Christmas - the day after

I hope you all had a great Christmas. We did ! We went to celebrat Christmas eve at my mom's with my brother and his family. As you can see, Steb was very happy to be there ( and ready to eat !!! ).

Like last year, my mom bought lots of sea food. I don't like sea food so I had my little special dish (yes, I know, I'm a spoiled brat ! lol). The cousins had a lot of fun together, especially Emma and her cousin who get along very well.

On the 25th, it was time to open the presents brought by Santa. Emma was very happy to get this electronic piano. Now she's going to be able to compose her music. She was doing it on an old electronic piano at my mom's.

She also got Hannah Montana season 2.

Steb couldn't believe he got a mini skate, just like his big brother.

At my mom, he got a pink Panther : he's a big fan !!!

Pierre was very happy: we have the Wii now.

Emma and her cousin Aurane. The poor girl has a double scoliosis, at almost 7 yo, and has to wear a cast for 45 days.

My mom had invited my grand'ma to eat on Christmas day. (you may remember she's not the nicest person in the world and this year, my sister in law did witness how she can be ... ) She tried the boys' mini skate !!!

And we finished the day at my grand'ma where more gifts were awaiting the spoiled brats kids !!! Of course, we had to do the traditionnal picture.

And what do you do the day after Christmas?

You put together 24 pinguins that come in 3 pieces each !!!

Christmas in brief:

Lost gifts: only one! The latest Hannah Montana CD for Emma.

Fingers hurt cutting boxes: only one! Mine ..... Ouch !

Cheesy gifts? NONE ! I know, I can't believe it myself !!!

Of course, I didn't stitch at all during the past two days but I can show you my progress of the 23 rd. I love my cutie !!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas !!!

Is it friday yet?

If you haven't entered my first Christmas giveaway yet, you should hurry up : it will end tomorrow at noon ( central time !!!). Enter here !

I haven't told you yet but you need to get your disco ball out of your closet because we have a happy dance !!!!!!!!!!!! I finished it a while ago actually: on friday night but haven't had time to show it to you because of my little sick people ... But here it is:

It was great to stitch like all the Lanartes ! It took me less than a month to stitch. Of course, it looks even better in real ! Now I have nothing left to stitch because I didn't have time to check what I could stitch next but I have a little idea : I hope I could show you tomorrow!

The reason why I didn't really stitch is there: two sick kids and one, Pierre, who got sicker than the other one. Because Pierre is in remission, he ended up having a blood test (which he didn't like at all even though he got more blood test in his life than most adult in their whole life.) The result was good but he was not better. I ended up being very very worry ... Only today he was able to go back to school but he told me he felt tired after a while. I tried to give him vitamins but he's so picky that it's hard to find the right drink to hide the taste of the vitamins. While he was sick, he took over the sofa and the other ones ( me included ) had to find another spot to watch TV or stitch ...

Look at how Blogger can be ironic: while Meari was fighting the snow in her driveway (and won the battle ) , Blogger thought it would be nice to match the word verifcation to her personal life:

Debi entered her dog to a Hallmark contest: please, help her to get this cute dog up on the votes ! I did already! Here is the cutie !!!

Thanks to everybody who have already entered the giveaway: I'm going to check the blogs of the persons who put the link on their blog ! I'm going to also prepare the names for the drawing so an innoncent hand can pick the winner !!! Please check your email tomorrow at the time the giveaway end so I can get your address and forward it to the company. Hope you get before Christmas !!!

Yes, I stitch !!!

The tittle is specially for Petra who thinks I don't stitch anymore because I rock at bejeweled Blitz : I got 284 800 today ; the players will appreciate the score !!! Petra:

I managed to get another good picture thanks to the rare rays of light we got this morning. As you can see, I did progress well and I'm still in love with my stitching.

I have a headache so I'm going to keep this entry short ! Keep stitching !!!

Sun + flower

= sunflowers !!! I planted four seeds in May and one has bloomed in the last couple of days so I had to take a picture to show you !!! It's not the kind with the black in the middle but it's beautiful and I love the way those flowers follow the sun.

Emma, our own flower !!!

That one is not really tall but on the other side, we have a very tall one that hasn't flourished yet (it's more than 6") :

And what about Steb? he's here !!! Peek-A-Boo

Maybe you just want to see another kind of flower? A sweet pea will suit you? Here is my last night progress:

My little assistant wanted his picture taken but his big sister was faster than him:

How to I go so fast? Easy: small project, stitch everyday on it, one project at a time, perfect fabric, great colors, and a glass of water ( because you never know when your needle is going to smoke !!! ) You know, I'm not a fast stitcher: some they stitch those fairies in one week!

Have a great week end !!!

Back from Paris (part 1 ) Beware: lots of pictures !!!

We're back: exhausted but happy with our short trip (too short for such a big capital actually). So here are some of the 520 pictures I took during these four days.

This was our subway station where our hotel was.

Steb was happy to see his friends were still there !!!

That made him very cooperative to smile on camera

We decided to go visit Notre Dame. Unfortunately, the line to enter was so big; we had to change our plan and enjoy the outside view only (there are things you can't obviously do with a toddler ... )

Then we went back to the flower market (close to the cathedrale) where we enjoyed a break from the hot sun !!!

After that, we decided to do some shopping but we got lost and ended up to one african neighborhood. We saw some african mamas selling some african products on the sidewalks. It was difficult to believe we were still in Paris. When we tried to go back to the subway, we ended up to a street full of wholesale chinese stores specialized in children clothes only. We made it to the main street and were starving so we stopped to a pizza Hut restarant. As a family of five, it's hard to find a restaurant that doesn't kill you with their expensive prices ...

Day two

We knew it would be the hottest day so we had decided to visit the Eiffel tower.

Unfortunately, once again, we were welcomed by a huge line at the bottom of the tower ...

So we told the kids, we'll come back in another season when there are less tourists and we started to go around to take good pictures of the tower. That's when we saw a place where the line was small to go up the second floor by the stairs. Stairs? Why not ... So we bought our tickets (yes you actually pay to torture yourself )

So here we are at the beginning of the stairs:

But you may wonder how in the world do you climb 700 (yes, you read well) stairs with a toddler.

That way:

And also:
And then:
But we did it !!! The proof is here: 700 steps ....
Here are my babies posing for some pictures:

Checking the view:


The view is amazing:


On our way to the top, Emma got scared by that guy !!!

After such a big effort, we decided it was time to have picnic but a picnic with a view:

We found a nice bunch in front of the tower:


After lunch, Steb had a playdate with his friends (see the bird on the right? ):

We also took an one hour cruise on the Seine:

Pierre was ready to listen to the commentary (mine was not working):

Someone took a 5 Euros nap

I won't bored you with all the pictures I took during this cruise ... (I know you are very grateful right now !!! lol)

Emma visited Paris with her flip flop shoes ( I don't know how she does that ... )

The one hour long cruise was a little too long for Emma and she was happy to relax on the ground after that.

She also really wanted to see that guy, who plays the statue, bend to say thank you ... (give him money and he will bend for you I don't know how he doesn't die in his suit with the high temperature ... )

After that, we took a small walk in the parisian streets.

Funny fact: Pierre found his twin in a subway ad

You may think Steb was cooperative for my pictures but he was his old self most of the time as these photos will prove you .

Stay tuned for part 2 (if you are not too tired of looking at my pics already )

I also want to thank you for your nice wishes about our trip: it really made my day !!!