Memorial Day

Today was Memorial Day here in the US. A day initially intended to honor those who died in the Civil War, and later to include all who died during military action in all wars.

So it's a holiday, a day off school. A few days ago, I had the following exchange with Angelina.


Me: "Angelina, you don't have school on Monday. It's Memorial Day."
A: "What's Memorial Day?"
Me: "It's the day we remember and honor all those people who died in wars."
A: "Why do we have wars if people die in them?"


For her lips to our leaders' ears.

Ah, to be a Mom! I waited a long time for this. And I confess, some days it's the hardest job in the world. But many, many days are like this: :

Pure, pure joy.

This is what makes being a Mom all worth it. Listening to the laughter of my kids.

And that's something they are full of: Laughter.

On Mother's Day, it is I who have people to thank: Frédéric for helping to make me a mother and giving me these incredible kids, said kids, Lenaïc and Angelina, who fill my days with such joy, and those wonderful people around me, who help me every day to be a better mom. I couldn't do it without you.

A Day on the Mission Trail

It's been an insanely busy couple of months. Spring in San Antonio = neverending events. Fun, but exhausting. Many pictures to come, but for now, our day on the River

It's all in the Eyes

Maybe it's just me, but as soon as I saw this picture taken a few days ago,

it brought to mind the look in her eyes the day after she was born

There's an amazing soul behind those eyes

A Day at the Parks

It's March in Texas, which means it's sunny and beautiful and warm. Warmish. Saturday was cooler than the 80F days previous, but still lovely for a day out. After a trip to the Farmer's Market, we went to Landa Library, a beautiful old estate that was donated to the city for a gorgeous library with wonderful grounds. In addition to finding great new books, the kids get to play in a fabulous playground surrounded by lovely old trees. And because the day was so spectacular, we decided to check out Hardberger Park as well.

The best part was watching the kids play together. Nothing says happiness like watching your kids run and laugh and hug and laugh some more. For more pictures, go HERE.

February Fun

I'm pretty slow to post these days, so I'll just show some pictures.

For lots more photos, click HERE

A Style All Her Own

Today was "Free Dress" day at school. Some people call it "Dress down Day" because they kids don't have to wear their uniforms.

Angelina, however, does not quite get the term "Dress Down." Free Dress = wear a special dress. She tried to wear her Christmas red velvet with faux fur collar dress, but we managed to convince her otherwise. Instead, we talked her into the burgundy velvet + taffeta dress. of course, it is always topped by a red bow.

She refuses to cut her hair, or to brush it, so the red bow serves to hold it back. Just a little.

Clearly, she has her own style.



In other news, we received official word that she's been recommended for the school district's "Gift/Talented Education Program." This means our suspicions have been correct: she is already smarter than her parents.


On Lenaïc news, he still won't say "mommy", but he showed me his red car and said "Lite-ning" (Lightening McQueen)

A Time to Reflect

It's that time again, end of the year. Time to think about all that's happened this year, and all we hope the next year to be.

I think we should be feeling like this was a bad year, and we're glad to see the back side of it. Getting 2 cancer diagnoses is enough to ruin any year.

But as I look back on the past year, I see only what good it brought us. Yes, two major surgeries for Frédéric, recovery time, medical expenses, worry, fear.

But it also brought us strength.

Strength in ourselves and as a family.

It brought us tears and laughter.

It brought pain and joy.

It brought hope.

It brought friends.

It brought us community. Without hesitation, our "village" stepped in to help before even being asked. The year has taught us how wonderful our lives really are, how lucky we are to be surrounded by so much love and support.


Not just here, locally, but amongst our friends and family around the world.

Goodbye to 2011. As always, we're lucky in our bad luck.

And so it began...

Two years ago today, the Wild Man of Devine Street was BORN. So calm and peaceful, so easy going....we were in for a surprise.

He is anything but calm, but that's what we love about him! Happy, crazy, laughing, mischievous, full of spirit. That is Lenaïc.

Happy Birthday Monkey Boy!

First baby tooth lost! 5 yrs, 4 months, 24 days old.

Introducing Chico Chocolate Allegrini

In October, our friends discovered this little pup, maybe 4 weeks old at most, sitting on their porch. Best guess is he was dumped, as he was too small to have ventured there on his own. After a week or so of looking for a home, I said we'd foster him, maybe adopt. Wasn't really looking for a dog now, but given the strays around here, figured sooner or later one would follow us home. This guy was just too sweet to ignore.

I took him to the vet the next day, started on vaccinations, de-worming, all the while saying "I'm not sure we'll be keeping him, but he needs to have all his shots." "Fostering" lasted all of about 24 hours. I think there was a small window we could have given him away, but after that, Angelina was already attached and Lenaic not far behind. She named him "Chico" (pronounced with a heavy Spanish accent 'CHEEEE- CO"). We tried offering new names, but no. She was set on Chico. She did decide to give him a middle name "Chocolate."

Like 90% of strays here, he had worms. Angelina being my daughter, she was fascinated by the worms. Once given medication, he pooped them out. She insisted she had to "see the poop" so she could check out the worms. On one occasion I picked it up before she saw it and she was so upset "Mommy! No fair! You're not supposed to pick up the poop before I see it! That's not nice!" Glad to know she's not grossed out by much....

And now, a month later, he's home for good. Even Chakapu tolerates him. Or rather, she sits in front of his crate at night and taunts him...

Angelina this morning: "When's Papa going to be back?" (we were at his hotel when he went to work)
Me : "Very late tonight."
A: " But just one person has to take care of two kids"
Me: "But that's what I do everyday!"
A:"I know, but then it gets hard for you. "

The Wisdom of Her 5 Years

Tonight Angelina talked to me about friendships as she was describing her day at school with various kids. She named a few kids she played with and said,

"I like ____, and ____, and ____, but they're not my BEST friends. That's because it's not nice to make someone your BEST friend."


I interject "Why not? Don't you want to have a close friend?"

Her answer:
" Yes, but if only one person is your best friend, the other person who's not the best friend feels bad and left out. Then what if the two friends fight? Then the other friends feel bad too. No, it's better to be friends with everyone, then everyone can be happy and have love. Because I have love. Because I am a Lovable Me.*"

(*We've been reading the series of Lovable Me books.)

While there's something to be said for having 1-2 close friends, and I hope she finds that over time, I must admit I like that my child is more inclusive than exclusive. That she wants to love everyone, and make sure everyone feels loved. That everyone she meets is a potential friend, and that everyone should feel welcome in her world.

Cancer Survivor, Super Dad

It was only 7 months ago Frédéric received his first cancer diagnosis, quickly followed by the second cancer.

Today, so far, he's cancer free, and being Super Dad.

Camping Again, More Friends, and Lost Maples

Believe it or not, we get seasons here in Texas. It's not quite New England Leaf Peeping, but we try. Lost Maples State Natural Area has a unique combination, allowing wonderful Maples to grow.

In theory, they change colors to beautiful golds, reds, yellows....but we were a tad early (and the drought probably has had an effect). So only a few colors, but still a wonderful camping trip with good friends.

For more pictures (minus Fredo's night sky photos, ask him for those directly), go to HERE

Camping With Friends, and Why I Love Lavaca

The kids love camping. And even better is camping with friends!

Our neighborhood group "KWAKs" (King William Area Kids...I like to call the parent component "SAPs" - Southtown Area Parents) decided to take a group camping trip. Thanks to our good friend Jen Morey for coordinating. about 15 families descended upon Mo Ranch, a lovely place on the Guadalupe River, about 2 hours away.

Among the highlights of canoeing and playing in the river,

was the giant slide

And lots of food, drink, and general good times. To see pictures, click HERE

Life is All About Chocolate

Frédéric is on travel again, this time to Switzerland. Angelina was VERY teary this morning, but managed to pull away eventually. When picking her up, her teacher asked what kind of work Frédéric did. I told her space science. She said "Oh, I thought it was something to do with buying chocolate. Angelina told everyone today her daddy had to go to Switzerland to buy chocolate."




On other quotable quotes:

Angelina:"Lenaïc loves me SOOOOO much! He loves me more than anything!" This is true, he's so excited when he sees her and always wants to be with her.


After thinking awhile, she said, "Lenaïc loves me, but you know what he loves even more than me? A boob." (yes, trying to wean,but it's not going very well)


And Classic Lenaïc. give him a beer and he's set:

Our First Rocket Launch!

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 BLAST OFF!

ok, so they said "Lift Off" instead of "Blast off," but we yelled BLAST OFF.

I'm very late in sharing this. In August, we all joined Frederic and the Juno Launch Team to see, live and in person and up close, our very first rocket launch.

Juno is a project Frédéric and his colleagues have been working on for awhile. The instrument will go to "unlock the secrets of Jupiter" http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/overview/index.html

To say it was exciting would be an understatement. We were at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was hot and humid. As "Special Guests" of NASA (along with a few thousand other scientists and their families and friends), we had access to a special viewing area. We listened to the control room over loud speakers. As the lift off window approached, we kept hearing "5 more minutes," and at one point "recommend waiting as long as possible." As the technical problem was resolved, another problem arose - a person in a boat was in the water nearby! They got him away. The window was just over an hour. If it didn't go off Aug 5, we'd come back the next day, and the next, and the next. Fortunately, we didn't have to.

Finally they said "4 minute countdown ready." Then assorted systems checks followed each by "Go. Go. Go. Go....." until finally 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and we have LIFT OFF!"


If I was a kid seeing it for the first time, I'd be so hooked on space science I'd want to do nothing else. And so it is, Angelina has declared she will be an astronaut (even though this rocket carried no humans) .

And just to add to the cool factor, that night, we were invited to a special party at "The Beach house." This is in a restricted area and only accessible by special pass (they took us all on buses). An amazing stretch of beach. The house is where the astronauts would spend time just before launch. It happened to be very near the launch pad, so we could see the after effects of the launch (lots of charred stuff).

For more pictures: HERE