Miriam dessine

J'ai rarement vu Miriam aussi concentrée que dans ce moment. C'est pas la vidéo la plus rigolote du monde, loin de là, mais je trouvais que c'était chou de voir Miriam s'absorber dans une tache particulière. Elle a dessiné avec ses feutres pendant une vingtaine de minutes, et c'était très drôle de voir qu'en comparaison avec Gabriel, elle faisait toujours bien attention de refermer le feutre qu'elle avait utilisé avant d'en prendre un autre. C'est déjà un petit bout de femme très organisé!

and one more...

couldn't resist. You don't have to watch it...

More dancing...

Pick your own title for these...

- Quand la musique est bonne...
- Words fail me...
- You can take the girl out of the disco but you can't take the disco out of the girl

What can I say... it's just a regular tuesday night at the Andersons...

The great outdoors are available again

As temperatures are finally lowering around Atlanta, we can go outside again and not be engulfed in heat and humidity. So today we had a pretty typical day of grocery shopping, some fun at the park and a birthday party for a buddy one year old. All of this happened outside, and it's so nice to be able to do that again. We're really enjoying it... and Miriam's face proves it...! She just loves being outside. And when she's not outside, she loves to test the limits and throw some awesome temper tantrums. It happens a couple of times a day, usually because I'm horribly mean to her (for example, i do not let her run out on the street... oh, the rage this creates. It's almost funny... for a while...) and do not let her be independent enough. I don't remember Gabriel doing that at this age. It seems like it came later. Gabriel is doing really well, adjusting to his life in school, learning letters and numbers. He's quite fun to talk to actually, as you might have experienced on the phone. He's also reached that age when he will give me advice, or comment on things... like driving... it's fun. Do not try to talk on your cellphone while you're in a car with him... why? Because then you can't FOCUS. And it's dangerous. I'll remember that when he starts driving...

Dancing queen...

This is Miriam's absolute favorite dancing song. It's the theme song for the Arthur show on PBS and whenever she hears it she will drop whatever she's doing, and come dance to it in front of the tv. She doesn't really care for the show yet (even though Gabriel really likes it) but she just loves the song. I think the video doesn't quite do justice to her dancing moves, but it's funny anyhow (oh, and you get Brent's singing too...).

Labor day

We are all back in the states since a couple of weeks now and feel like we're back in a good routine. The kids have enjoyed going to day care, and i have been able to do reasonable amount of work in an excellent setting, so that's been very positive. We've had some really good times with our friends too, and have really enjoyed being back home. Today was labor day and we had a great afternoon of baby fun with the Robertson. We did all the good stuff of what I imagine an american labor day to be: hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, guacomole, beer, baseball and lots of outside time. Once we got home, we finished the day with some creative artwork by mami and her little helpers...

Here are some pictures...

Picture update

All the good times in South of France...

Attack!!!

Oh boy... i miss my bed...

Sometimes a good day of visiting Les Baux de Provence will just knock you out...

Oh the good life...

At last some summer weather... on our private terrace, we are enjoying a little apéritif with our cousin Leo. Life is good.

Gabe.

La fine équipe...

Je sais, deux entrées en une journée c'est un peu excessif, mais je ne pouvais pas résister à l'envie de partager ces photos. Je ne peux pas croire à quel point Zelda et les enfants se sont habitués les uns aux autres... Mimi et Gabe adorent jouer avec elle, et Zelda est d'une patience quasi sans limites!

Update and perhaps change of tone

Our mom has decided that it was time that from time to time she held the pen on this blog, and gave real updates concerning the lives of our family. Since she's the boss (as pretty much everyone knows) and since she's the only one here who knows how to turn on the computer, we had no choice but to let her do it. Hence today is her first official entry...

As most of you already know, we left for Switzerland just a week ago. The flight went remarkably well considering the circumstances. Both Miriam and Gabe slept for most of the way there so that was really nice. Gabe got to lay down on two seats and Miriam used my lap as her pillow, which made for a somewhat uncomfortable flight, but i will take this over screaming babies anytime!
We've know pretty much adapted to life back in our other home. Nights are still iffy but less so than at the beginning... Miriam only woke up at 4h30 this time and went back to sleep fairly easily (I didn't... lots of scary thoughts about jobs, dissertation, fellowships were keeping me awake), something she also does at home quite often. I am also trying to get Miriam to only take one long nap nowadays. So far, it seems to work.
We've also enjoyed my parents' yard quite a bit, eventhough the weather has really been less than fantastic. But as the pictures show, Miriam seems to think that the little stones (called gravier in French) are quite fun. We're hoping for swimming pool weather soon.
Other than that, not much news. More teeth are coming in on Mimi's side (bottom two canines for those of you interested in details....) and Gabriel is switching to French quite easily. We're also excited about Federer being on his way for another finale in the French open!

More soon, from me (Val) or the kids!

Who says I'm afraid of dogs?

Over the week-end, as I was battling jet lag, I made friends with the newest member of Ama and Apa's household: Zelda (don't ask me for the name... my grand'ma has always liked Francis Scott Fitzgerald, and as her late dog's name was Gatsby, Zelda was an oh so subtle "clin d'oeil" to F.S. Fitzgerlad... How I know this? Well, I am four years old after all).

C'est le moment...

On a un peu craqué du côté d'Alpharetta... D'abord, on a eu beaucoup à faire... et puis on ne retrouve plus l'appareil photo. Bon je sais pas d'excuse. On essaiera de faire mieux bientôt, surtout qu'on a quelques petits films rigolos. Il faut juste qu'on se remette en train...

Spring in Alpharetta

Les Filles...

Going Home...

and chanelling my godmother in her baby days...

Public transportation....

Can't wait until we own a car...

Ama et Apa visitent Alpharetta (aka as Wisteria Lane 2)

... et font plein de photos pour tout ceux et toutes celles qui n'ont pas eu la chance de traverser l'océan pour voir nos adorables petites frimousses...

More to follow... when I have some time...

A Couple of Extras...

Enjoy!

Birthday Galore!

There was plenty of events around here in the past 15 days or so. You probably need an image update! First, I turned one on January 30. That was something. I mean, I got to eat chips (yeah, Ama was here...) and I got to eat chocolate cake. That was about the best thing in the world. Oh, yeah, I got a bunch of gifts too, but seriously, nothing compares to chocolate cake.

De mon côté, j'ai eu 4 ans! et Miriam peut penser que le gâteau au chocolat est la meilleure chose du monde, mais moi je sais que les cadeaux, quand même, on peut pas s'en passer. En plus, il y a eu la visite de Ama, et ça aussi c'est quand même vraiment spécial. Alors, voilà, on vous livre quelques images!