Bragging on my baby :-)

We've been here less than 8 months. Xavier has been in school for less than 6. His yearly physical was done in French today! The doctor spoke English, but Xavier told her that he spoke French (he's very proud of himself). She then asked him if he wanted to go first and all of her normal questions for a four year old. She did the whole exam telling him what to do and asking him questions to which he responded. The catch? All in French! Xavier's responses and her requests! I was so impressed! I understood most of what she said, but I'm not sure I could repeat it to re-ask Xavier. She did Ezekiel's exam in English and told me they were doing great. I think I got all the paperwork I need and they didn't need any shots! I'm very happy about that. The boys were very concerned and my friends have told me their kids have needed shots before they could start school because the immunization schedule is different. Luckily my boys didn't (thank you Dr. See!) and we had a very positive first Dr. experience. :-)

Happy Birthday Ezekiel!

Well, I think we've survived another birthday weekend! It got off to a bit of a rocky start. Thursday night we tucked Ezekiel into bed and told him after that night, he was going to be three! It was his birthday! He said no. He didn't want to be three, he was going to stay two. We figured after some cupcake, some singing and some presents he'd change his mind. He didn't. But, here's what we did for our un-birthday celebrations.

Xavier's school is on ski holiday for two weeks, so we were able to go back to the CERN playgroup. I brought cupcakes and everyone sang. I have to admit I was impressed with how the cupcakes turned out. It was a new recipe.

We had to do the candle lighting twice. Another little boy beat Ezekiel to the punch on blowing them out. That didn't go over very well, so we re-lit and Ezekiel blew.

Party!

We opened family gifts Friday night - all cars related. He was pretty happy about the gifts, but still told us he wanted to be two.

He's reading a Disney Cars in French. He saw it in the store and HAD to have it. We explained to him that we couldn't read it, but he didn't care. So, Xavier got it for him. He'll be the first one to be able to read it anyways. But, Ezekiel has been reading it non-stop labeling all of the characters.

Today we had a mini-party. This was the starting line up for the big race. Xavier won, but Ezekiel went the opposite direction and Ruth wasn't used to the boys' bikes.

Racing the cars down the ramp to see who's going to win

Joelle even got to join in on the Cars fun with a little "Wheels on the Bus" on her Daddy's lap.

Ezekiel's new car garage

Ezekiel was VERY happy about his birthday cake. Thank you Aunt Deborah for getting it for us and thank you mom for sending it to us!

And now, he's finally decided to be three. :-) All it took was Lightening McQueen in buttercream.

Random Facebook Questions...

Facebook friends, please don't be insulted, but I've been wondering. What are the etiquette rules that apply to Facebook? What rules do you follow? Do you "friend" anyone and everyone that asks you? Do you look at the "people you may know"? If so, do you request them as your friend if you knew them way back when, you were in their group one summer at camp, or you think their name might look familiar? Where do you draw the line on secondary friends? Like, husbands and kids of your friends? And then what do you do when your friend gets divorced? Do you un-friend their husband? And what about your past? Do you "friend" ex-boyfriends? Also, what about family? Do you "friend" all of your relatives? Do you worry if you don't accept someone's friend request?

Facebook brings a whole new layer of compexity into my life. I want to know the "Emily Post's Rules of Facebook". I always used to ask my mom on the proper way to handle any situation. I'm thankful that she'll still answer my calls and tell me when I'm supposed to write a thank you, how I can graciously decline an invitation, or when I should send a card or gift. But, Facebook is a whole new world. So, what do you do?

I love Facebook. Being on the other side of the world from those that I hold dear, Facebook gives me a window into their world without either of us sending daily emails or making phone calls. I'm able to see what's going on in their world. I can pray for them and offer them encouragement. I also LOVE pictures! It is amazing to see how much people can change, especially all of my friend's kids. Facebook is also hard. Some days it just reminds me of how much I'm missing and then I just sit at the computer and cry.

Homesick

We've been here for over 7 months. I really can't believe it's been that long. We really need to get our licenses exchanged! We're still going to be here for a lot longer. For the most part I think we've all adjusted to our new life, but homesickness is starting to set in on the younger half of our family. I'm not sure if it's the looming birthday party that we don't really have any friends to invite, or if we've just reached that point where reality sets in.

The boys have been talking about friends in Illinois and asking when they're coming to visit. They've learned that our friends are just starting their day when we're finishing ours and are figuring out how to excitedly talk to friends and family just before bed and still settle down to sleep. What's hard to explain is budgets, and recessions, and just time issues that are going to prevent friends from visiting us and us going back.

They've starting talking about "when we get back to the United States..." I know that I'm guilty of the phrase myself, but reality is hitting hard.

Anyways, the boys let us sleep in this morning because they were going on an airplane. They packed their suitcases, grabbed all of their toys (it's a long flight), and headed off. Ezekiel is off to Oklahoma and Xavier's off to Illinois. We cleaned up the airplane, but the Thomas trains have been heading there all day. So, if my boys stow away on a plane and show up at your doorstep, please give them some goldfish or 'nilla wafers and let me know.

I'm leaving on a jet plane!