Le Baptême

Today Matt was baptized. He is now officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so proud of him and his decision to do this. He was so happy and was smiling bigger than I had seen him do in a long time. There was a wonderful spirit there.
There were a couple missionaries that gave talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. One of the missionaries made an analogy between the Holy Ghost and the force. Matt really paid attention during that talk. It was so nice that they made a reference to Star Wars. It certainly made Matt happy.

Here are all the kids checking out the baptism font before things happened.

Before...

After. With big hugs and smiles.

Matt mentioned that the water was really warm, like bath water. He was proud of the fact that he had been practicing going under water during his swim class at school.

Later we had an open house party for him and 25 people that were at the baptism. It was nice to have friends over and hang out. We made a video slide show of pictures of Matt's life so far and everyone enjoyed watching that. We gave Matt his own set of scriptures and a journal. We asked our visitors to write down their testimonies and we would put them in his new journal. Hopefully he'll actually use it to write down his memories of this day.

Sainte Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! Today Doug took the day off so I could get a day off. It was the best kind of gift ever. It was nice to be able to sleep in (while he got the boys up and off to school) We got a babysitter, and went out for lunch. I've been craving a really good big hamburger lately. (I need to satisfy my inner carnivore every once in a while). So I was checking around for good burger places in Paris and finally decided on the Hard Rock Cafe. I know. I'm in Paris. I should go somewhere romantic for a french meal. We'll do that another day. I had an awesome burger with sliced granny smith apple, bacon (real bacon) and provolone cheese. It was so thick and juicy. Just what I wanted. Doug also surprised me with Chocolate from Michel Cluizel. Then on the way home from the bus stop in the afternoon the boys wanted to get me some flowers. I feel so loved and blessed.
Yes, these are little chocolates with messages of love on them. How cute is that?!

Joyeux anniversaire Matt!

Happy Birthday Matt! Today he is eight years old! Wow. Eight years ago I became a mom. And now my baby is a big boy getting ready to be baptized. Sometimes I am amazed at how easily he picks up on new things he learns at school. He loves reading and practically every week he comes home to tell me he's advanced to the next level reading group at school. He gets excited about new concepts he's learning at school (like communities, or matter, or dinosaurs...) He really enjoys learning new words in his french class and will tell you that he is the best one in his french class. He is always wanting to try out french conversations and I am amazed at how quickly he's picking it up. Who knows where he will be a couple years from now. I know he can handle an entire afternoon playdate in french. He is still great at math and brings home math tests with perfect scores all the time. Matt has made a couple really good friends (one is a fellow Star Wars guru). I have actually set up an after school playdate with one of the moms for every Friday after school. Matt's friend is also new to Paris and the two of them love being together. Matt has really gotten into Lego's. He loves building new Star Wars sets and after he's built them, he takes them apart to build new things. It's nice to see his patience with his Lego's. Matt can be very helpful and likes to help with dishes and laundry. He loves helping Timmy and teaching him new things. We love Matt and his love of learning. Matt requested a Star Wars Lego birthday party. I was all prepared to make his cake look like Legos and then put Lego guys on it. However, the day I was making his cake, I didn't feel well and had a horrible headache and achy yucky. So I "made" a Death Star and put it on a dark cake like in space. (I actually originally tried to make a giant cake ball (Like Bakerella), but I think I added too much frosting and it sank into an oval mess.) So, I coated a plastic basketball toy with frosting instead. I don't really like decorating a cake with just toys, but considering my health, it turned out ok. Matt liked it and that's what counts.

Joyeux anniversaire Thomas!

Happy Birthday Thomas! He is six years old today. He is a happy energetic boy ready to make anyone around him laugh. He's a natural actor (for better or worse). I love it when he smiles and his blue eyes twinkle (with mischief) and you can see his cute dimple. He still loves his cars and is excited to learn about new ones here in Europe. He is quickly learning to love Legos and he and Matt can play nicely for quite a while with Legos. Thomas likes to give hugs and tell you that he loves you. He always seems to say the right things if I'm feeling sad. I love you Thomas. Keep on smiling.

Thomas requested an army tank for his birthday cake. As a result we had a army boot camp party with a few friends from his school class. Doug taught them how to stand at attention and do pushups, and we created an obstacle course complete with tunnels, army crawling, target practice, and balancing skills. I think that the boys had a lot of fun.
Here's a closer look at the caterpillar tracks on the tank. I used black licorice for the tracks, Oreos for the tires, and a pirouette cookie for the cannon. We also put a SW camo clone at the top. Actually this was a pretty easy cake to make. Thomas liked it and that's all that matters.