Culling &…

…Editing

cull  tr.v. culled, cull•ing, culls
1. To pick out from others; select.
2. To gather; collect.
3. To remove rejected members or parts from (a herd, for example).


Something picked out from others, especially something rejected because of inferior quality.

Decision decision… which ones to choose?

Oh and I LOVE my Intruos Graphic Tablet

La Frenchy Festival…

…Photography

I had my first 'professional' photo shoot today and I.LOVED.EVERY.MINUTE.OF.IT
Thanks Brigitte for your trust, Desiree for also taking awesome pictures I’m sure & Fonda for styling. Go La Frenchy Festivale at Tou Scene on February 26th… I’ll keep you posted!!


Testing the light… I so prefer to be behind the lens than in front of it!! On my next Photo Shoot I'll request assistants ;-)

I had ONE picture left on my memory card... had to take a great souvenir picture

Can you tell I had fun?!!

17 Years...

...In 6 Frames

I have been working of this project for quite some time.

I originally intended to give it to Jeffrey as a gift for Christmas 2009, then Valentine 2010. Well both came and went but I was determined to finish it for Valentine 2011; didn’t even tried to make it for Christmas 2010 ;-)

So I finally sat at my computer and forced myself to cross it off my to-do list and I’m so happy I did.  I didn’t even waited for Valentine and just gave it to him!!

There are maps of the cities where we lived with a little heart located on our address.

I guess Houston is missing... but we weren't 'officially' living together!!

One set for home!
One set on its way to his office!



* Click on the pictures to enlarge

Mahjong, Potluck…

...& Friends

I still play Mahjong every week with a group of Ladies from PWC.  It’s a different set of ladies than I usually hang out with but I enjoy having different set of friends. Since I’m already up bright and early on Tuesdays because of my reading commitment with Jeremy’s class and TaekWonDo practice for Jeremy after school I may as well call it a stay-away-from-the-computer day!!!


Today was our “supposed to be Christmas but had too many other engagements already” potluck lunch!!

Let's Toast and Jam...

...Birthday Boy

Do you remember when you had kids who were younger and they seems to always play more with the wrapping papers and/or boxes than the toys. Or when your baby had a toy trunk full of age appropriate and educational toys at his/her disposal and would spend hours emptying your drawer/cupboard and playing with the Tupperware.

Well Jeremy was showered with toys at his birthday party and he already been spending a lot of time building his new lego sets but I think nothing and I repeat nothing made him more happy than Maman finally buying him a toaster. Yep you read that right, a TOASTER. Jeremy has been asking for a toaster for some time now even ‘threatening’ us to move back to China because “at least there we had a toaster”. When I joked that I would buy him one for his birthday he replied: I bet you won’t!

A Happy Jeremy

And just to prove my point of baby being easily entertained:

The good old easy days!!

Well he’s also been jamming on his “paper guitar”:

Jeremy's jamming from Celine Suiter on Vimeo.

Let’s Party…

...Birthday Boy

Jeremy celebrated his 7th birthday with his friends at Metrolekeland (indoor playground).

My invite with the cupcake's picture from last week celebration

Hours of fun for the kids: running, sliding, jumping, bouncing, etc, etc… and no clean up for Maman!!

Jeremy really wanted to have his party there and since we gave in last year for Chloe’s birthday party, it was only fair we do it for Jeremy as well… but I think I’m going back to parties at home.

Night At The…

...(School) Musical

Here are a few pictures of Chloe in the school Musical “Robin Hood”.

Tonight was the last of 3 performances and long months of rehearsals (twice a week after school plus Saturdays & Sundays during the last month)… Maman is happy her Chauffeur days are getting reduced!

Split personality: Paul the Outlaw & The Announcer

Fast Forward To…

...2016, 2026

Here’s what our Saturday nights could look like in 2026 (in 2016 Chloe would only be 16 so let’s hope this is NOT what we would be doing!!).

Chloe is doing a 2-week long Flour Baby project at school where she has to take care & carry around a 3 kg (6.6lb) ‘baby’ as well as keeping a daily log.  Being only in 5th grade, it’s more about teaching them the responsibilities involved such as commitment and energy spent then the consequences of having sex as a teen (well at least I hope so!).

Having Making the baby:

Grandpa Jeff was at hand at the ‘birth’ (Father is unknown!):

Great father... probably great Grandfather too

Chloe’s already looking like a Mom:


Jeremy takes his role as an uncle really seriously:

Teaching his nephew the subtleties of the DS

Nights are tough:

At least he doesn't wake up every 2 hours!

And here what I found a few days ago on a Facebook page… pretty appropriate!

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids - by Amy Lawrence on Facebook.

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.


Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.


Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)


Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.


Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?


Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.


Time allowed for this - all morning.


Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.


Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.


Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.


You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.


Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.


Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.


Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.




This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

Snail…

...Mail

There is this feeling about received mail, not Email just plain old mail.  And my Maman always ask the postman to put pretty stamps on the envelope “because my daughter lives abroad” instead of those ugly stickers.

Pretty (& Big!) Stamp

Jeffrey’s mom and grandmother are really good at sending cards too and I love the fact that the kids gets to receive them, not just emails.

Jeremy recently received a birthday card from his great grandma Bev (she does also send them cute emails which prove that you can be almost 85 years old and technical savvy). After opening it he asked his dad if he could read it because he couldn’t read her “fancy handwriting”!!!... He told us he will ask her to write 'like him' next time.  But she’s not the only one he complains about the handwriting. When I write all my letters in cursive he always asks me to write in English not in French even when the words are in English.

Another French Tradition...

...Celebrating the Epiphany

We finally managed to find a free Sunday to celebrate the Epiphany with some friends.

Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th and in France the tradition is to eat the “Galette des Rois” (“King Cake”).

A figurine/trinket (usually a porcelain figurine of a king) or a bean is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket “la fève” (literally the broad bean) in their slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake. A paper crown is included with the cake to crown the "king" who finds the fève in their piece of cake. To ensure a random distribution of the cake shares, it is traditional for the youngest person to place themselves under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person in charge of handing out the pieces of cake.

I got the ‘feve’, so I was the Queen… Not that I had any doubt about it!!

Jeffrey Might Be A Tad Excessive…

...When It Comes to The Wii

And we don’t even play that much… really!

Those Who Can’t...

…(Cook), Design!

Jeremy wanted to celebrate his birthday with his friends at school, so I went into Mommy gear, especially after I felt the ‘pressure’ from Jeremy’s teacher [Hi Mr Hove… just in case you are still reading ;-) ] on Tuesday morning after my weekly session of Reading Listening. He casually asked me if I was bringing a cake on Jeremy’s birthday day.... Well but of course!!

What could I do, what could I do? We’ve already done the ‘I made the cake myself’ last year. I originally wanted to make cupcake in a ice cream cone, but I didn’t factor in that ice cream cones in Norway are cone-shaped (hence the name!) and don’t have a flat bottom like the ones you find in the States. After I had several girlfriends checking different supermarkets around town (thanks girls), I went to plan B: plain old cupcakes… with frosting, which was a first for me. You see ,ask me to make a Tiramisu, a Black forest cake, etc… I’m all for it but cookies and cupcakes (with frosting!) not so much. So here I baked my cupcakes, frosted them but something was missing... so I went back to what I like to do: design (with help from different websites)

The girls in his class all requested the one with his picture*

*They all had a picture of him, I just turned some around because it was kind of creepy all 20+ cupcakes lined up with his eyes starring at me each time I opened the fridge!

This Was Then...

...This Is Now

Sorry, I Mean... This Is Now

I have also posted those 2 pictures on my facebook wall...

He didn't know better at the time so he didn't mind posing for me. Well it didn't last long after this picture was taken!!

I love you... already

Printed…

…and Gifted

Our friend Michelle is finally being moved (she couldn’t wait to get out of here & it was postponed this summer) and she loved some of my pictures. So I decided to get over my fear of… I don’t even know what exactly and gave her a printed copy… I even signed it ;-)

Me Playing Martha...

...Again

I made this for Chloe & Jeremy for Christmas. It's a pillow with their birthday date on it.  And it's the right day of the week too!!

Back To The...

...Salt Mine ;-)

Got this from my mother in law... I am indeed the Chauffeur Mom... and Chauffeur Wife too sometime!

There Is No Such Thing…

...…As Last Minute Request!

Jeffrey just realized that he needed to send the New Year’s wishes from his team so he called me to the rescue!!

…The Beginning of Another

Our traditional New Year Letter and Picture

Photo sent with our letter to our friends & family scattered around the world

and an additional picture of Chloe and Jeremy

Managed to have Chloe AND Jeremy together in ONE picture