More 2008 highlights

We start today's review with a picture of Miss S as she appears just about every morning before school. The girls eat their breakfast, then cuddle under blankets while I finish preparing their snacks for school. Miss S often tries to get herself completely under the blanket and sneak in a snooze.


Here is one of our faorite spots in town. It is a huge fountain near the historic section of the largest town near where we live. We have stopped here a few times, and the girls love to play in the water. Miss S is trying to take a drink from one of the spouts (Miss Points out one of these spouts). When I asked her what she was doing, she replied "I am getting a drink from the faucet just like the kids at school." At least she is learning new things at school.

One of our new favorites for dinner is "Make your own pizza Night." Here are the girls making their own pizzas, then showing them off after the baking is done. Miss M chose ham, green pepper, and cheese while her sister decided on ham, yellow pepper and cheese. They were very proud of themselves, and sort of enjoyed the pizza. I got too much flour on the crust as I rolled it out, so they didn't finish their pizzas, but they tried them! The eating part went much more smoothly the second time we made the pizzas. Of course, Daddy rolled the dough so it just had to work for the girls. :)


The girls received a new kite for Christmas. These pictures were taken on our first family kite flying outing. Daddy took each of the girls out on one other occassion but I was stuck at home so we didn't get pictures. Both of the girls had a great time flying the kite. They seem to really like the fact that they can move around with the kite. It doesn't take a lot of attention, and they can walk around looking at other kites and people. It was kind of like watching them walking the dog. She knows what to do so the kids just hold the leash. The kite just stayed up in the air. It was a great afternoon.

And here are the girls in their crowns that they made at school. The French have a celebration for the feast of the kings, or Epiphany (see the description after the picture). At school, they read stories about this, made their crowns, and made a special French cake called a galette. There are treasures hidden in each cake. The person who finds the treasure is supposed to have good luck for the coming year. The girls shared their cakes with us, and told us all about the story of the galette. It has been fun to watch our children embracing another culture.

In France, the 12th day of Christmas is known as La Fete des Rois, more a national holiday than a Christian one. During that day, and throughout January, galettes des rois (kings' cakes) are bought and enjoyed. Just before serving, a small feve (figurine) is hidden in each cake. According to tradition, the person who is served the piece containing the feve is crowned king for the day. This is believed to date to pre-Christian days, when during the winter festival of Saturnalia, a mock king for the day was chosen by finding the special bean from a cake. Danes still hide an almond in rice pudding, and in medieval England, as well as in Burgundy, France, a couple was chosen by placing both a bean and a pea into the cake.Throughout France, there are numerous styles of galette, though the most common these days is the Parisian version ---- a puff pastry tart filled with almond paste and pastry cream. Others, particularly in the south of France, are made with brioche pastry dough, shaped in a ring like a crown and covered with candied fruit.