Les medicines

There is a recall on Tylenol, Motrin, and Benadryl. And of course I stocked up at Costco before we left the States. And now all of it (except one bottle of Benadryl) is affected by the recall. Thankfully I still have some generic around. Thank goodness for Walmart!

Now if only I could figure out how to get some Tide laundry detergent shipped to me.

La Cuisine des enfants

I like to cook. I dare say that there are times I love to cook. I do not, however, like deciding what to cook (unless I'm hosting a soiree and then I tend to go overboard planning a nice meal). I recently gave the boys one of my cookbooks and asked them to look over it and mark the pages of things they would like to eat.

Thomas chose on Monday night. He chose Car Meatball sandwiches. He even chose the cars to use to decorate the plate.
It's just a meatball sub in a small roll. I hollowed out the roll and put meatballs and sauce in it. Then attached the cucumbers to the roll with matchstick carrots. The recipe had black olives for headlights and a mini pretzel for a windshield. Of course the boys took off the wheels, but the rest of if was a hit.Then it was Matt's turn to choose. So on Tuesday night we had Veggie Pizza Cupcakes (Matt said, "except with no veggies'.) I didn't have anything resembling pepperoni , but I did have bacon. So the inside is bacon, mushrooms, onions, shredded zucchini-shhh don't tell anyone, and mixed with tomato sauce and spices. The recipe called for the tube biscuits which they don't sell here, so I had to whip up a batch of my own biscuits. Here is Matt rolling it out and cutting out the circles to put in the muffin tin.
Then I put the pizza mixture into the muffin tins and baked for 15 minutes. I topped it with cheese and cooked another 5 minutes. Each boy ate 3 of them. I wonder what else I could hide in there!
Bon Appetit!

18me Festival Jules Verne

Tonight Doug took Matt out on a soiree together. They went to the Jules Verne festival. This weekend they are celebrating the 30th anniversary of 'The Empire Strikes Back" They took the Metro to the festival and got there just in time to be by the red carpet as Mark Hamill came walking by. There were also local members of the 501st. (People dressed up as stormtroopers for those of you who don't know what the 501st is) Matt thought that was pretty cool to see stormtroopers walking by. There were a lot of other people all dressed up in Star Wars costumes. There was a choreographed lightsaber duel with sound effects, which Matt really liked. Mark Hamill received a lifetime achievement award, and then they showed "The Empire Strikes Back" on the big screen. Doug apparently had never seen it on the big screen before. Come to think of it, I don't think I have either. They were all re-released in the theater while Doug and I were on our missions. I do remember seeing "The Return of the Jedi" in the theater when I was little. (I remember the day I saw "E.T" in the theater as well. That was the first time I'd gone to Godfathers Pizza. But I digress now that I'm showing my age)

The two of them got back shortly after midnight. Matt was full of smiles and energy. Plus, he was drinking an orange Fanta. What a great father/son outing.

Nouveau apartement

Bienvenue to my new home!Today we moved into our new apartment. Well, it's not actually new. It was built sometime in the early 1800's.

Doug supervised the move in of all our stuff. The day before I went through the inventory list of all our stuff and planned out which boxes would go in which room. So when the guys came in with a box, Doug would check the list and have the men place it in the appropriate room. I guess the people didn't want to haul the stuff up a few flights of stairs, or take elevator trips, so there was a crane out front with a container and they lifted up our stuff to the window of the living room, and brought it all in that way. Unfortunately Doug didn't get any pictures of the process. Oh well. It's probably cooler in my imagination. I love organizing things and I look forward to making sure everything is in its place. I do realize, though, just how much kitchen stuff I have when I see it all over the counters and filling up the shelves. I didn't even bring it all here to France. Oh well. It's a good obsession to have (kitchen stuff that is).

So you're probably wondering what it looks like. The 10 foot ceilings make it seem absolutely huge although it's probably pretty close to the square footage we had in the townhouse in the States.

There is a big foyer (the size of a small bedroom) and it enters into the living room. There is a formal dining room off to the right and the kitchen to the left. I did not want to march across the entire living room to the dining table, so the room formally known as the dining room is now known as the family room with the couch, TV, and fooseball table. We put the dining table in the living room in front of the fireplace, and the other half of the room will be a sitting area (for which I will go shopping for new furniture in the near future!) There is a master suite with a master bathroom and 3 other bedrooms, 2 more toilets, and two other bathrooms. Here is the breakfast area and then the kitchen. I'm still trying to figure out where to put things.

Boy's rooms.Anyway, the detail in this place is amazing. There is crown molding everywhere and not your normal crown molding either. There are carved pillars on the walls, arched doorways, and hardwood floors. And mirrors all over the place. In fact there are mirrors opposite each other in the living rooms and you can see into the eternal mirrors. We can also see the top of the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night from our balcony. It is so beautiful. It sparkles on the hour in the evening.

Carving over doors in family room (formally known as the dining room)

Carving over fireplace in living room.Foyer. There are these little pillars all over in the foyer.
Master bedroom.

But, the "piece de resistance" is the master bathroom.
I call it the "blue room". There are a grand total of 9 mirrors in this bathroom alone. The gardienne (the woman that oversees the building) told us that this bathroom was specifically created for the coiffeur (hairstylist) of Napoleon III. I checked out Napoleon III on wikipedia and he had an impressive moustache and beard so maybe the cioffeur was pretty special. Anyway, it's mine now.

Of course the boy's bathroom is pretty nice as well. Nicer than I've ever had and now 3 little boys get to use it. It has a heated towel rack. And a very deep tub as well.


I hope you enjoyed the tour. Thank you for keeping your arms and hands inside at all times. Come again another time. Have a nice day. Bye bye now. (said with a cheesy smile and a Miss America hand wave)

Ma journée à Paris

When I told people that we were moving to Paris everyone exclaimed how wonderful and exciting it would be. True. I am in Paris and there are a lot of opportunities to do things. But I don't get to spend my days being a tourist. Let me share with you a typical day that I've had so far in the past couple weeks.

I wake up at 7:00 and wake up Matt (although he has an alarm he needs more encouragement to wake up in the morning). While he's getting ready I also get myself ready to go to the bus stop. (you know, put in contacts, apply mascara and lip gloss, and change out of my PJ's). At 7:30 we walk out the door to the bus stop. I come back and hop in the shower. Then we all get breakfast, and I have a load of laundry in the washer by 8:30 (because the washers are so small that I have to do a load a day to keep it under control) Timmy instantly sits down on the floor in front of the washer and says, “show” and watches the laundry show.

I then let Timmy run around a little before heading out because I need to give him his freedom from a bed before I stick him in a stroller. During this time we clear the table. Today I actually put in a second load because we hadn't left the apartment for 2 hours (yeah, it takes over 1 ½ hours for a load of wash and then another 1 ½ hours for the dryer. But that's nothing compared to the 2-2 ½ hours for the dishwasher. But I can't complain because there are many people around here that have none of it. Apparently we may not even have a dishwasher at our new place for a while. Hmmm... We'll see what we can do to remedy that problem)

Anyway, we leave around 10:00-ish for a store. I can shop for whatever I can carry so we have been going every day to the grocery store. This morning we went to Picard, which is a grocery store that specializes in only frozen food. The whole store is the freezer section! While there Thomas saw smiley face french fries and we found chicken nuggets! I didn't know if France would have them, but it is a happy day in our household. Yesterday during our shopping I took Thomas to an outdoor marché (market). But there is way more than just food at a marché. I let Thomas choose some clemantines that he was excited to eat when we got home. The strawberries were the reddest strawberries I've seen in a long time. Not only was there fruits and vegies, but fish mongers, bread, cheese, olives, shoes, clothes, kitchen knick-knacks, purses, DVD's (and some illegal ones), and many many scarves. I really enjoy marchés and I look forward to the day when I get up the nerve to strike a deal with the vendors and bargain shop.

When we came back I put in a show for the boys and proceeded to do the dishes. We are in a temporary apartment with temporary stuff that work provided for us. There are six servings of dishes so basically I need to wash dishes after every meal. But I can say that I am going to invest in some Cornelle dishes. The boys have dropped a couple plates and they didn't break at all, despite the hardwood floor!.

For lunch today I did a short order cook meal for us. (I don't normally do that, but I had a few things to use up before we move to our permanent place next week) Timmy had leftover spaghetti and strawberries, Thomas had a croissant ham sandwhich with “La Vache qui Rit” cheese (Laughing Cow cheese), and I made myself a ham, egg, and cheese muffin. After lunch was nap time and then I proceeded to sweep the floor. There's a lot of sweeping that needs to be done, like every day. I've never dealt with hardwood floors, so what's the best way to keep up with the stuff on the floors? Doug tells me that the wood floors at our new place aren't tight, so does that mean that crumbs are going to go in between the cracks when I sweep? And can you mop a hardwood floor? Help?! I did invest in a Swiffer duster which I will get next week with our stuff. The boys keep begging me to help sweep and I will assign them sweeping jobs. Even Timmy thinks it's exciting.

This is Timmy's version of mopping the floor. I caught him dumping out his water and then wiping it up with the mop head. He, of course, stopped doing it once I got out the camera.

After naps (which can last at least 2 hours) we get another snack and head out to either run an errand or go to a playground before going to Matt's bus stop around 4:00. Then on the way back from the bus stop I get Matt a pain au chocolate for an after school snack (that gets crumbs all over my nicely swept floor), and then I proceed to nag him to do homework for an hour while trying to start dinner. Then after dinner, we clean up, or throw kids in bath, or put them in bed. (A couple days ago Thomas and Timmy played ghost in the curtains. After walking through the see through curtains over and over again both boys ended up with black noses and foreheads. Who knows when the last time those curtains were cleaned!

Poor Cinder-Timmy. Forced to eat only bread and water in the fireplace.

After a long hard day of school and cleaning, it's time to clean the boys.

Then I think that it would be great for me to head out and do something myself, but after I sit and talk to Doug for a little while I realize that it is nice to sit and talk to another adult. And then it it too late and I'm too tired to get out anyway.

That's been a normal day for me in Paris for the past week. I have to admit that it's amazing how much I can get done around the house when I'm not distracted by the internet, the phone, or Food Network. While it's gratifying to have things clean, it's not my idea of a good way to pass the day in Paris.

Next week we are moving to our new place and will have fun unpacking and organizing. Oh, and Matt has 2 weeks of Spring Break. We'll see how well my days go when I have all three of them at the store. I may just make myself go in the evenings.

La Mode...at the playground

Paris is the fashion capitol of the world. Or so they say. I've seen all kinds of interesting outfits, many of which remind me of the late eighties. (In fact I saw someone at the airport wearing stirrup pants along with flip flops. You have to admit that stirrup pants were pretty comfortable). I see a lot of girls wearing Keds and Converse. And of course everyone has scarves, even the men. I really need to learn how to do the various designs with scarves. Right now they're practical to keep you warm. We'll see what happens when it gets warmer. The women wear high heels everywhere. I wonder if their feet are used to it and I wonder how many women have twisted their ankles crossing a cobble stone street and get their heels stuck in between cobblestones.

Anyway, apparently one has to be fashion conscious at the playground as well. Heels in the sand? Yep! I'm going to have to start wearing skirts and heeled boots to go play at the playground. The other day I saw a woman wearing beige alligator like high heels and a white leather knee length dress coat (that was longer than her skirt) at the playground. The little girl with her had perfectly curled hair and she was wearing a fur coat with a leopard print. They might have been tourists but I doubt it because most of the tourists wear more practical clothing for walking around. I also saw a woman at the playground with her grand-daughter and she was wearing a full wool dress suit ensemble with heels. At a dirty park bench in the sand. I guess that I'm going to have to make more of an effort when I go outside. I'll need more than mascara and lip gloss.

L'Église à Paris

Today we went to church.

No, we didn't go to church at the Notre Dame, but you can see it from the street next to the church building. We had anticipated the Metro being nearly empty because of it being an early Sunday morning, however, that was not the case. It was more crowded than a warm Saturday with tourists. Why? The Marathon de Paris was today. Thankfully it was early in the morning so the metro didn't stink of sweaty runners! I'm grateful that we exited the Metro on the correct side of the street, otherwise we would have had to somehow navigate ourselves around thousands of runners who were going down the the main street.

We actually got to church a little early only to be a little confused by the fact that there was no sign outside the door. And we didn't know a code to get in. We only had to wait a couple minutes before someone came by and opened the door. Apparently you just have to push the button and the door will open. It opened into a courtyard with big cobblestones.

We were immediately greeted (in English) and were told the story of the building. It was built in 1624 and the door we came through from the street was where people would enter the courtyard in their carriages. Then off to the right you see arched doorways that used to be the stables. There are even still some hooks on the wall that people used to hitch their horses to. The boys went to Primary (which is first, and Sacrament meeting is last. Doug wonders why it's so backwards because it's horrible for kids, but then I mentioned that perhaps it was so everyone would actually be on time for the more important Sacrament meeting. I remember on my mission that there was hardly anyone on time for Relief Society, but everyone would gradually trickle in on time for Sacrament).

Anyway, Doug went to Primary with the boys and they conducted it partially in French and partially in English. Matt even participated. I went to Nursery with Timmy and was met by two American families. So much for speaking in french for three hours. The only kids in the nursery were American and they were all (all three of them) within a couple months of Timmy's age. Because last week was General Conference, and the building didn't have satellite reception, we watched a session from last Sunday. There was a room for English, a room for Mandarin Chinese, and a room for French. About 1/3 of the ward speaks English, another 1/4-1/3 speaks Chinese, and the rest is French. There's even normally a Sunday School in English. Sacrament meeting is in French but they hand out translator headphones for anyone who wants one. After church everyone headed out into the courtyard to sing 'Happy Birthday” to the Bishop and eat cupcakes. And FYI, Soeur Smart (Elizabeth Smart) was just transferred into our ward. (for anyone who might find that interesting thought I'd let you know)

When we left the marathon was over and the streets were back to normal. The Centre Pompidou is on the right corner of the street the church is on. We'll go back and visit on another day. The boys thought it looked like a weird building. Just to the left down the street was the Hotel de Ville.

We wandered around there a little bit, checked out the carousel, and the fountains, and had someone beg for money. We pointed out the Notre Dame to the boys and mentioned the gargoyles. They have already seen pictures of them and they think they look like meat eaters. Luckily they received binoculars in a Happy Meal and we can go back to look at the gargoyles later.

The Metro was much less crowded on the way back home. The Metro system here is pretty amazing. It's actually fairly easy to follow (especially having been used to a metro in DC). The thing that really helps is knowing exactly what your destination is so you can get out on the right street. There seems to be about 3-4 exits for each Metro stop. And a lot of stairs. It's amazing to think that one could actually spend their entire day underground. It's a huge maze of underground trains. I have to remember that there is actually a lot of hidden underground places under Paris. I saw that there is a tour of the Catacombs next week. While kids are free, I'm not sure that I'll take the boys. I'd much rather go on a Taste of Paris tour, or the History of Chocolate tour. And there are cooking demonstrations at the Cordon Bleu that I can't wait to go to.

Aux Champs-Elycees

Last night we ate dinner at the Eiffel Tower. No, not at Jules Vernes (one of the most expensive places around here on the 2^nd level of the Eiffel Tower). We ate on a park bench. Last night we didn't have much in the food department, (because I'm on grève/strike from taking all three boys the the grocery store) so I had Doug run across the street to get baguettes (I will never have a shortage of bread as long as I live this close to a Boulangerie). I had some deli meat so we made baguette sandwiches with Boursin cheese and had a picnic dinner on the grounds of the Eiffel Tower. I think I'll just have to make it my girl's night out time and go grocery shopping by myself. I need to find where to buy one of those wheelie carts to wheel my groceries home. Anyway, we had a nice time and then played on the playground. The weather has been very nice and as a result the tourists are plenty. And also the making out couples. Ah, l'amour.

Today we went shopping on the Champs-Élycées....for a Speedo. Matt needs a speedo swimsuit for his swimming class at school. We tried a couple different stores and ended up walking the entire length of the Champs- Élycées until we found a Decathalon mega store. Here are some pictures of the Champs-Élycées.

The entire road is cobble stones so it makes for a pretty bumpy ride in a stroller when crossing the street. And just because the green walking light says it's safe to cross, you still have to make sure that people actually stop. (Speaking of ride, Doug had one of his first experiences navigating around the Étoile at the Arc de Triomphe yesterday. He navigated and his co-worker drove. They had to drive out to the airport. He thinks that we may end up with some scratches on our car before we leave. If it's only scratches, then I'll be OK)

Anyway, back to shopping. We walked past places like Cartier, Hugo Boss, Jean Paul Gautier, Louis Vuitton and all sorts of big very expensive stores. Apparently the majority of the pricy stores are on the left side of the street and your more average malls and stores are on the right. There were quite a few little malls with a dozen or so stores that we wandered through as well. Mental note, never give kids pop on an empty stomach because then they will have to go to the bathroom like 3-4 times in the next hour. The boys were troopers and walked the entire distance (with minimal whining) from the Place de la Concorde all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.

We decided to go to Quick to eat lunch. We went there in honor of Aunt Meg because she used to work there when Doug's family used to live in France. We told the boys and they thought it was pretty cool. (I know, with all the wonderful food around us, why do we go to a fast food place? I'll give you four good reasons. Matt, Thomas, Timmy, and Thomas' peanut allergy. Granted, there aren't too many peanuts in France, and thankfully food is labeled at the stores and restaurants label things online. But you never know what has been around peanuts during production. Even the Kelloggs Frosted Flakes here say there may be an eventual trace of peanuts. So it's better to be safe than sorry and we stick to what we know and making it ourselves. Maybe we'll have to check into a babysitter and go out to eat in a nicer place) Anyway, they got the version of Happy Meals. One of the side options was cherry tomatoes instead of fries. What child would prefer tomatoes over fries? Timmy liked them. The boys got little toy dogs that they named Gizmo and Rex (after Captain Rex from the Clone Wars)

We stepped into a FNAC (like Best Buy) and went to window shop for a new TV. Once we get settled, then we will get a new TV. Actually our stuff will be moved in on the 19-20^th, and then we will move in to our permanent place on the 21^st. Unfortunately Matt will start Spring Break for 2 weeks on the 19^th. Bummer. Just when I get him back in school.

We visited his school last Thursday. It took quite a while to get out there. It looks like a nice safe school and he got to meet his teacher and classmates. The other kids were very excited to meet him and they all knew his name. He is one of 6 boys out of 17 kids. He will have french class every afternoon so hopefully he picks up on a lot. It will help when there are other little kids learning it with him. It will be interesting to go to church tomorrow where they will experience three full hours of french. I'm personally looking forward to it. How can I expect my french to come back if I'm constantly surrounded by people speaking English? Hopefully there is a nursery class for Timmy so we can go to Primary with the boys and translate.

As much as the driving around here is crazy, the parking is even more interesting. People park wherever they think their cars will fit. And around here there are a lot of tiny cars. As we were walking around I saw some interesting parking jobs.

Yes, that car in the middle...it's parked. Apparently there were 3 cars parked at the corner intersection and the middle one left. The yellow truck to the left had his emergency blinkers on as if that makes it perfectly acceptable to park in the middle of a street. And tonight we saw a woman in a car going slower than us. So if you're lost in Paris, apparently it's ok to slow down in the middle of the street so you can get a good look at the names of the streets. And then she made a U-turn (very slowly). I'm surprised no one came zooming up behind her and laid on their horn. It's all very entertaining to watch. Maybe the next time we're next to the Arc de Triomphe I'll take some video footage of the driving around here.

Well, that's all for now.

À toute à l'heure.

Le Vol et la premiere semaine a Paris

This may not have as many pictures as you would like. I am using free Wi-Fi (pronounced 'wee-fee') at a playground by the Eiffel Tower. I'll put up a lot of pictures when I have more time on the internet!

Today we finally checked out of the hotel! The boys were sad because it meant no more pool, but on the other hand they were excited because we were finally going to France. We checked out of our room, only to move all of our suitcases to a room next door so Timmy could take a nap. There was no way I was going to risk flying out at 10 PM and not have him take a nap. I enjoyed some peace and quiet and some final internet time. Who knows when I would have internet access again. We are to be in our temporary apartment until April 18, and I don't imagine that there will be the internet hooked up there temporarily. Doug did some pretty impressive luggage Tetris in the car and I'm happy to say that we fit it all in the car! We left the hotel around 2:00 PM and headed towards the airport. We went to the Dulles Towne Center which is a big mall close the the airport so we could walk around and ride the train and carousel at the mall. Also, that way we beat the traffic heading west. After returning our rental car we took a shuttle to the airport. (yes, this all our stuff)
We made it to the airport around 5:30 and prepared for the process of checking in and going through security. Although we were flying Delta, we actually had to check in at Air France. It seemed that everyone else checking in was speaking French and the boys were very excited to hear it. We only had to wait a little while in the security line because there was a separate line just for families. Finally! I'm so glad that airports are catching on! I didn't feel totally rushed with hoards of people waiting behind us. We were at our terminal about 3 hours early and we let the boys play and walk around. Timmy was good natured and ended up being a little punch-drunk giggly. When we boarded Timmy and I got the window seat and Doug and the boys took the middle. Thomas fell asleep before we even reached 9000 feet. He slept for more than half the flight. The attendants passed around little earplugs and sleep masks. Matt put on a sleep mask and he even slept for a few hours. Timmy, on the other hand, held out until after midnight. He finally fell asleep when the overhead lights were turned out and when I learned how to turn off the TV. (Each seat had its own TV in front and there were even video games to play. Matt and Thomas really liked that!)

They also served dinner. Let me share the menu:

Appetizer: Couscous à la provençale et saumon

Main: Fricassée de poulet sauce suprême, riz sauvage, julienne de carottes et courgettes jaunes.

OR

Pâtes pennne à la bolognaise

Fromage

Gâteau à l'orange et aux canneberges

BIENVENUE À FRANCE!!! When was the last time you had a meal like that on an airplane?!

I even got to sleep a little. Well, enough to make my contacts uncomfortable. Doug on the other hand didn't sleep much because he was wedged in between two sleeping boys.

After landing I prepared myself to stand in line for the passports check. Once again we were pleasantly surprised when one of the workers opened up the gate for just us and let us cut in line. Maybe they cater to families of tired children. I wouldn't want to be in line with a bunch of tired whining kids. Anyway, kudos to the French for their airport customer service! Who would have thought!

We quickly found our luggage and not so quickly waited for our stroller and boy's car seats. (yeah, we always take our stroller with us and have it tagged at the terminal gate. So this time, it was not waiting for us when we got off the plane and we (well, Doug) had to haul Timmy and carry-ons through the airport until we got our stroller. Thank goodness for bags and bags of fruit snacks!) I have to say that I have always hated the Charles de Gaule Airport. Every time I've been here I was so lost and confused. (Even when I spoke french). Maybe it was because all of the other times I was making a connecting flight. Anyway, things are labeled better and bigger. They even have a nifty shuttle train. So I was pleasantly surprised once again.We met one of Doug's co-workers and our shuttle driver. It was a long drive from the airport to the apartment. All three boys fell asleep. The driver pointed our various land marks. Matt was excited as we drove by IKEA. But I'm pleased to say that he was very excited as we drove past the Eiffel Tower. Thomas even woke up briefly to see it as we drove by. It was weird to see that Paris is not all pretty as people expect it to be. There is a lot of the old and pretty mixed in with the brand new and shiny along with the run down and graffiti written. There were a lot of places where there was a ton of garbage just piled up next to the road. I'm still amazed at the drivers here. Especially the motorcycles. They seem to have their own rules. In fact at our street corner there are five streets that intersect. And none of them have a stop sign, so who has the right of way?

Friday, April 2

We arrived at our TLQ (temporary living quarters) and it is quite nice. (Not as nice as our permanent apartment will be, but way better than a hotel). I'm happy to say that we live right across the street from a boulangerie!

We also live around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. If the building in front of us wasn't there, we'd be able to see the Eiffel Tower from our living room. So we walk out the front doors and go to the end of the street, then turn left and...voila, there it is!

I'm getting ahead of myself. Upon our arrival, the boys had to go to the bathroom. They ran in and found the bathroom. Here in France there is a bathroom (with the bath/shower) and another room with the toilet (pretty smart if you ask me). Well, what the boys found was the bidet. Then Timmy discovered the bidet and that he could turn on the water and fill it up and splash around. So my question is, why wasn't the bidet in the same room as the toilet? Isn't that what it's for? In any case, we have to keep the door to the bathroom closed at all times because any time Timmy sees it open he runs in and tries to turn on the bidet.

Saturday April 3

We went walking around and grocery shopping. There is a grocery store down then street about 5 minutes and it's right next door to a McDonalds. (and a GAP and H&M). We've been doing a little grocery shopping each day carrying whatever we and the stroller can hold. I'll have to get used to making my menus and shopping lists accordingly each day. I do love grocery shopping, so I don't mind. I wonder, however, it if is going to make my food budget more expensive. We'll see. While at the store I saw “facination” (the french translation for “Twilight”), so I bought it. Doug was worried that he would loose me into a book for the whole weekend. However, reading in french right now gives me a headache. I'm not at the point yet where I can read and automatically know what it says so I'm still kind of translating things in my head. Although I practically have “Twilight” memorized, I'm using it as a learning experience and looking up words that I don't know (even though I know what is going on in the book). So it is slow reading right now. We have been walking around the Eiffel Tower grounds. Today it was cold and rainy. The boys enjoyed puddle jumping. They quickly learned the phrase, “Attention la boue!”

Sunday April 4

Pâques

Today was Easter. I haven't really had some time to prepare for a nice Easter meal, so we had cheese pizza for lunch and crèpes for dinner. We had a nice lesson on why we celebrate Easter and talked about the Atonement and the Ressurection. What a wonderful gift our Saviour has given us. I'm grateful for the power of the Atonement and the miracle of forgiveness. Christ really did atone for our sins and he knows how we are feeling. Whatever it is that we are going through, He has already gone through it so we don't have to suffer. I hope my kids learn this and know that they are never alone. Although today was General Conference (a worldwide satellite broadcast for the Church), our chapel wasn't able to receive the satellite. The closest place it was being broadcast was by Versailles and since we don't know our way around (and don't have the internet to figure it out), we opted to have a lesson here and talk a big walk around the Eiffel Tower. I also took a walk to find various patisseries with chocolate sculptures in the windows so I could post them here, but alas, even la Petite Chocolaterie didn't have a window display.

Monday, April 5

lundi Pâques

Today is a holiday in France. So Doug will go to work tomorrow and fill out paperwork and get things prepared for us to get ID's and a bank account. We went shopping once again and now everyone is taking naps. We finally figured out where to take our garbage and how to work the washer machine.

I am reminded of lundi Pâques in 1998 when my mission companion and I wanted to make crèpes. We had completely forgotten that all the stores were closed and we needed to have our Nutella. So we went Nutella contacting. (asking people if there was a store open to buy some). I'm happy to say that Nutella contacting works 100% of the time if you want to find a new investigator! The woman that helped us also started taking the missionary discussions. I wonder whatever happened to her. I went home a month later, so who knows.

Today we went shopping once again and then to a playground. There were a few little kids around Timmy's age and then some other girls playing soccer (with a pink ball). I hope that the other moms didn't think that my boys were crazy loud American boys (well, they are, but we're working on that). I try to teach the boys that we need to talk in french when we are out and about because it is more polite. I think that Matt will learn quite a bit once he gets to school.

Tuesday, April 6

This is my first day going solo. Doug went to work. It would have been much better this morning if we all slept in, but Matt needs to practice getting up earlier. He will start school on Monday and he needs to be at the bus stop around 7:30 AM. (that's early for all of us). I talked to his school and found out that once a week they have a swimming class. Matt is excited and I am grateful that he had the opportunity to enjoy the pool at the hotel. Of course, he can't swim without floaties. I guess he'll learn. I did find out that he needs to have a Speedo swimsuit. This morning we went to H&M, GAP Kids, and Monoprix and none of them have Speedos for kids. So, where in the world do I buy a Speedo for kids?! Help! While in the states I always avoided taking all three boys to the store. It was such a nightmare. Now it's unavoidable. This morning we went to the store to get things to make pizza. Timmy kept trying to grab everything in sight and I even caught him trying to gnaw on a head of broccoli. Thankfully I only got a few things and it was for a good cause (pizza) so the boys helped out. Still, I think I'll save the grocery shopping until the early evening when I can leave all of them home. Then again, it sure it nice having the stroller carry the groceries for me. I invested in one of those mommy clips to carry multiple bags at a time and hang it on the stroller bar. So far so good. This afternoon we are going to play on a playground that is next to the Eiffel Tower. There is a huge area with 3-4 play areas, a carousel, go-kart riding, and a place to play basketball. Doug wants to play basket ball to show them how we really play in USA. I'm not quite sure that Church ball counts! Anyway, he's excited to know there is somewhere to play.

That is all for now. I hope all is well with you in the states. Until next time when I mooch off of some free “Wee-Fee”...Au revoir.

"30 Days of Hotel Life"

Every once in a while I kept thinking of the number of times we did various things while stuck here in the hotel and 'The 12 days of Christmas' song came to mind. So I thought I'd make a tally of things we did and make up a little jingle. Sing along with me if you'd like!

On the 3oth day of hotel life, the delayed visas gave to me:


30 Air line tickets (5 tickets rescheduled 6 times)
29 Straight days that Doug ate waffles for breakfast
28 Fast food restaurants
27 Times reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (Timmy's favorite book. I think I'll buy it in french.)
26 Bags of fruit snacks
25 Hours of video games
24 Plastic Easter eggs from Easter egg hunt
23 Episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Timmy's favorite)
22 Mini boxes of Frosted Flakes
21 People at Doug's office that asked him, "Why are you still here?"...on a daily basis.
20 Magic Tree house books that Matt read
19 Different snakes and reptiles (actually I don't really know, it just seemed like we were in the reptile house of the zoo way too long. Those places are always so warm.)
18 Days of no school for Matt
17 Hundred dollars for a rental car
16 Happy Meal toys to pack (or conveniently loose in the hotel room. Brahahaha (evil laugh)
15 Loads of laundry
14 Trips to the pool
13 Episodes of SpongeBob that the boys got away with because there was nothing else left on TV
12 Shopping trips Jen took to get out of the hotel
11 Trips to McDonalds
10th Wedding Anniversary celebration
9-0 Doug's church basketball record for the season. (once again he was on the winning team)
8 Peppermint shakes from Silver Diner
7 Visits to Chuck E Cheese
6 Goodbye dinners
5 "Last" basketball games for Doug
4 Breathing treatments
3 Times Thomas threw up
2 New baby teeth (for Timmy)
and 1 Elephant made out of a towel.