Awwww nuts, I missed

Hi everyone. I have been fascinated with basketball ever since watching the Juda Panthers JV Girls' bball game last month. It was a real nail-biter and so enthralling to watch. My cousin Tara did a great job running the scoreboard....I think her fingers got sore keeping points for the other team. I've been throwing my ball in anything I can lately, (i.e., wastebasket, shopping cart) and screaming "I made basket". Mommy decided to go on a mission to find a real "panneau de basket". We lucked out and got the last one at the toy store. Mommy was pretty sure they didn't make these in France, but it was our lucky day. I had fun missing on purpose and yelling "Awww...nuts, I missed!" We also went to a playgroup this morning and had lots of fun. We had chocolate cake and they even had some cute guinea pigs to look at. I said "oink oink" to them, but they never oinked back. Awww....nuts. ~Katherine





My "Aww nuts face"














Yay! I made one!

Trivia Time

Time for a little French trivia to educate and entertain. No search engines allowed. The winner gets a big can of tripes sent to them (cow stomach lining), or blood sausage if you prefer. Good luck, answers will be provided later.

Which one of these is FALSE?!?
	There are over 600 types of French cheeses
	Vasectomies were illegal in France until 2001
	It is illegal to fly an American (or any other) Flag in France
	The French have 5 weeks of paid vacation a year
	70% of all music on the radio must be by French composers
	The term "mayday" was invented by the French...(ha, ha)
	It used to be illegal to sell ET dolls in France (phone home!)
	Fois Gras is actually made of 75% geese or duck liver
	The French tend to be stinky
	Men must wear speedos in public swim areas
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Quit your clownin' around

Today we went and bought a sled from a cheap-o housewares store. They also had this funny clown costume for only 2 euro. We bought it and I liked watching mommy and daddy wear it more than myself. I put it on finally, but the nose was too big and I was a little scared. I saw myself in the mirror and kinda freaked out, so I took it off. Hopefully I can go sledding today or tomorrow. Tonight we're going out for pizza. I think our house chef quit, more like a short-order cook than a chef I guess. I had oodles of fun with Gabi and Ben last night. I hadn't had them over in quite some time. We had mac n' cheese (imported, of course) and played Dora Candyland (thx Aunt Corrie!). What a great night, who could ask for more!?! I colored these pics yesterday all by myself. I'm getting pretty good at being neat. Now, my mommy does NOT tell me to color inside or outside of the lines....I chose to do that on my own. I guess that says something about my personality maybe? Or maybe the teachers at school make me do it and beat me if I color outside the lines?? The French coloring books have a picture on the opposite page of what the finished picture should look like, and the kids are supposed to copy it exactly. That's some rigidity for you and it is pretty much
representative of the entire society....don't deviate from the rules or become a non-conformist! I guess I'm getting pretty deep for a 2yr old, time to go pick my nose or something! ~Katherine

Snowday

I was very excited to be hosting playgroup at my house this morning....even if there were 5 boys scheduled to come between the ages of 1-3 and I was going to be the only girl. We made very-berry muffins last night and mommy spent yesterday cleaning out the caca-germs to make our house a sanitary haven for them. But then....we woke up and the roads were covered in snow! Heaven forbid a French snowplow should make it out before 8:30 am. Daddy had to turn around and come steal mommy's car since it has the snow tires. It was only a couple inches, but enough to wreck havoc on French society. If only they had to deal with the freezing rain and blizzards like back home...ooh la la! I woke up and asked "friends come to party, eat muffins?"....but mommy said "no, not today, too much snow"! So instead, we went out and made a tiny little snowman out of the 2 inches of snow that covered the muddy ground. We even made a "corn-cob pipe" out of a TP roll and a stick. There were about 30 frozen mole hills we kept tripping over that made things a bit difficult, I wonder how those moles get around in the frozen ground?!? We came in and had cocoa at 11am, which was a treat for so early in the day. Then we did some activity books...I am pretty good with my alphabet, so we're working on phonics now. We also did a counting book that I enjoy. I hope tomorrow we can go get a sled if the weather cooperates. Maybe we can reschedule playgroup for next week. Ben and Gabi are supposed to come over tonight if they aren't sick anymore. Bon weekend a tous!!! ~Katherine

A Book of Me!

Hi. My mommy made a real, hardcover book about me. You can view it online and if you want to order one, you can off the website. It is all about my adventures in 2005. This place has a buy one get one free deal right now, so if you order one, make sure to get two (coupon code VAL241)! It is also fun just to look at. I can't wait to get ours in the mail! ~Katherine

Link: http://mypublisher.com/bookstore.html (only works with Internet Explorer)
Book number: M163757
Password: 588273

Mes Peintures

Yesterday was a great day! I felt 100% better and finally ate something. I painted these pictures with fingerpaints and sponge paints. Feel free to post some title ideas....I just call them paint! Today, both daddy and I woke up sick again. He stayed home from work and I stayed home from school. Both of our bellies hurt. Mommy was a bit smug that she managed to stay healthy....until about 4pm today when she felt the tummy-rumblies as well. So now we are all kind of icky, although I seem to feel better after a rough morning. Better to get it now than when I was home visiting in the States, right? Have a good humpday. ~Katherine

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk?

All that junk goes in a trunk! My lovely little toys, my toys, my toys, my toys, my toys....check it out! This weekend was devoted to the creation of a toy room. There is so much room in the living area now that it feels really empty. I think mommy needs to get some furniture or plants. I had a rough day today. Got the stomach flu. I upchucked at school and then again during my nap. I woke up and said "look mommy, I sick!". All my stuffed animals were sick, too. Mommy is getting tired of cleaning up puke around here....between certain friends that can't handle their liqour and little girls getting gastro, it is always puke-fest around here. I sure feel better when I get it out though! I watched Bambi today, I really liked it. I passed out here in the toyroom before dinner. I'm actually still laying there now AND typing this at the same time! Neat, huh? Hope your feeling better than me, but don't worry, I bounce back quick! ~Katherine








"V" is for Virus or Vomit









Being sick sure wears a girl out.

Floaty-girl at la Flottibule

Daddy blew off work to go ski, so we decided to have some fun ourselves. Today, mommy took me swimming at a place called Flottibule. We just found out about it today and wished we had known about it sooner! We got really lost driving there, but it was worth it. There was a baby pool just for me and a big pool for both of us. There was also a separate lap pool, so we weren't in the way like last time. There was even a gianormous slide that mommy took me down for the first and probably the last time. I clung to her like white on rice! Mommy wishes she had a camera to take a pic of my face on the way down. I looked something like a scared cat. When we plunged in the bottom, mommy held me up so I didn't get wet, but that made her go all the way under and the splash scared me. I said no more of that, let's stick to the wading pool! The pool has open windows all around so we felt like we were bathing in the sun and kept warm. It was beautiful to swim with the mountains all around us. I can't wait to go back again!

~Katherine






Daddy's skiing on those mountains behind us!

Long time no blog!

Hi! Sorry no posts lately. It has been a whirlwind of a week. We spent our last few days in the U.S. visiting with people, shopping and eating. Mommy must have repacked our four suitcases a hundred times to get all of our stuff to fit in. It still weighed too much, but the nice lady at the airport let it slide...whew! Daddy was amazed at how much we brought back -- 210lbs -- I think mommy's coffee supply accounted for most of it! The flight went great, we got bulkhead seats at the last minute and there weren't many people on the plane. I was very good as always. I watched some movies and slept a bit. It is nice to be home, but my little biological clock needs to be reset. I've been waking up from 3-5 am and sleeping in until my mommy wakes me up. I was very excited to come home and see all my toys I missed and most importantly, excited to see daddy. It is great to have the three of us together again. I think we're going to spend this week unpacking and getting adjusted to the time change. We're going to convert the spare bedroom into a toyroom this weekend....we need a big place to put all these toys! My mommy is sick of tripping over them and we don't have any visitors planned for the rest of our stay in France. Here is a picture of me playing at the Amsterdam Airport. We had a 3.5 hr layover there and I was very, very tired by then! Thanks to everyone for spending time with me and I miss you all very much.
~Katherine

Roller Queen

Hi! I went roller skating today with my mommy, my aunt Cindy and my cousins Carly and Tara. It was SO much fun! All my family took turns holding my hands and helping me. I did really well and only fell once. I think mommy might have a future roller derby girl on her hands. I am so happy my family came to see me, it was a great day!

~Katherine

All in the Family

Hi! I sure am having a great time here. It seems like everyday I get to play with some cool friends. Last night, my cousins (ok, 2nd cousins), Ashley, Katie and Tara came over to visit me. We colored and played hide n' seek. Mommy went shopping by herself for awhile. She had her wisdom teeth taken out Wednesday. I wonder if she will still be just as wise? She is feeling fine and we all know it will take more than a few teeth to take away her appetite! My daddy made it back to France after hanging out in O'Hare for a couple days...thanks to broken planes and cancelled flights he took off almost 36hrs later than scheduled. I sure am glad I wasn't around for that! He was VERY glad to be home in France and doesn't want to fly again for a very long time. I miss him, but I get to talk to him on the phone. Hope your week is going as well as mine is. ~Katherine

Happy New Year

Hi Everyone. I hope you had a very nice holiday season. We have been really busy. Last week we headed to Illinois after Christmas. We visited some friends in Chicago and then went to our town. We stayed in a hotel and I got to swim in the pool! We looked at some houses in the area and we got very excited to think about moving home. I saw lots of people and was really happy to see my friends Ryan and Leah for a little bit. On Friday, we headed back to my Gramma Ds house for a few days and I was able to see my cousins again. My daddy flies back to France today...it went so fast! He is ready to go back and get back to work, but we miss him. Here are a few pictures of my busy week. So far, the New Year is off to a great start!
~Katherine






Sledding with Ashley














Swimming at the hotel

















Christmas party to go to!














Mommy, Tara, Carly and Ian at Christmas













Putting out cookies for Santa












What a grinch face!

















Christmas Morning











Christmas