Happy Holidays! Joyeuses Fêtes

Joke / gag

I found this one by accident and could not resist posting.

Bhavishya's school picture

Bhavishya

I LOVE this picture. It was taken on Thanksgiving day...

Joke / gag

...and I wonder why I wasn't an "A" student in geometry!?! LoL!

INDIA-1 of the best rated videos on YouTube&viewed 200,000+

BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL! Oom Shanti!

St Nicholas / St Nicolas

Saint Nicholas Day is a festival for children in much of Europe. Somehow my understanding is that Santa Claus derives from him. In our part of the world, Luxembourg "Kleeschen" celebrated more so than Christmas. Christmas being more a religious holiday presents are not really given to children then only adults seem to exchange prensent on Christmas eve.

So in Luxembourg "Kleeschen" is accompanied by the "Houseker" a frightening helper wearing a brown monk's habit.

Although, half Dutch, we never celebrated "Sinterklaas" on December 5. Having an American Father and living in, Geneva where people did not celebrate St-Nicholas, Christmas seemed to be more important.

We now live in Luxembourg. All kids get presents on December 6. We decided it was important that Bhavishya also celebrates it like the other kids in her class. So we will give her a little something on December 6 with a plate fill with "goodies", tangarines, nuts, candy, cookies etc.

Maybe we will even celebrate with our good Dutch friends, Dolly & Yvonne?

My understanding is that the Dutch do celebrate it slightly differently than others North Europeans...the story goes..."Sinterklaas" arrives in Holland by steamboat from Spain a few days before his birthday. Kids sing special songs and put their shoes or clogs in front of the chimney or radiator...they remember to put in them a carot for "Amerigo" the horse of Santa. The next morning they find a small present in their shoe (chocolate coin, small toy...). On the evening of December 5, Sinterklaas brings presents to every child that has been good in the past year (all kids...). He usually leaves a bag with presents outide the house (someone is supposed to bangs on the door to indicate that he has come!).

As you can see on the picture St-Nicholas (the Luxembourg one and the Dutch one) wears a red bishop dress including a red mitre.

Here is a picture of Bhavishya meeting St-Nicholas at the local groccery store...Poor Darling, she was scared to death!

Here's a video...

On Diwali...A propos de Diwali

Well after preparing it all, with some help from my friend Sunita, I started to feel quite ill when our guests arrived. I was trying to finish preparing my Goan Shrimp recipe and had to leave. Boy was I ill or what...I managed to take a few pictures before disapearing to our bathroom for the rest of the night!

Après avoir tout préparer avec l'aide de mon amie Sunita, j'ai commencé à me sentir assez mal lorsque mes invités sont arrivés. J'ai essayé de finir de préparer mes crevettes et j'ai dû quitter la cuisine pour rejoindre le paradis des WC. Qu'est-ce que j'était malade! J'ai quand même réussi de prendre quelques photos avant de disparaître dans notre salle-de-bain pour la nuit!

Please help

I am looking for the Monopoly 70th anniversary British edition to give a friend for xmas.
Can anyone help me find it. All I find is the US version or the shops that have the UK one won't ship abraod, so far I've checked the following stores: Hamleys, Harrods, Peter Jones, M&S, toysrus, Tesco, ebay, Hasbro toy shop...

Bhavishya's new favourite book...

This is Bhavishya's new favourite. It is fabulous!



This is the review on Amazon...

Synopsis
We belong together because...You needed a home I had one to share
Now, we are a family Bestselling author/illustrator Todd Parr has received
hundreds of requests to write a book about adoption. And as he did with his
beloved books It's Okay to be Different and The Peace Book, he has found a way
to approach this challenging matter with humour and sensitivity through his bold
and colourful illustrations and unique reassuring messages.

We'r back...on est de retour...

We had a very good trip...sadely my Uncle Jorge died and we went to his funeral.

Bhavishya was AMAZINGLY GOOD throughout the trip. People ADORE her and I am so so proud of her.

It was such a nice surprise to have Pashmina pick us up at the airport this afternoon. She was so so pleased to see us. She squeed and gave Bhavishya a GREAT BIG LICK on her face...she was soo so adorable.

More later...i.e. pixs

Quel superbe voyage c'était...Malheureusement mon Oncle Jorge est décédé et nous sommes allés à ses funérailles.

Bhavishya était super Génial pendant tout le voyage. Ils étaient TOUS fou d'elle et je dois l'admettre...je suis si fière d'elle.

Aussi cet après midi nous avons eu la surprise d'avoir Pashmina nous chercher à l'aéroport. Elle était si heureuse de nous voir. Elle a donné une superbe grosse léchouille sur le visage de Bhavishya...c'était trop chou.

Les photos viendront plus tard.

Photo: Compliments of Perdom

When 24 hours in a day are no enough...

I received this from a friend of ours by email...thought I would share it with you all:

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a
day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 glasses of wine...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise
jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students
if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box
of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles
rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students
again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a
box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything
else He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a
unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two glasses of wine from under the
table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty
space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor, as the
laughter subsided, 'I want you to> recognize that this jar represents your
life. The golf balls are the important things; your family, your children, your
health, your friends, and your favourite passions; things that if everything
else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.' The
pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your
car. The sand is everything else; the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the
jar first,' he continued, 'There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small
stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.' 'Pay
attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your
children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18. Do one more run down the ski slope. There will always be time
to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first; the
things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.' One of
the students raised her hand and inquired what the wine represented. The
professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter
how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of glasses of wine
with a friend.'

Share this with a friend. I JUST DID!

Sur la table de chevet de Bhavishya

Cela fait bien 6 mois que Mark lui a offert ce livre...un classique pour elle et elle l'ADORE (le livre et son Daddy, bien entendu).

Moi je le trouve très très mignon...

Look at our New Chef / Regardez on a un nouveau Chef cuistot

N.B. The soup was cold...the stove was NOT on!

La soupe était froide et la cuisinière n'était PAS allumée!

Bhavishya

Et Bhavishya, pédale, pédale et pédale encore!
And Bhavishya pedals, pedals and pedals more!

Adoptions from India down

Sandra has (once again) a very interesting article on her International adoption blog about india. It is about an article that was published in the Times of India. It is reporting a significant drop between 2001 and 2003!
Please click on the relevent links to read more about it.

Thank you Sandra for sharing!

So who are B's parents? Alors c'est qui les parents de B?

We are the happy and PROUD parents!
C'est nous les heureux et FIERS parents!

'Cause I wanna remember / Parceque je veux me souvenir (market follow up/ suite du marché)

Voici quelques photos prises lors de l'expédition du "Tiron"
Here are some pictures taken at the market.

-15

Moushette nous a fait une devinette sur -15...à mon tour de faire une devinette sur -15...c'est quoi???

Who is interested? Qui est interessé?

A few years ago, I took an Indian cooking class with this very sweet woman called Sunita here in Luxembourg.

For some personal reasons, I could not finish the class. Now I shall be interested to continue.

To fill a class she wants between 8 to 10 pupils. As Mark travels and evenings are not very convenient for me, I would like to find people who would be interested in going either Tuesday mornings (I would need to pick Miss B between 11:30 - 12:00 noon), Wednesdays (Miss B would need picking up between 4:15 - 5:00PM) or Thursdays (same schedule as Wednesdays).

The class is held in Bonnevoie.

The costs are: 25 euro a class all included and we take the food we cooked home. It is either a 8 session class or a 10 session class. It's up to us....

Anyone interested? Dolly? Claire?

Il y a quelques années, j'ai pris des cours de cuisines indienne chez une adorable jeune femme qui s'apelle Sunita.

Pour diverses raisons, je n'ai pu finir les cours. Je suis interessée de continuer.

Pour qu'elle commence un cours elle aimerait que l'on soit un minimum de 8 élèves et un maximum de 10. Malheureusement le soir ne me convient pas...Je propose le mardi matin sachant que je dois chercher Miss B à l'école entre 11:30 et 12:00, le mercredi toute la journée sachant que je dois chercher Miss B à l'école entre 16:15 et 17:00 et le jeudi matin (avec les mêmes horaires que mercredi).

Les cours ont lieu à Bonnevoie. Le prix est de 25 euro la session tout compris et l'on ramène à la maison ce que l'on a cuisiné. On a le choix...on peut prendre la formule 8 cours ou 10 cours.

Intéressé? Faites le moi savoir svp. Dolly? Claire? Allez...inscrivez-vous svp!

Our flights are booked! Nos réservations sont faites

Yeap, indeed, we found Pashmina sitters...and Bhavishya and myself are off to the States...or shall I say Florida. Unfortunately, Mark won't be able to come as he needs to work.

We leave November 15 returning on the 25. We shall be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family!

En effet, nous avons trouvé des Pashmina sitters et Bhavishya et moi-même nous partons pour la Floride. Malheureusement Mark ne peut venir...il doit bosser.

Nous partons le 15 novembre et nous rentrerons le 25. Nous fêterons Thanksgiving en famille!

Quelle joie!

'Cause I wanna remember / Parceque je veux me souvenir

Yesterday, Bhavishya and her classmates went on an expidition...from school they walked to the bus stop, took public transportations to the city center where they hold a bi-weekly farmer's market and chose a pumpkin to carve.

We asked Bhavishya what she saw at the market she replies: "Flowers".

and what else? "Flowers".

and apart from flowers what did you see?
"Flowers".

What about fruits? "Ya".

What about vegetables "Ya and flowers".

and what did Elsa (her teacher) buy? "Tiron" for "Potiron" which means pumkin in French.

P R E C I O U S

HOW MANY HITS DO YOU HAVE ON YOUR BLOG?

I have more than 6200 hits since about a 18 months when I added the clicker...not bad...some people are thrilled when they get 100 hits a day. Someone I know shows off with her 12'000 hits...well there is a blog that has so far...

103,145,609 hits!!!!

Mind blowing! WAOW!!! And what is it you may ask? It is called Post Secrets. Go and have a look...it is interesting and beautiful to read about people's life and secrets yet very disturbing at the same time I find.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE JHANGOO!

On the night stand / Sur la table de chevet

Great, fun and witty book. Easy read. I don't want to spoil it for anyone so I won't say more but I highly recomend it!

Enjoy!

P.S. At the end of each chapter...a surprise...

Interessant!

Je partage...

En surfant je suis tombée sur ce site...

http://edp.ipbhost.com/lofiversion/index.php/f3.html

Interessant pour les parents de petits en classe de maternelle!

Quote/Citation

"Just because people don't love you the way you want, doesn't mean they don't love you the best they can".

Monica Pradhan, "The Hindi-Bindi Club"

Bye Bye Gitu C u soon!

We just wanted to post this for Bhavishya's Auntie Gitu aka "Titi".

Have a great time with your parents in Bombay...we will come and visit soon!

Maybe you want to create a blog whilst away?

All love from Luxembourg

Blog Action Day

Today, is Blog Action Day. A day, bloggers accross the world would unite to defend the environement. For more informations, please click here.

Aujourd'hui c'est "blog action day". Des bloggers autour du monde vont unir leurs forces pour la journée du blog consacrée à l'environnement. Pour de plus amples informations, en français veuillez clicker ici.

Ce que moi je fais pour protéger l'environement? Une mini goutte dans l'océan...

1. Je trie les déchets ménager, bref je recycle tout, le papier, le verre, l'aluminium, les piles, la ferraille, le PET etc. Nous avons un petit centre de recyclage dans le village et un plus grand à 4 km de chez nous. J'irai prendre une photo demain car ils sont fermé aujourd'hui, lundi.
2. J'éteins les lampes allumées si personne ne se trouve dans la pièce, je fais attention que les appareils électriques ne sont pas mis sur "veille" mais soient éteints.
3. La consommation d'eau: petits bains pour Bhavishya, j'éteins l'eau lorsque l'on se lave les dents.
4. Je jardine écolo. Pas de cochonnerie dans le jardin, avec un enfant et un chien ce serait trop dangereux. Je composte aussi.
5. J'utilise des produits de nettoyage bio de la marque ecover.
6. J'essaye d'acheter des produits qui n'ont pas de packaging trop important.
7. Je n'achète jamais du saumon sauvage pourtant délicieux. Je refuse de manger de la soupe d'ailerons de requins (pourtant délicieuse) car les requins sont pêchés, l'aileron et coupé puis le requins est remis dans l'océan...génial pour les autres prédateurs! Pour de plus amples informations sur la protection des requins veuillez cliquer ici. De plus, j'hésite d'acheter du thon rouge que j'adore pourtant!
8. Je supporte une organisation que j'affectionne particulièrement qui s'appelle: "Project Aware". Le but de ce Projet est de protéger et conserver le milieu sous-marin, de reconnaître une responsabilité envers ce fragile écosystème et d’enseigner aux gens le comportement correct en ce sens. La mission du Project AWARE est partie intégrante des formations proposées par tous les Membres PADI. En tant qu'Instructeur PADI (instructeur de plongée sous-marine) il est de mon devoir de conseiller et orienter les élèves sur la réhabilitation de l’environnement et de développer la compréhension des interdépendances écologiques. D'ailleurs j'ai participé à plusieurs reprises à la journée internationale du nettoyage que se soit sur les plages ou sous l'eau.
9. J'éduque ma fille à ne pas gaspiller, que se soit l'électricité, l'eau etc. combien de fois nos amis/voisins m'entendent dire..."Attention Bhavishya, l'eau est une denrée très précieuse".
   

What do I do to protect the environment? A tiny drop in the oceau...

1. I recycle. Paper, glass, aluminium, batteries, plastic (PET) etc. We have a normal bin, a bin for plastic bottles, tetra packs, cans etc, a bin for paper and a small recycling center in the villages and a bigger one about +or -2 miles down the road. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow as it is closed today. It is quite an amazing site the communes have created there!
2. I switch the lamps off when no ones are in the rooms, I pay attention that machines such as coffee machines are switch off.
3. Water consumptions: Small baths for Bhavishya. I switch the tap off when brushing my teeth.
4. I do ecological gardening. No rubbish in the garden. With a child and a dog it would be far too dangerous. I try to do some composting as well.
5. I use organic cleaning products from the brand ecover.
6. I try to buy products with a minimal of packaging.
7. I never buy "wild salmon" which is absolutely delicious. I refuse to eat shark fin soup (although delicious) in chinese restaurent as sharks are taken out of the water, their fin chopped off and they are put back in the sea...great for other predators! I hesitate to eat red tuna which I love so so much. For more information on Shark protection, please click here.

8. An organisation I love and support (of course being a Professional Dive Instructor) is Project AWARE. Their moto is: "Conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy and action". It is my duty as a Scuba instructor to educate my pupils on ecological changes etc..Also I have often participated on their International clean up day. Cleaning beaches and taking my scuba gear and cleaning under water (the reefs etc.). Great experience!
9. I raise my daughter as not to waste. How many times do our friends and neighbours hear me say: "Bhavishya, be carefull water is very precious...don't waste it!"
   

And you what do you do?
Et vous vous faites quoi?

Happy Birthday Uncle Wick!

We hope you had a great day!

With all love,

MarSaBaPa
xxx

Un Dimanche à la Campagne / A Sunday in the country

Pashmina

I LOVE this picture of Pashmina...I know I have already posted it but when I went back on my photo album, I just could not resist posting it again. Poor Bunny, last week with both of us sick and Mark being on a business trip she did not get many walks!

J'ADORE cette photo de Pashmina...Je sais que je l'ai déjà mise sur mon blog mais alors que je fesai un peu d'ordre dans mon album photo, je n'ai pu résister de "re-publier" cette photo. Pauvre bête, alors que Bhavishya et moi-même étions malade et Mark étant en voyage aux US elle n'a pas eu trop de ballades!

What's this? C'est quoi ça? II

These are Bhavishya's new Mini Moo cards...
Ce sont les nouveaux Mini Moo cards de Bhavishya

I've selected 6 of my favourite pictures of Bhavishya where she is having fun. I've uploaded them on http://www.moo.com/ and this is the result.

J'ai séléctionné 6 photos que j'affectionne particulièrement. Je les ai téléchargé sur http://www.moo.com/ et voici le résultat.
On the other side of them it is written:
De l'autre côté c'est écrit
Come and Play / Viens jouer
& our address, tel numbers and email address
& notre adresse, numéros de tel et adresse email

Fun No?

Sympa non?

What's this? C'est quoi ça?

Help needed / Besoin d'aide

We are looking for an idea for a birthday gift for my 42 year old B-i-L. He is a casual guy, a professional photographer, who is the father of a 15months old boy and they live in the country. He loves his family, community (typical British village with church and a pub) and cooking....

On est à la recherche d'une idée cadeau pour les 42 ans de mon BOF. C'est un type assez relax, un photographe professionnel et il est le Papa d'un petit garçon de 15 moins. Il habite à la campagne, il adore sa famille, ses voisins dans un village typiquement anglais (avec église et pub) et il aime cuisiner....

Any ideas are welcome

Toutes idées sont le bienvenue

One of Mark's favourite recipe

WARM SALAD OF ENDIVES WITH SHRIMPS AND SCALLOPS

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Lb shrimp


• 1/2 Lb scallops
  
• 2 belgin endives


• 1 chicory lettuce


• 1/4 cup olive oil


• 4 Tbs of Vodka


• salt and pepper
  
• Chopped parsley to sprinkle (decoration)
  

Vinaigrette:

• 1 egg yolk


• 1tbs green peppercorn crushed


• 1/4 cup Champagne or white wine vinegar


• 1/4 cup Olive Oil


• 1/4 Walnut Oil


• Salt
  
• (optional 1/2 tsp of Dijon Mustard)

* * * * *

1. Peel and devein the shrimp. Clean the sinews off the scallops and slice if necessary.
   


2. Wash the endive and cut in julienne. Trim and wash the chicory lettuce.
   


3. Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking, add the oils slowly, to form an emulsion.



4. heat some olive oil in a pan(not too hot, or else the shrimp and scallops will end up with a "plasticy" texture) and saute the shrimp and scallops. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Flambe the pan with some Vodka. Set aside.



5. In the saute pan, add more olive oil and heat the lettuces, stiring well.



6. To serve, arrange the lettuces shrimp and scallops attractively on a plate. Sprinkle with the vinaigrette and chopped parsley. (I did not have any parsley but I happened to have loads of chives in the garden and used that for decoration although a little strong flavour for the recipe).
   

Bon Apetit!

NASTY / TERRIBLE

Someone posted a NASTY comment on one of my post...I blocked my blog for 24 hours and blocked the message...

FYI the person who wrote this post can be prosecuted...by finding the ISP address it is very easy to find who wrote it!

Quelqu'un a écrit quelque chose de DéGOUTANT SUR MON BLOG...je l'ai bloqué pendant 24 heures!

Pour votre information celui qui l'a écrit peut être poursuivi en justice...c'est très facile de le trouver en trouvant l'adresse ISP de la personne qui l'a écrit!

A bon entendeur!

Un petit clein d'oeil à ...A little wink to...

...Jean-Luc!

On pense à toi et on espère que ta mission n'est pas trop difficile!

Merci pour ta carte qui nous a fait chaud au coeur...Bhavishya pense que le facteur est le Monsieur qui apporte des cadeaux...elle avait raison...ta carte était un réel cadeau et ce qui était sympa c'est qu'il n'y avait pas de factures dans le courrier du jour ;-) Cela doit être ton énergie plus que positive ;-)))

Tu nous manques,

Grosses bises et encore plus grosses bises de ta Super Copine

A TRUELY AMAZING STORY! UNE HISTOIRE EXTRAORDINAIRE!

I was surfing a little on the blog sphere this morning and came accross the amazing story of Julia and her family...

J'étais occupée à surfer ce matin et je suis tombée sur l'incroyable histoire de Julia et sa famille...

Here is the link.

Voici le lien.

Quote

I love this one...I thought this one would strike a chord for you Moushette! ;-)

"...Even Mother Teresa had her critics. That's what I've always told myself. No matter what you do, someone, somewhere is going to find fault. And each of us must decide whose opinion matters to us, and whose does'nt. Because God knows, you can't please everyone. It's futile to try. "

By Monica Pradhan
The Hindi-Bindi Club

Pink for October

October equals Breat Cancer Awareness Month. My Darling cousin, Veronike, died of this nasty disease and by inserting something about breast cancer on my blog makes me feel I am honouring her and make people aware of what needs to be done.

• How many times do health professionals need to stress out to women how important it is to TAKE ACTION?!? This month, please acknowledge it, in either way you can, you can visit any or all of the following web sites to inform yourself on the disease itself.
  


• The Breast Cancer Site



• BreastCancer.org



• National Cancer Institute



• National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.
  

How many of you, honestly, perform monthly a Breast Self-Exam? Here it is shown how to do it.

Maybe you could also remind your Mother, your Sister, your Aunt, Friend(s) to schedule their yearly mammogram?

It is a BIG mistake to assume that breat cancer only occurs in women. This is WRONG!!! Men can also get it. If you click here you can read more about it.

You can make a donation to the:

• American Cancer Society



• The Breast Cancer Site

just to mention a few...
and...

If you need to make a gift you might consider buying something from a company that "goes" PINK. Below a non exhaustive list of these companies:

• Estee Lauder. They have a whole range of beauty products.
• Clinique. They also have a whole range of them.
• The Republic of Tea is making a range of pink grapefruit green tea.
• OPI Nail polish have a Pink Positively Pamper Pack.
• Filofax
• Boots pharmacy, health and beauty care in the UK.
  

NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO...JUST DO IT!

Veronike, tu nous manques tant!

Adoptions worldwide

I often refer to the magazine I have a subscription to called "Adoptive families".

Today I am quoting them on Dr Selman's research on Adoptions Worldwide.

"

• of the 45'000 children adotped internationally in 2004, about 50 percent were adopted by Americans; 43 percent found homes in Europe.
• in 2004, most kids adopted from Guatemala, Kazakhstan, and Korea were placed in the U.S., while most from Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Colombia went to Europe.
• The countries witht he highest adoption rates were Norway, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the U.S., and the United Kingdom.

For more on Dr. Selman's research, go to adoptivefamilies.com/news

"

Interesting...no?

Message to Mark

SLS

Today the Sunday Link Sharing is about my shopping list I have given Mark as he left for his annual banker's conference. This year it is Boston after Sidney, Copenhagen, Singapore, Atlanta...

At William & Sonoma:

Potlatch Seasoning It is a mix of different spices: Paprika, Crushed Red Pepper, Chili Pepper, Oregano and Other Herbs. It is delicious on Salmon but also any kind of fish and apparently chicken (I've never tried it with chicken).

Pop up Sponges:
Apparently they were discovered in Europe but I never found them! They are of all-natural material. Compressed to a flat rectangle and when they come in contact with water, they expand to a full-size sponges. You can put then in the dishwasher in order to keep them clean.

A set of silicone spatulas. They are great as you can leave them near a

heat source and won't melt!

A measuring cup unlike others. They can be read from above, so when you pour the liquids you can see how much you are pouring and it is graduated in standard cups, fluid ounces and milliliters (great for me who uses a lot of European receipes. The 1/4-cup size displays tablespoon incremements.

At Target a Halloween outfit. Anyone but I really like the Kids' Marabou Dazzle Catsuit Costume.

That is it for today!

Have a lovely week!

Small update on Bhavishya