Rosh Hashanah & the Tetine Fairy

Last Saturday night, the Tetine (pacifier) Fairy came in the night. Estelle left her a note:
This card explained that Estelle was ready to give up her pacifiers, and that in return she of course expected something! During the day we went to a toy store and Estelle looked around to pick out what she wanted from the Tetine Fairy.
She explained inside her card, I wrote exactly what she dictated to me:
When Estelle woke up in the morning, there was a new doll. That poor Tetine Fairy, she was in sticker shock when she went to the store and found that the doll Estelle had selected cost 46 euros! 46 euros! That is over 58 dollars. That's a lotta Tetines. Dang.
Here is Estelle playing NOT with her 46 euro doll:
That doll is one my sister Martha made me, with a whole bunch of custom-made clothes. Estelle enjoys playing with her now.
Léna is holding the doll's nightgown, for which Martha had made me a matching one back in 1974. Meanwhile, our little Rugby Player is on the move at all times:

This week on Wednesday we had a visit from Lucas Bule, godson to Uncle Craig and Uncle Doug. He was born in London, has already been to Bermuda to visit his mom's family, and now is on his way to go live in Abu Dahbi for 3 years. We enjoyed meeting him. I enjoyed looking at his exhausted mother and knowing I will never relive those early months. Hallelujah.
In response to reader feedback/comments (Martha!), last weekend the Apron Fairy got Estelle a 2nd "tablier", this one with short sleeves. She wore it every day this week (only 3 days, big strike on Tuesday, don't get me started on THAT!)
Curious readers (i.e. my sisters) will be happy to know I have ordered badges with her name on them which I will sew onto the aprons. My dreams of embroidering her name myself were quickly put into harsh reality when I went to the sewing store and the ladies cocked their eyebrows and said "if you can't sew on a button, you better let this one slide, order the badges and move on". Ouch.
Last night, on the eve of 911, I was invited to a Rosh Hashanah dinner - the start of the Jewish New Year. Including myself, we were 6 - 3 Americans, and 3 English - 1 of each being Jewish. I learned that you eat sweet things to bring sweetness to your new year.

Above left, Leslie the host, who is an American NYC Jew, straight up. She owned an art gallery. Anyways, her husband is English and after 10 years in Nice they are moving to Durham England where he is some kind of astrophysicist researcher or some such nonsense. They have a daughter Zelda who is Estelle's age.
Who says we don't talk with our hands in our family? I remind myself SO MUCH of my sister Mary in this picture I laugh every time I see it.

Leslie had a lovely table set for Rosh Hashanah, with the first course being apples in honey - something sweet!
Below, John and Diane - English. Diane is a BBC writer/journalist.

Liz, also English, who lived in Turkey for 11 years, married a muslim Turkish man, had a son by him, and then left him. Then she lived in Bucharest for 3 years (where I have been). We had a lot to talk about. John is a retired yacht captaine in Antibes.
John's wife Jackie, on the left, is American and from Massachusetts - she has been in Nice 32 years. Her children are in London and Boston. Liz and Jackie work at an international school here where Leslie has worked a decade.
So much interesting conversation! I even learned a few Hebrew words but of course now cannot remember a thing as to how to pronounce them. Anyways, morning came calling with a vengance since Léna woke up EARLY and Thomas left at 7:30 for a hockey tournament far away.
I've been thinking of all the fun I had last night and of all the people lost 9 years ago, such contrast.