Feat No…13?: Not that unlucky after all – We have the Sunshine Award!

Thank you very much Stephen Greene, www.headoftheheard.wordpress.com, for awarding the www.eugenialoras.wordpress.com blog with the Sunshine Award!

The Sunshine Award  is given to those who write positive and inspiring articles and bringing some sunshine into the life of others. The Sunshine blogging award has its own rules and requirements:

– Link back the blog who nominated you.

– Post the award images in your blog.

– Tell seven facts about yourself.

– Nominate 5 to 10 blogs and let them know about it.

I dedicate this award to my children and my family for all their achievements and support! Congratulations to them all!

As a Sunshine Award winner, I am supposed to say seven facts about myself:

1. I am a Thank You person so I would like here to thank you all!

2. I have been preparing and working for my children, Maggie and Nicholas even before they were born. As if I already knew them.

3. Words cannot describe how much I love my work.

4. My favourite colour is purple.

5. My favourite book is “Someday” by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds, Scholastic.

6. I really love autumn and my birthday!

7. Whenever I send my wishes to someone, I truly hope they come true!

And now I am honored with the privilege of awarding the following blogs with the Sunshine Award:

1. www.swissirja.wordpress.com : Sirja Bessero deserves the Sunshine Award because she is the super mother of three children and an excellent English language teacher in Switzerland

2. www.beltabelgiumblog.blogspot.ch: The Belta Blog Team deserves the Sunshine Award because they provide excellent guidance and support not just to teachers in Belgium but all around the world.

3. www.rosebardeltdiary.wordpress.com: Rose Bard deserves the Sunshine Award because she has been wonderfully raising three children and loves teaching English in Santa Catarina.

4. www.ariascarm.wordpress.com : Carmen Arias deserves the Sunshine Award because she teaches English in Spain, while beautifully raising her family.

5. www.rawlangs.com : Alex Rawlings deserves the Sunshine Award because he is an extraordinarily valuable role model for children, parents and teachers.

6. www.vickyloras.wordpress.com : Vicky Loras deserves the Sunshine Award exactly  because she is my sister. Vicky is a very special English Language teacher in Switzerland, she is the Godmother of our children and the best professional partner I could ever ask for.

Thanking you very much,

Eugenia

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Feat No 12: The language of happiness

We decided to literally take the day off today and have an all-day family pyjama party.

So we woke up and enjoyed some Sunday morning children’s cartoons while having breakfast. And while I enjoy having fun, I apologize for craving to follow some sort of schedule or pattern even on carefree days so, it being German day on our calendar, we watched the cartoons in German. (Those of you who have read our previous blog posts probably predicted that).

Even though Mom and Dad did not even understand half of what was being said, all four of us laughed.

Then Maggie and Nicholas decided to play imagination games (in their sibling code, which is English so far) while we prepared our morning coffees. When their laughter was just about ready to turn into tension over some serious sharing issues, Mom remembered some forgotten games and all three of us played (in English) and laughed.

Then Mom got a bit tired and her laughter was no longer real or realistic, so Dad was called upon to join in the fun. Ball games were up next for the three of them (in Greek, apparently). And again they laughed a lot.

Lunch time was on its way so Maggie and Nicholas switched back to English until our meals were ready. After lunch, some quiet time was appropriate for digestion and as already mentioned, a nice break with a German children’s programme was just right for that.

The children’s energy was back, Mom and Dad’s was not, so we all agreed to do our own thing. This led to Maggie and Nicholas playing numerous games, making up stories, dancing and singing (in English) but always laughing. I chose to do some work with Vicky over the phone and on the computer and Dad chose to do some work of his own as well.

A final burst of really loud laughing, a slight dose of hyperactivity, an extra revival of remaining energy leading to harmeless micro-accidents (including minor head collisions, gentle pushing, unexpected stumbling) brought our evening to an end. However, during this final chapter of the day, English, Greek and German were not used at all. Body language was the dominant language and again loads of laughter.

Last but not least, story time from Mom to Maggie and Nicholas was presented in non-other than English until both children were fast asleep – in all languages.

The truth is that all the above happen automatically as far as the language-switching is concerned.

But the language we all stuck to today, understood perfectly and loved using no matter who we were with was the language of happiness. My favourite of them all!