Le cinéaste : Michée

With the very patient help of Wilfried, Micaiah has produced his first film. Still working on the copywrite.

Micaiah's School has an Afternoon Spectacle!

Friday morning we got home from Ireland. Ruth had a delicious lunch for us and then in the afternoon we were able to go to Micaiah's school for his "spectacle"! They did fairy tales and Micaiah played the role of the Grandmother. Not sure why and I think he had a hard time with it at first, but he was a good sport and played his part great. For me, it was a treat. I was proud to be the Grandmother's Grandmother :-)

Excited to be EIGHT!!

There is one boy who is all excited about turning 8 today! Full of enthusiasm, Micaiah is a fun eight year old to have around, too! We can't wait to spend his special day with him. In fact, we are getting ready to walk out the door to go have breakfast with him. Can't start much earlier than that.

Happy, happy birthday to one very special boy! Being 8 is great!

Tooth Action

The Tim Bixby household has had some serious tooth action this week. Miriam knocked her chin climbing a tree on Sunday, and I think that might have given a slightly loose tooth the added impetus it needed to quickly become REALLY loose, and she lost her first baby tooth then on Wednesday. She had an advantage in this whole thing of having seen her brother lose his teeth, and realize that it really isn't any too scary, and after all, one might find a little something special under one's pillow after such an exciting experience, so she was pretty thrilled!

Micaiah's tooth action was a little less natural. We got an afternoon phone call on Tuesday (actually, it was Papi who took the initial call as he was keeping the younger kids while we were in class) that Micaiah had had an accident at school, and we needed to come pick him up to take him to the dentist. Somehow he had been spinning around with a classmate at the end of recess time when he slipped and hit the ground mouth first. Some of the school workers were still cleaning up the blood when we arrived to retrieve him. After calling three different dentists, we found one who was immediately available and we took him in. He agreed that Micaiah's front two teeth had received a pretty terrific shock, and wanted us to go get an x-ray taken to make sure there was no fracture (see picture below). It was a pretty cool machine that went around his head, and we now have a REALLY cool picture of all his hidden permanent teeth yet to come in. In fact, the dentist was even able to tell us that Micaiah will only ever have one wisdom tooth to come in. We are grateful that there was no fracture, and it seems like the teeth will heal fine, although the dentist did say that those front two teeth are not completely out of the woods yet, and wants us to come in again next week for a check-up. He had a seriously swollen lip, but after three days it is looking much better, too. So there you go. There's a summary of some of the toothy experiences we've had in this Bixby household this week. :)

Papi et Mimi and the "French" Grandkids

Can't say we didn't try....

It's Tea Party Time!

Today the little girls joined me for a Tea Party! They came all dressed up with their favorite dollies. We had chocolate chip mini muffins, chocolate-peanut butter covered bananas, candies, and hot chocolate and lemonade. How is that for a well balanced snack? Tomorrow is Krista's 3rd birthday so we sang to her, too. We all had so much fun that I am sure we will do it again!



And don't feel sorry for Micaiah. He and Papi had a full afternoon. They went to lunch at KFC and then delivered a care package together before they took off on an afternoon bike ride.
Gotta love vacation time :-)

La Rentrée !

Today was the big day!!! We dropped off Miriam and Zacharie at Papi & Mimi Bixby's house at 8:10 this morning in order to take Micaiah to his first day CE1. He was very exited about his new "cartable" which can be rolled like a suitcase or carried on his back. Since it was the first day, we were able to walk into his classroom and meet his teacher. After this it will be back to dropping him off and picking him up at the gate. While he still had a small case of the nervous jitters, this year was definitely easier than last. Right after our parting hug, he eagerly jumped into a French conversation with the other kids at his table, all of whom he already knew from last year. The report at lunch time was that his teacher is really quite nice, and he seems to be settling in well already.

Miriam had not the slightest hesitation about staying at home. She was very thrilled to be able to have the same teachers that she had "met" previously when Micaiah did HomeSat K-5 two years ago. Just before vacation we found a used desk to put into her room that really works perfectly, and now she is all set up! In fact, she completed two full days' work and then some.

In other news, yesterday we enrolled the kids in some music classes (not formal lessons, just general music), and those classes will start in two weeks. We are excited about this new realm of education for both of them, and are hoping it will give Miriam another avenue to keep honing her French skills while she is schooling in English.

He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum....

Here are some pictures of the end results of Papi and Micaiah's pickin! (I forgot when I made the last blog that 'prunes' are 'plums' in English--but I am sure you all know that!) A joint effort produced a yummy clafoutis.

Micaiah's School Choir Concert

Last night Micaiah's school had their annual choir concert.  They did a great job and Micaiah, sang heartily.  The most amusing was the "older" kids singing Old MacDonald in English, and the "little" kids (M's age) doing the E, I, E, I, O part. Please note that the "O" is pronounced "Oh"!  :-)  It was GREAT!

MICAIAH TURNS 7!!

Joyeux Anniversaire, Michée ! I know this is a very busy day in Pessac, but I hope that you are able to do something special! I'm sure Papy and Mamie will have a special party as soon as they can after today's events.
GROS BISOUS! I miss you TONS!

Mon cartable

One of Micaiah's first school projects has been memorizing the first two stanzas of this poem in French.

Mon cartable a mille odeurs,
mon cartable sent la pomme,
le livre, l'encre, la gomme
et les crayons de couleurs.

Mon cartable sent l'orange,
le bison et le nougat,
il sent tout ce que l'on mange
et ce qu'on ne mange pas.

Visiting the French grandchildren

This is Dad. I've really had a wonderful time with Tim and Ruth and my precious grandchildren. That is the special bonus. I'm here for Marcelle, and have spent a good bit of time with her. There is no doubt that the Lord wanted me her at this time, and I'm grateful, but I'm looking forward to being back with Mom. And, getting on with our responsibilities there in the states so that we can get back here to the ministry. But I hate leaving Micaiah and Miriam. I felt we'd bonded last time, but I've really it this time. It has been merveilleux.

Micaiah's New Trick

The Ascher family left for their month-long vacation last Friday, and generously offered our children the use of their kids' bikes during the month. The only catch was that they had a bike with training wheels for Miriam, but no bike with training wheels for Micaiah. He had already been getting excited about trying to learn to ride his own bike without training wheels when his bike arrives in the container at the end of the month, and so Micaiah was quite pumped about getting a head start now. Papi worked with him a little early Friday afternoon, and then Tim later that afternoon, and we were all amazed at how quickly he discovered his newfound talent, and wanted to share it with you. Below is a video of him riding around the parking lot across the street.

We'll get this French "très vite"

Isn't this just too cute? They look like they are really concentrating!

An even more toothless grin

Micaiah lost his third tooth this morning, this time one of his front two teeth. He's been thoroughly enjoying wiggling it regularly for the last few weeks. Now he's enjoying the new sensation of moving his tongue in and out of the leftover hole.

Visit to Rockford

This is a bit late, but we wanted to share some of the joys we had during our all-too-brief visit to Rockford, IL. It lasted only one night and part of two days. Patience was recovering from sickness, but she was sweet and happy as usual, and it gave her one more excuse to stay home from school and visit with us. We also enjoyed a not-baby-any-more Corban--energetic yet very sweet.

Thank you Rockford Bixbys for letting us crash in on you! We are sad that we won't get to see you again (or our family north of you) before we leave for France in June.

Micaiah loses his first tooth!

OK, so the pictures aren't too flattering, but you do get the idea that this is one happy boy to have lost his first tooth! It's been loose for more than a week, and he has been wiggling it, but unwilling to let anyone even consider pulling it. We haven't pressured him about it at all, and sure enough, last night it just popped right out into his hand during dinner. And he ever so calmly holds it out to me and says, "Look, Mom. Here's my tooth."

The "tooth fairy" paid a little visit last night, and he's bargaining with the fairy to try to get the tooth back to show it off and still be able to keep his dollar.

Miriam reads to Micaiah

While Micaiah does his home work, Miriam reads to him and excellent book ("Big Truths for Little Kids") that combines questions from the Children's Catechism (note that the "Q. A." is misinterpreted as "O. A.") with stories that reinforce the truths. It's not a very good recording, but as parents, we think it's cute.

Our snow storm

Feeding Stefan

We had the great privilege to babysit Stefan while his parents went out on a date. Micaiah enjoyed getting to help feed his little cousin.