Sonia Delaunay

The two weeks school holidays starts for A1. As usual, the teacher gave the parents the children's workbooks.

 

I am impressed with what they learn in school. Apart from the usual drawing horizontal and vertical lines; grouping images; coloring the différences etc..they had interesting experiments. One was playing in the snow and observing the frozen state of water. Then melting the snow. And freezing the snow in the freezer to get back to ice state.

 

 Recently, the teacher brought a little mouse to the class and everyone observed what the mouse was doing in its cage. Suggestions were given on what the mouse ate and the children experimented by feeding the mouse with suggested food. They then noted down what the mouse liked and disliked. In the end, they came up with three names and voted for the name 'Curieux' (Curious).

 

I saw this nice painting by A1 in his workbook. I do not know how much help he received but it was nice. The caption said 'Observing the master pièces of Sonia Delaunay and creating in one own's manner'.

 

I googled 'Sonia Delaunay' and realised she was an artist who used strong colours and geometric shapes. These 3 and 4 year old kids were exposed to arts at such a young age. I discovered an artist through my son.  

 

For my first Christmas in France, my sister in law gave me a book titled 'Petite encyclopédie de la Peinture' (Small encyclopedia of paintings). Then, my knowledge of arts were limited to what I learnt during those weekly hour of art lesson in Singapore. Over the years, I had learnt to appreciate arts more with visits to the abundance museums here. From now, I think I will learn more from my sons school work.  

Lo Hei (Prosperity Toss)

This was the second time I had it in my ten years in France. Lo Hei is a popular dish during the chinese new year in Singapore. One usually has it several times during the chinese new year period; with family, colleagues, friends, etc...

 

Every ingredient has a good meaning and while mixing them with raw fish (usually salmon) using chopsticks, we have to say good things. A good explanation can be found here. The higher we toss, the better. Imagine the mess on the table if the plate was not big enough.

 

On the 15th day of chinese new year, I invited Seb's family to celebrate chinese new year. We had lo hei and they enjoyed it a lot. This was a good starter. Maybe when my mum comes in April, we will toss it again.

Snowman creation

It snowed these few days so we had plenty of snow to practise on snowman building. This morning, after bringing A1 to school, A2 and I made this snowman in the backyard. A2 asked for a carrot for the snowman's nose.

When A1 came back from school, he wanted to make a snowman too. So we did one in the frontyard. He asked for a carrot but I told him to use the plastic bowling pin instead. Handsome had been stealing the carrots. A1 wanted to give the snowman arms but I only managed to find a twig in the snowy garden. Thus, the snowman only had an arm. He had ears and a hat, all made of snow so it is hard to notice them in the photo.

I quickly took photos of the snowmen with the boys. As I expected, once Handsome was out in the garden, there was not much left of the snowmen.

I am proud to say that our snowmen looked pretty decent this time round.

Chinese New Year visit

Chinese New Year 2013 was on 10 Feb. I am so fortunate to have two friends from Singapore visiting. Rachel and Aileen are part of the gang from my University days in Brisbane.

 

I was so happy to have reunion dinner with my family and my two old pals. We had steamboat. The girls bought me lots of Singapore goodies. Aileen surprised me with a box of freshly packed frozen durians. Wow. I had it on a late night chat. It was so good. Seb was surprised the next morning when he smelt something strange in the house.

 

 

The ladies visited Paris, Rambouillet, Chartres, Versailles and even spent a night over at Bordeaux and visited two wine properties. It was cold and rained during most of their stay here. It even snowed on the sunday we were at Notre Dame Cathedrale in Paris.

 

We drank lots of wine as "it was so cheap"; exclaimed my friends. We chatted into the late night and I put on 2 kilograms with all the pineapple tarts, mini spring rolls that my mum made, snacks, and good food that we had in Paris restuarants.

My boys enjoyed their presence and A1 was still asking for Rachel and Aileen after they left. We are meeting soon in July when we are heading to Singapore for summer vacation.

A1's drawings

Recently, A1 likes to draw. Given some pens and crayons and papers, he could spend long periods drawing. He would draw family members including his grandparents.

Seb and I can't draw for nuts so we are not able to guide him much.

I am delighted whenever he presents his drawings. He insists that we place them on the bedboard.

Here are two recent ones.

 

A1 explained that he was drawing his papa. I pointed at the dot and he said it was the bellybutton. He then opened wide his hands showing me what his papa was doing in the drawing.

 

 

After that, he presented another drawing showing me. I asked where my hands were and he said: "Like this"; and he stood straight with his hands by his side.  I also asked about the thing on top of my head and he said that it was a hat. Funny boy.

I like the way he drew smoke coming out of the chimney. He is an observing boy and always draw five fingers on each hand. This was the first time he included the bellybutton.

He is drawing better. A week ago, there was a gap between the house and the roof. And it was a frown on the face. There is still no smile on the face but he is getting there, I hope.

Our Handsome boy

For once, this Sunday was a calm one with no lunch invitation or errands to run. Though there was frost, the sun was coming out. We went for a walk as a family in this cold morning. The temperature was around 3 degrees. A1 was on his bicycle and A2 was on his scooter.

I brought the camera along as I wanted to take some photos of Handsome. He is growing so fast and we hardly took photos of him.

He had a great time in the park running freely and sniffing everywhere. You can see that he is a tall boy in the photo with A1 on his bicycle. Handsome is heavier than my boys now.

Below are some photos of Handsome in action.

Isn't him a Handsome lad?

 

Aquarium at Palais de la porte Dorée

On 30 Dec 2012, we went to the Aquarium at Palais de la porte Dorée. I did not even know it existed. I always thought there was only one aquarium in Paris which we visited on A1's birthday. As Ah Yi, the children's nanny lived in the 12th district and we were visiting her, I decided to find an activity for the boys nearby. That was how I came upon this aquarium on internet.

 

 When we arrived, we were surprised that entrance was free as the place was upgrading its ticketing system. There were not many people and the boys were able to run around looking at all the fishes.

 

 Below was a tank of arowanas.  

 

Here was a tank of marine lives.

There was also a dwelling for turtles and tortoises.

 

The boys looking at the impressive fishes. Some were bigger than A2.

One of my favourite fish: tetra. I used to have them in Singapore.

Look at the sting rays below. The white spots striked out on the black colour. Unique.

 

There was also a big rainforest dwelling for the alligators.

This aquarium was smaller than the one we went to before but I actually liked it better as it was less crowded. There were many pretty species.

When we were done, we met up with Ah Yi for tea and had a good time catching up. As usual, she made chinese dumplings for me (the best I ever tasted), stir fried vegetables with seitan for Seb and braised chicken drumsticks for the boys.

It was a fruitful day.

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.

Handsome

Handsome is growing up fast. When Seb brought him for his vaccination a month ago, he weighed 10kg. Each morning he greets us, I notice that he has grown taller overnight.

He loves to sleep in this position. Just too funny. The boys love the dog. They would go to Handsome to play with him. A1 is being caution most of the time. A2 however, can be found rolling over the dog, playing fetch with Handsome and kissing him.

Handsome is usually gentle with the boys. He can get excited sometimes and starts jumping around. He still does stupid things which includes chewing on everything. Our furnitures, the corner of the walls, doors, cables, and whatever he could get his teeth on. Our house has never been so tidy and neat. We just put everything out of his reach. As he grows taller, we would really need to put everything upstairs or in the guest room.

Most people tell us their dogs calm down overnight when they reach around 18 months old  to 2 years old. I hope for Handsome, he would calm down at 18 months old instead of 24 months old.

Just one more thing to add, we find that he is growing more and more handsome each day. No, we are not being bias dog owner. He is not a photogenic dog. You really have to come see him for real to judge for yourself.

Year end gifts

It is common practise for companies in France to give year end gifts. In my company, we usually receive gift vouchers. For Seb, he has both gift vouchers and a goodies bag. This year, the gift box includes pots of foie gras, terrine de magret de canard fumé (smoked lean duck),  pâté de campagne (meat spread), spice bread, jam and French wines to go with these delightful french food. 

As most pâté contained pig's liver, I did not eat pâté. Nor could I stomach foie gras. I came to love foie gras after I had my kids. And slowly, my taste buds could accept pâté too. I remembered I gave away last year's pâté to some colleagues since Seb does not eat meat. This year, I am keeping everything for myself. I have friends from Singapore visiting in Feb. I will share these french food with my friends then.

Since living in France for so long, I have learnt to eat lots of french food like smelly cheese, foie gras etc.... There are still a thing or two that I just could not take. Boudin noir and goat cheese are two things that I will never see on my plate. Boudin noir is a sausage made of pig's blood. You might think I am not an adventurous eater. The thing is, I love pig's organ soup and braised pig's intestines which are local delights in Singapore. When I mentioned that, French people usually gave me an unbelivable look.

So you tell me, are you an adventurous eater? What new food have you accepted recently and what food do you avoid?

Froot Loops

I asked Seb to bring me peanut butter, Resee's chocolate and a box of Froot Loops from the States. My kind husband did as told and even bought two giant boxes of Froot Loops. Er... that was one too many. I wonder when will we ever finish these two boxes. I missed Froot Loops as the last time I had them was 11 years ago when I was living in the States for 2 months.

My boys love Froot Loops and ask for a bowl and a refill each morning. I am not surprised as looking at the composition, the first ingredient is sugar. We limit their consumption to a small bowl each morning followed by healthier biscuits.

The box was so big it won't fit into my cupboard. I had to pour out the contents into these chinese new year goodies containers. Aren't they pretty? Now, out of sight, out of mind. 

Not really. A1 knows where I keep the Froot Loops and wants a bowl still in the morning.

Late fall

It snowed overnight last friday and in the morning, this was the sight of our garden. It was white and beautiful. As Seb was on a work trip, I was alone with the kids. That meant that I had to bring the two boys out when sending A1 to school. I decided not to bring A1 to school as A2 was sick. I did not want to risk A2 getting sicker. Furthermore, the gate was frozen and could only open half way. The car was covered in snow too. The pathway was slippery. I was not motivated to sweep the snow and pour hot water. Well, we just holed up in the house the whole day. 

By afternoon, the snow had mostly melted away. As Christmas is coming, some neighbours put up decorations on the exterior of their houses. The best decorated house I would say belongs to our direct neighbour. The decorations look like display from a shop's window. The lights light up at 5.30pm and was beautiful. We are so fortunate to benefit from this display.

The weather had been rainy too. Yesterday I could not decide if I should pick up A1 by foot or by car as it was raining on and off. When looking out, I saw this double rainbow. Beautiful. It was dark at the front gate and clear sky at the backyard. In the end, the sky cleared and A2 and I went on foot to fetch A1 from school.

Snow is expected again this thursday. A2 is better now. Maybe I will let the kids play in the garden and make a snowman if there is enough snow.

Laptop repaired

Handsome is an active puppy. As with any new domestic pet, we have to teach him the house rules. Like no going up stairs, no going up on the sofa, no jumping on people, do his needs outside. We only have him for 2 weeks so he is still learning.

In these 2 weeks, he had managed to destroy a few things. He tore the sleeve of my leather jacket. He pulled the laptop cable and the laptop fell from the dining table. It was not working after. I thought I would have to buy a new laptop and even went to Carrefour to check out the models. Good thing the next day, I found in my letter box a commerical leaflet from a PC repair shop in the next village. Seb brought the laptop over and it was repaired. Still the shock has broken the screen and now, on the left bottom of the screen, it is dimmer. Yesterday, our music system could not work. Seb checked the cables behind this morning and saw that the Ethernet cable was chewed into half. He replaced the cable and pushed the furniture closer to the wall so that Handsome could not go get the cables. Handsome also tore up my cushion and when we came home from town in the afternoon, we found the stuffing all over the living room. We are learning from experiences on puppy proofing the house.