Little Blessings

Since we've been back in France, there are a few little things that have been "little blessings," like:

Discovering how to use fabric softener in a front load washing machine- The washing machines that we use here automatically dispense the detergent, so I don't have the opportunity to choose the great smelling laundry detergent like I would like to. One of my favorite scents is the smell of clean laundry. Now, with the aid of fabric softener, our clothes are oh-so-soft and smell good enough to eat.

Discovering how to get my hair clean- The water here is very hard, so my hair feels oily- I guess because I can't get all the soap out. Well, Eric had the idea to wash my hair with cold water because he noticed that when the hot water comes out of the faucet, it has a whitish color to it until it cools down. Possibly, that's the problem (because I love very hot showers). So far, my hair feels better, but the jury's still out until I wash it a few more times.

Malachi's drawings- Yesterday, Malachi drew his first-ever "person." He's growing up way too fast! But, it's absolutely adorable to see the pictures and to hear his explainations. He says of this masterpiece, "He sad. He say, 'What?!' And, he has a playground (on the left, I think slides)." By the way, he specifically said that this picture was for Aunt Em and Uncle Paul.

New Friends- There are several new families here and a few of them have kids Hannah's age, so that's very exciting for her.

A week's worth of home-cooked meals- Friends here arranged meals for the first full week here. It was such a blessing to not have to do shopping (they stocked our fridge and pantry for breakfast and lunch stuff) or any cooking as we transitioned back.

Good report from Hannah's teacher- Yesterday, when I picked Hannah up from school she yelled, "Maman!" That's how the French say "Mamma!" and her teacher said (in French), "See how she's using French! She's started doing it more and more in class." Then Hannah brought me a picture she drew and said, "Regarde Maman, mais je n'ai pas fini." (Look Mom, but I haven't finished.) Her teacher then told me how well she's picking up the language, that she finds her to be very bright. And, that she thinks that Hannah could easily learn to read in French if we were to stay a bit longer. Very encouraging to us, as parents, who are sad when we hear her talk about how she would like to be able to speak with her friends at school. She's learning!