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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!