Talia lost her front tooth!

Talia lost her first top tooth right after her 7th birthday. It doesn't bother her at all. She actually thinks it's cute. That darn thing was hanging on for ages so I was relieved when she woke up and it was on her pillow.

These were taken at the ice skating rink;





We're leaving for California on Wednesday. Right now it's a little crazy. The older two seem to have tests almost every day.

My article is featured on this month's Expat Women website. Of course, they had to edit it a bit. I don't usually let websites publish it and they just sort of told me they wanted to. Oh well. I've even had a publishing offer on it!

No, I did not want my full name published but Expat Women have it.

http://www.expatwomen.com/mothers/flying_with_children.php

Our busy Sunday

Talia's actual birthday was Sunday but we had the party on Saturday because we had a wedding and a Christmas party.

This was taken while we were waiting for the ceremony to start;



The couple have been married for 10 years but finally were doing their religious wedding. It was small but beautiful. I will admit that I don't have good photos just because I wasn't going to be obnoxious about taking them. I stayed in my seat.



Then we headed to the party. It was at General Moters, who let us use their canteen for free. The problem was that we were in Ostwald and GM is also south of Strasbourg. I just didn't know how to get across that way. I was determined not to drive all the way up and down.

I followed the signs to the German border, Neuhof and the industrial area. It worked! Just as I started to panic, there is was on my right (since I'm used to driving up with it on my left).



Talia is singing without a song sheet, next to Elodie, with whom she had skating.





After the singing, Santa came and handed out gifts.



Davina, impatient to get back to her seat;



Ronnie waits patiently as his sisters dig into theirs'. Check out the big one Elodie got!









Finally, Ronnie's turn;



Ronnie got a calendar with paper airplanes to make and the girls got pajamas. "Santa" decided that there were enough toys in this house! But they loved them anyway.

Girls posing in their new PJ's. Talia has Littlest Pet Shop and Davina's is The Dog with a chocolate lab puppy on it.



Ronnie posing, sans pants, with the girls;



Talia wanted to do some birthday gymnastic pose pictures.







This one is to simply show off the new mirror we recently bought;

Miss France 2009 is American too!

I was kind of miffed that Daniel kept the kids up to watch the Miss France pagent. We didn't realize that it was a fellow American who won! Not only that, she's half black (the American half) and speaks Chinese.

Go Chloë!

Yeah for mixed race and minorities.

Yeah for French-Americans.

Yeah for fellow Sinofiles.

http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_11162131?nclick_check=1


Chloe Mortaud is not the first nonwhite winner of the beauty pageant, but she is joining a growing chorus of French public figures breaking traditions by speaking openly about race.

"I want to go to people and explain to them that fear of the other is unfounded," she told The Associated Press the day after being crowned. "I want to incarnate ... today's French diversity" at international beauty pageants.

France has championed a colorblind standard that sees all citizens as just French, regardless of ethnic origins—an ideal meant to make everyone

Clhoe Mortaud, 18, of Midi Pyrenees reacts after being crowned Miss France 2009 in Le Puy du Fou western France, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008. ((AP Photo/Jacques Brinon))feel equal. But it has failed to snuff out racism, particularly against immigrants from former French colonies in Africa. Discrimination in part fed riots in 2005 by largely minority youth in French housing projects.
Days after Barack Obama's election last month, leading French figures published a manifesto urging affirmative action-like policies to expand opportunities for millions of blacks, Arabs and other minorities. First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy said she hoped the "Obama effect" would reshape France's political and social elite.

Mortaud, a dual French-American citizen, said her mother was born in Mississippi but grew up in California, and her father's heritage is ethnic French "as far back as we could trace the family tree."

Mortaud said she and her brother were the only children of mixed ethnic background in the small town where they grew up in the French Pyrenees, where she said "everyone knows each other and respects each other."

Mortaud, 19, is a student in international business in the southern city of Toulouse, and speaks Chinese.


Clhoe Mortaud, 18, of Midi Pyrenees is crowned Miss France 2009, helped by Miss France Committee Ppresident Genevievre de Fontenay, right, in Le Puy du Fou western France, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008. ((AP Photo/Jacques Brinon))
Clhoe Mortaud, 18, of Midi Pyrenees reacts after being crowned Miss France 2009 in Le Puy du Fou western France, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008. ((AP Photo/Jacques Brinon))

Talia's birthday skating party

We managed it!

We only invited five. Abigail's step dad works with Daniel and by coincidence, she goes to St. Jean. Emil and Clemence are in the same class. Kenza is in the other bilingual class but she and Talia were together last year. Eric came down from Walderbach where they moved in September so it was great to see him again.

Here is Talia with Abigail (in the long coat).





Ronnie showing off;





Davina wanting attention;



Ronnie and Davina;





I had a little trouble with the group shot. Left to right: Clemence, Eric, Kenza, Talia, Emil, Ronnie and Abigail in front.







We got Davina in this one. Too bad Abigail is looking away!



We then headed to a restaurant where I had reserved and ordered a cake. They were going to give us a table in a more private location but I noticed it was taken so we were a little too mixed in with the other diners. Usually, the French aren't still eating at 4pm so I noticed they were tourists, who actually got into the whole thing, singing along and waving goodbye (gratefully) when we left.









The kids were singing leaving the restaurant, disrupting some street musicians, who were really just kids doing it for fun. Our kids stopped to listen, then we gave them some money to give to the performers.



Because of the Christmas market, I took the tram. I took Kenza, since she lives very close to us and it costs the same with the "park and ride" system here (tickets for everyone in the car, no matter how many for the same price). Four kids on public transport is a little tricky, especially during this busy time.

Trying out the outdoor skating rink

Talia wants to have a skating party for her 7th birthday this weekend. It wasn't practical to have it at the ice skating rink (only on Wednesdays, 10 child minimum, etc.) so we "stole" the idea of having it at the rink from a friend whose son's birthday is also in December. They did this a few years ago and his mom gave me some tips.

We decided to try it out first, before inviting the other children next weekend.

The outdoor skating rink is near the Cathedral and part of the famous Christmas Market that just openend last weekend.

http://www.noel-strasbourg.com/index.php?page=10&id_lang=2&PHPSESSID=a210b1170ebea5264cf76263b9e9eaae

With the Cathedral in the background;









Davina was there too, but screaming "Don't take my photo!" so needless to say, I didn't get too many of her;



Quick one of them holding hands;





She's in the distance here;



But Talia kind of dominated the media at this event;











On the way back to the tram (we tried driving in but it was a madhouse!) we stopped and got some roasted chestnuts. Davina couldn't quite peel the skins off completely but still liked them. We wanted to check out the giant Christmas tree in Place Kléber but for some odd reason, it wasn't lit. Probably a glitch. Two days later, it was all sparkly.

No matter. We checked out some window displays and even got a picture with Father Christmas.

Japanese Dancing at St. Jean

On Monday morning, a group of Japanese dancers performed for the children. They asked for volunteers but I was the only one who could do it, although they had parents for the afternoon (since I had to go to the dentist). The older kids saw the show later on so Ronnie and Talia got to see it too (the elementary kids don't need parents to help).











These are all very short clips;







This one was fun for the girls since they used the same ribbons they have in rhythmic gymnastics. I'm wondering if the ribbons are really traditionally Japanese or whether they just added them as a modern twist.



The dancers sang a little Pokemon song for the kids at the end.



Then they came down to say hi to the kids;



The dancers complimented my English, so I had to come "clean". Then they wanted to know everything. They were really cute with their questions and glad they could talk to at least one child.