My Michael

At four years old, My Michael has lots of spirit. He loves to make mischief and will do anything that will result in destruction and disorder:
He is extremely playful and when you tell him to throw leaves at you, he WILL do it:
Best of all, Michael is loving. He has a big heart but stands up for himself when he is wronged.
He loves mazes, connect the dots (with numbers/ABCs), workbooks, Wii Super Mario Brothers and Mario Kart, and his family. He hates to eat, which is tough being in THIS family! :)

He loves his preschool - has started singing us lots of songs, pledges, and telling us about Jesus and God.

Michael loves trains. Seriously loves them. And he loves anything with tracks!

He likes the color pink a bit too much for our taste.

He is pretty good at soccer. At least for a 3 year old that is. :)

I'm not being too eloquent about how much we love our little guy. After 4 years, we see a little person who makes us so proud to be his parents. We love his spirit of adventure. We love his willingness to learn. We are thrilled to see how much he loves all his family and tries hard to show us. We love watching who he has become. :) And we can't wait to see what other surprises he'll have in store for us in the years to come.

Fall at our House

We are spending our first fall here, and so I am presenting to you a look into what fall is like at our place:

Walkin' up to our door:
Next to my front door:
Fall mums by my mailbox:

Next up, pictures of Michael with leaves. Yesterday, it RAINED leaves in our yard. So we raked for 30 seconds and got a HUGE pile of leaves. Pictures galore. They are coming next!

I started shooting in Raw so I am learning how to process all these pictures. It is delaying some things - but let's be honest here, I'm not awesome about uploading anyways.

Much love,

P

The Holy Power

Yesterday, Michael told me about:

"God, Jesus and the Holy Power."

He tells me this with a smile on his face and says, "YEA!"

Hmm...

Today, Michael told me about:

"God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit gives you power! YEA!"

And he tries to hold up 3 of his fingers.

I still have no idea what is going on but I'm sure he's learning it in his preschool during worship class! I wonder what this is all about.

Love,
P

Four YearS Old

Sunday, Michael turned 4 years old and so we took this opportunity to celebrate the day God brought him into our lives...by bowling!

That's right...not just any type of bowling - COSMIC bowling.

We are starting to make friends out here! But Michael has told me he doesn't like anyone at school. Fair enough. But he does like the kids of some of our friends. So THAT'S who we invited to the party! Our friends and his friends and we had a great time:

I suspect next year, our party will probably include our home group too as one of the kids in our home group told her mom that she "wanted to have a sleepover with Michael." Yup. A she. Luckily, her mom squashed that idea. And I would have too since Michael's latest antic that I have to discourage is yelling, "BOOBIES BOOBIES BOOBIES!" and running towards my boobs to grab them. Jeez, I wonder where he got that behavior from. Hmmm:

Here's Michael demonstrating his bowling technique of running as quickly as he can to the lane and chucking the ball:
Because when all else fails, if you hug the bowling balls, you might get a strike:

Here is Michael staring lovingly at his carousel cake:
YES...I made that. And NO, the bottom of the cake is not made of playdoh even though it looks like it. I had to seriously research how to make that cake and even still...I was glad it was a bit dark so you couldn't look TOO closely at it!

All in all, a super fantastic time! Michael spent the day doing whatever he wanted and we loved watching him play with all his new toys. I am going to do a four year old photoshoot with him this weekend with the gorgeous weather and his Grammy and Grandpa around too. Can't wait! And then, I will post about what Michael is like at 4 years old.

On the Web

We are on the web in an embarrasing way. Click on the link and just wait for the slideshow on the homepage:

http://www.cfarestaurant.com/elkton/home

YEA!

P

Blog by Rapid Fire

Downloaded the pics from my iphone. 15 pictures. ARE. YOU. READY????

Sept 27, 2010 - Michael had to go under anesthesia to get the caps on his front 2 teeth:
My poor little guy. Had to get 6 (SIX) crowns on his back teeth too. And some kind of tube shoved up his nose and then had a bloody nose:
Poor little guy! Him waking up from anesthesia was THE WORST. He was crying, didn't know where he was, his mouth was all bloody and he was parched. Finally got him to drink some apple juice, which calmed him down a little bit. It was a traumatic day for both son and mother but nothing a whole day of playing Super Mario Brothers did not cure.
Saturday, Sept 25: Soccer pics. Is this not the grumpiest team you have ever seen?
Sept 17: Went to Milburn Farms. Michael wanted a picture of this cow. Don't have to ask ME twice:
Sept 15 - Children's Museum. Michael loved this train and with indirect window light - it was an easy peasey lemon squeezey kind of deal:
Sept 10: You telling me you wouldn't 1) give your kid the strainers when asked or 2) take a picture of it:
Aug 23: Michael does a lot of straddling playground equipment:
Aug 19: After work trip to home depot for lots of manure, topsoil, and mulch:
Aug 14: Ya think he'd be a little happier with a balloon, but he's just NOT:
Aug 13: Every giraffe needs a hug. At one of our favorite toy stores:
Aug 11: Ya definitely need goggles for swim class. Unless you never put them on again after THIS picture:
Aug 5: This is how far I was in front of him while we were walking around:
Aug 4: For those of you teaching upper and lowercase letters, we love this game:
July 23rd: Trip with Grammy to Dutch Wonderland! It was HOT - but AWESOME.

Michael on a horse, CHECK:
Michael on a self-propelled choo-choo, check:
Grammy dominating small children at Whac-a-Mole and rubbing it in their face and winning a stuffed black dog which would one day become Tick-Tacker, CHECK:
Carousel, CHECK:
Dad riding on preschooler rides, CHECK:
Jul 9: Dressing up to get free food. I'm sure if he was older, it would be filed under, "Things my Mom made me do for Free food that resulted in needing therapy when I grew up."
It has been raining. A LOT. Almost a week's worth! I kind of like the excuse to stay in and make soup and watch TV.

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: