Ski suit, rain boots and snowman

It snowed the whole day today. While Seb stayed at home to look after A2, I walked A1 to school in his ski suit and rain boots. I took a bag to bring back the suit and boots but his teacher told me to leave him in them. She told me when the kids played outside, A1 would be dressed. I noticed there were other kids in ski suits too. Even a few parents wore ski suits and ski boots. We had never ski with the kids but I bought this set of ski suit when Seb was in the states recently as Osh Gosh B'osh was having sale. A1 used the ski jacket and now the overalls came in handy.  

When I was young in Singapore, if it rained, I would wear slippers to school and change into my white school shoes when I reach school. And we did not play in the rain. Here, the children play everyday comes rain or shine or snow. What a cultural difference.

In the evening, I picked up A1 by car because I did not want A2 to walk along the slippery and narrow cleared path. Seb was still in office. After the afternoon snack, the boys and I tried snowman making. The snow was compact but it was not easy making big round balls. As each kid wanted a carrot, we had two carrots on a snowman. Looking at the photo above, it looked as though the snowman had been stabbed with a carrot in his tummy. Funny. I am inexperience in snowman making. Hopefully, I will improve with practise. For the next few days, it seems that I would  have plenty of chance to do just that. Snowman building practice.

 

Snowy weekend

It had been snowing the whole day today. We cancelled lunch at a friend's place in Paris as we felt that it was not safe to drive in this weather condition. We stayed put at home and the kids had fun in the garden.   

 

There was 10cm of snow fall. A2 wanted to play with the slide but we told him no. He would get his butt all wet. So, he went to play basketball. This boy plays basketball rain or shine or even snow. A1 tried to make a snowman with his father but the snow was too soft. 

The day before, it snowed during the night. Before we headed to Paris for lunch at a friend's place, the boys played in the snow while Seb prepared the car by clearing the snow and heating it up. It was A2's first experience walking in the snow. It took him a few minutes to step into the snow and walk around.

Our drive to Paris was smooth as it was not snowing and the highway had been cleared of snow. I had a great time catching up with my two singaporean girl friends. The kids had fun collecting snow from the steps on the City Hall of Paris District 15. The girls' mother was surprised that we brought a bag of snow home while she stayed with the baby.

It will snow tomorrow during the day. We are stuck in the village.Good thing there is still food in the fridge. I will just bring A1 to school and A2 to his baby gym by foot.

Tulips

Amazing. I bought these tulips from Carrefour for 2.90€ almost a week ago and  they were still standing.

The bouquet even came with a pill for cleaning the vase and a sachet of tulips food to disolve in the water.

I did not know that flowers from supermarket can be such value for money. 

 A1 asked if these flowers were bought by papa. I told him 'No, mama buys them for herself.' When Seb came home that evening, he was surprised that I bought flowers. Well, at this price, why not.

I am definitely replacing these tulips when they wilter with new ones. They are such a pleasant sight and go well with the new vase I have from Christmas.

Noddy, Oui-oui

 A1 calls him Oui-oui while A2 calls him Noddy. They both watch the cartoon in English more than French. 

Just 2 days before the end of 2012, we went to catch the show 'Oui-oui and the carnival' in Paris. It was the first time A2 watched a live show. The theatre was full of kids. The boys enjoyed themselves a lot. They paid full attention to the show. After 30mins, there was an entr'acte of 20mins. Then followed by act II which was another 30mins. 

 I was worried that A2 might be too young to sit for long but he did very well. The characters played well and I was entertained too. Seb however started to doze off in the second act. When we were exiting the theatre, A1 wanted a Noddy helium balloon. Almost all kids had one. So, we got one for each of our boys.

Lunch was at a Japanese restuarant nearby. After lunch, we headed back home but not before I made a quick stop at Chinatown to grab some asian groceries.

Oyster addict

Christmas and new year celebrations are usually the only time I had oysters. I love fresh oysters and had several during the christmas lunch. 

I felt that I did not have my fill and for the past two weekends, I had been buying them from the market. 

Now I am pretty good at opening these little delights. They are sold in dozens and can be kept for a week. My dozen are gone in a weekend. The ones in France are so fresh and good, I am becoming an oyster addict.

A2 marked the new year

A new year has come. 2013 is declared to be a difficult year in France and Germany. Since I am not working for three quarters of the year, I will not be affected in terms of work. I just hope next year will be better for the economy.

We celebrated New Year's day eve with Anca and family. We had lunch togather and the boys were well behaved. On the second day of new year, I bought some washable felt tip pens for the boys since they had fun using them at Anca's place. 

Yesterday, I was greeted with A2's drawing on the walls after lunch. While A1 was cooking lunch with me, A2 was having a blast scribbling the furnitures, the walls, the stair and the floor. I thought he was playing quietly with the floor puzzle. How wrong was I. Thank God the ink was highly washable and I managed to clean up the mess. Still, it took me a good half an hour to wipe everything off.

I took pictures before wiping the walls. I actually laughed when I saw what he did. If it had been permanent ink, I wonder would I still have kept my cool.