What Juliette is Learning in School

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"Mommiy, come and see I'm drawing!" Juliette says to me. And then she shows me the picture.

Juliette is learning to color within the lines at school! She went a little bit outside the lines but still, she made a good effort.

I just wanted to say something. Haven't French teachers read Young at Art? Haven't they ever seen a copy of The Anti-Coloring Book? Why must they continue to follow this ancient style of forcing kids to paint or color pre-drawn pictures? It stifles creativity. It makes kids view art as something that is to be copied or mimicked or done for them, not something to be expressed. I am happy that she is learning at school but just hope that they will make art to view as fun and creative.

Again, one of the French moms clarified me. "This exercise is an essential first step for learning how to write in cursive, which they will begin at age five."Wow. Cursive writing at age five. I think I learned to write cursive when I was something like nine years old. Oh well, I just have to adjust to the French way.

Juliette is now 3 and Melissa is 17 months -September 2007

This is probably the third birthday party the girls attended in August. It's nice that this one is in the big backyard as we miss that so much!!

We stayed in for Han's birthday since both girls were really, really sick--bronchial infections again. Ken thought he wouldn't be able to make us dinner since the power went out for over an hour and we had no idea what time it would come on again. So, we sat there with candlelights. In this picture, Ken made us foie gras for the entree. It's my favorite and so delicious. Can I say, I'm glad that I eat this two or three times a year!!

Ken made zucchinni with scallops for the main plate. Yummy, yummy.

The girls' favorite toy is currently building blocks.

Juliette really enjoyed celebrating her birthday. We celebrated four days before her party.

Good cake!

The girls love going and exploring the golf course with Daddy.

Keep checking back to see if the prize ceremony started.

Melissa running around before the prize ceremony.

Ken and his partner won first place in the Areva golfing tournament.

Here is Juliette's birthday party and she had a wonderful time with her friends. There were 18 adults and 10 children in our apartment, and we were able to squeeze everyone in. The children loved playing fishing the ducks (depeche de canards).

Melissa wants to help Juliette opening her presents.

More presents.

Look, I want everyone to see how I look.

Can't you tell I'm happy with all the presents?

Melissa had to wear these!!

Eating a wonderful lunch.

Ah, I'm ready to open the presents.

Thank you, thank you.

Juliette loved her presents from Aunty Diem, E-Kha and Thomas.

Melissa loves to play with shoes.

I don't need my own Crocs, I like Daddy's better.

Four-Day School Week in France

The French Minister of National Education has announced three weeks ago that there will be no more school on Saturday morning.

You're probably wondering right now why on earth French children were ever going to school on Saturday morning in the first place. One of the french moms explains it this way: historically, the church in France put a lot of pressure on the state to close schools on Wednesdays so that children could go to church (the idea being that if church was held on Saturday, no one would attend). And so, to this day, there is school on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8h30 to 16h00 or thereabouts, and on Saturday morning from 0830 to 12h00.

But as of September 2008, there will be no more school on Saturday morning, in any school in France.

So the million euro question becomes: what about Wednesdays? And much to the delighted surprise of many parents and to the annoyance of many other parents, the Ministère de l’Education Nationale has decided that there will be no school on Wednesdays either, and children will have a four-day school week.

So, thhis generation of French children will be pushing for the four-day work week once they are adults...

The four-day school is a good idea since thre are activities on Wednesdays that children can do. To me, the French system sounds better than the traditional U.S. system of school Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM!

This doesn't apply to Juliette until she turns five and we will be leaving here then.

Mom's Night Out

Yes, Han has a social life. She tries to go out once a month with her friends here. All the moms try to select a new restaurant either in our local area or Paris. What a great way to try different foods!!