To Kiss or Not to Kiss

I have lived in France for half of my life. The last half. And in many ways I am probably more French than American. But I still feel like a foreigner here from time to time.
In France, greetings are very important. We always say hello to everyone with a handshake if they are strangers or we don't know them very well, and with a kiss on each cheek if they are friends or family. But when does a person change from one category to the other? That is the question.
Today we went to an end of the year barbecue with the families of the boys from Wesley's soccer team. For almost a year I have shaken the hands of these people, including the coaches. But today as we arrived at the soccer field, I was greeted with kisses by everyone. Even though I held out my hand. So, does the fact that we will be eating a meal together make us friends all of a sudden? Does anyone else think about this, or is it only me, the foreigner that tries to analyze this fact? Is it natural for them to switch from a handshake to kisses? Will it ever be natural for me?

Ups and Downs

No more braces for Peter!!!! Definitely an up!!!!

Wesley stopped Stéphane from making a goal while playing soccer a couple of weeks ago. The result? A broken wrist. That was a down day. But then again, Wesley has gotten out of doing alot of household chores... maybe a bit of an up after all? (Wesley is the green dwarf with the blue arm)

Photo Shoot in Maubeuge

We decided to squeeze in a photo shoot while we are still nine... Yes, as I said recently, things are "blooming" here, which means change! And not just because the children are growing up.

First, Stéphane is getting married July 30, so that means we will no longer be 9 in the family, but 10 or 8 depending on how we count!

Second, we have an adoption project in the works! We spent the last two years trying to get a home study here in France to be able to adopt. We finally have it! So now we are asking God who would be right for us, and for whom we would be right. More about that later.

Here are a few of the pictures of the 9 of us...

Things are blooming at our house!!!

Springtime might just be my favorite season!! Seeing the miracle of life emerging from seeds never fails to fascinate me.

Thought it would be fun to play a little guessing game to see how many flower experts we have among our friends. Anyone able to name all four of these flowers in our garden?

And as the flowers blossom in our garden, our family is also in the process of "blooming" or so we hope (in a couple of different ways)!! Anyone want to take a guess as to how?

In the news

Stéphane was interviewed recently by a local paper, because BLF is the first Christian publisher to offer ebooks. He even got his picture in the paper... sort of.

Article

Marpent : Une petite maison d'édition surfe sur la vague numérique

BLF Europe est la toute première à se lancer, en France et en tant qu'éditeur chrétien, sur ce créneau. Dès cette année, une cinquantaine d'ouvrages devraient être disponibles.

Nous avions déjà parlé d’elle en 2009 à l’occasion de la parution des deux premiers tomes d’une version de la bible en manga. La société BLF Europe, éditeur chrétien établi à Marpent, était alors précurseur en la matière. Elle innove encore une fois en proposant depuis quelques jours sur son catalogue, une quinzaine de titres qu’elle publie sous le format numérique.
«Les grandes maisons d’édition sont sur ce créneau depuis longtemps, mais aucun éditeur chrétien ne s’était encore lancé» explique Stéphane Kapitaniuk, très enthousiaste.
Le jeune homme, qui est notamment en charge de la communication au sein de l’entreprise, a largement participé à l’aventure du livre numérique en recherchant par exemple des prestataires pour adapter les ouvrages à la lecture sur iPhone, iPad et autres tablettes numériques. «On a juste à envoyer le fichier utilisé par l’imprimeur pour le faire convertir au bon format» continue Stéphane.

The igloo

We had a white Christmas this year!!!! No one can remember the last time that happened, but it was definitely a LONG time ago!

The kids (that includes Philip and I when it snows...) had a blast building an igloo to rival all igloos.

Click on one of the links below to watch a video that gives you an inside look at the igloo and the fun we had.

The video with subtitles for those of you whose French is rusty

French video with no subtitles

First we built a snow woman, African style.

Then came the igloo...

 Then it snowed again and the igloo got a second room.

Then the cousins (the ones who live nearby) came over and everyone enjoyed the igloo.

Jérémie is home!!!!!

Monday we went to the Brussels airport to welcome home Jérémie. We, meaning all of us, minus Peter and Mélanie who couldn't skip school. The kids hoped to totally embarrass Jérémie at the airport and I think we succeeded.

Here I am, Jérémie's personal assistant with his body guards and his chauffeur.

 These body guards would scare off any paparazzi.

Jérémie's fans couldn't be stopped however!

He even had to sign autographs!

 Jérémie safe and sound and well protected.

Home again at last!

 Supper as a whole family again! Mélanie was taking the picture.