Today we brought home our new Golden....Her new name is Bella Badila du Clos des Aubepines (the French love to put these super long names)...

Well to make a very long and sad story short....

We returned Vanille on Saturday, we had gotten her last Saturday and already Wednesday we were at the vet with serious health problems, my veterinarian said she was way too small for her 3 month term, 2 1/2 kilos verses 6 to 8, a very fragile  puppy that did not reach its normal term and a puppy that would never reach it's normal adult size not only that but many vet bills in the future, so before we got too attached we returned it to the kennel which by the way I’m taking to court and I have also denounced her to the Central Canine association…A painful story for this was supposed to be the kids long awaited Christmas present, we waited for 3 births to get her and then all the problems that came with it were unexpected…thank goodness for our wonderful Veterinarian as soon as he took good care of Vanille he helped us to quickly to find a healthy puppy and Bella was born on March 23^rd the same day as my mom, she was the last female of 10 puppies…so we feel as though our luck is back…we are thrilled with our new Bella and hope that Vanille will be well taken care of.…here are some pictures of Nikita and her…

Niki is thrilled to have a new little friend…

Bella and Nikita....

At 7am the door bell rang, our Grego is finally home from Hong Kong…

He left on Tuesday for only a couple of days, he is tired and super jet lagged…

I don’t like it when he goes away, I’m not used to it, it’s usually me who travels, but I guess I better get used to it now because he will be travelling more often now…

Well I prepared a nice long lunch, and we chatted all the way through…taking about all the events that took place this week…Vanille, the new dog Bella, what to name her…we weren’t sure if to keep the same name and finally decided to turn the page, then the kids and all their projects and then Greg gave us a colourful description of his trip to Hong Kong, it’s been 10 years since the last time…we were there together, I would have loved to see how it’s evolved the last 10 years…

Well Greg said it’s amazing, and that he will soon take us all. Dylan got a beautiful dragon and a good luck painting, Chloé got a beautiful Chinese doll and a good luck painting, he brought us some hand made paper fans and an ancient counting wooden box….and most of all we got our Grego back…well Tuesday he is of again, Tunis this time…

Later on the afternoon, the kids and I went for a long bike ride while Greg napped…The country here is so beautiful and we literally live in ‘‘El Campo’’ ( the farm )…we see farm animals they are all out on the fields, the cows, the sheep, the horses and everything is blooming. The weather has been a bit iffy the last couple of days, lots of wind, it doesn’t seem like we are in May…

But it will hopefully soon get better…

The ride did us some good, a good way to evacuate all the tension from this week and our terrible experience…

A Happy Sunday to all…

And may you all have a great week…

Once home we noticed Vanille not to be in very good shape, already the 3^rd day we were at the vet…as we called the vender Mme. Veronique Grison things did go smoothly, here is a letter I wrote to her last night….

SARL PENSION –élevage

La Vallée Chéron

95810 Arronville

Att : Mme Véronique GRISON

I can’t even begin to tell you how upset I was today. We have been waiting for this puppy since January 2006, I contacted you around October to tell you that we wanted to offer our children a 2^nd Golden for Christmas (the first one which we bought from you in 1997 and who today is an outstanding dog) and you told me there was quite a waiting list….We were willing to wait, and that’s what we did we waited until now to get her, 3 births until we were finally able to come and pick her out…Platine gave birth finally the 21^st of February 2006.

Platine the mother gave birth to 11 puppies one of which unfortunately died leaving you with only 10. Therefore puppies were extremely small as you told us.

I showed up with the children on Sunday April 1^st 2006 to choose our puppy.

Well when we should up to pick her up and bring her home Saturday April 14^th she still looked very small but you said that this was normal do to all the puppies Platine had…I remember very precisely saying this several times. I also mentioned her hair that it was not as Nikita at this age 2 ½ months it was a bit fuzzy and flaky but you said it will be fine in a couple of days. When we got home even my husband was shocked at her size and said is she from Africa! She looks nothing like Nikita, are you sure she didn’t switch her on you? He said…

Monday  the 15 of May a day an a half later I called you very concerned that Vanille was not eating correctly, you told us she should be eating 80g 3 times a day…well she was not eating that at all we tried everything even fiddling it to her by hand, you told me that this was normal do to the change of place the traveling and that she should be fine in two days…I also mentioned that when we first saw her she didn’t have the white spot she now has on her nose and mentioned what my husband said and you said ‘‘we are a serious breeder we didn’t change her on you’’ any way I said of course I don’t think you would of done such a thing and we are attached all the same. Then you said call me Wednesday to keep me informed.

In the mean time we kept trying to feed her and most of all making sure she was being well hydrated because now she had started to have some diarrhea

after her first diarrhea on Tuesday the 16^th in the morning I started to give her Smecta 3 times a day and today Wednesday morning we found Vanille to be very down so the first thing I did was bring her to our veterinarian Dc. Decanter in Houdan. He was very shock first with her size, the hair condition and her general state and when he weight her and announced to me she weight 2 and a half kilos and that a normal puppy coming out of a kennel should weigh minimum 6 to 8 kilos I almost fainted. I couldn’t believe it and I kept saying but maybe it’s because of all the puppies that were born, my doctor said well then the Kennel should have waited until the puppy was in a stronger condition. I said to my Vet that I wanted for him to explain to you the condition so we could find what is best for Vanille I called and was put on hold for 15 min at which then your secretary told me she’s done with her phone call but now she  went to greet her clients that were waiting and that you would call me back in 5 minutes, you never called back I called again after again 20 min now in which the doctor sent me back out to the waiting room as he took me in as an emergency, I called again now furious , saying and who am I am I not a client I just paid 1000€ all in full plus 400€ of all the other stuff you sold me and you can’t even take me on the phone for 5 minutes, I am in shock and disappointed as to how unprofessional you have reacted, all I wanted to hear from  your part was bring her back and we will take care of her until she is healthier, maybe also the separation of her mother and other puppies has had a stressful effect on her being so small, but nothing. I hope to hear from you tomorrow as to what your responsibility is towards this puppy, because already I have left you 4 messages and you don’t return my phone calls. I will be taking her back to the doctor tomorrow at 10am and she might need to be hospitalized. If you do not take some kind of responsibility my husband and I will take the necessary actions to make sure this doesn’t happen to another client of yours.

P.S. Just so you know it’s not normal that in 3 days this puppy has become this way, it’s a puppy that has not reached its full term.

I have attached letter from the veterinarian.

A special thanks to Caroline for translating letter in French for me….

Merci ma caro…

Happy Mothers Day !!!

To all of those mothers out there, congratulatons !!!

Here in France they celebrate mothers day on May 28^th the last Sunday of May…don’t ask why…it’s just France!!! They have to be different!!!
A mother's love begins
Before the child is born
And lasts through time
And difficulties
And differences
And many wounds
And days of joy
And days of sorrow
Winding, wearing
Weeping, sharing
Changing
Until, at the end
What remains
Is that solid core
That began as love
Before the child was born

 Mamie Dora…"Happy Mother's Day" means more, than have a happy day. Within those words lie lots of things, we never get to say. It means I love you first of all, then thanks for all you do. It means you mean a lot to me, And that I honor you. But most of all, I guess it means that I am thinking of your happiness on this, your day, I miss you mom and I wish I had you closer…Have a great day, your the best….

 Mom and Dad on Mother Day in Florida at the Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne….

Happy Mothers Day Mom…we Love you…

Chloé, Dylan, Grego, and I….

Trivial:                                                                                                                                                Have you ever wondered why Mother's Day is celebrated the second Sunday of every May? Do you want to know some things you can do to make Mother's Day extra special? Read on for the answer to these questions and more.

Did Mother's Day begin in the United States?

No. Long, long, ago, in ancient Greece, the people paid tribute to Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, each spring. A little later in history it is noted that England paid homage to mothers on "Mothering Sunday," the fourth Sunday of Lent.

In 1872, Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) suggested the idea of Mother's Day, but it was Miss Anna M. Jarvis (1864-194 , of Philadelphia, who began a letter-writing campaign to a variety of influential people that made Mother's Day a national holiday.

Why did Miss Jarvis think it was so important to have Mother's Day?

Miss Jarvis was very close to her mother Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis. Anna's mother died in May of 1905, when Anna was 41 years of age. Anna was not married and from the time of her mother's death cared for her blind sister, Ellsinore. Anna missed her mother very much and felt that children should appreciate their mother's more while they're still alive. Anna hoped Mother's Day would increase respect and love and strengthen family bonds.

So when was the first Mother's Day?

In 1907 Anna persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year, 1908, Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

In 1910 the first Mother's Day proclamation was issued by the governor of West Virginia. Oklahoma celebrated Mother's Day that year also. By 1911 every state observed Mother's Day. The Mother's Day International Association was incorporated on December 12, 1912, with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother's Day.

When did Mother's Day become official?

In May, 1913, The House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the President, his Cabinet, members of Congress, and all officials of the federal government to wear a white carnation on Mother's Day. Congress passed another Joint Resolution May 8, 1914, designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

On Mother's Day the U.S. flag is to be displayed on government buildings and at people's homes "as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country." President Woodrow Wilson issued the first proclamation making Mother's Day an official national holiday.

Today has been a long waited day….Vanille is our 2^nd Golden retriever and Chloé and Dylan’s long awaited X-mas present, she was supposed arrive beginning of February but the waiting list was quite long( this kind  of dog has become very famous here in France and the demand is high) the first bunch that were born were mostly male so we had to wait for the second…Platine gave birth to 11 puppies 5 Male and 6 female one of which  unfortunately didn’t make it…Vanille is extremely small, actually all the females are do to the fact that Platine gave birth to 11 puppies…So we are constantly watching for her appetite to kick in…the kids and I have been over excited with her arrival, Grego keeps looking out the window and you can spot a smirk here and there…I’d say his happy too, he just doesn’t want to clean up any poo poo’s…

Nikita has been jumping of joy, no jealousy so far, Nikita really has a maternal instinct it’s really funny but it’s true she was the same way with the kids…so Vanille has been cuddling up to her every time they are together…

They have a new method now of training dogs…you get a cage a pretty good size one, and you train her with the cage once in the house , in the cage she goes, she is still tiny so she naps a lot, you take her out to do her needs and then at bed time back in the cage…normally she will not poo in cage but sometimes when their little they eat their po po so it just takes some time and patience, lots of patience…So far vanilla has been doing her nights with out even crying...we are quite amazed…and so far no surprises…

The encounter with Mimmi Rogers ( our cat) has been quite something…Vanille keeps following her around, I’m sure she’s saying do you want my picture or something!!! lol!

In the kitchen Mimmi was hiding behind the garbage can and around the door you could see Nikita, and Vanille peeking threw to surprise her, you had to be there…I took pictures of it..

Here is one you can kind of see the game they were doing!!!

If only they could talk…..

and then when the coast was clear off she went!!!

Here they are our two Goldens!!! Nikita and Vanille de la Vallée de Charon...

I’m back and glad to be…Well I must say the week flew by…Put some organisation on those walls, I swear when I got there that wall looked like a disaster!!! ‘‘That wall’’ is the wall were we pin all the drawings by constructions it’s quite a large wall, you can imagine there were 33 constructions with drawings pinned underneath each construction...it’s our working wall…

Well we got rid of some stuff and I re-pinned it all in a more logical way like low to high constructions so with the eye you could see more clearly…I sometimes don’t know who these people think!!!

Settled the Material board and colours themes and launched some patterned to be do…

I can’t wait to see some samples now; it looks like it’s going to be a fun and good collection…

Well tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for since our last visit…Vanille is finally

coming home…

At 19h55 I’m off to Spain again for the week…

This week we should be finishing up putting all the missing pieces to the collection, deciding colours to go with, materials, and constructions to be cancelled because there are always way too many….It’s a bit of a tag of war because there are always too many opinions…but hey it’s always like that…

Well Chloé’s ‘‘sortie’’ outing was great fun, but no samples!!! boo… she said they have a surprise for the moms for mothers day, maybe she’ll be making me a Chloé creation, her own perfume!!! How fun too bad mothers day isn’t until May 28…

I’ll try to leave her alone until then because c’est une surprise mama…a surprise!

Dylan hung all day with us and we had quite fun…at least there was no fitting…they fight quite a lot lately…little fights…but it’s annoying more than anything…

Happy Sunday to all of you!

Have been working all week a bit in the garden, I can finally say its looking the way I like it to look. The weather has been so terrible the last couple of years, before even in winter I would go out and work a bit, weed, trim, plant,etc…, but now forget it…who wants too!!! It’s so Yuk!

Sebastian my friends son came to help me out a bit because with my back now I must be careful…he did a great job…I got all the tables out and chairs so we can finally start eating lunch out side, well this week I had the kids home for lunch Thursday and today, they like it better then the school cafeteria, but having them eat at school also gives me a break from time to time!

Today Chloé has an outing with the school to a perfume exposition, they’re going to teach the children how perfume is made, the history, etc.. I’m hopping they be giving out some samples…wouldn’t that be nice! lol!  Can’t wait to hear how it went…

Tomorrow she has a birthday party and she’ll be sleeping over (slumber party) so Dylan will be all alone, I must find something fun for him to do…

Goodnight!!!

What a lovely morning…they announce 28°…Chloé is so excited to take out all her summer clothes, well to tell you the truth they’ve been out all year long, I swear I sometimes think she thinks she lives in Miami, It could be freezing cold outside and the miss is in a tank top…well now at least she has my approval…

I quickly worked in the garden a bit, I’ve neglecting it all year, the weather has been so terrible that who wants to be out side weeding…

Well I finally started today, it was not even half day when already I had like 4 huge bags full of weeds. I quickly fed the kid’s lunch, and off I went to drop Chloé of at Jenny’s for English and Sculpture class and Dylan and I headed to his match…

His 3^rd Match…Plaisir (the club he belongs to) against Maurepas (a village about 35 min from ours)…

Dylan is player #3 (this is his ‘‘classement’’ his ranking at the club). So at every match he plays #3 players…But Dylan so far is the youngest player (8yrs) all the others are 9 or 9 ½  a year makes a big difference ( I know I’m his mother what do you want). Today he played against Alexander a 9 ½ year old boy, white as a ghost Dylan kept saying did you see mom it looks like they dumped a bowl of flour on him…

Well this has been the best match I’ve ever seen him play…He lost, but he played like never before…They were to play two sets of 5…the game lasted over 1h30…The exchanges were so long, first set was 1 to 4 and the 2^nd 4 to 4, so they had to tie break it they played up to 15 points and finally Dylan lost with two double faults…it was such a shame if they would of won they would of gone for another set of 5. I truly don’t know if they would have made it they were exhausted, and red as two tomatoes. They both played incredibly, by the second set we had a whole crowd looking at them…The teachers were so impressed, it was a great day for Dyaln.

I finally had my first long awaited cooking lesson.

Our recipe of the day was; Le feuilleté d’asperges à la crème de citron vert…

By Chef Benoit Charvet.

We were a total of 4 students 5 with the chef, I had a wonderful 2 hour lesson and learned a great many little techniques… once we finished preparing our dishes we all sat and enjoyed our own meal. Here is the recipe and a picture of my plate…

Recipe for 6 People:

3 bundles of green asparagus

300 grams of pâte feuilleté

2 limes

50cl of cream

1 bundle of coriander

1 egg

Clean well the asparagus removing all thorns gently. Cut asparagus all the same length removing about 2 inches from bottom. Cook them on a large bowl of salted boiling water

(al dente but cooked) quickly remove once cooked and put them on a bowl of very cold water (you may add some ice on water) this will stop the cooking and keep the green colour very bright.

Now take the dough and cut out rectangles shapes of feuilletage about 12 x 6 cm…

Trace some lines with the point of a knife delicately to decorate and then paint with a brush the yellow of the egg (mix the yellow with a bit of water and a drop of Mazola oil this will give dough a shinny look).

Cook the dough rectangles at 180° for about 15mn until you have a nice gold colour.

Heat cream, once it’s about to boil always turning with a spoon add lime juice, salt, pepper, bits of lime skin chopped up (that you have boiled separately to soften skin), and a bit of chopped coriander…(Cream must be hot if not once you put lime juice in cream  will go sour ).

To decorate plate…

Caramel Balsamic… take the same amount of Balsamic vinegar and the same amount of sugar bring to boil to caramelise once you achieved your desired co density stop…

Take a look at picture;

Well the kids have been waiting like crazy for the day to see their cousins again, I don’t mean to sound like we never see them but lets say it’s been a while…

Lenny, Eva’s son turned 2 years old on Wednesday the 26^th and today Eva got all the family together to help him blow out his candles…

We had a lovely afternoon, it’s amazing how big the kids are getting…

Here is the king of the day…Mr. Lenny…

                                     Lenny 2yrs old April 26th 2006...

Well a long week end awaits us, tomorrow Sat the kids don’t have school in the morning and Monday is Holiday here Labour Day! So we plan to relax, go for long walks and Dylan made it very clear he wants to ride his motorcycle with his father, oh and Sunday we have little Lenny’s BDay party...

Today I was finally able to catch up with a whole bunch of things that were pending on my To do List, good thing because the list was getting quite long…

I started doing lists because my memory seems to fail me at times.

The weather has been gorgeous since we got back but today the temperature went down quite a lot, I had planned to work in my garden a bit but it was a bit too cold, so maybe I’ll get to it this weekend.

Dylan had Tennis tonight, his playing better and better, after tennis I picked up Pizza Hut for the kids tonight I’m having Sebastian and Julia over for dinner and Julia is spending the night. Jenny is at the Show in Germany & Stephan in St. Tropez playing Polo so the kids are home alone, and they are so sweet and polite that I love having them over…So we had Pizza night with a great big salad (my specialties) fresh melon I really scored it good this time they were delicious, and then surprise, Haagen-Dazs ice cream…

Well have a great week end…

Well this year I’m finally going…I’ve wanted to go for several years now but work and having the kids in small age has been delicate…

Last year I was ready and then Chloé said to me why are you going to help other people when we need you to help us and well this kind of stopped me again and maid me realise that If I want to really go I just had to start preparing them all for me to be able to go on my journey to Lourdes. So I have been doing just that since the beginning of the year.

My trip is planned for June 29th till July 2nd, I’ll be back just in time for my Chloé’s Bday on the 3rd.

Why; Why am I going, well because I have read about so many amazing miracles that have happened there, and that there are people from all over the world who want to go, specially handicapped, and very ill people of all ages when you read and see how many people are so desperate for a miracle to come to them, and I have been so blessed in my life with great parents, family, a husband and children and great friends, I sometimes think my life is a miracle, why can’t I do something for others to feel some kind of miracle.

I’m going as a helper ( a transportista) I will be helping those in wheel chairs and those who have trouble getting down to the grout to see the virgin Lourdes and accompanying them to the masses, It’s going to be 4 days of hard work but very intense emotions and this fills me a great deal.

I am going with Catherine a girlfriend of mine who has been doing this for several years, she too waited till her children were a bit old enough to not leave everyone in a chaos…I have also extended the invitation to a dear friend Danny, who is a very special and spiritual person, who already today has a foundation for children with cancer in Latin America and who is delighted to come to help others, Mom really wanted to join us as well but do to her health it is wiser for her just to live it through my eyes.

I can’t tell you about the outfit I’m going to have to wear that’s the bad part… Danny last night sent me an E-mail saying what’s up with the attire are they really strict can I wear a blue sweater instead of a jacket and blue sandals instead of blue shoes…Yea Danny why don’t you redesign the out fit, and do us all a favour…No I said you have to wear a Blue Blazer jacket in cotton or in wool ( at this time in Spain Lourdes its about 28 to 30° very warm) and you have to wear Blue shoes, yea shoes, not sandals…and buddy your lucky because at least you get to wear a jean, I’m not going to tell you what I have to wear, you’ll just die!

It will be a surprise just till the end my friend…Specially now that I have a few extra pounds…oh man! I’m going to be looking Great….

Trust me we’re going to cry, laugh, and pray!

Stay toon for part two of our trip to Lourdes.....

Well as you know by now Wednesdays are the days I put on my chauffeur hat on and drive the kids all over the place so they can do they’re sport and artistic activities.

It’s not like the days I went to school in the US and everything (activities) took place in the school, no the French I guess always have to be different…

First the kids go to school Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri and Sat mornings, yeah a great idea to get them ready for the real life…So Wednesday has been dedicated to activities and several groups and organisations have created services to propose to kids like Music, tennis, art etc…There are several town that have changed they’re school week to a more civilised school schedule like Mon- Friday. But some small towns are having problems with this because of the organisations that have created the special services, and also because the teachers have they’re reasons, well it’s just a pain, because it’s like I said, real life does not work this way and its unfortunate that some parents work all week, that the weekend should be a family time, but instead they got school Saturday morning…We keep hoping this will soon change…

Well, any way so my day started of with taking Dylan to tennis, every Wed morning and Fridays nights he plays for 1h1/2, once his done we hurry home to get Chloé who stays with Sabrina ( our nanny who sometimes also comes to help me clean the house) and off we go to English class for 1h then my friend Jenny takes them and her daughter Julia to sculpture class, I then go to pick them up and I usually bring Nikita with me because in Montchauvet  there are some wonderful walks it’s a beautiful town…and we normally do ‘‘Gouter ’’chez Jenny ( snack time). As Jenny and I were chatting outside the kids Chloé, Dylan, Julia took the dogs, Nikita ( Golden Lab), Rusty (Chocolate Lab) and August (a teckell ) on a walk, after a while we noticed they hadn’t come back yet and I had to go for I had Jean Pierre Greg’s dad over for dinner and I had to start preparing dinner…we decided to go find them…and after turning around decided to go by the water…(of course when they left we gave them specific instructions  ‘‘NO SWIMMING for the dogs’’  so what do we see!

They had gone down to the washing shed of Courgent, a place were women used to wash the clothes back then… well It looked like everyone went for a swim!!! I wish I would have had my camera right then…It was a great picture!    As is every Wednesday…

                                    ''The Washing Shed in Courgent''

So you get an idea of were they were...

Josh it’s been 24 days since my last confession….

Well I’ve been so used to writing every day, that I just feel like I haven’t confessed!

After my week in Spain, which by the way was very productive, we got a pretty good idea of the direction were taking the line and we also started to develop some good bases (last, heels, constructions etc…)…I love going to Spain we really have a great group of people working in Unisa…and of course the boys conserve themselves pretty good, so its always a great time.

I arrived on Friday night and off we went Saturday morning to Mauritius…

As we waited to board the plane we saw some familiar faces well it turns out their neighbours of ours back home in our little town in France…Boris and Magalie and they have two kids Sarah 12 yrs old and Sacha 6yrs…they used to be in the same school as Chloé and Dylan but since 3 year they attend the Private school at Montfort l’Amaury, a school that I’ve been looking to eventually put Chloé and Dylan in a year when they start middle school (College as they say here)…Well anyway we chatted the whole way and it’s amazing we never spoke before, well some times it take a circumstance for people to come, together…

11 hours later and paradise awaited us…Mauritius is always so special…as is turns out they where staying in the same Hotel resort …We stayed at DinaRobin and they stayed at the Paradise, these two hotels are part of the Beachcomber Hotel group and they are both fantastic, Paradise being a bit more like a luxurious Club Med (disco, more people, activities, etc)and DinaRobin extremely high end and more Private (less people, beautiful Spa, more upper scale).

What an amazing vacation we had…Chloé and Dylan had Chloé and Julie to play with (our friends The Hanse family, we have gone back to Mauritius now like 3 times with them) so they were glad to have familiar friends, but they also went to the Mini club as they pleased and made a whole bunch of new friends…The mini club offers great activities for the kids in vacation and almost all hotels have this great service,it allows parents to have vacation as well. They go boating, skiing, fishing, they paint they dance etc…So Chloé was the social bee and danced till all hours, Dylan water-skied for the first time and loved it, he also played tennis with his dad every night they even joined a tournament, and got up to the 3^rd new set, Grego played as well with the pro,  I tried Golfing for the first time and I am so addicted…I love it…It felt like the way I do when I garden, Precision, concentration, perfection, and evacuation…my kind of sport…I was so mad I never tried it before, specially growing up in a Golf course in every home we have had…Well I figure now I’ve got like 30 year to play, it’s a great sport to grow old into, and I must admit I can’t wait to go buy my new outfits, and the shoes!!! How fun! Dylan took the lessons with me and I must say we both have a bit of a talent, not to be so conceded but we do…well at least now I have a buddy to go with…plus on my BDay my girlfriend offered me lessons…

We ate like kings the food was delicious, The Chef Stefano, Italian of course was incredible…

I had Lobster almost every night, I couldn’t resist you know me I’m very Mediterranean and as always love a good table and good wine…So yes I did get a couple of more pounds to add to what was already there. But not to worry I do Plan to get a hand of this weight, I’ve tried diets etc…but they are just so boring I need to find will power, so my friend Nori gave me the number of this great guy who helps you channel your inner energy, has great knowledge also in Metaphysics and I must say I love all that kind of stuff, I find it really interesting and powerful. I’m hopping he will help me find the tools with in myself to be able to find the will power I need.

Well As we left the island Greg surprised us once more and hired a Helicopter to take us back to the Airport, I thought I was going to die, but thank god we didn’t…It was incredible, seeing the island from the top really gives you such another perspective…It was great and to my surprise the kids loved the ride.

Thank you my honey for the greatest vacation ever…

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Holiday…

Here are the pictures of our trip…click on the link…

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AatmLluzZtGYl

Hope your all well

Love

Andrea

Happy Sunday!

Well this morning I finished packing my bags for Spain, and Mauritius, yep I leave tonight for Alicante and get back Friday night…and Saturday we’re of to Mauritius so I had to get it all organised. Saturday morning super early I’ve got to take pets to kennel and then the taxi comes around noon to takes us to the airport and then VACATION! We are so looking forward to this trip, some sun and warm weather!

As soon as we were done with lunch we went on a long family walk since taxi is not coming to pick me up till 6pm….This morning it was poring rain and then, the sun came out and what a beautiful afternoon it became we did our walk with short sleeve t-shirts, just when the wind would hit could you feel the cold air, but other wise beautiful…Well I leave my bundle behind! I’m going to miss them…

I’ll keep writing from Spain…

Happy Sunday!

As soon as the kids got back from school I gave them lunch and off we went to see our new puppy… We baptized her ‘‘Blanchet Vanille de la Vallée Chéron’’ , but we will just call her Vanille…a name that Dylan came up with since Nov 2005, we were supposed to get her in December as a X-Mas present for the kids but the last three births either they were all males or there were to many in front of us on the waiting list so now finally we got to  go pick her out. She was born on the night of February 20th and now a month later we were able to go visit…we had first pick…Her mommy Platine gave birth to 11 puppies 5 females and 6 males one of the males unfortunately didn’t make it…they were all so cute…The kids were so excited, in a month after Easter Break we will be able to go pick her up and finally bring her home…

Here she is our Vanille…

                                  One month old....

Today is the April 1st…April’s fools as they say. In France they say ‘‘Poisson d’Avril…

The kids have been teasing me all day….

As I was looking for the significance of ‘‘Poisson d’Avril’’ I came across Jenny’s post and she explained it all so here is Jenny’s version;

An April fool in France is called an April fish - why? No one is really sure.
'April Fool's Day' supposedly started in France according to the French (this is so typically French you can't believe it) when one of the kings (Louis? Henri? I get them all mixed up) decided that the calender year would now start in January and that all over France it would be The Same for everyone. (Before, apparently, each region had a different New Year's Day, most being on the first of April. Well, everyone accepted January 1st, but there were (there are always) those who resisted change and hung on stubbornly to their day...The first of April. And those people were made fun of by others. And this developed into the April Fool's day.
"Hey you fool, stop celebrating today - New Year's day was three months ago!"
Now, a little harder to explain is the fish. In France, on April fool's day, children cut out a little fish in paper and tie or tape it to some unsuspecting soul's back. They then spend the rest of the day giggling about it. Why a fish? Some say it's a cross-over from Easter coming soon & the sign for Christians(Christ - Fish - April Fool's fish) But most people just think that of all the animals a kid could draw and cut out easily and quickly - a fish was the easiest. The person with the fish on his back was ridiculed all day long (The Fish fool!) and thus 'Poisson d'Avril'.
At any rate, Happy April First!

Now I know why they have been giggling all day! I just found a little fish darwing on my back…lol…

I wanted to post this the day of my Birthday, all the things I love, but I’ve been so busy…

Shoes

As I say, we can never have too many of them!

I graduated with a degree in Fashion Design, but as soon as I was done with school I had already scored a job with one of the largest shoe companies in New York, and now 16 years later I still can never get enough…I’ve been designing shoes ever since…

Dance

Ballet and theatre has been a passion ever since I was young. My parents used to take me at least once a month to an opera or to a ballet. I will never forget ‘‘Swan Lake’’ in the gardens of Mexico D.F. the most amazing spectacle my eyes have ever seen. The overall atmosphere, the noise from the old piano, the discipline, I love it all. I would have loved to be a part of that world so when I can, I go and I dream. Maybe one day my Chloé will be in that world, she is also so fascinated by it.

Fashion

The road I took. I always loved clothing and fashion…I used to love staring at my mom getting ready to go out, she has always been so coquet and meticulous about every detail. She also taught me how to sew and how to construct things at an early age and I became fascinated by it, I couldn’t believe how quickly I could create something. Very early I knew this was the road I wanted to take. I graduated with honors from Pratt Institute with a bachelor of fine arts in Fashion Design.

Friendship

This is something I cherish a great deal.

Having had always had my family so far away, my friends have become like a family to me. Not that I have a zillion of them, the ones I consider great are very few. Through life we meet many people, but those who stay are those that are consistent, those that are there when you most need them, those that no matter what will know you and not judge you. These are the kind of friends that surround me. I have shared a great many memories with them and with some there is great distance that separate us (like the ocean) but true friend are always there, no matter what, as they have for me. I love you all very dearly.

La Provence

The south of France is very dear to me.

And I have a true passion for the Luberon, the region of Avignon. The colours, the smells, the markets, the tag sales and all the wonderful antiques that we can discover.

It’s a real passion and inspiration for me, every time I’m there I’m newly inspired. Let’s not forget the sun, the sun that we so often miss in Paris. Isle sur la Sorgue, Rossignol, Gordes it’s all so magical. I would love to see us someday living in the south of France.

My children Chloé and Dylan

Chloé and Dylan, the reason I live for.

So different, and yet their both so alike…

So full of energy and so talkative that they could express themselves all day non stop.

They are so great, cool, nice, attentive, caring, and secretive at times!