Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Natalie's 4th birthday party

Last night Natalie had her birthday party with her friends. We had a Strawberry Shortcake theme, the girls made necklaces & bracelets and also did a strawberry craft! We enjoyed pizza & muchies for dinner. Natalie love all of her birthday gifts (she told me after that opening gifts was her favorite part!) We finished the evening with a delicious cake. The girls all had a wonderful time and Natalie is ready for another party she said!

p.s. I used the same cake pan that my mom used for my 4th birtday party. I plan to frame the pictures side by side!








Saturday, December 12, 2009

I know what you're thinking... "Where has this family been? I've been checking their blog and no new posts." Life has been busy around here. But I am making it my new years resolution to post one new blog every week (and now that I am publishing this, you can all hold me to it!)

So, what has been keeping us busy? I know you are wondering. We have finally gotten all the boxes unpacked in our apartment. That didn't actually take too long as I made it my goal to get settled as quickly as possibly before life here started moving- and moving it does! We have had many interesting experiences trying to find stores and shops, navigating the roads (parking in a city), and many other daily chores for me are now much more adventurous now that I am in a foreign country! For example, grocery shopping... alwasys a unforgetable experience! Think Walmart, but everthing in French and items that are completly new you have never seen before. Also, there is a huge fresh fish area and Natalie always scrunches her nose and says "its so stinky!" We also have wonderful smaller grocery stores in our neighborhood that the kids and I often walk to during the week as well as a outdoor market (3x a week) that has fresh produce and goods!

I have recently joined a online group for English speaking moms and families called Message Paris. I am excited about this new avenue and way to connect with other English speaking moms. They organize playgroups, coffee times and community activities. I am going to my first moms night out this Friday and hope to build some new friendships. We are always looking to build relationships with the English speakers here in hopes that we can introduce more and more people to the Bridge.

Stephen has been busy doing numerous things. His role is to connect with the students that are interested in the Engage internship program, as well as constant contact with with the MA's on our team, coordinating the setup at our new facility and connecting with people that visit the Bridge website.

The kids are both doing well! Natalie just had a birthday. She is now 4! She is in a constant state of pretend...she loves dressing up and is always pretending she is sleeping beauty, cinderella or some other princess. She often tells me she is not Natalie she is sleeping beauty or a ballerina! She has a very big immagination! Landon is such a content little guy! I am not sure I could have handled 2 busy Natalies. He has begun really playing with his toys. He is so happy just to sit and move animals and blocks from one container to another. He has yet to crawl on his knees (hoping he will get this soon as his first birthday is coming up) though that hasn't stopped him from getting around. He has mastered the "army crawl" sitting on his bottom. Its very amusing to watch, but he gets where he wants to go doing this. He has started trying to pull up to things too! He is such a happy little guy... always smiling and excited about everthing. We are so blessed to have two amazing kids.

Last week we went to Paris to explore the Christmas market they have set up. I have attached some pictures of our outing! Enjoy! I hope to post again before Christmas, but if not, I'll see you again after as I have now committed myself to a weekly post (what's your new years resolution?) Love to all of our friends and family this holiday! We pray you have a wonderful Christmas and blessed new year!

Click on picture to enlarge...might be a little fuzzy (sorry)!