Letters of Intent: What a Week!

Dearest Adventurer,

I am well aware of the fact that you are two going on 18 in your eyes.  And that you think you can do anything your sisters can do. 

But, really, I don't think your sisters would have tried that stunt.  You see, biggest sissy has an almost unhealthy fear of attempting new physical feats.  Middle sissy has no fear, but already possesses great knowledge of her body's limits, so she knew that she should not do it. 

You, on the other hand, fearless one, possess neither.  Please do not attempt to launch yourself out of the back of a truck again.  Yes, I know it was parked.  Yes, I know you were fine.  But, seriously, Daddy and I do not appreciate chasing you around with a flashlight for days, checking for concussions. 

Love,

A Mama Who Can See The ER Bills Already

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Grandma & Grandpa,

Thanks so much for the new sunglasses and tshirts you bought us on our adventure.  We love looking as cool as our Aunt Celine!

Love,

The Glamour Girls

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Dear Bloggy Friends,

I am a horrible person.  I promised to take photos of our Bastille Day party.  I even had the camera around my wrist most of the evening.  But, sadly, between making sure my children ate something besides cream puffs, trying to maintain multiple conversations in French (in which I am sadly rusty), English, and Frenglish, and guzzling many bottles of water in a futile attempt to stay cool, the only photo I snapped was this one.

Yes, we let the children play in the delivery van.  Yes, they were COMPLETELY filthy by the end of the evening.  But they were happy.  And I could try to concentrate on maintaining an adult conversation.

Apologetically,

The Bad Mommy Blogger

P.S. An upside to the evening - we discovered Violet LOVES escargot.  Yes, those are snails.  And she ate at least a dozen.  Needless to say, the grandpas & Daddy were very proud.

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To The Tooth:

I win!  I win!  I told you that your demise was imminent!  But you didn't believe me.  Somehow, you even managed to stick around through the weekend at Grandpa's.  But you underestimated your opponent. And I have emerged triumphant!

Although now I am left wondering if I gave birth to a child or a pumpkin 6 1/2 years ago.

Sincerely,

Mom Always Wins!!!!

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Off With Their Heads!

No, I'm not smoking something.  No, I haven't gone off my rocker.  Although I am close.

Image Courtesy Google Images

Today is France's Independence Day!  Being married to a Frenchie, today is second only to July 4th as to our family's favorite summer days.  Each year, Jerome's parents throw a huge party and all the French ex-pats and Francophiles (French-loving people) show up.  You can read all about last year's shindig here.


Strange as it is, I have started looking forward to this.  We used to dread it, because we would spend the entire week before preparing, the entire day of it running around like psycho people, and end up too exhausted and frustrated with each other to really enjoy it.  Thankfully, we have been kicked out of the manual labor the last few years in lieu of the bakery employees, so now I just get to come and have fun! 


I will post pictures later, but I thought I would share some random Bastille Day trivia with you.  Do you know the French national anthem?  It is called La Marseillaise.  It was written by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792 and was declared the French national anthem in 1795.  It sounds absolutely beautiful when sung.  I should qualify that.  It sounds absolutely beautiful when sung by a trained choir.  It sounds like a bawdy bar song when sung by my FIL and his champagne-enhanced buddies.


One year, frustrated in my attempts to understand their drunk joyous ramblings, I googled the lyrics to see what they actually meant.  And now I will share them with you all.  Don't thank me yet.  I give you:

La Marseillaise

Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!

Against us tyranny's

Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)

In the countryside, do you hear

The roaring of these fierce soldiers?

They come right to our arms

To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!

Refrain

Grab your weapons, citizens!

Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!

May impure blood

Water our fields!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This horde of slaves, traitors, plotting kings,

What do they want?

For whom these vile shackles,

These long-prepared irons? (repeat)

Frenchmen, for us, oh! what an insult!

What emotions that must excite!

It is us that they dare to consider

Returning to ancient slavery!

What! These foreign troops

Would make laws in our home!

What! These mercenary phalanxes

Would bring down our proud warriors! (repeat)

Good Lord! By chained hands

Our brows would bend beneath the yoke!

Vile despots would become

The masters of our fate!

Tremble, tyrants! and you, traitors,

The disgrace of all groups,

Tremble! Your parricidal plans

Will finally pay the price! (repeat)

Everyone is a soldier to fight you,

If they fall, our young heros,

France will make more,

Ready to battle you!

Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,

Bear or hold back your blows!

Spare these sad victims,

Regretfully arming against us. (repeat)

But not these bloodthirsty despots,

But not these accomplices of Bouillé,

All of these animals who, without pity,

Tear their mother's breast to pieces!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sacred love of France,

Lead, support our avenging arms!

Liberty, beloved Liberty,

Fight with your defenders! (repeat)

Under our flags, let victory

Hasten to your manly tones!

May your dying enemies

See your triumph and our glory!

Refrain

We will enter the pit

When our elders are no longer there;

There, we will find their dust

And the traces of their virtues. (repeat)

Much less eager to outlive them

Than to share their casket,

We will have the sublime pride

Of avenging them or following them!

Refrain

Translated by Laura K. Lawless and found on About.com

In my defense, the stanzas in between the ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ are no longer sung today.  I told you not to thank me.  Please don't email me to tell me about all the nightmares this song gave you.

And now, I am off to enjoy escargot, stinky cheese, champagne, and lots of cheek kisses.  Joyeux Quatorze everyone!

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite

Every year, on July 14th, the French celebrate Bastille Day. It is their independence day, marking the day that the Bastille Prison in Paris was overrun by revolutionaries in 1789. It signaled the start of their Revolution, echoing the sentiments held by the newly-formed United States. Now, all that marks the location of the Bastille Prison is the Colonne de Juillet, seen below:

In Durango, there is no better place to celebrate La Fete Nationale than at my in-laws bakery. Every year, J-P goes nuts for the few weeks before July 14, ordering massive amounts of food, and generally running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

Not that this is different from any other day, but I digress...

Anyone and everyone is invited - and if you've come once, you're invited for life. There is always plenty of food...

... but you must be willing to let go of your gastronomical predispositions. There are escargots (snails), fois gras (duck liver pate), rochfort and brie (cheese - stinky cheese), and plenty of desserts. The girls were very brave and tried everything this year - I think Madison ate more escargots than her Pepe!

Years ago, food preparation for the party was a family affair, literally. It used to take all of us the better part of two full days to have everything prepared, and most years we still weren't ready when people started showing up. Now, J-P has gotten smart and had his staff prepare everything. They also staff the event, refilling the food trays and pouring beverages. We (especially my mom-in-law) can all enjoy the festivities a little easier now.









Violet, of course, ate bread.







This is our friends Chelsea & Pete's son Josiah. He came, didn't care much for the crowds, but fell in love with J-P's new delivery truck. So he sat in it for the better part of the evening.








And Josiah's dad Pete, auditioning for the new J-P spokesman model role.








Here are Kim & Phil Farrington, dear family friends and baker/cake decorator (Kim) and handyman (Phil) extraordinaire, enjoying the chairs under the canopy. It took us ten years, but we finally figured out that renting chairs and canopies was a smart idea.

Katrina and Celine took a little break from running around with the rest of the kids.

And Madison showing off her favorite part of the evening - dessert!






J-P does this really neat trick where he removes the cork from a champagne bottle with a sword. Well, usually it's really neat. This year, someone had stolen his good sword. I know, I know. Only my dad-in-law has more than one sword in the house. But, really - who steals a sword? Probably the same people who stole his truck. Did I forget to mention that? Someone (we think ex-employees who were politely told to not return to work) stole the orange-sherbert colored van, never to return. We suspect that the van is somewhere in Mexico in bits and pieces. But I digress.


J-P's bottle opening trick was a bit trickier this year, as the above-mentioned replacement sword was not nearly as sharp as the usual blade. But, he is a stubborn man, and eventually beat the bottle.

It really was a wonderful party, and one I am (weird to say) starting to actually look forward to each year. There are a lot of really neat people that we just don't get to see that often. And, if you're interested, the party actually made the Herald. No, not the police blotter. Although that has happened before. But not this year. No, there is a lovely photo and write up here if you would care to read a guest's perspective.