocolate éclairs means that the filling tastes like chocolate, compared to the other favorite-coffee. So, I added cocoa and sugar in the milk. Without measuring (I wouldn't betray my family). For the phyllo dough, I made apple strudel, and then pear strudel since there was more dough than apples in my fridge. Don't be envious- remember, it's my baking, nothing to be jealous of. Picture to prove it:

I will try to do better next year. I have already asked for the recipe for the galette briochée, another famous cake made for the Wise Men.

Now doesn't that look good?

Back to TEDC*

I asked Julia yesterday if she knew who was going back to work on Monday and she said: Uncle James! You can always count on Uncle James being at work almost every day of the week, and for long hours too, that's true. So with Keld's parental leave, she's been thinking that only Uncle James works around here. (I guess she thinks Grandpa Bruce goes on vacation when he travels for work?).
Anyway, Keld is back at the office, but work never really stopped. After studying in the garage for hours, he's been working on the garage for hours. Insulation, lightning, heating...He said Saturday that he was pretty much done so I asked him to take pictures.

I guess my housekeeping is done too and I never knew it! :) Now I know why Kelden says he's done cleaning his room when it still looks like this:

Notice the nice symmetric decorations Julia put up for her brother on the closet doors.

Anyway, I just want to thank everybody who helped Keld with the garage; Uncle Jim, Brother Bilodeau, Brother Audet, the elders and of course Dad and James who are always ready to help whenever they can. 

Keld has also been working inside the house, painting. Because we changed the doors and the windows he decided to paint all the main floor baseboards/trim (they had never been done and we've been in the house for 6 year nows-never too late! Good thing the ones in the basement were done after the flood...). He's done everywhere but in the bedrooms.

Sorry, not the best picture of the door, but you get an idea.

So, with the organizing of the garage and some painting, Keld still has some work to do.

Then he can start Julia's bed...

*Timmins Economic Development Corporation

Christmas Break

The Christmas break is over. I hope Julia had fun even if we didn't do anything extraordinary. We mostly spent time with the family for the festivities.

And we did some baking of course.

So after all this, we had to exercise.

But other than that, Julia just had fun with her brothers. They will miss her.

Kelden's ears

Here's what Kelden likes to do with his ears.

Can you do the same?