Sunday was a bad day. On Saturday night, I struggled with a runny nose and fever and got up feeling pretty rough. I preached on “God’s Wisdom”, and went to bed after lunch. We were all in bed by 8:30pm, and I struggled again with fever most of the night. At 1 am, I was watching CSI:Manhattan, I couldn’t sleep. But the rest of the night was quieter, and I woke up with less fever, but feeling tired and rough. I am taking it easy this morning, and I am planning to go to the cinema with the boys in the afternoon.
Category: Family life
Christmas and new year
The Christmas holiday has been quite relaxed and low-key. It rained almost non-stop for the first 10 days, and we hardly went out of the house. We spent Christmas day at home, and went for a walk in the afternoon. The kids were spoiled, with presents from family and friends.
We spent new years eve with brothers ans sisters from the church and welcomed the new year together.
One of the main activities of this holiday was to move the study to a bigger room. I am now sharing with Jean-Baptiste’s bedroom. It’s not ideal, but we hope it will work out fine for the time being. Maxime and Benjamin are now sharing a bedroom, where the study used to be.
The holiday is coming to an end and the children will go back to school on Monday.
Monsieur Bleu
On Saturday, I went to the theatre. It was the first time in probably 20 years, at least. Maxime had been given an invitation to a show called “Monsieur Bleu”, and I thought it would be good to spend some time with my boy. We sat on the stage, in front of the two actresses. There were probably about 30 other people, maybe a bit more. Everything was blue. We laughed and had a lot of fun.
The School Christmas show
Once again, the school had organised a Christmas show with the children performing. It’s the third one we go to, and this year’s was the best so far. Only half the school was taking part (the younger ones), so there were less people and the show was much shorter. We had the opportunity to see some faces and catch up with the news. We were glad to be there. At the end of the show, Father Christmas came to distribute sweets to the children.
Our school being a state school, there are no references to Christ, but we are getting used to that.
La rentrée
The children went back to school a week ago after two months holidays. Both jean-Baptist and Maxime were happy to go back and have a new teacher. Football practice has also started for Jean-Baptiste. He will also take guitar lessons in the music school, as well as take part in the choir. Maxime is too young to take up an instrument but will also be at the music school for some introduction to music, 1/2 and hour a week. He was on the waiting list and we had a phone call to say that someone had stepped down.
“La rentrée” is always a big thing in France. That’s because education is a big thing for French people. Over a month before children go back to school, supermarkets stock up on school supplies. Then, in the weeks leading up to the first day of school, the medias kick in and talk about the cost of “la rentrée” for families. They cover various subjects, including things like how school bags are getting heavier each year…
On the first day, there were lot of parents around. It was a bit hectic as no one knew where they were supposed to go. Many parents had taken the day off for the occasion, or were going to work slightly later. That was a week ago, and we’re now back into the routine.
visit to Britain, day 24: a day with the boys
On Monday, Esther went to Shrewsbury to spend the day with her sisters. The boys and myself met Paul Yeulett and his two boys in Llangollen for Fish and Chips by the riverside. We had a good time talking about various things. The boys played well together.