Drawing by Luka

Luka's drawing of a "tigr", "cheta", and "liyin" (lion). (Click to get a larger view.)

He did this a few weeks ago and just looked at it now and said, "Mommy, I left out the "e'' in "tiger", the "e" in "cheeta" and the "e" in "lion"." (OK, well, we have some work to do on lion... ;)

Happy Holidays - Joyeuses Fêtes !

We have had an exciting November and December, with fun in Steamboat for Thanksgiving, Christmas presentations at school for Luka and Axel, Luka's first time skiing for the season and first time skiing at Copper, and getting ready to go to Alaska for the holidays.

Click here to see our Flickr page to see our photos from November and December. Click on the "November and December" set.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année !

Eve, Reynald, Luka & Axel

Recipe: Christmas Vegetarian Meatloaf

Christmas Vegetarian Meatloaf

I made this for our vegeterian guests (and the rest of us) for our Christmas party on Dec 22.

Red Pepper Sauce:

1-3 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained
1/4 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained or 1/4 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic
3 oz. silken lite tofu
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For the Lentil Loaf:

3/4 cup dry lentils, cooked in veg broth
3/4 cup dry wild rice combo, cooked in veg broth
1/2 cup dry quiona, cooked in veg broth
1 small yellow onion
2 large stalks of celery, diced
1 cup carrots, chopped finely
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
8 oz. - 16 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp. good quality salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a loaf or other pan with nonstick cooking spray. Make the roasted red pepper sauce first by combining all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender or food processor and pureeing until smooth. Set aside.

Mix the cooked lentils, wild rice and quinoa in a large bowl. Set aside and let cool if needed.

Cook onion, carrots, celery and mushrooms till onions are soft.

Add onion mixture to the grains. Fold in half of the roasted red pepper sauce, the mozzarella cheese, eggs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, basil, salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese over the top, and dot with butter.
Bake 30 minutes or until the loaf is firm and cooked through. Allow the loaf to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with the remaining roasted red pepper sauce on the side.

Serves 6.

Recipe: Green Salsa with Tomatillos

My friend Jill brought this to our Firetruck Santa Christmas get-together and it was soooooooo tasty! It is not too spicy for the kids (Axel loved it!) but it is very flavorful.

8 tomatillos, husked (or canned, whole tomatillos)
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies
¼ cup chopped, fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
salt to taste

In a food processor, place tomatillos, shallots, garlic, green chilies, cilantro, jalapeno, and salt. Using the pulse setting, coarsely chop. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving. Yields 16 servings. Good with tortilla chips, fish, tacos and burritos.

Recipe: Quinoa & Mixed Rice Salad

From the newspaper (modified a bit).

For the Salad:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups Lundeberg Wild Blend (wild and whole-grain brown rice)
1 bunch of radishes, sliced thin
3 green onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup cilantro (optional - I personally detest cilantro)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Note: If you make this as written, it is a very large salad, for a party. I have made it with the 1 cup of quinoa only, all the other ingredients, and most of the dressing and it was delicious and everyone at a party loved it. With the rice is good too, but it will be a lot of food.

For the Dressing:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2/3 cup olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves, pressed
good quality salt to taste
2-1/2 tablespoons curry powder

Directions:
Cook rice blend according to instructions (or 4 cups water to 2 cups rice), and do not add salt or oil. Cook quinoa (3 cups water to 1 cup water), do not add salt or oil.

Let cool and fluff with fork.

Combine cooled rice and quinoa. Separatelt, combine radishes, green onions, raisins, walnuts and cilantro if using, then add to rice-quinoa mixture.

Combine all the salad dressing ingredients in a jar/tupperware with tight-fitting lid. Shake well and make sure curry powder does not clump.

Pour dressing onto salad mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Refrigerate for several hours and bring to room temperature before serving.

Kid Update

Axel's favorite books: Cromignon; Les deux goinfres; Chewy Louie; Big Book.

Luka's favorite books: Junie B. Jones series

Axel's favorite TV show: T'Choupi Tch tcha tcha (really called Premier Bal). He is crazy for this and has seen it at least 100 times...probably more. I wish I could the audio. He loves dancing to it. I set the DVD player to loop to avoid manually playing it a zillion times. Then, we dance together at the dancing part, "Mommy, dance with me!"

Luka's fav TV watching: he has not been watching a lot of TV lately, but L'age de glace 2 is still up there, with Le mystère des jouets, and he liked Polar Express that he saw at school and we bought for him (French version at home). Pretty intense flick.

Axel's favorite song: I'd have to say that is "The Witch Doctor - oo ee ah ah". Yes, I have been privileged to hear that at least 100 times as well....in the car, in the house, walking the kids to school singing it, in my dreams... :) But they have so much fun with it. Axel loooooves dancing to this and T'Choupi (above) and any song he can.

Luka's fav song: not really a song, but "scary" stories from a Target Halloween CD: The Graveyard Dare, The Ghost with One Back Eye, Pirate Captian John, and The Slithery Dee. He also likes "The Witch Doctor" and "Dem Bones."

They both are really into drawing now too. Luka likes making "books" by drawing on pieces of paper, adding text, and stapling them together.

Luka loves doing his homework and learning to read. He read his first book all by himself. It is called "Penguins On Vacation". Pretty exciting. THe second one he is working on is "Don't be Afraid, Monster".

Luka's 5th Birthday

It was a big birthday weekend. Luka's birthday was Friday. He took mini chocolate chip pumpkin muffins with organge frosting and Halloween sprinkles to school to share with his friends for snack. He got a special card from his teacher to celebrate his special day. He also took muffins to French class later in the day. When he entered the room they all sang "Joyeux Anniversaire" to him (in French, obviously). All the kids, as well as Miss Marie, had made him cards. He was very pleased.

His official birthday party was at Pump It Up - indoor inflatable jumping kid utopia. He had invited his entire class, plus some non-school friends and was very excited. There were about 20 kids there. He had a great time and it seemed like everyone enjoyed it. He had Zarkan invitations, a Zarkan cake and a Zarkan t-shirt. Plus, he received thoughtful and fun gifts from his friends. Axy had a great time at Pump It Up too; this was the first time he seeemed to really like the jumpy castle environment. We can't believe Luka is already 5!

School Pictures

Here are Luka and Axel's school pictures for this year. Luka is in Miss Melissa's Kindergarten class and Axel is in Miss Nancy's Toddler Class.

Luka's 6th Birthday Countdown

Since we just had the big 5th birthday bash, of course, we must now start thinking about birthday party #6 next year-- just kidding. Well, I am sure Luka will ponder it all year, but Mommy and Daddy will take a break of at least 10 months... :) Just for Luka, no matter how far off it still is, is a count down to #6:

Kid Update: October 2007

Luka

Learning to read at school and doing a great job. Lots of "sight" words and getting used to sounding out new words. Loves Kindergarten and his teachers, Miss Melissa, Miss Laurel, Miss Jessica and Miss Carina. Field trips and lots of fun activities (green frog, mystery can, star student).

Fav book(s): Junie B series, Abricot magagine (French), especially the back page.

Fav movies: Le mystère des jouets and L'age de glace (yes, still!)

Playing soccer, riding his scooter and his bike, likes music class and French class. Loves drawing, playing with his little safari animals, and making stuff (books, cutting up and gluing stuff, etc.). making up stories and games.

Axel

Doing well at school, but still misses us (cries) when gets dropped off :( Loves his friend Emeline (French babysitter), great at imitating us and loves to sing and draw. Loves playing dumpy and "riding" his brother's bike (!) (this means Mommy pulling him - ouch, my back!).

Fav book(s): T'choupi - especially T'choupi et les transpots. Loves big machinery and trucks, buses, big cars. Loves balls. Had a greating time painting at the Children's Museum.

Saying more and more words and a sweet little talker. We will miss him saying, "Luta, Uka, Uddle". Now, he loves to say "Mister Luka!" after Mommy. Another fav is, "Shut the door!"

Photos: August (and one from October)

Photos - These go with the text in the post below "Long time, no blog"
[For more photos, go here: Flickr Sets]

August

Axel's birthday celebration

VBS

Luka and Faith

Fun in Boulder

Children's Museum Denver - Grace and Luka

Reynald on White Rim Ride (October)

Photos: July

Photos - These go with the text in the post below "Long time, no blog"
[For more photos, vist Flickr Sets.]

July

Reynald's view from ferry in AK.



Steven, Luka, Axel

Family Camp

Long time no blog...

Long time, no blog! Here is a recap of our activities since our last posting:

JULY

- We have fun with our neighbors fireworks and Luka piggy backing on mommy for the city display.

- Axy starts day care. He is in Toddler 3.

- Reynald to Alaska to do a solo ride of the 200 mile distance in the Fireweed 400: Sheep Mountain Lodge to Valdez. Included a ferry/train trip from Valdez back to Portage and visiting with the in-laws.

- See Uncle Steven, Aunt Angela and her parents at crepe restaurant in Denver, on their way to new home in LA.

- Reynald starts his new job!

- Eve gets her hair cut short (really!)

- Family church camp 5 hours west: Grand Mesa United Methodist Church Camp. Highlihts include paddle boating, crafts, new friends and Luka singing Le Bon Roi Dagobert for talent night, in French, with Eve and Reynald singing our on-the-fly English translation (Axel helped too) and then we lead a sing-along of Frère Jacques (everyone knows that!).

~ JULY PHOTOS - CLICK HERE FOR SLIDE SHOW ON FLICKR ~

Le Bon Roi Dagobert / The Good King Dagbert

[Verse 1 - French]

Le bon roi Dagobert
Avait sa culotte à l'envers.
"Ô mon Roi, Votre Majesté
Est mal culottée."
"C'est vrai, lui dit le roi,
Je vais la remettre à l'endroit."

[Verse 1 - our English version]

The good King Dagbert
Put his underpants on backwards.
The great Saint Eloi said,
Oh my King, your Majesty has your underwear on wrong.
That's true, said the king, I'll put it back on the right way.

[Verse 2 - French]

Chassait dans la plaine d'Anvers.
Le grand saint Eloi lui dit :
"Ô mon Roi, votre Majestée
Est bien essouflée."
"C'est vrai, lui dit le roi,
Un lapin courait après moi."

[Verse 2 - our English version]

The good King Dagbert
Was hunting in the fields of Anvers.
The great Saint Eloi said,
"Oh my King, your Majesty is really out of breath."
"That' s true, says the king, a rabbit was running after me."

(That song is not a positive comment on the ruling classes!)

AUGUST

~ AUG PHOTOS - CLICK HERE FOR SLIDE SHOW ON FLICKR ~

- Axel turns 2! Birthday bash with four litle friends (Kylie, Sean, Riley and Connor for Luka) at Lakeside's awesome kid area. Motorcycles, planes, cars, boats, wigwams, ferris wheel and more! The party was Doudou-themed: Axy's fav character from T'Choupi. We had Doudou invitations, a Doudou cakeand a Doudou tshirt for the birthday boy (yay, Mommy!).

- Weekend VBS -lots of fun for both Axel and Luka. Mommy is "tribe leader" for group of kids.

- Ride the Divide: Rollins Pass - Reynald rode up with the "tougher" group on Saturday and Eve rode the Winter Park - Nederland direction with Corinne and Anne who were the perfect team mates for this challenging ride.

- Luka starts Kindergarten at The Academy!

SEPTEMBER

- We start teaching Axel's two-year old Sunday school class once a month.

- Emeline, Axel's French nou nou (really, his buddy) comes twice a week to play with him and help him use his French speaking skills.

- Luka starts French class for French-American kids in Boulder. Great success!

- Luka starts soccer. Fun with team and Luka likes hugging his friends on the opposing teams as well as doing cartwheeels around the field during the game. But, a good introduction to team sports.

OCTOBER

It is not over yet, but passing by fast. Luka's big 5th birthday bash at Pump It Up is fast approaching. Zarkan invitations, Zarkan t-shirt and Zarkan cake - Luka's fav character from his fav movie: Le mystère des jouets.

Pumpkin and Halloween fun (nightly ritual of lighting candles, turning out the music and dancing out to Halloween songs). Costumes chosen for Halloween: Luka - black spiderman; Axel - red spiderman (and/or a bee, a monkey, a fireman or a pirate - take your pick!).

Reynald rode the White Rim outside Moab with our friend Dan. A 10+ hour ride in the Utah desert--go, guys!

Axel's 3rd Birthday Count Up

Update on Kid Photos

Some new photos of our guys!

~ And Video of Axy below ~

Luka had a fun time watching fireworks set off by our neighbor, as well as the city's fireworks from down the street. It was very windy, but they still went off as planned and were a great display. Axy was in bed, asleep, despite all the noise of firecrackers and home-based firecrackers popping and cracking. Luka is doing well and very active, having recently ridden on the tagalong bike for a strenuos bike ride from Nederland to the Hessie town site trail stream crossing with his friend Ada (and her parents, of course).

He took to the bike like a natural and really appreciated being able to pedal and ride like a big person (as opposed to being in the trailer/Chariot). Then, for 4th of July, he and mommy rode together with the tagalong to the EB Rains park in Northglenn (about a 45 minute ride) and met Axy and Papa there (who had come by car with the picnic lunch). There were bouncy castles and other festivities along with the normal fun playground and kid water fountain at this park, for Independenace Day. We can also say that it was VERY hot!

Axel is talking a lot, and saying a lot of French words too (being that Papa is his most favorite person on the face of the Earth, that makes a lot of sense). He says so many words now, I can't think of them all. A new one that we all thought was funny (albeit in English), was downtown. It is too cute when he says it. He went downtown with Luka and Mommy last weekend for church and started saying this on his own. Oh, yeah, and another fav word is also in English, and it is out. As in, get me out of my crib, let me out of this shopping cart, etc. He also loves to watch and say oiseau(x) and loves to talk, even when we don't catch all of what he is saying. To hear him saying some of his fav words, go to our video site by clicking on the image below.

VIDEO OF AXY

Telluride, CO to Moab, UT Bike Tour

June 17 - 24, 2007: San Juan Hut System Bike Trip from Telluride, CO to Moab, UT - Eve, Reynald, along with Luka & Axel, the biker champs!.

I would not say this trip was "fun", but we will never forget it, that is for sure! To see more pictures from our trip and Reynald's commentary, see our photos online at Flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/bodeux/sets/) and then click on BIKE TOUR SUMMER 2007, watch as slide show, and click on any photo during the slide show to see the commentary.

For additional info on the bike tour, see the San Juan Huts System site at:

http://www.sanjuanhuts.com/bike.html.

LVC weekend

Eve, Renato, and Dr. Norton: Norton Endowed Book Fund Presentation

Eve had a great trip to PA (June 7 - 10) to receive an award from the Lebanon Valley College Alumni Association for her contributions to her profession, and to also participate in presenting the an endowed book fund to a favorite professor, now retired. My friend/fellow alum Renato and I worked on the project for a few years. Also, appreciated seeing some other old (as in long-time, hey, we are not old!) friends (including Laurie and her new baby, Karen, Greg). We had a good time doing it these last few years, and the weekend was a great time.

See another picture of us presenting the book fund here and other LVC weekend photos:
http://www.lvc.edu/alumni/alwknd07/photos.aspx?bhiw=1259
Eve, Renato, and Dr. Norton: Photo #2.

Know your food: alert, alert, alert!

I heard an NPR story the other day about food that comes in to the US from China. Any food that is even slightly processed has a very high chance of having products from China in it: asorbic acid, garlic granules, various other chemicals used in mass food production.

In light of the recent pet food scare when public authorities assured us it would not turn up in human food, but instead it turned up in pork, shrimp, chicken, farmed fish food and more, this is a very important issue about which we should all get more educated. Read this article, or listen to the archive, and if it does not scare you into buying local and organic, then I don't know what will. But, I wonder if the organic brands out there (Safeway, Whole Food and Wild Oats organic and non-orgnanic brands) also use food products from China. If so, I guess I have to move to the boonies and grow my own food. (I am not joking...!)

My immediate reaction to this story is, I am going to contact various food manufacturers and ask them where their ingredients come from. If they say China or that they do not divulge this information, I will never buy their product again. It is not an issue of trade protection, but a straightfoward issue of food safety. It is also an issue of cultural differences in that Americans assume they are getting food that has been prepared and sourced in a way that is culturally and acceptable to them (and from a cleanliness standpoint). Most of the time, although we are not aware, this is not the case. And, it seems we are eating what I'd surely call non-food products (petroleum, lead, plastics). Even in doses that are "not harmful to humans", I have to say, 1) I don't believe it, and 2) even if true, sorry, but I don't want to eat plastic. Very, very scary.

I am also going to hook up with a local, organic producer of fruits and vegetables who delivers door to door, whatever is in season, on a weekly basis. When it is that easy, we really have no excuse not do it.

I wonder if other cultures (France others in Europe) have these types of problems with their food sources. Probably to some degree, but I don't know if it is this bad (?).

Find the NPR story text and audio file at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10410111

Recipe: Southwest Rub for Grilled Meat

Southwest Rub

2 TBS chili powder
2 TBS packed brown sugar
1 TBS ground cumin
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce OR bottled BBQ sauce
1/4 ts ground red pepper

Combine all ingredients in small bowl. Press rub evenly onto beef. Trun occassionally to avoid burning. Makes about 1/4 cup.

Almond-Lemon Tart

From Denver Post and "Mostly Martha"

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 cup unsalted butter

Filling:
1 cup almonds or hazelnuts
1/2 cup almond paste
1/2 cup sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp almond extract

Directions:
Place flour, powdered sugar, extract and salt in a food processor. With the motor running, slowly drop in the butter about 1 TBS at a time. Process until a ball of dough forms on top of the bade. Remove from the processor and press into a greased 12-inch removable bottom flan pan. Bake in a 350-degree oven just until the crust sets, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Place almonds, almond paste and sugar in a food processor and process to grind the nuts. Stop the machine and add juice, zest, eggs, cream and extract. Process to blend well. Pour in the cooled crust and place ni a 350-degree oven.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting and removing a knife - if it comes out clean, the filling is done. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.