Easter eggs and such

Foooouuuuurrrrrrr!

 We celebrated Tassia's fourth birthday today! 

 And, as everybody knows, posting pictures of your child's birthday on a blog is really just a way to show what a cool mom you are.  So, I unabashedly show you the picture of the outfit I made for her doll:

 as well as a picture of how I made Tassia's request of a white chocolate cake in the shape of a castle a reality:

 I realize that my cakes can't come close to some moms' (ahem, Melinda), but I thought it turned out OK.  It might have looked nicer with a bit more frosting to cover up the blemishes, but we tried a trial run with this cake, since I had never made a white chocolate cake before.  I got the frosting on a bit too thick that time.  This time, it tasted perfect!  Here she is blowing out the candles, and showing, incidentally, her new fairy costume and the mug her big sister gave her.

Sybille Said II

At lunch today, we were eating fajitas (YUM!)  Sybille turned to me and said, in cute franglais that is very typical of her right now:
 
You pas un tortilla.  You Mama.
 
Thanks for noticing.  If I ever do decide to turn into a tortilla, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Sybille says

DAWN: (looking at the radishes we planted that have sprouted) Sybille, come here!
SYBILLE: (Obeying, of course) What?
DAWN:  Look!  Do you know what that is?
SYBILLE: Butterflies!
(you all have seen radish sprouts, haven't you?)
 
other cute one:
SYBILLE (looking at a picture) An aiplane.  No.  A Hello-copter!

Adventures with Tassia

 Tassia and I went on a little adventure last week!  Here she is in the Paris metro!

 And here, we went to the "Cité des Sciences", which has a special part for children.  It reminded me quite a bit of Denver's Children's Museum...at least, of what I can remember of the Children's Museum.  Above, Tassia is cooperating with other children on a construction site, complete with crane, bricks, and house to be built.

 Here is the giant monster that welcomed us into the kid's section!

And here is Tassia with the monster.

You may notice that there aren't too many touristy kinds of pictures.  For one, we were only there 2 days.  For another thing, there was about 5 inches of snow on the ground, which made going out a bit complicated.  For another, I was travelling with a not-quite-year-old.  For another, I was still a bit tired from the flu.  And, lastly, my goal was actually visiting a friend, not visiting Paris.  That was done quite enjoyably!

Back up and Functional

After being sick for 3 weeks with the flu, we are finally back into something like a normal routine at our house.  OK, so I still crash at about 9:00pm, but at least I manage to get through the day!  Here is a sampling of some random cuteness that has occurred in our household recently.

Lookin' at the bright side

I feel so much better NOT having a fever, that it almost doesn't bother me that my stomach is upset today.
 
Speaking of stomachs, I'm going to have abs of steel.  Not only that, but I'm going to be a millionare.  The next time you open up your Facebook page, look for the little ad on the side that will read, "Try Dr. Dawn's miracle workout.  Cough your way to a flat tummy in just 5 minutes a day."
 
Fighting off viruses makes Sybille sleep a lot.  Like, she napped yesterday from 1:30 to 6:00.  And was eager to go to bed at 8:00.
 
My sleeping poorly saves the girls the trouble of waking me up when they need something in the middle of the night.  It also saves me the annoyance of being awakened, since I'm inevitable awake already.
 
It's a blessing to have my in-laws close and ready to keep the girls when I realized yesterday morning that there was just no way I could take care of everyone all day.
 
It looks like we're all going to pull through.