2. Callie-nastics and our last week in Besançon

OK – this is out of order – I decided to number this little segment when I am in the US since I seem to be having a challenging time getting them in order! I had a hell of a time getting these videos to upload for some reason plus I just pushed the wrong button one time too... So this should be a flashback – to before we left for the States….

Well, Callie has been working quite hard on her circus skills with me lately. I really do need to see if I can get her into gymnastics. Griffin likes to experiment too; here are a couple of videos so you can see what they are up to… She is much more coordinated than these show – it’s just that she’s nervous under the camera!

Also, she has truly become fluent in French now. We are now at a point where, if I or even André are stuck for a word or phrase, we ask Callie. More often than not - she can help out. It’s great – and her accent is perfect. Check out this video- this poesie (poetry) was part of my Mother’s Day gift.

If you are curious about what the heck she is saying, skim this blog post over at: http://blunderingbesancon.blogspot.com/2009/06/friends.html It explains the French way of plucking petals off of daisies (not the same as our boring way!). Callie’s teacher is greatly pleased with her, tells me she is one of the best students in the class. She got a great progress report – the only non green (which is the best you can get) out of about 80 categories was the line for having your home phone memorized – well, I don’t have it memorized either so, who can blame the kid!

Zander and Callie had a birthday party our last week home for Arnaud and Claire – Olivier’s children. They had great fun. It seems to be pretty common to have joint birthday parties in France – this was the 3rd they’ve been too. I think Americans are much more selfish – I’ve only heard of such a thing with twins in our country. Our kids want their own party with their own friends – NO sharing with siblings. (I can’t even imagine what Z and C would say if I suggested such heresy to them). I wanted to put in this shot of the kids together and also of Nadine’s cool birthday cakes. I’m not the only one who does this stuff!

In other news Griffin also did incredibly well on all his tests – his teachers were gushing over how he knows all his shapes, colors, letters--in French, of course! When he had an accident in school the other week, they didn’t even get angry. Guess now that they know he is smart, they are treating him like a human instead of a stinky pain in the rear. I’m glad he is testing well, of course, but the thing that amazes me most about Griffin is how coordinated he is. He can cut things out with scissors in a straight line and, the other day, he made this plastic peg picture (left) all on his own. I was so impressed! Zander also did amazing in school – right you can see a part of his report card – all A’s and B’s! Pretty good for a transplant, right? I am happy they are all doing so very well with their studies, and are finally at a point where they actually like school. Since Zander’s birthday is in July, I made his birthday cake to share with his class during the last week he had class. It was a pirate ship and island (thanks to Grammie for several crucial ingredients flown in from the USA) and the kids LOVED it. In fact, they absolutely refused to eat it at first, because it was too beautiful. Maitresse (wise teacher that she is) allowed them to draw it for an hour and THEN eat it! I was pretty proud of how it came out, and it was super easy. Zander helped too – see it below….