Look at what I did yesterday morning...regardez à quoi je m'occupe le dimanche matin...

Un serre tête pour "Bébé" en tissus Liberty, svp!
A head band for "Bebe", in Liberty fabric!



I guess next...she (Bebe) will need a matching outfit!
Entretemps je crois qu'elle (Bébé) aura besoin d'un ensemble assorti!

Mama t'es cool avec tes Lunettes...Mama you are looking cool with your Sunglasses

"Maman t'es cool avec tes lunettes"...(je rigole en pensant que dans 10 ans elle me trouvera complètement rigard).

"Mama you're looking cool with your sun glasses..."(I laugh thinking that in ten years she'll think how completely old fashioned I'll look).

Pause

"Maman tu n'as pas dit que je suis cool avec mes lunettes!"
Ha ha...maintenant je vois où tu veux en venir ma chérie.

"Mama you did not tell me I'm cool with my glasses!"
Ha ha...now I see where you are coming from Darlin.

Chui pas Naz...

Voici la phrase du jour de Bhavishya:

"Chui pas naz moi, chui Bhavishya!"

Mdr!

Bonne et douce semaine ensoleillée à tous et à toutes

Our Vacations / Nos vacances

So far, we have planed the following holidays:

Week of February 16, 2008: Sking in the Swiss Alps

And

December 27 - January 9th: India

Our Dear Friend Gitu, Sunnil's sister (Bhavishya's God Father) is organising it. We will be between 10 and 20 of us (Adults & children)

Here is the schedule:

27 Dec – 30 Dec (4 nights): Bombay "Beautiful Bay". Bombay is their home-town and they beleive the best city in India! HA!

31 Dec – 3 Jan (4 nights): Jodhpur – The Blue city we will also visit local Bishnois villages and sand dunes, horse/camel/jeep safaris.

Jan 4 (1 night): Delhi on the way to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal & Red Fort, which Mark and I already did in September 1993 on our Honey Moon.

5 Jan – 9 Jan (5 nights): Mararikulam (near Cochin) Kerala to relax on the unspoilt beaches etc.

We so much look forward to this all!

Bhavishya at Little Gym

I've done these thanxs to the tools Rachel is referring to!

N.b This event took place at Little Gym on Monday January 28, 2008.

How do you like the new header of my blog? Comment trouvez vous la nouvelle entête de mon blog?

How do you like the new header of my blog? Comment trouvez vous la nouvelle entête de mon blog?

How do you like my new blog design?

I wanted to keep it simple...je voulais que cela reste simple.

A BIG thank you to Rachel for your wonderful tips!
UN GRAND merci à Rachel pour les tuyaux!

We are SICK with the Spanish Flue! On est malade: La Grippe Espagnol!

Ca veut dire des poussées de fièvre jusqu'à 40 et + état semi commateux, des céphalées à se tapper la tête contre les murs etc.

This means high fever 104 and higher. BAD headaches etc.

After the wedding

Did any of you see this film? Qui de vous a vu ce film

Here is the synopsis I got from their official website:

Acclaimed director Susanne Bier returns with her most powerful film yet, the Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, AFTER THE WEDDING. Far from home, Jacob (Casino Royale villain, Mads Mikkelsen), runs a struggling orphanage in one India’s poorest regions. Desperate to save the orphanage from closure, he returns to Denmark to meet Jorgen (Rolf Lassgard) a wealthy businessman and potential benefactor. Jorgen offers Jacob a seemingly innocent invitation to attend his daughter’s wedding. What appears to be nothing more than a friendly gesture sets in motion an increasingly devastating series of surprises, revelations, and confessions that will forever change their lives. Sweeping, yet entirely intimate, AFTER THE WEDDING is a shattering portrait of a family struggling with the fragility of life and the search for connection, healing, and forgiveness.

Voici le résumé que j'ai trouvé sur Amazon:

Jacob Petersen a voué sa vie à la construction d'un orphelinat en Inde.
Mais
l'établissement est menacé de fermeture. Un donateur, Jorgen, lui
demande alors
de rentrer au Danemark pour effectuer la transaction
financière. Arrivé sur
place, Jorgen l'invite au mariage de sa fille qui a
lieu le lendemain. Lors de
la cérémonie, Jacob comprend que sa présence
n'est pas sans raison...

Here is the trailer I found on Youtube:



Scarry! Effrayant!

I think I am going to order it! Je crois que je vais le commander!

We are EXTREMELY proud parents!

Below the card Bhavishya made for her best friend Camille who turned 3 years old on Thursday...I bought the blank card and the stickers and wrote some of it...she did the rest :-)

Ci-dessous, la carte que Bhavishya a faite pour sa meilleure amie, Camille qui a fêté ses 3 ans jeudi---J'ai acheté la carte, les autocolants et j'ai écrit quelques lignes...elle a fait le reste :-)

Carnaval II

Happy Groundhog day!!!

Carnaval

Aujourd'hui, c'était le carnaval à l'école.
Today, it was carnaval in School.





Look at the little tail! Regardez la petite queue!

Mes folies du mois de janvier / January Shopping spree

Eh oui j'ai fait des folies...Jugez par vous-mêmes:

Pour moi :

Une polaire avec strass pas besoin de bijoux pour aller skier! For me a fleece with little fake diamonds...no need to wear jewlery to go sking! HA!


















Pour / For Bhavishya:

A beige and a brown belt / Une ceinture beige et une ceinture maron réglable

Pour l'été / for the summer:

I think with (white) Jeans she will look Lovely!

The Davos Questions Part IV

The University Student / Graduate:



I think he's one of the better "Non professional". He's outspoken. It is clear he thought about it carefully. We talked about his idea the other night and I came to realising that one doesn't need to pay people nor motivate them.

As Mark rightly said: "...he is talking about distributed thinking. In other words, if you post the problem and the data you have on the web (video or blog). People will propose solutions. They just do. Effectively, you have outsourced your reasearch capacity"... "One just asks and it works".

I find his idea very interesting. Surely it won't give food to starving orphans.

Anyhow, whilst talking to Mark about it, he handed me this book:

I started reading it, and they talk about this very subject. So far quite convincingly, I must admit.

The Davos Question Part III

You have Indian school girls sharing their perspectives on the effects of globalization in India:




Do they have internet access? If so where? In School? I was just wondering how they found out about THE Davos Question? Did they write the script all by themselves, with their teachers's help?

I think they did a marvelous job at presenting it.

The Davos Question Part II

So to go back to the subject of the Davos Question, if you do a search on YouTube by typing "The Davos Question" you get a plethora of videos relating to it. I will start posting a few that drew my attention

Here, you have kids that have an opinion (cute & fresh).

I guess the point of the parents is that the world needs more cute little girls for them to grow into nice and responsible people.

A special thought...une pensée spéciale pour...

MOUSHETTE et sa famille qui se sont fait cambriolé hier.

Nos pensées et nos prières vous accompagnes pendant ces moments difficiles.

MOUSHETTE and her family who was burgled yesterday.

Our thoughts and prays are with you all.

Photo by photofixation

Very interesting Radio show regarding International Adoption II

I missed last week's radio show and I was very dissapointed to find out it was a very interesting topic indeed:

"The Ups and Downs of Adopting a Toddler"

Drew Davenport interviewed Mary Hopkins-Best, author of Toddler Adoption: The Weaver’s Craft

I was thrilled to be able to listen to the show only tonight. In Short they talked about how certain parents make a concious decision to adopt a toddler and how others "accidentally" become parents of toddlers for reasons such as delays in paperwork or in our case... waiting for the licence of the orphanage to be re-issued by CARA (Central Adoption Resource Agency)... and numerous holidays. They discussed the differences between toddler and infant adoption, how toddlers grieve etc.

Also they give (useful) transition tips!?!

To listen to this program, please click here and then on the right hand box click on the little arrow where it says: "Blog talk radio".

Very interesting Radio show regarding International Adoption I

Tomorrow, Wednesday January 30, there will be an interview of Dr Jane Aronson, renowned International Adoption Doctor on this radio station.

The topic is: The health, development and transition issues of internationally adopted kids.

Should you have any questions you want to ask Dr Aronson, you can email them directly to Dawn at: dawn@findingyourchild.com.

N.B Dr Aronson will also be adressing the specific concerns when adopting tolddlers and pre-schoolers .

We have a champion in the family!

Bhavishya

...Hier soir après notre rituel je quitte sa chambre et je lui dit:

"Bonne nuit mon Bébé d'Amour"

et j'entends une petite voie d'ange me dire:

"Bonne nuit ma maman bébé d'Amour"

...Last night after our evening ritual I leave her room and tell her:

"Good night my Baby Love"

to which I hear a little angelic voice saying:

"Good night my Mummy Baby Love

Joyeux Anniversaire Sagar

Nous te souhaitons une magnifique journée!

Nous t'embrassons affectueusement,

MarSaBaPa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!

Sorry Edward, I prepared this post and for some reason it never got published!

We hope you'll have a real fun day!

We love you and miss you lots,

MarSaBaPa

Pour vous les Mimis

Voilà...pour vous les Mimis
Moushette la tienne a déjà brûlée tout à l'heure à 13h00 mais je n'avais pas pris de photo. Sorry!

Bhavishya's room / La chambre de Bhavishya

>

A partir de 14h00 je déclare officiellement la chambre de Bhavishya comme
ZONE SINISTREE!!!
A vous de juger!

As of 2:00 PM I officially declare Bhavishya's room as
DISASTER AREA!!!

The Davos Questions Part I

A VERY POWERFUL IDEA, I BELIEVE...

You've got mail

The invitation to your best friend, Camille's birthday party

Smelly Cat or shall I say Smelly dog! III

Me in the shower? You must be kidding!?

Moi dans la douche? Tu te fiches de moi!?

Treats...les récompenses

Why the bath and not the pond?

Pourquoi la beignoire et pas la marre?

I feel pretty...

Joyeux Anniversaire Louis

A l'occasion de tes 5 ans,



Nous te souhaitons un très joyeux anniversaire mon Trésor.

Nous t'embrassons fort et nous nous réjouissons de te revoir très bientôt,

Maraine, Mark, Bhavishya et Pashmina

Smelly Cat or shall I say Smelly dog! II

• Clean dog = checked
• Disaster area in bath room = Checked
• Soaked Sas = Checked

Total calories burned this morning = 5000 minimum

Hey and I thought it would be stupid to say go on a diet for a New Year Resolution! LOL!

More later (i.e. pictures)

• Chien propre = coché
• Zone sinistrée dans salle de bain = coché
• Sas trempée = Coché

Nombre total de calories brulées = 5000 minimum

Et moi qui croyais que cela serait stupide de faire un régime comme résolutions pour 2008! Mdr!

Smelly Cat or shall I say Smelly dog!

Well smelly is a small word. Pashmina, our darling dog STINKS!

Pashmina ne sent pas mauvais...notre adorable chien PUE!

Luna & Pashmina

It started last week when we went on this walk with my best friend Dolly and Pashmina's best friend Luna on a walk. Both doggies did not miss one puddle on the walk, then she found some lovely manure in which she rolled herself in. At the end of the walk I threw some stones into the village fountain so she would jump in it and get sort of cleaned. Then the following day she thought she would go for another beauty treatment and rolled herself in horse dug (our neighbours have horses) TRULY DELICIOUS…YUMMY! Also at the bottom of our garden we have a stream...she regularly goes for a mud bath...As Dolly rightly says we, humans, spend a fortune in expensive spas...yet we could get some free ones right at the bottom of our house! HA. She also went swimming in the pond in the forest nearby last week-end.

L'odeur s'est lentement installée depuis la semaine dernière, depuis que j'ai été me promener avec Dolly et la meilleure amie de Pashmina, Luna. Les 2 chiens n'ont pas loupé une flaque d'eau, puis elle a trouvé du délicieux purin et elle s'est roulée dedans. A la fin de la balade j'ai lancé des pierres dans la fontaine afin que Pash puisse sauter dedans et se rincer. Le lendemain elle a eu la magnifique idée d'aller pour un autre soin corporelle, non pas chez l'esthéticienne ni chez la toiletteuse mais dans la prairie à côté de chez nous et s'est roulée dans du crottin de cheval (nos voisins ont des chevaux!) UN VERITABLE DELICE! En bas du jardin nous avons un ruisseau et là aussi elle prend des bains de boue...Dolly le dit si bien que nous les humains dépensons une véritable fortune en institut pour se genre de traitement...ce serait gratuit au fond du jardin! HA! Bref, Pash est aussi allée nager dans la mare de la foret voisine.

Now I cannot bath her in the bathroom, believe me, then I would spend the whole day cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom, outside we switched the water off for obvious reason...what do I do???

Je ne peux pas la laver dans la douche, sinon croyez-moi cela prendra le reste de la journée pour nettoyer la salle de bain à fond, nous avons fermé toutes les robinetteries dans le jardin (les aléas des hivers luxembourgeois…je fais quoi???

We never took her to the grooming salon, so if I do now she will freak out!

Jamais nous l'avons amener chez une toiletteuse...si je le faisais maintenant elle péterait un plomb!

At this rate we will a suffocate...and since she sleeps in our room I will probably confront DH and say: "Either she goes or I go", it never crossed my mind that one day I would say such a thing! LoL

A ce rythme nous suffoquerons...et puisqu'elle dort dans notre chambre je confronterais mon Chéri en lui disant: "C'est soit elle qui part, soit moi". Cela ne m'a jamais éfleuré l'esprit qu'un jour, je puisse dire cela! Mdr!

Great video / Super video & Resolutions

J'ADORE! I LOVE IT


Bob Sinclar "Together" Feat. Steve Edwards

On avait projeté du positif rien que du positif pour 2008 mais malheureusement on a commencé l'année avec un coup super dur.

We forecasted positive only positive stuff for 2008 but unfortunately we started the year with something very difficult to deal with.

J'en parlerai peut-être un jour. I might speak about it one day. Pour l'instant je ne suis pas prête. I am not ready for the time being.

Donc voici mes resolutions pour 2008: Here are my 2008 resolutions:

• Elever ma Fille Chérie (FC) le mieux possible. Raise my DD the best I can.


• C'est un cliché...Chérir Mon Darling tous les jours même si il ne rinse pas les affaires avant de les mettre dans le lave vaisselle ;-). This is a cliche...Cherish my DD every day even if he doesn't rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher;-).


• Prendre Pashmina en longues promenades tous les jours. Take Pashmina on long walks every day.


• M'adapter à toutes les situations quelles qu'elles soient (on a pas toujours le choix). Adapt myself to all situations whatever they might be (we don't always have a choice).


• Rester ouverte à tous et à toutes les situations. Stay open to all and all events.


• Arrêter de stresser pour un rien. Stop stressing for nothing.


• Rester Zen. Stay Zen / relaxed.


• Yoga, yoga et encore yoga. Yoga, Yoga and more yoga


• Voyager. Travel.


• Faire de la plongée sous marine en eaux chaude sans pour autant être chef de pelanquée ou porter la casquette d'instructeur. Scuba Dive in warm waters just for fun, without being "The Dive Instructor".


• Revoir ma famille et mes amis qui habitent à l'étranger (voir ci-dessus).See more of our family and friends who live abroad (see above)


• De-clutter my house/ranger ma maison

Peace, Love...Shanti

Bhavishya my Darling Sunshine...

Bhavishya my Darling Sunshine,

Tonight when you said "borry" and you kissed me better after accidentaly hitting my nose with your head, the look in your eyes meant the world to me.

I am so proud of you. You are so sweet and compasionate. You are so incredibily precocious. I love to see the world through your eyes my darling; it is so much fun and it is marvelous to see it from the perspective of such a fun, loving and generous little soul like you.

I just could not beleive how well you set the table at lunch time and I hadn't asked anything...upon your return from the walk in the forest with Daddy and Pashmina, you went and washed your hands and then you just went to the drawer in the kitchen and took 2 big forks, 2 big knives, 1 small fork and 1 small kife and then 3 napkins a bib and asked for glasses. You decided you wanted to drink your "fizzy motor" (fizzy water) from a Maroccan tea glass. You set the place mats, the knives on the right of them, the blades inside, the forks on the left. The glasses above the knife. I was just amazed!

We love you my precious darling. We are so proud of you. You are such a blessing to us - a beautiful bright ray of sunshine to us and everyone you meet.

Thank you for being who you are.

Joyeux anniversaire Roma

JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE mon Trésor!

Nous t'embrassons affectueusement et espérons te revoir très bientôt,

Mark, Saskia, Bhavishya & une grosse lèchouille de Pashmina

Comme c'est mignon / How cute!

L O L!!! MMMDDDRRR!

C'est quoi Ca? What is this?

...This is what DH calls tidying up the kitchen at night and then in the morning he doesn't understands why the dishwasher didn't do its job properly...

...C'est ce que Chéri appelle ranger la cuisine et le matin il ne comprend pas pourquoi le lave vaisselle n'a pas marché correctement...

Home made beef broth / bouillon de boeuf fait maison

This is especially for Mimi
Spécialement pour toi Mimi


Faire revenir oignons, carottes llégèrement
Lightly brown onions and carrotts


Ajouter poireaux, 2 ou 3 feuilles de laurier, 2 gouses d'ail, du céleri en branche, 4 ou 5 graines de poivres entier.

Add leeks, 2 or 3 leaves of laurel, 2 garlic cloves, celery sticks and 4 to 5 pepper corn




J'ai utilisé du jarret de boeuf...il y a des os et ca donne du gout (aussi Pashmina a vachement apprécié, HA!)
I used some shanks of beef...the bones give the taste (also Pashmina was very appreciative, HA!)



Faire revenir le tout légèrement. Lightly brown everything

Ajouter de l'eau. Add water.


Cuire 2 bonnes heures...sachant que plus il cuit meilleure il est. Il faut écumer au fur et à mesure. Je l'ai fai la veille puis je l'ai mis dans le réfrigirateur sans rien enlever. Je l'ai ré-chaufer le ledemain et le goût, était délicieux.

Cook to 2hours min. ...the longer you cook it the better it is. I did it the day before then left it in the fridge with all the goodies and re-cooked it again the following day, it was tastety!

Pour la fondue chinoise ...préparer la viande coupée très finement, ainsi que les légumes (un bon mélange) d'habitude je fais carottes, petites feuilles d'épinards, champignons de Paris, courgettes....) et je sers avec des sauces diverses, mayonnaise faite maison, mayonnaise à l'ail, sauce curry, sauce calypso...

For Chinese Fondue...prepare the meat cut very thinly as well as a good mix of vegetables I usually have carotts, baby spinach leaces, Mushrooms, courgettes and I usually serve with different sauces, such as home made mayonnaise, mayonnaise with garlic, curry sauce and cocktail.

BON APETIT

Sarkozy vu par Anne Roumanoff....

C'est mon amie Gen, qui m'avait envoyé le lien. Très drôle...un peu vulgaire toutefois!