Thursday, December 27, 2007

Christmas presents!

Last year we hosted Christmas, and the kids all dove in to their presents after Christmas dinner. It was utter and total chaos, and we didn't get to see anyone open their gifts because it was such pandemonium. Benjamin was more than a little overwhelmed, and didn't really understand about opening presents, so we ended up saving some of his gifts for the next day.

This year, we spent Christmas all on our own, and Benjamin has figured out what presents are all about! He knows how to open them but happily for us, only opens the ones we give to him, not the other ones under the tree (we're still waiting to see our nephews and nieces).


Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Tradition: The Yule Log

Every year for our Christmas dinner, Frederic makes a yule log. It's similar to a jelly roll but with chocolate instead of jelly. This year Benjamin "helped" him make it:

Licking the spoon
Yum, chocolate


Putting on the finishing touches

Monday, December 24, 2007

The Circus

Saturday we went to the circus; that was Air France's Christmas gift to employees with children. (They don't give anything to employees without children, which doesn't seem very fair.)

It took close to 2 hours to get there, because it was in Paris and traffic was as it always is in Paris.

Benjamin was terrified of the camels, but calmed down after they left the ring. We were up in the nosebleed section, as you may be able to tell from the photos.

Frederic and I decided this is probably our one and only trip to the circus as a family - somehow the performers didn't seem to notice that the arena was round, so only those seated straight in front of the circle got to see anything directly; several times we were left guessing what was happening since we could only see from the side. Also, the benches were far from comfortable, and there were just so many people. The longer we live out here in our sparsely populated village, the more I like it. I love not having to see thousands of people every day, or deal with traffic. People sometimes ask "how I do it" when they find out I work from home and don't leave the house very often - I wonder the same about them. How on earth do they manage to deal with seeing so many people on a daily basis and fighting the crowds in public transportation? Yuck.

Anyway... here are a few pictures.
Camels and horses
Equilibrists
Alisa and Benjamin
Frederic and Benjamin

We actually ended up leaving before the end. The show didn't start until almost 6 pm, which is normally Benjamin's bedtime, and of course he didn't take a nap that day. So by the time we left, close to 8, he was exhausted and ready for bed.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Benjamin is 2 today!

Two years ago today, we were in the hospital meeting this little boy (whose head was so big his little newborn hat wouldn't stay on):

Today, he turned two! We celebrated his birthday last night with Frederic's coworker and his family. Benjamin enjoyed his presents but didn't want to eat any cake.




I'm not quite sure where the time has gone.