Our Sunday got underway with some peanut butter chocolate chip bars - thanks L.G. for bringing me the peanut butter this summer from Toronto and thanks Helene for sending the choc chips from Vancouver! These were Canadian bars, I guess. Anyways, Pilou enjoyed the action.
Grouchy Léna had her pacifier. Later, Estelle read Pilou some books, including 'I'm a Little Teapot", and her own version "I'm a Little Stinkpot".
We frantically prepared all weekend to host our 2nd annual Galette de Roi party with Cathy (Léna's nanny) and all the other kids who go there. Pilou tries to lean over and steal the crown....
Shortly thereafter, the guests began to arrive....
Us, three other families, and Cathy's family. 10 adults, 8 kids. Not bad! Sitting in front of the TV on the floor is Beatrice, mom to Jules and Hugo. When she was 8 years old, she and her whole family moved to America for her Dad's job.....to none other than Essex, Vermont. Her dad worked for IBM. She went to 3rd grade at Hiawatha elementary, where my sister Mary teaches 3rd grade looping and my friend Jane's mom used to teach. The day she told me that, my jaw dropped. It is the only person in 10 years of living in France that I have ever met who has ever set foot in VT.
Above - chaos. Ratio of parents to kids was almost 1:1. Below: Estelle is baffled by this handheld playstation thingy. In the middle is Hugo, older brother to Jules (Léna's daycare buddy), and with the glasses is Julien, Cathy's youngest. Notice Estelle is wearing the crown, as she got the "feve" (bean) in the Galette. (not really, she didn't, but Simon, Sienna's dad, took pity and gave her the one he found).
This is Helèna, (a name so similar to Léna) who is 6 months and keeps the other kids at Cathy's hopping. Her Dad Ludovic is ready to have somebody else take her over for the nightshift.
Next to Thomas is Helena's mom Elodie, Sienna (2 weeks younger and about 2 feet smaller than Léna) and Patrice, Jules' dad.
Cathy and her charges: Estelle, Helena's sister Chloé who was at Cathy's with Léna last year, baby Helena, Jules (pronounced "jewel" - sort of), a weepy tired get-your-hands-off-my-toys Léna, and Sienna far right.
Poor Léna. Too much action!
About 25 years ago my brother Paul made donuts in hot oil in his condo kitchen in CT, set the entire kitchen on fire, had to be rescued by the firemen, was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, and promptly went to hockey while leaving his darling wife to clean up layers of oil and fire extinguisher dust that coated her entire kitchen. Last night, 15 minutes after our guests left, I saw a stick, skates and a big bag go out the door. 2 hours and a lot of cleanup later, I got Estelle and Pilou to bed.
Estelle said she was Little Miss Lucky for having had Pilou for the weekend, and Pilou was Mr. Happy for having been with Estelle for the weekend.
At about 10 p.m. I crept back into Estelle's room and took these 3 photos of her sleeping with Pilou. Even with the flash, she didn't even flinch.
A nice friend with Pilou!
20 years ago my sister recorded my parents together singing children's songs. Recently that recording has gathered new life by getting transferred from cassette (!) to CD, and an accompanying book with lyrics and artwork/photos.
Estelle is curious, mesmerized, maybe on the verge of being a little spooked, to hear her grandfather's voice booming out of the speakers. If he is in the sky, she said, then how come he is singing with Grammie, because Grammie is not in the sky, she is with Lisa and Dan.
This video will bore anyone not in my immediate family, but there are a few interruptions by Léna on the piano which are like comic relief in what is, for me, a surreal moment.
The clear, crisp notes of my mother's singing is a delight and dad's voice is priceless.
As he says on the recording "Howdaya like THAT?"
At 21 months, this child is really starting to take on a life of her own:
Last night she somehow got a hold of a Sharpie. After much screaming (me), I spent 3 hours using various solutions I had read about on the internet to try and save my very-much-not-cheap living room rug and couch upholstery. It was an unpleasant evening. But Evil Knievil cared not, there was ground to cover. Naked.
Meanwhile, Estelle remains not only in good health (despite everyone around her being sick) but also a very patient and helpful big sister.
Today when they came home after school they set up a little cozy reading station (notice the lack of slipcover on my couch - it had been drying since last night's post-triage treatment).
Notice the smile on one and the look of almost-2-yr-old defiance on the other.
Vermont is on a weather warning, but also a hide-your-Sharpies warning.
