D-4!

I don't know what on earth we will do with 2 1/2 entirely kid-free hours four days a week, but believe me, we will not be the parents wiping away tears when we take Benjamin and Noah to school on Monday...

Benjamin is starting 1st grade ("CP" or "cours préparatoire") and is very proud. Noah is dismayed to be in "petite section" because "je suis grand !" ("I am big!") He will only go mornings since in petite section they take a nap in the afternoon anyway, may as well do that at home.

I am a little dismayed at the lack of people other than me they have to speak English with, but with Benjamin coming home from school speaking French for the past two years, there wasn't really any point of keeping Noah out the first year like we did Benjamin. Noah is starting school a grade lower but only three months younger than Benjamin did, and our little live wire needs some social interaction - and Mommy and Daddy need a break!

They will both be in the same classroom, because the lower grades' one-room-schoolhouse setup includes 3-year-old preschool (petite section), 4-year-old preschool (moyenne section), Kindergarten (grande section), and 1st grade (CP). So they both already know the teacher well, Benjamin from his 4-year-old preschool and kindergarten days, and Noah from going to take Benjamin and pick him up every day.

Right now, they're busy getting in the last of their all-day-long playtime. Benjamin made a Duplo city a few days ago that he insisted I take a picture of - complete with train station, of course.

Pictures lie... our days are not like this lately... hence our anxiously awaiting the first day of school for some peace and quiet!

This was my comic relief the other day. Noah came into my office to show my his socks... or rather, MY socks that he picked out of the laundry basket. Frédéric didn't see anything amiss at all. Actually, they weren't all that much too big for him! I guess that is what I get for not putting the laundry away. 

We moved our half-buffet into the kitchen as a makeshift island to see whether we will have room for an island when we redo the kitchen or not. So far it is a great success, and serves as a perfect worktable when children beg to help cook. 

Good little French children eating their "oeufs à la coque" (soft-boiled eggs that you dip bits of bread in). Do American kids eat this weird stuff? They certainly didn't get this one from me.