The building went boom!

What's the most exciting thing in Luxembourg today? Well if you'd ask Anna, she'd probably say, "Little GYM!", but after that it would be the building next door that is being torn down. We spent about 45 minutes this afternoon watching it from Sam's room. Sam contributed to the excitement by peeing all over himself and his changing table when I stepped away to watch the crashing walls. Life is just more exciting sometimes when you see things through your 2 year old's eyes.

En français, s'il te plaît Anna.

This week Anna told me that she didn't like me... that's an attention getter for you. What horrible thing was I doing to her??? Speaking to her in French.

Last week we had a French tutor start improving my bad French and start working with Anna to lay a good foundation (note again, my bad french) for a second language. After one day of my post-tutor practice with her, she looked at me and said, "I don't like you mommy." I know what she really meant is why are you confusing me? I like to understand what you are saying. I'm 2 1/2 years old, and I've just got this whole English thing down; and NOW you are sending me back to a place where I have to decipher speech, again?!?!

Well, after a week of practice, we've made progress. Anna now doesn't pout when I read in french to her and she will even now repeat some words back to me. The biggest achievement was yesterday when I asked her what yellow was en français, and she said 'jaune' (which is right... yeah!). Lots of work in front of us, but we are going to be singing and playing our way into another language for Anna and hopefully Sam someday too (we'll give him some time).

Au revoir, mes amis.

Do more

Just a quick post to give some blog time to 2 fantastic websites that will help your fellow man. (Come on it's Valentine's week... time for a love fest, right?)

1) This one will cost you NO money, but you will help feed starving people.

FreeRice.com

Such a cool idea. You do vocabulary (or math or forgein language) questions and for every answer you get right, 10 grains of rice is donated through the UN Food program. You can easily get a couple hundred grain of rice in 15 or so minutes... and you are smarter for it!

2) This one will cost money... but really worth it!

Kiva.com

It's a a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world.

You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.