Fall Has Come Upon Me

I have an unnatural obsession with fall. The leaves, the cooler weather, the pumpkins, the squashes, the pumpkin spice latte...it inspires me to no end. So here's the first of many fall pics to come:

MOPS visit to the farm. Don't have to ask me twice. And I gave away one free 8x10 per family for the moms in my group. How am I ever going to make a profit when I keep doing what I love for free?? :)

Tony Hawk

I was reading the October 2010 issue of Traditional Home (yes...) and on the last page was an interview with Tony Hawk.

And one of the things he said, that really struck me was:

"I get paid extremely well to do something I would gladly do for free."

I don't think I EVER felt that way about being an engineer at Samsung. In fact, I AM SURE I never felt that way.

SO here is my attempt. To just get paid piddly beans to do something I would gladly do for free:

La Lumiere Photography. For those who know and those who do not know, I am launching my portrait photography business. It is scary. It is overwhelming. It keeps me up until 1am MANY nights.

But I love it. Even if it just pays for a special meal out every now and then. SO here I go. Wander over to my website if you like:

www.lalumierephotography.showitsite.com

The blog is still a work in progress...but I think that's how I will always be. A work in progress.

Last Minute Paris Moments

Somewhere in the hub-bub of moving back, I forgot to post about some of my favorite last memories in Paris. And since Kirsten took the pictures and they were on her camera, I forgot to ask her about them!


Our last couple of days was spent in slushy Parisian snow. It was pretty cold, wet, and dirty - oh wait - that was kind of normal. :)


On our 2nd to last day (I think...I'm not sure!), we went over to Kirsten's house for dinner. A last supper...*sniff*...but of less historical significance than THE LAST SUPPER.


Anyways, we helped Kirsten make those Hershey kisses cookies. Guess who LOVED unwrapping (and eating) those?
Ok, so ALL of us liked doing that.

Anyways, I convinced Kirsten to come with me to the toy stores by her so I could pick up some last minute Christmas gifts for Michael (to send with the air shipment!). And because she's my very good friend, she came with me. And we wore the same colored hat:
And we dragged our boys with us in their matching coats:

And you BET they were happy about being dragged through the Parisian slush to go to a toy store with their moms. Don't you love the snow stains on Michael's pants?


We had an awesome dinner of pork roast/caramelized fennel and enjoyed one of our last meals with a special family who made our stay in Paris feel like home. When you are away from the States, there is nothing better in the world than the "family" you make where you are.


That family decided to meet me for yet another suicide mission: Laduree on Champs Elysees in December. I should have known it was a madhouse. ALL OF IT. Laduree (with it's line out the door), Champs Elysees (with its Christmas market and ridiculous crowds), and all the subway stops which were all 15-20 rows of people deep.


But here's a family picture of Jonah and Michael with the Christmas lights of the Champs Elysees behind them:
And a very cool family picture of us (and a Parisian lady in a white coat) with the lights:

Thank you to them for forcing me to take this picture.

I am wearing my red coat because I got wet paint on the sleeve of my "Parisian" coat that I wore all the time. They were painting the interior of our stairwell and I brushed up against it.


So I ran immediately to the best Dry Cleaners in Paris: PRESSING DES GOBELINS. It is on Avenue des Gobelins, next to Jacadi, across the street from Monoprix. I have taken the following to them and they have removed all successfully:


1) Grease/oil stain on my silk dress
2) HUGE stain from my foam facial cleanser on Brian's very expensive suit (took them 3 tries but they got it out)
3) Paint on my wool jacket.


If that does not constitute a good dry cleaner's. I don't know what does. And no remarks about our obvious lack of keeping ourselves clean.


Also another funny memory for Brian - when we were on the metro platform (15-20 rows of people deep) - Brian was playing with Jonah/Michael - kind of picking them up and swinging them around. They were taking turns. Michael gets fed up with this and tells Jonah, "Jonah - YOUR dad is over there. THIS IS MY DADDY." HILARIOUS to Brian.


Somewhere in our last 2 nights, I had Picard's Blanquette de poulet for dinner. LOVE that. That's right, FROZEN food as one of my last meals in Paris. I like it that much. And then Brian invited himself over to another friend's house to say goodbye. THAT was a bit awkward to me...but fine.


And that was it. Morning of our flight, we get up at 6:15 am - ready to go out the door. Michael falls down, but he's wearing this puffy coat, so he can't catch himself - bangs his nose on the floor. BLOOD EVERYWHERE. We're supposed to leave in 5 minutes on the RER for our flight. Luckily, it stops.


Sorry this is such a ramble. This is for me because I can't believe I didn't blog about this and I want to remember.


Love,
p

Ansty In His Pantsy

Because I don't want to wait for the 30% off and maybe not get his first choice costume. Because I'm THAT excited that we get to be in America and have an honest-to-goodness trick or treat. Because my son is about as patient as I am for this whole American Halloween shindig:

That's Right. We R Ready to Rumble. Are you?

Uh. Yes. Wrote an entire E-mail in French to my friend. I still Got it. YESSS!!

Because I want to say it out loud

I get asked a question a lot. And people genuinely are wondering and are curious.

"How are you guys doing with having another baby? Are you still trying?"

For the record, it does not make me uncomfortable. And it is a valid question.

The answer is. YES. I guess. If God wants us to. NO. If He does not.

We've been trying for nearly 2 years (yes, nearly 2 years). In 2009, our last year in Paris, I had 2 miscarriages (one in TX, one in Paris). And now, in 2010, after all my fertility tests...we are trying! Happily, but unsuccessfully. If you get what I mean.

So the doctors say there is nothing wrong with me. And if there's nothing wrong with Brian...then...as the French would say,

"Pfffffff" (sound you make when you blow air through your front teeth without really parting your lips).

I don't talk about this on the blog or facebook because well, it's not the hunky-dorey kind of stuff you put out there.

But I decided to just answer the question out loud because well, I just needed to. A big part of me has really given up on the idea of having more than 1 child because it may be a very real reality that we will not have anymore. Not by our choice...but still something we can accept because we are blessed with a wonderful son and we are blessed by being happily married and providing a happy family for our one gift from God.

SO while there are days when I am sad and the tears rain down my cheeks; those days are few and far between the days when I am laughing at my son running around with strainers on his head and watching his dad teach him how to yell "BOOM" when you kick a soccer ball way up high.

If you feel badly for me...don't! If you feel awkward to ask me, don't! It helps for me to talk about it. But if you believe in Prayer, DO. Because in the end, when there's nothing wrong with either of you that can be explained medically, the only thing you can hold onto is the fact that it is not what He wants for your family. And in the whole big scheme of things...there's no reason to see the glass half empty when it is so obviously full with what is right in front of you.

Michael's First Soccer Game!

Considering Michael's genetic line, it is no surprise, that we would one day find ourselves at this stage:

Soccer. Brian coached Michael's team of 3 year olds and that was an interesting experience to say the least. We learned a lot from the first session and are excited to make some improvements for our next meet. That we will be lucky to have half the kids come back for.

Here's a quick re-cap. We did 25 minutes of "drills," which really was only 5 minutes of drills after parents kept trickling in every 5 minutes. Note to other soccer parents - please show up ON TIME to practice. It is disruptive for the coach to have to stop every 5 minutes to welcome someone and tell them what we are doing. Next week, I will have a clipboard and a whistle and greeting people and telling them what is going on.

After this. We had "THE GAME."

Here's Michael competing with this girl for the ball:
Don't be misled by her pink tights. She was pretty good and quite a formidable force. But Michael was able to break away and made the first goal for our team:Coach B instructing one of his players:

This is what happens to 3 year olds when you say: "GO! GAME START!"

Everyone staring at the ball. From both teams. NICE.
AH YES! Let's go! Michael for his 2nd breakway, resulting in his 2nd goal.

And within viewing of the field, is this awesome playground:
HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KEEP THE CONCENTRATION OF 3 YR OLDS WHEN WE ARE COMPETING WITH THIS? :)

All in all, it was a great experience. We had some kids playing. Some kids crying. Some kids picking dandelions. We just hope everyone had fun because we sure did! And I don't mean to be braggy - but we were pretty proud of our little Michael. He had fun playing and really got in there. I am sure next week, I'll be the parent coaxing their kid to stop crying in my armpit and go play soccer. It's only the 1st week of the 8 week season. But for once, I'd like to say how proud I am of Michael! And hope this doesn't jinx us for the rest of the season.

ANOTHER.GORGEOUS.DAY!

Yes. It is another gorgeous day.

We started the day out at church. Yes. At Church. My neighbor informed me that every Friday, the private Christian school she teaches at takes all the classes to church Friday morning for a Kids' Church - if you will. SO she invited me. And since I want to send Michael to this school one day, we went to chk it out.

It was super cute and the service was only 45 min long. Michael liked the songs that involved clapping and he actually got something out of the homily...even if it wasn't exactly what the theme was. At least he listened. But like all kids in church, he just looked bored. But he was pretty well behaved most of the time. ANd he was super interested in the fact that our neighbor was handing out communion. And that kids were doing the readings and singings.

After that, we went straight to the FARM. I didn't bring my camera because I wanted to play with Michael. SO we played in their clean and tonka-stocked sandpit. Fed some goats by hand and with this awesome 'goat feeding pulley system'. We petted those guys. Then we went and played on their playscape, made some friends, pretended to feed MOmmy lunch. Then it was off to play on their big wooden school bus and wooden train. Then we got apples to feed their horse and donkeys. THAT was super fun and scary. I wanted to keep my fingers.

Then we had their $5 special for lunch. Went shopping at the farm stand. Michael picked out a spaghetti squash that we have to google to find out what to do with. He got some corn and an apple. I got some tomatos and zucchini for my ratatouille (that is baking in the oven right now and will be awesome). And a big thing of plums and sun dried tomatoes. Lovin' teaching Michael about shopping at the farm and making homemade things. One day, we walked out of Acme and I said, "We just can't buy anything at that store. All the produce is horrible and we will NOT pay our good money for bad food." And Michael looks at me and says, "That is a problem Mommy."

YOU BET IT IS.

Go read "In Defense of Food." It will change the way you view our grocery stores. I wonder if it is all true...I am going to google "criticism of In Defense of Food" right now to get another side of the story.

I don't want to work on my business cards because I can't find a SUPER horizontal picture for it and it's making me mad. So I am blogging instead of solving the problem.

Food and Randomness

Hi Everyone!

Prepare yourself for a Random Post.

First up. FOOD.

My sister in law brought her mom's recipe for Crock pot pulled pork. I am a fan. It is easy, fast, and DELICIOUS:

Texas Crockpot BBQ

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup ketchup

1 cup BBQ sauce

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T Worcestershire sauce

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Add 3-4 lbs of lean roast or boneless chicken breasts. Cook on high until tender (about 7-8 hrs for roast or 5-6 hrs for chicken). Remove meat, shred, and return to crockpot. Cook on low 30 minutes – 1 hour or until ready to serve. Serve on whole wheat hamburger buns with extra BBQ sauce as needed.

Second Up. Arugula.

I have been looking for a good arugula for a long time. It is one of my favorite lettuces in salad. Most fall short from bags/etc. Haven't found a farmer who has arugula regularly.

I finally found a good one: Dole spinach/arugula mix for salads plastic box. Not in a bag. In a box. The arugula has a distinct peppery taste and actually tastes like a strong arugula.

Eventually, all lettuce in a bag tastes like plastic. Most start out tasting like plastic. So I never buy bagged lettuce. OK, maybe not never. But SELDOM. I always buy fresh red leaf or boston bibb lettuce. Or Trader Joe's artisanal lettuce.

Third Up. The weather.

It is freakin' GORGEOUS today. Windy, sunny, highs in the 70's. It makes me miss Paris, but I realize Paris is like this - oh - I don't know - 2 months out of the year? :)

Fourth Up. My yard of trees.

I got leaves. Lots of leaves. And they haven't even changed colors yet, the trees. It's just dead leaves from the heat of summer. It is going to get CRAZY around here come fall. You got kids who want to jump in piles of leaves? Bring them HERE.

Fifth Up. Subject of Fancy salads.

I love fancy salads. My favorite is to get fresh lettuce leaves, sprinkle balsamic vinegar, a good olive oil (right now, my fav is hazelnut oil), salt, pepper - MIX. Then add in "the fancy goods."

What do I mean by "fancy goods?" My friend Kirsten (SHOUT OUT!) gave me an awesome cookbook called Chocolate and Zucchini. IN there, is my latest fancy salad that I simplify a bit so it doesn't cost me $25 per salad plate. But you basically mix arugula/spinach/lettuce with some cut up leftover roasted chicken (you know what I'm talking about), hazelnut oil, balsamic vinegar, and peaches. She has hazelnuts in there but it's hard to find those here. So i put in cashews because I love cashews. Oh, and be restrained with the balsamic vinegar and a little generous with the hazelnut oil. I found out the hard way today when I added a tad too much balsamic vinegar.

I toss this. And for my lunch, I had this fancy cafe salad. And in the middle of my seemingly ordinary stay-at-home mom kind of day, I had a fancy salad, and I felt fancy eating it.

I love food. Can you guess?

Sixth UP: Photoshop CS5

I downloaded it for my 30 day trial off the internet. HEAVEN. Almost as good as when I started reading Twilight. WATCH OUT. Just need to calibrate my monitor and then you'll start seeing some crazy stuff pop out of here. For now, I just have this SOOC of my nephew Quinn right before he left:

Ornery

Michael is ornery today. It is actually very funny and not annoying like it can be when kids are grumpy!

We had a fun-filled weekend and we're all a little worn out. Interesting since we didn't do anything all weekend!

Anyways, Michael is just mad about everything today. He yelled at me about using his Michael bowl because he didn't want to. Then he told me listening to music in the car while he played Angry Birds makes him irritated. And with everything he says, he looks at me, wrinkles up his little face, and is talking all grumpily at a slightly raised volume at me. I would be reprimanding him if it 1) wasn't so funny and 2) if I didn't feel tired myself.

We're in the same boat Michael! But I'm not grumpy. Not.One.Bit.

Apple PIcking with Aunts and Uncles and Cousin

This past weekend, Team Besancon Boston, and Team Besancon DC came out to the country and we did not much of anything! It was great!

On Saturday, we went out to Milburn Farms to go apple picking. The weather was GORGEOUS - 70's and sunny - we had an awesome time picking sweet gala apples and crunchy empire macintosh! So delicious.

Here's Michael with his prize, albeit a little blown-out, but you get the idea that it's an apple right?

Picking some with Uncle Bill's help:
SUCCESS!
Folded up with his stylin' aunts:
And enjoying his delights in the field:
Afterwards, we bought some farm fresh vegetables (YUMM!), ate some very fried apple cider donuts, and explored the farm. Michael spent a great deal of time with their well stocked sandpit (YESSS!!! We miss the sandpit from Paris!) and saw their goats. They had these great ramps for them to play on way up high:
And Uncle B spent some time making Q-ball laugh. He is so much fun at this age. So smiley and great fun:
Uncle Bill grew a mustache, 2 trees got chopped down, my furniture in my bedroom got rearranged by 3 strong brothers, John showed us his vocal stylings in Singstar on PS2, Kelli got some SUPER cute shoes for Quinn at Gap at a fantastic price when us girls went shopping, a game of Risk got started, AK cracked us up with her Speed Scrabble skills (is YAR a word?), and Brian worked the grill for meals for us.

It was a gorgeous weekend in the country. Not many pics as we did much of NOTHING!

Sunday, we went to church, and hung around, took naps, us girls shopped and we celebrated Bill's birthday with an apple crisp with our farm picked apples! He was a good sport to come out to the country for his birthday!

On Monday, we went for a hike at a little trail down the road from our place. The boys threw HUGE rocks into the stream and we enjoyed some time in nature. Drove to 2 restaurants for lunch which were closed, stopped to get pizza, and went home to finish lunch there.

Everyone's gone now and it's awfully quiet. Back to normal life!

Photographing in Direct Sun Observations.

Stop reading here if not interested in photography. It is gonna get boring.

I learned some lessons about shooting in direct sun. None of which I have had a chance to duplicate so I am not sure if they are steadfast. Getting slightly better at it! No better way to learn then to get out and do it. All pics are SOOC. The key is to get the sun at the right angle with respect to the subject. You need the sun (which is overhead)...but just slightly BEHIND the subject. So you get a little bit of a halo effect and while the face is a bit underexposed...it can be bumped up a tiny bit on PS.
Also interesting, was NOT including the sky in the picture. I had some where I just had Michael and the sunny bushes, and those came out with a cool greenish yellowish look that I like (you might not)

The shot is far from perfect...but in bright sun it 1)does not have severe blowouts and 2)does not severely underexpose the shaded areas and 3) involve squinty people staring at the sun. SO to me, it's a pretty successful picture for direct sun. And that glare to the right is a leaf in the way.

Another tricky thing? In some situations, overexposing worked out better. Example:

And in other situations, underexposing worked out better. Example:

So bottom line? Direct sun must be shot in manual - and most of the time - overexposing a little or underexposing a little helps, depending on the angle of the light. Direct sun - makes it necessary to see which angle the light is coming from and finding at what angle (behind/side/front/back) is best for the subject to be lit. Sometimes, turn the subject around until you find the place that helps the camera not blowout areas. Also useful, to have a light reflector.

Best thing? GET-THEE-TO-THE-SHADED AREA!

SO while I didn't get any super awesome pics from the trip, I did learn a whole heck-of-a-lot. And I was still pretty happy with a good handful of my pictures. Not sure if you guys like it (ahem...KIM! hee), but it is what I have come up with for now. If you have some good tips, feel free to put them in comments!