Preparing for departure

We have been busy to say the least the last few days. We leave in less than three days, and I am at that point where I am beginning to realize just how much more we have left to do before we leave, and Steve even more so. The last three vacations we have taken have involved my active participation in helping him finish up jobs before leaving, whether it be mixing concrete or installing ceiling fans. Currently he is working on a sewage problem at one of his rental properties. I hope he won't be asking my help again.
He ran home today for a quick bite of lunch before going to the bank, and as I was writing up a deposit slip I realized that today was our sixth anniversary. I mentioned this fact to him, and we both started laughing. Oops. In our defense, we have been looking at this trip as partly an anniversary celebration, since we will be returning to Aix, the place where we met, and so have not been thinking of celebrating it here. I made up a nice dessert anyways.
I am afraid the television has been on a little bit more than usual while I have been organizing stuff. I have been justifying it by letting them watch Disney movies in French, preparatory for meeting their French speaking cousins. That is a good reason, isn't it? It is really hard to resist when both of my sons are so mesmerized by it.




Well, maybe not Etienne, but I love how James doesn't even notice his screaming brother.



Oh, and I chopped my hair for the big trip. My shortest cut yet.





I will try and post some pictures of our voyage, but it might not be for a month or so. See ya later.

Adventures with James

We entered the terrible twos about a month ago, and Steve and I were interested to see if that cliche was really true. Well, James isn't necessarily naughtier now than when he was 23 months, but he sure is keeping us on our toes. Steve went to work the other day, and forgot to lock the gate. James has made a habit of escaping down the street when we aren't looking. I swear he can dissapear in about 22 seconds. He is very sneaky. The older neighbor lady has found him a couple of times in her yard, and I am sure she considers us the worst parents in the world, going so far as to donate a lock for our gate. Well, so Steve had left and I of course was nursing and James was playing outside. I heard someone talking outside, so I peeked out the window and there was a nice old man on our curb with a cane, trying to herd James back onto the sidewalk. Poor old guy, he was really panicky, because he couldn't keep up with him. Talk about feeling like a terrible mother.

He is sneakier, but he is also a lot more entertaining. Georgia has been having one of the driest summers for many years until about a week ago. We have been deluged several times recently; you know the kind of rain that suddenly turns your street into a raging river and causes your lawn to grow about six inches a day? James has been loving it, and if it were'nt for the thunder that freaks him out, he would play in it all day. As it is, he doesn't really venture farther than the porch steps.





This last little adventure I was not too surprised about. Every mother seems to have a story of their children getting into makeup at some point. I have been trying to start packing for our big trip, and fool that I am, I left the toiletry bag down and then ran some errands, leaving James with daddy. He only noticed in time to take these lovely photographs.


Why he put it on his legs I don't know.

Fourth of July and other things

So we had lunch at the Leas the other day and had a little French reunion with Nicolas and Allison and their two little boys who were home from France on a short furlough. Susan got out her beloved pet ferrets and James was absolutley thrilled with them. they ran away and hid themsleves pretty quickly however. The Farrely's little boy Elliot couldn't get enough of playing in this slimy little fountain.
































Fourth of July was fun with a picnic at the Dubles. James had a great time wandering around picking off of everyone elses plates and cans of coke. He wasnt even scared of the fireworks. He just kept pointing and saying "Loot". He mixes up kays and tees. I never knew that letters actually have a spelling in the dictionary until i met the Scrabble dictionary. Erika brought Bocci Ball and we played for a long time. It was nicely reminiscent of home. Steve even got into a pretty intense badmitton tournament. Another one of those talents I never knew my hubby possessed. : )




























































We have fun taking pictures of Etienne. He is a really funny baby. When we give him a bath, for some reason he tries to suck his whole chin into his mouth, and he is so fat that his neck has dissapeared so we have to really dig under there to clean it out.
I have no idea how James managed to get his shirt tangled like that, but it was pretty funny.





























































These pictures are a little freak of nature that we found on our porch. Our dog is shedding grocery bags full of hair at this point, and we have noted in the past that birds and mice especially like to benefit from the plentiful supply, but I never knew that June bugs like to roll it into perfect spheres and fly away with it. The South never ceases to surprise me.

Getting some pictures out there

Here are a few pictures of the house. Looks like fun, huh?









The following are some recent pictures of my sons. James is now at the point where he doesn't try and asassinate his brother at every turn, which is comforting. James needs a haircut, and Etienne is getting really chubby. He is a really happy baby most of the time : )

Following the Trend

After months of wondering what would compel someone to put their life on display for the entire world to see, I cave to pressure. After all, everybody really is doing it. I am pretty much just hoping that blogging will encourage me to get some of the millions of pictures of my children out of my i photo files and into a format that grandmas and aunties can see. No more will people complain that the only place they can see my kids is on Marie's blog. We also just bought a house that is an unbelievable eyesore, but I hope to monitor it's progress from the place where gansters hang out to drink beer and break windows, to a cozy home for my kids to grow up in. We shall see.





These are my boys, James Anthony John and Etienne Emmanuel Perot. These names help explain the title of my blog. Whereas James represents the English and American heritage of our marriage, poor Etienne carries the banner for the French portion. I shouldn't say poor Etienne. There are many things to be proud of in being French. Just don't mention that in America.
So Steve speaks French to the kids, I attempt to when I remember, and together we hope to raise a family of well balanced bi lingual children. James still isn't speaking any language fluently, and Etienne just smiles and drools, so it is hard to gage our success thus far. We hope to make some progress when we go to France for three weeks in just 19 days. I am so excited.