Big 3!

Today's the day my little boy turns 3. Seems all of a sudden so grown up to me. THREE.

At one, I was celebrating that he was still alive and so were we. And that we survived. Somehow, by the grace of God, we survived. That first year as a family in a foreign country.

At two, we didn't make a huge deal. Just a little ice cream party with our playgroup friends. It was festive, joyful, and happy to be surrounded by his playmates. And quite frankly mine too.

At three. He's started school. He speaks in complete sentences. He has a real personality with likes and dislikes. He's kind to others and offers babies toys when they cry. He pushes us because he's three. He knows Go Dog Go almost by heart. He loves playing with his friends but gets into fights with them at times. He's still not a great eater.

After our rather unsuccessful attempts at continuing our family this year, I get choked up thinking about how 3 years ago Michael came into our life, became part of our family, and changed our life forever. And how what a blessing and gift he is. And how thankful we are to have him here with us.

And so, to my Little Buddy: Happy 3rd birthday to our gift from God. I will always love you and I will always cherish the day you came into our lives.

What If

What if...everyday of my life in Paris for the past 3 years was like today?

I would never want to leave. Ever.

The day started sunny and gorgeous.

I dropped Michael off at school. He was happy to go. I saw him run in there and grab a basket and start on his craft.

I ran off to do a photoshoot. It was awesome. Here are my 2 favorite pictures that are 1) different than normal and 2) not at all altered in photoshop:
To see more standard ones and more from this shoot, you'll have to go to my photography website.

Then, went back to pick up Michael up from school, but was early.

So went to a boulangerie, ordered some mighty delicious ratatouille.

Sat down next to the Seine and ate my gorgeous ratatouille while watching the boats go by on the Seine next to the fall foliage lining the river.

Picked up my happy Michael from school.

Took him to "Eiffel Tower Park." AKA: Champs des Mars.

Went to McDonalds for lunch.

Michael napped for 30 minutes while I shopped.

Bought some birthday party supplies at Monoprix.

Met Katie/Karstyn/Elayna at Champs des Mars for a playdate.

They did the caroussel. Michael with his wand that they give the kids to get rings onto:

And then a photoshoot with Karstyn and the Eiffel Tower:

Michael trying to be a part of Katie's family. I mean, who doesn't want an Asian son?

Went home, had leftover blanquette de veau for dinner.

Done.

More 20K Pics

Thankfully, Chad Nickel took pictures with his phone for the 20K!

Here is Team Air Liquide at the starting line. From Left to Right: Chad Nickel, Albert Atkins, and Brian:

Chad took this picture after 10K. Look at Brian. All smiles...walk in the park for that guy!

We were SO very happy and proud for him! I can't even DRIVE 10 miles sometimes!

Love,
P

Interesting Picture

Cathedral pics...I mean, who hasn't seen their share of the same grand nave and walkway leading there? I am guilty of the same.

Mountain man took this awesome picture in the Notre Dame cathedral. I can't get over it. I'm In LOVE with it:
He's had the camera (D50, 18-200 lens) for 2 days. That's it. TWO DAYS. And he took this picture. I am so amazed. Trying to recruit him as my 2nd shooter. :)

Love,
P

20K or BUST

Brian ran the 20K de Paris today, and he did AWESOME. His pace was 9:47 a mile and that was taking it slow for him. He felt pretty good afterwards!

Here, you can see his arm up, an eye ball and a half, part of his light blue shirt and his one leg. He's in the middle of my picture behind Albert who is wearing a cap and a dark blue shirt. And behind them, is another guy with his hand up, that's Chad Nickel. All 3 Air Liquiders.
Also running today was the Eiffel Tower. It also had a number:

The kids were a good sport and waited patiently for their dads to run by!

We are so proud of Brian and his great accomplishment!

Mountain Man and T-Bird

Our friends Mountain Man and T-bird decided to adopt an Asian boy to be a part of their family: So not really. But it was hilarious because here's Michael trying to get in their picture:
He LOVED taking pictures with Tracy (T-bird) and Mountain Man (Brent). It was so cute.

They flew in from Austin and spent the first part of their vacation with us in Paris. We were SMITTEN! We had a great time with them and roamed the Luxembourg Gardens today.

Here's Michael being cute with Tracy:
Incredible! And then look what he does with his ACTUAL family: Thanks, BOY! :) We got whistled at to get off the grass by the park guards while taking pictures on the leaves but you better believe I'll be back. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but could never make it happen. So I'll be back! Thanks to T-bird and Mountain Man for finding this great patch of leaves!

But I did get one good picture of these two lovebirds: We got ice cream at Amorino and saw them off as they continue the rest of their European adventures!

And so mad that this is out of focus, but I'm posting it anyways:
Love,
P

Reflection

So we are leaving. Like. Soon.

Which makes you stop and take pause. What will you miss?

Me? THE FOOD. The lovely, fresh, delicious produce. The ga-billion types of lettuce there is available here. What am I going to do when there's only romaine, iceburg, or green leaf? And it all tastes the same?

What am I going to do?

WELL...here's my starting point right here:
http://www.thebrandywine.com/SIW/index.html

And I ABSOLUTELY cannot wait.

Food. It's a big deal to me. Fresh food...an even bigger deal. I want Michael to grow up knowing GOOD food...not bologna sandwiches.

Yes, he eats hotdogs and grilled cheese. But he PREFERS confit de canard, French cheeses, a good charcuterie plate, Chinese dim sum, practically anything Asian. And I want to continue that even in the States.

So this is important to me.

My Family

Yesterday, I was washing dishes and minding my own business when I happened to overhear Michael and Brian talking at our kitchen window.

There was a big flash of light and then Michael's face lit up with awe as he discovered lightning for the first time. Brian is explaining the thunderstorm to him, as it is the 1st he's ever seen, and he's just amazed that the sky can light up as much as it just did.

Michael says, "Mommy! Come look at the lightning!"

Heck if I need a reason to NOT wash dishes. So I stand there with my husband, holding our eldest son between us waiting and watching the sky for the next big flash of light. His little arms are wrapped so tightly around my neck that I couldn't even imagine moving. Not that I'd want to.

The flash of light appears and Michael says, "See it Mommy? See it?" He leans in, gives me this big hug and kiss. And does the same for Brian. And in this memory, I will always feel what it really means to be a family.

Compare and Contrast

I'm looking at real estate in DE and PA. Not too thrilled with the prospects...well, at least not too thrilled with the prospects considering we will be a one income family.

Anyways, for $283K in DE, I can own this house, 7 minutes from Brian's workplace:

22 years old. 4 bed/2.1 bath.

http://www.psre.com/public/vl.asp?ID=0.462.90925.129318.17903.21238838

Not bad in general. A roof over our heads is a roof over our heads! However, we are from Texas and compare it to a $283K house in Houston, 23 hours and 40 minutes from Brian's workplace:18 years old. 4 bed/3.5 bath. 3200+ sq ft. In a good school district.

*sigh* I am focusing on the fact that we will be back in the USA! And that makes me happy! And to have a house at all, will be a HUGE upgrade from our 700 sq ft , 1 bed/1 bath, 2 closet place.

Coldplay

SO! I've been meaning to blog that on September 7, I went to the Coldplay concert with my friend Laura. Brian and I were supposed to go, but he had a business dinner he couldn't get out of...so VOILA! Laura was HAPPY to sub in for me!And she was great fun at the concert!

It was really amazing and different than U2. U2 was very rock and roll and very standard - they stayed on the main stage in front the whole time. And played LOTS of rock and roll.

But Coldplay was like watching ACL on PBS or something. They did a bunch on the main stage. But then walked to another little stage smack dab in the middle of the mosh pit (while Singing in the Rain was playing during their walk)...and rocked out totally acoustic on this like 20 sq ft stage. It was amazing. They did a version of Billy Jean on accoustic guitar and it was fantastic.

Then, they had another little stage in another part of the pit where the piano was and a portable drum pad and they did some diddies there. In the middle of one piano lick, the lead singer, stopped. Said, "F*&#*" And started over again. How many times do you see a musician mess up at a concert? I loved it. Kept it real.

Coldplay was so awesome because the music, at times, was so pure. Just instruments and the music pouring out of them. It's so neat to see the music just POUR out of someone while they are playing. It made me really miss being able to do that although I was never THAT good. Being able to play an instrument is one thing. Being able to make music is a God given gift.

SO my funny British friend Laura probably would have thrown her top off if she wasn't a mom. She was so crazy during the concert and adorable.

Did a shoot yesterday. SO HAPPY with the way it turned out. Colors, focus, kids, everything. I took like 30 pictures and 25 of them are amazing. Here are the initial proofs:http://pnbphotography.blogspot.com/

Love,P

Grandpa

Brian's maternal grandfather passed away Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Our prayers are with our family as we mourn the loss of a dynamic and loved family member. We rejoice in the reunion of Grandpa and Grandma in the kingdom of Heaven with our Lord.

And we wish oh-so-badly that we were not so far away.

Poll

Today, we went shopping. Our whole family bought A-LoT of Stuff at Cyrillus. Website here:
http://www.cyrillus.fr/fr/

I spotted this cute little black fall jacket. Exactly what I was looking for and at 30% off...it very quickly ended up on our pile of stuff at the register.

When we walked out of the store, I checked the receipt to make sure I got 30% off the jacket.

And it wasn't there. Nope, not on the receipt.

Free jacket.

What would you do?

A. Go back into the store and tell them to charge you for the jacket? You didn't exactly make it home with the jacket. You're still standing in front of the store.

or

B. Go home with your free jacket? The employee made the error so in the end, it is their fault that they just lost money on a jacket.

Post what you would do in the comments section and I too will post what I did as well.

Bon week-end!

Cite des Enfants

YEA! I finally get to blog about Cite des Enfants. On an early September 1st morning, a bunch of 2-3 year olds arrived at the Cite des Enfants, a children's museum in Paris, at 9:30am.

After discovering that I only bought tickets for the kids and not the adults (please don't ask me why I assumed the adults wouldn't need tickets), I dashed to the automated ticket buying stations to get tickets for us chaperones too. WHEW. Thank God for my carte bleue and no line!

So! The kids were very patient and waited for our entry time in front of this crazy octopus:
This was 4 of the 6 kids. We also had Geo and Oliver in the mix! We had an entry time because you have only a limited amount of time in the museum, an hour in a half.

I mean, really. An indoor kids space in Paris? THERE DEFINITELY needs to be a time limit on that or we'd bring our sleeping bags in and just STAY there.

First up, was the construction zone where they wore hard hats, vests, and did important city works with styrofoam blocks of bricks.

Here's Michael working with Elise and Karstyn on the rolling ramp:

And Michael rolling his cart around with no head protection:
Then, we made it to the water exhibit. We stripped the kids of their shirts and put them in their "protective water aprons." However, we neglected to remove their pants and by the end of the session, they were soaked.

Here's a picture of as many of the kids as we could get in one picture:
They had this cool in ground lazy river. You could put these shapes (on the floor on the right side of the picture) in to that hole that Jonah's got his arm in. And it would float around and you could grab it back out that hole. Pretty cool:

And here's a picture of Geo, Michael and Karstyn at one of the stations!

Thanks go out to Katie for taking these great pictures! We had a wonderful time with our playgroup. We are SO SO SO very blessed to have these great friends with great kids. Michael asks about his friends all the time.

Next excursion that I have in the works...is a cooking atelier! They have a cooking class for kids and their moms that I found out about!

French-tards, eventually gave way to a more fluid option:

Paris-tards

Pronounced: pa-REE-tards

Much closer to the actual word "retard," and therefore, much better.

And today, they left. And that makes me sad. What wonderful guests and wonderful friends. We had an amazing life back in Austin and they were one of the reasons it was so.

Some days, I wonder if it will ever be worth it that we came here. So far, I can come up with: great vacations, improvement in my cooking skills, learning French, and the fact that yesterday, my son answered me when I asked him a question in French.

I need to post pics. The Orsay has a floor call the Salles des Fetes and it's beautiful. Never seen it before! Once I get the pics from Renee, I will post them. There were also other rooms with cute urns and gigantic vases that would look GREAT in my house one day.

French-tards

Our friends, Ryan and Renee, have come to Paris for a leisurely visit! And no visit with them is complete without a new saying/catchy phrase:

French-tard: a person who does not know how to speak French and does not know the standard customs/manners of the country. Example of use: While ordering in English at a restaurant: "Sorry, we are a couple of french-tards. Could we have some water please?"

OK, they earned their keep at our place just from that word alone.

So, The McNiehs arrived on Thursday and we were able to hang out with them all this weekend. We started Saturday with the Rodin Museum and they posed for me. VOILA:

Then, we shopped for a lunch on Rue Cler and had a picnic in front of Les Invalides:
It was delicious until the over-aggressive bees of this season started flying away with bits of our roasted chicken. We were fine with the 2 that kept coming back. But then they told their friends and 5 more showed up. Nice try Mother Nature!

Brian and Ryan threw the frisbee back and forth while Renee and I chatted away. Just like old times!

We had planned to visit Napoleon's tomb and the War Museum...but Renee/Ryan didn't seem TOO interested in that idea so we opted out and walked over to Champs des Mars to see le Tour Eiffel:
Then we dined on takeout cassoulet for dinner while watching Eurotrip. Nice, I know.

Today, we ventured out to Versailles with them. While they toured the chateau, we wandered around the gardens:

And were there to see the fountain displays, which must have been cool in the 1800's because they certainly weren't that cool in the parlance of our times. Michael at least had fun feeding the ducks:

And that was the end of our day! Ryan has been wearing his pedometer and it read 12000 steps today. That's roughly 6 miles.

Not too shabby! We are enjoying eating and hanging out with our friends. I don't think any of us have felt HUNGER since they arrived.

Biblical Marriages and Night Light by Dr. James and Shirley Dobson

Possibly Hot Topic of Discussion.

Now...I do realize that Dr. James Dobson is a Christian Conservative. And when I decide to do a couples devotional on marriage (by myself by the way)...I am inviting biblical marital principles into my life. And to be honest, I'm not quite prepared for it. And I don't quite like it. There, I said it.

Am I saying a biblical marriage is awful? Or that it does not work? Absolutely not. I know of 2 "biblical marriages" that work quite well for the people involved.

I am saying that I am disappointed in Night Light's 2 chapters on the roles of wives and husbands.

Dr. Dobson devotes one chapter to the role of husband. Here are some questions from that chapter:

• What has been my most "shining moment" as your husband?
• How can I (the wife) encourage you (the husband) in the responsibilities God has given to you?
• Am I (the husband) sensitive to your (the wife's) feelings regarding decisions?
• Do you ever miss being single? Why?
• How, as a wife, can I help you be a better father?
• Wife asking husband: Do you ever struggle with trying to care for my emotional well-being? What can I do to help?

Dr. Dobson then devotes one chapter to the role of wives. Here are some questions from that chapter:

• Does the role of "helper" seem insulting to you?
• Is it easy for you (the wife) to serve me as your husband?
• Do you (the husband) feel that I (the wife) believe in you?
• How can we define the wife's duty to submit to her husband?
• If you (the husband) were asked to define my (the wife's) character, would noble come to mind?
• Wife asking husband: What do you think is the biggest setback/failure you have experienced? Did I show you support at that time?
• Husband asking wife: Which of my favorite activities do you enjoy?
  Wife asking husband: Do you appreciate having me join you in activities?

Sense a trend? The husband's chapter is...of course, all about the husband's role and how the wife can help him be better. The wife's chapter is all about...the husband and how the wife can submit and serve him better. Hmmm...did we forget all about the wife's needs?

Now, to Dobson's credit, he didn't ignore the wife's role completely. He did ask questions about how the men could be sensitive to the wife's feelings in decision making. And how to care for her emotional well being. But let's look at the data:

Husband chapter:
22 questions total

4 questions recognizing the wife's feelings/rights to have them/her self improvement
6 general marriage questions that are good for any marriage
12 questions about the father/husband's needs/wife's need to submit and support

Wife Chapter:
20 questions total

3 questions recognizing the wife's feelings/rights to have them/self improvement
2 general marriage questions that are good for any marriage
15 questions on how the wife can better support her husband, submit.

And so I finish these chapters disappointed. I would have hoped for some more questions about the husband considering the wife's interests and joining HER on them. Or maybe some questions on the difficulty of being a wife/stay at home mom and how the husband could help her there.

But no. No discussion as such in the wife chapter. Just more focus on how to help your husband in his bad times, taking on HIS interests as your own and well, basically being his helper without any focus at all on YOU.

So...there. I don't like it. And maybe that makes me a bad biblical wife. I have my own interests, my own needs, and my own necessity to be treated as Brian's equal, not his subject to lead.

But in my marriage, Brian loves me anyways. And it works for us.

Discuss. Conservative and not so conservative opinions all welcome.

Prayer

If you read my blog and believe in prayer, please pray for our friends. We met a wonderful little family who is friends with Brian's brother. We vacationed with them in London and they have a gorgeous 15 month old little girl.

The little girl is currently in the children's hospital because of second and 3rd degree burns on her hands, forearms and forehead. She got them from touching the glass in front of their fireplace. She goes in to surgery in the next week for skin grafting and our thoughts are with her. If you pray, please keep this precious little girl and her family in your prayers.

We certainly are.

Love,
P

Michael

So I don't talk about Michael enough in my blog...

Yeah...right!

I love this most recent picture of Michael. So full of joy, fun, speed...and of course, a bubble blowing thing.

Michael's "latest"

• When naming people he's going to do an activity with...he sometimes names the same people 2-3 times each. Ex: "Mommy, do you want to play wood choo choo with Michael, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Michael, Mommy?"
• He's starting to name emotions to things that happen to him. He told me on Friday that "I am sad because I lost my Mommy." This was what he told me when I picked him up from preschool and it broke my heart.
• He loves to help cook, blow bubbles, run with abandon down hills, ride on scooters/bicycles, play with trucks/cars, hunt chestnuts and throw them in the stream.
• Lately, he's been picking the color pink for stuff. Drives me crazy. He knows this so he continues to pick pink so I think I better play nonchalant about the whole thing. He likes trucks/cars/boy things though...so I'm trying not to make a big deal out of it.
• He climbs in our bed and sleeps between us without us knowing. So we wake up and voila, there's Michael.
• He recognizes Edith Piaf songs and has a favorite one he goes crazy to.
• Michael knows our CDs and picks them out to listen to. He'll choose some Alan Jackson and announce that we're listening to him. Lately, it's been U2, which we do not contest.

I think that's it. This is for me. So I don't forget what he's like at 2 going on 3 years of age.

For every child, there is a small kingdom that is just for them to roam: Happy 3rd Birthday Karstyn!
We had a great time at Karstyn's 3rd birthday party today. Great food, great company, and fabulous fun. I had an awesome time doing a mini shoot. The lighting was Oh-So-Yummy. Who would have guessed at noon that it would be the case. Will proof the pictures soon!

The kids couldn't have had any more fun I don't think. There were balance bikes, balloons, parachutes, playgrounds, big hills, sand pits...my word. An awesome time.

Love,
P

Dijon!

Well, we planned a vacation - Daniels Style - meaning we decided on Saturday to go somewhere. Booked a hotel the following Tuesday. And were off on the train the following Saturday morning, August 22nd.

Vacation Destination: DIJON!

Yup, the home of Dijon mustard. I know, you are jealous. :o)

Here are the Daniels on a street leading to one of their town cathedrals:
On Saturday, we spent the day relaxing and wandering around the town. Here are Brian and I on the main square:

The boys slept through the carousel on the first day and us parents had a nice break with un cafe to boot. We enjoyed a relaxing stroll, ate hearty bourgogne cuisine, and just took in the sights and sounds of a cute little town. Here is a picture of the boys being happy, adorable, and the same size:

We made it to another large plaza with these fountains shooting from the floor. We stripped the boys down to their skivvies and let them go wild. This resulted in Michael slipping and ending up with a big knot on his head. While doing this, Brian and Jonathan shopped for our picnic dinner.

We dined like kings at a park nearby Dijon's version of Arc de Triomphe. We had some delicious cheeses, tons of rillettes, some jambon cru, and lots of wine. Well, we drank 1 bottle but bought lots at least. Michael had another injury where he tripped and then fell on the stroller wheels. OUCH.

After dinner, we found a park for the boys to play on. And THIS awesome thing:

Would have gotten much more awesome pictures, but the light was fading fast and 1/60th shutter speed just DOES NOT take clear pictures when you have adults pedaling as fast as they can.

The next day, we woke up, had a slow breakfast and took the boys to the carousel. I mean really, can you say no to these 2 faces? Well, YES. Especially since they are 2, going on 3, so they do lots of things that make you say "STOP THAT!"

We had an awesome time exploring this quaint little town. Thanks go out to Brian's parents for recommending it to me! And here are some other pictures, just because I love them: