The Girls' Favorite Books

Every evening at bedtime the kids get to chose books that they'd like read to them. Right now the girls are picking these three repeatedly. They love them and never seem to get tired of them.

The have several of the Fancy Nancy books

The have the first edition called Knuffle Bunny but here the little girl is older so I think they can relate a bit more to her.

This is about a girl learning about fire safety at school. They love the Stop, Drop and Roll.

They also both like Dr. Seuss books and a lot of the Disney classics but currently the above three are being requested most frequently.

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music came on TV today. I've always wanted the kids to watch it as it was one of my childhood favorites! Absolutely love it and know all the songs by heart. I still often sing Edelweiss to the kids at night or when they are sad. They love this song and also the Carpenters song, Close to You, that I sing regularly to them.

Anyhow, I wasn't sure how the kids would react to an older movie (made in 1965) like The Sound of Music. I was thrilled to see that all three of them were completely entranced by it. It's such a classic and still captures the hearts of their audience! Julie Andrews is just great in this film. I think we'll be downloading it and watching it regularly!

PS T thought it was cool that the movie took place in Salzburg which he remembers from his recent train journey with Papa and Aunt Lisa.

Birthday Thanks

Thanks for all the birthday wishes over the week. Thanks for the cards for Curt, Mia and Ali which were all displayed together (see photo below).

For Curt's birthday, each of the kids decided on their own to make him something. Mia woke up on his b-day morning and put her heart and soul into a great design. I had no idea what she was going to make and didn't offer help as she knew exactly what she wanted to do. All she asked me for were 3 sheets of colored paper - red, white and green - some tape and scissors. She concentrated while putting it together and was proud to show her work of art upon it's completion. I was very impressed with her heart trio.

I took this photo today and as you can tell, she wasn't very happy to be having her photo taken.

As if this weren't enough, Mia wrapped it and put it in a gift bag along with another gift: money! Her own. She raided her piggy bank and decided money would be a good addition to her gift for Curt... Very sweet!

T made a great card and wrote a message on it. I love it that he can now read and write!! He still needs quite a bit of help in English but is really trying hard.

Ali drew a picture and stuck animal stickers all over it.

I was very proud of my trio's thoughtfulness!

Aquaworld on Ali's birthday

Finally got the photos and 2 video clips posted for you all to see. This is the new FAB Aquaworld that we all love. Ali chose to go here for her b-day and everyone was happy that she did because it was our 2nd time back and we all had another great time.

Mia and Terence. I think he was trying to do a funny stand here and was entertaining Miss Mia.

Ali loves this bathing suit. Not sure why as she always gets a weggie when she wears it!

The first time we went to Aquaworld T was very brave and went on the high dive. He came off and said that it was a bit scarier than he had imagined but he probably didn't want to chicken out as there were people waiting behind him. He now loves the high dive. When Mia saw him do it she insisted on trying as well. T took her and she did it without hesitation and even jumped up and down on the end a few times with THE biggest smile on her face. You may have heard me mention before but she's a pretty incredible, natural athlete. Anyhow, here she is on the high dive at Aquaworld last weekend.

PS Apologies for the guy standing behind her! After 12 years of living here I still cannot get used those tiny men's bathing suits!

The wave pool. Mia's practicing her lifeguarding skills on T.

Ali Dressing Herself

I wanted to post several photos from Ali's birthday at the newly opened Aqua World (a giant indoor water park with many water slides, a wave pool, a surfing wave, etc) but I'm having trouble loading any more at this time. She asked to go there for her birthday so we went. She was so excited to go that she got herself dressed and ready all by herself. I walked in on her putting on her boots with nothing but her bathing suit and a scarf (made by Lisa!) on! She had trouble understanding that she needed a few more layers to go out in January.

Happy Birthday Curt

To my husband, my best friend, my soul mate, to the man who always knows when to make me laugh and still makes me laugh even when I don't want to, to the man who is smarter than any other person I have ever met, to the most generous man I have ever known who helps so many people in this world without even having to be asked, to the person who I want to spend every minute of my life with - every day, to the person who I never thought existed but luckily came into my life and made me the luckiest woman alive, to the man who always makes me want to be a better person, to the man who is the best, most patient, kind dad ever to our 3 kids, to the man who protects us and keeps us safe and secure, to the most confident person I know who never brags or takes anything for granted.... I better stop now before I have to add 'to a very vain and arrogant man'.

Happy, happy, happy birthday my dear husband who is now 40...something. I will always love you!

Curt's birthday started with coffee in bed followed by his favorite breakfast (or at least one of) of homemade cream of wheat with fresh blue berries, pears, chopped almonds and honey. We met at the office as he always rides his bike and I drive. We then escaped for a while to enjoy a lunch together at a new spot in town.

At 5pm I rushed home to make a fantastic new dish called Stir-fried Noodles with Singapore Lamb Curry. Curt managed to get home to join us for dinner (he was home by about 6:45pm) as the kids wanted to have a birthday celebration!

Dinner turned out great. Just the right amount of spice and flavor. I only added one hot green chili instead of 2 (the way we'd both prefer it and what the recipe calls for) as the kids were going to be eating it too. What was great was all 3 of them pitched in to help make dinner. Ali stirred the sauce, Mia peeled the garlic and ginger, Terence made the Chinese Udon Noodles. It was a great group effort and every one thought it turned out great. T also helped me make Curt's favorite cake for dessert - Angel Food Cake. Actually it's probably everyone's favorite cake. It was so delicious and our family ate almost the entire thing in one evening! Here are some pictures of cake time.

Birthday Breakfasts

On birthdays, the kids get their favorite breakfast ... with a candle in it. Mia chose on Thursday soft boiled eggs and toast whereas Ali chose a pancake souffle that she loves. The also wake up to their presents on their table and a decorated house (balloons, streamers, etc). Here are some photos of our birthday breakfasts this week.

Ali this morning

Mia on her birthday morning (Jan 22)


Their presents from us

Mia's birthday videos

Here are 2 short video clips from Mia's ice skating birthday party. I have another great one of cake time where the kids sang Happy Birthday in French then Hungarian then English. It was fantastic! They are all such little linguistics (for those of you that may not know, Mia attends the French Lycee here which is 100% French speaking. She grew up speaking Hungarian from the day she was born as our nanny is Hungarian and she also attending Hungarian nursery school for 2 years before starting at the French school). I'll have to try and figure out how to send you the video of the birthday singing. I can do You Tube but sometimes feel that's a bit too public... so, we'll see.

Anyhow, for those of you that may not have read my earlier post about her birthday party, we had 4 ice skating instructors helping the 5 and 6 year olds out on the ice.

In the first video, the boy at the very start of the clip is Gauthier. He's a French boy in Mia's class that she really adores. She calls him her boyfriend. I'm not sure if she likes him as much as he likes her. Everytime I see them together he just stares at her like he's in a trance. I guess she likes it... ;-)

Anyhow, the videos are funny to watch. The kids are just all over the place and falling on top of each other. You can easily spot Mia as her ice skates are pink (most of others are blue from the rental shop).






You may notice all the kids had one of these on their necks. Erika (our nanny) helped make these for each one with their name on it. We used my laminating machine (I love my laminating machine, by the way) to make them stronger and a bit more special so they can keep as a memento.

Thanks Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter

ALL three of your birthday cards arrived in the mail yesterday.

Here are the 3 birthday Clements getting ready to open them....

Cupcake Time

I just finished baking 50+ cupcakes!!! They are for Mia and Ali to take to their schools to celebrate their birthdays with their classmates. Mia will take hers in tomorrow (22nd - her actual b-day) and Ali will take hers on Friday (23rd - her actual b-day is on the 24th). Instead of frosting them all over, I decided to just add a flower of pink frosting with a pink flower candy on top of it. The cake (Yellow 1-2-3-4 out of my Joy cookbook) is delicious and all the kids love it but I think the frosting is too all-American for many of them. Terence and Mia have reported back over the years that most of the kids eat the cake and leave the frosting - so opposite of our kids! Well, this is my solution this year. Let's see if it works out. If so, I'll have to source something other than flowers for T's b-day in March...

Kids' Birthday Parties are Exhausting

I totally get the rule that mothers set for their kids that they can have as many friends for their birthday party as they are old (ie a 6th birthday party would consist of 6 friends + the birthday girl / boy). However, when you are Mia it is ALL or nothing! She gets invited to everyone's birthday party. I mean everyone's - even kids she barely knows. So when her birthday started nearing this year I first thought, why didn't we plan better and have summer babies (for an easy garden party). When I came back to reality and realized that wasn't going to happen, I then started to think how and where can I have a fun party for her without too much clean up duty. It was definitely not happening in our house. For those of you that know us, you know I can throw a big party with a ton of kids but that has to involve at least one parent staying to help ... or, shout when their kids get out of line... So, ice skating seemed to be a great January birthday party venue.

As I'm not a great skater and didn't want to be on the ice holding 24 5 and 6 year old's hands, I had to first find instructors / helpers. So, we hired 4 wonderful ice skate instructors who were great with the kids. Most of the kids were on the ice for their first time so it was very, very funny. They were falling all over the place but each fall ended with laughter and no tears!

The party was the best ever and all the kids had so much fun - especially Mia so that means success!

Curt and I are both exhausted! He took the day off work to help me with the party. I was so thankful as it would have been tough without him. Birthday party planning, coordinating and then monitoring on the day is a tough, tough job! Of course, it would have been much easier with just 6 friends but if you're going to do a party you might as well do a PARTY!

Oh, and by the way, Mia's bday party was held on a Wed as the French Lycee has no school on Wednesdays making it the perfect day for birthday parties! Anyhow, I'll fill you in on more about the party (including more snaps) later. Right now I need to rest my brain with some TV.

I'll leave you with this group shot of Mia and almost all her party guests on the ice. She's the super tall one in the back row with the brown hat.

Ode to Emilia Divina Clements

I've been desperately trying to upload videos today and yesterday but have had zero success. There have been so many good ones that I want to share. Especially from our recent trip to the new Aqua World indoor water park that we had a great time at on Sunday. It's advertised as Europe's largest indoor water park and I believe it. The kids loved it!! We took lots of fun videos of the wave pool, high dive, water slides, etc. I hope to share them with you very soon.

In the meantime, we are getting ready to celebrate our 2nd child's 6th birthday. Yes, our little Mia will be 6 very soon. Some days I think she wants to be closer to 16 years old and other days she is my little girl who needs me and just wants to be babied.

What a character! She is and will always be noticed. She came into this world seeking attention as it was not a smooth or even predictable entry. On my due date, on January 20, 2003 I learned during my doctor's appointment that she was most likely expected to arrive within the next 24 hours. Her head was in the right position and I was already dilated so we knew it was time. We were so excited to meet our daughter.

That evening I was quite tired and remember resting on the sofa after dinner while Terence sort of bounced around (and sometimes on top) of me as any toddler boy does. I felt fine and was ready (and very nervous) about her upcoming arrival. After making sure our bag was packed and Erika, our nanny, was on call to rush over to look after Terence we went to bed hoping for a few hours sleep before the contractions began.

Well, she never came. Instead, we returned to the doctor the next morning to figure out what was happening. To his and our surprise, she had flipped out of the head down, locked, dilated position. Our doctor was stunned. He called every other obstetrician he knew to inquire about this unexpected event. No one had heard of a baby turning - any direction - after 38 weeks let alone in the 40th week. Well, leave it to our Mia to get our full attention and come into this world seeking everyone's attention. After a night of waiting for her to return to her position, then an early morning wake to labor pains, she was finally delivered via emergency c-section on the morning of January 22, 2003.

Mia 1 day old at the hospital

To this day she always leaves a lasting impression on everyone. After her first 4 months of crying every night, she became the most pleasant, beautiful baby. Everyone wanted to hold her and make her smile. To this day she still has this charm and is a friend magnet. Where ever we take her, friends (of any age or gender) gravitate towards her and want to be her friend. She's girlie yet sporty. Without thinking about it, she can climb up a tree or pick up a tennis racquet and hit a ball perfectly. She picks up everything with ease. She does well at school but isn't overly clever. She can do anything she puts her mind to but isn't out to impress anyone but herself.

Mia in the sink at 2 weeks old.

As of this week, she is 128 cm and 24 kg wearing a size 33 EU shoe. She's the tallest in her class but doesn't feel self conscious about it. She's very confident but starting to become more and more concerned about her appearance - what she wears, her hair style, etc.

She is, however, boy crazy. More so than I thought a 5 / 6 year old would ever be so we are worried. Her boyfriends change with the season and she tells us that she likes it when they do what she tells them to. The mothers at school often come up to me and tell me how much their sons are in love with our Mia. Can you smell trouble?

Maybe it's her laugh that everyone falls for? When she laughs, her entire body laughs. It's irresistible and infectious. When she is happy, everyone around her is happy. Her moods can be serious and we always say that about 5 - 10% of the time, watch out for her... The rest of the time, she is the best. She takes care of herself (does tasks without being asked like brushing her teeth, bathing, etc), helps us out often, looks after her little sister, tidies up without being asked (she's really into keeping her room in order and clean right now), eats almost everything and just seems to be a great daughter.

She does keep us on our toes and I think she always will. Other than the boys and her occasional mood swings, her health worries me. She's constantly at the pediatrician's office for swollen lymph nodes and a swollen spleen. We've had test after test after test and fortunately have not discovered anything serious. I hope in time her overall health issues improve and she becomes stronger. In the meantime, we keep a close eye on her.

Emilia Divina will always keep our lives filled with excitement and entertainment. From her quirky habits like hoarding clothing tags and receipts to her sense of fashion (ie designing her own clothing from scarves or accessories she finds around the house), she is one-of-a-kind. Everyone needs a Mia in their life to keep them smiling and to remind them to stop and smell the roses.

Mia at 3 weeks - relaxing at home.

I love how Ali is looking up at Mia in this photo above.

Her birthday is in 2 days but her birthday party is tomorrow. We are expecting about 26 of her friends at an outdoor ice skating rink in town. See what I mean about her having lots of friends?! 26!! It's going to be a wild party!

This photo is from December when she first hit the ice.