Pictures of Paris

the view from our terrace in the 16eme

We're back from a beautiful trip to France! Looking over these photos it seems like a dream! It wasn't always easy (traveling with a two year old is not for the faint of heart - more on traveling with kids later), but it was such a fantastic trip. France is always inspiring for us - no surprises here: the food, the wine, the history, the art, the architecture, the language, etc. - but this trip was extra special because we got to share it with our boys. And even though traveling with kids is tough, it's so, so rewarding to open their eyes to a new part of the world, and a different way of living. They learned so much and had such a great adventure! We'll delve into the nitty-gritty of our travels in another post, but first I want to share some of the highlights from our time in Paris (from the "good camera").

 we loved Monet's Water Lilies at the Musee L'Orangerie

 the boys loved to watch the tower sparkle at night (or as Sammy would say, "sprinkle")

 it's a cliche, but I just couldn't help myself - I had to photograph every beautiful flower stall

 we loved the Sunday morning Bird Market on Ile de la Cite!

Notre Dame - although the weather was cold, the city was in bloom and it was incredible!

warming up with some chocolat chaud on Ile St. Louis

pastries and roses from my boys - they know the way to my heart

 Mur des je t'aime, Montmartre

 the carousel at Sacre Coeur - the boys loved this!!

 we rode the funiculare up the hill to Sacre Coeur

 photos from the top of the Eiffel Tower - another of the boys' favorites

Eiffel Tower selfie - Sam was all pictured out

 choosing a sailboat in the Luxembourg Garden

 it was windy - cold, but perfect for sailing!

 Sammy liked the stick more than the boat

 pirate ship for Michael

 chairs ready to go for the warmer months

 a fantastic playground in the Luxembourg Gardens!

 nothing like hot French onion soup on a cold, blustery day

 another food picture because it was so good

 sunshine in the Left Bank - calls for a picture!

 Michael at the Sorbonne (he was very happy to have this lollipop)

 last hot chocolate before leaving Paris

 yummy treats from the patisserie down the street

...and last but not least, Remy the rabbit who lived on our terrace. We loved coming home to him every day!

Much more to come.....

Michael's fifth birthday party

*I bought him a Calvin and Hobbes t-shirt to wear for his party, and he liked it but he said he would rather stay in his soccer gear for the party. 

Note to self: five year olds are too cool for party clothes that are on-theme.

A few months ago Michael discovered my old Calvin and Hobbes comic books and quickly became obsessed. We've spent a lot of time reading and laughing together over the books, and when he asked for a Calvin and Hobbes party for his 5th birthday, I nearly teared up. It's just so awesome when your kids love the things you love. So, we threw a Calvin and Hobbes party! And it turned out really fun!

the kids made newspaper hats, played pin the tail on Hobbes, and blasted a tower of cardboard boxes with water balloons from a giant slingshot (very popular activity with the party guests)

our friend made these amazing Calvin and Hobbes cookies!

I did the "artsy" Calvin and Hobbes font

one of my favorite details - the tiger-stripe cake

the excited birthday boy getting ready to blow out the (five!!) candles

We had all his favorites - chick-fil-a and lemonade, cake and ice cream, presents, and lots of play time with his friends. It was a really fun afternoon! 

(The day after the party. Wearing the t-shirt and still thrilled about the cookies ;)

Happy birthday, my precious Michael. xoxo

Four. Three. Two. One. Birth.

Easter

A few snaps after church on Easter Sunday - still wearing their ties and still smiling! 

These guys (and the pup) are champs :)

Over the last year, we've slowly dipped our toes into homeschooling. Last fall, when Michael was three, we bought a simple but fun curriculum called God's Little Explorers, and we had a great time with it! Each week (in a 26 week school year) covered a Bible story and a corresponding letter of the alphabet. So, each week we would read that particular story from the Bible, focus on writing the letter of the week, build or create something  that worked with our weekly material, and we would supplement with books and other activities like science projects. It was inexpensive, well thought-out, and a really wonderful framework for us!

 X is for x-ray / G is for garden / B is for boat

I is for insect / Mikey's alphabet (I love this!) / nature scavenger hunt

hard at work in our classroom / Z is for zoo / T is for tent

This year we have taken things a step farther and joined a co-op with other homeschooling families in our area, and it's been fantastic! We joined a local Classical Conversations homeschool group and I can't say enough about how encouraging, fulfilling, and educational an experience it has been for us. We've found such a Godly, supportive, vibrant community of teachers and friends! Michael, in particular, loves being at school with his teacher and his friends. It has just been the greatest blessing to be with these wonderful people every week. And we're learning so much!!

first day of CC - they were both so excited!!

some of our reading materials

our weekly board with memory work for history, geography, science, 

language arts and latin, and math (skip-counting seen here)

The new material that is presented every week at CC is the jumping off point for the studies for the rest of the week. Throughout the week we review and memorize the memory work (which is fun! even Samuel loves it!), we read about the subjects we are covering, we sometimes watch educational videos to reinforce the material, and we also do some math and language arts that isn't related to the CC curriculum. 

giving his weekly presentation / drawing bats in art class / our model of the Colosseum

Looking at it here, it sounds like more than it really is! On a typical week day we spend about an hour reviewing the CC material and working on math and language arts, usually in the morning right after breakfast. On the days we do projects or extra reading we may spend an extra hour or more on school. We also use lunch time to read and review, and we listen to our "CC songs" (memory work set to music) in the car. And, we use the time before Michael's nap and bedtime to read - something we've always done anyway. So, it's not a huge chunk of time we spend sitting in our school room every day, but rather we're finding ways to use our time more wisely and fit school in wherever we can.

We always say that we are taking the boys' education one step at a time, and that is true. We don't know how long we will homeschool. We never even thought we would do it in the first place! But decision by decision, we arrived at this place and for now it is a wonderful blessing. I'm so thankful to have this time with them and to experience all of this learning together. 

How we eat

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A couple of years ago, Tim made the decision to start eating clean. After lots of careful research, he settled on a slow-carb diet that is similar to a Paleo diet, but does include some unrefined carbs (like legumes). He made this choice completely on his own (heaven knows I was perfectly happy in my rut of eating easy/yummy foods), and I was so happy and so proud of him! On the other hand, it presented some challenges for me as the main food shopper/food preparer and our at-the-time almost-two-year-old. But, we did our best! And after almost three years we have settled into a pretty easy routine of cooking meals that satisfy our dietary needs (and our tastebuds!)

I'm a little embarassed to post this here because I am in no way a food expert or even a very good cook. Also, we have "cheat day" every Saturday (and most of the time Sunday, too), so we're not always a great example! But over all, our diet is so much healthier than before! We're all eating more vegetables, protein, and healthy fats. So, when friends and family ask for tips and examples of how we make this low-carb diet work for the whole family, I often think it would be useful to put it all down in one place where people can see a coherent list of meals, instead of me trying to think of examples off the top of my head - ha! (Also, I keep a written list of meals that work for us (for quick reference when planning meals and writing the grocery list), but if I put them all here I can link to the recipes I use in each meal, and that will make cooking even easier for me!)

Before I get into the individual meals I should explain: while Tim adheres closely to the slow-carb diet, the rest of us do not. So, while we do eat lots of veggies and protein and healthy fats along with Tim, we also eat our share of bread and rice, etc. Tim graciously doesn't mind this, so I am able to just use a simple formula as the base for most meals:

protein + 2 vegetables (we try to eat as many cruciferous and leafy green veggies as possible) + slow carb (like beans)

To that formula, I will also add a starch (rice, bread, pasta, etc.) for me and the kids. We might also have some fruit. This is a loose formula, and we don't always stick to it strictly, but it makes things so simple when I approach every meal this way - first planning a slow-carb meal that will work for Tim, and then embellishing with some carbs for the rest of us, or adding beans or extra vegetables as needed for him. Here are some examples of our favorite meals, with links to recipes where available (slow-carb foods are in bold):

1. Roasted whole chicken, roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots, sliced tomatoes, baguette, cheese
2. Meatballs (much better recipe here for cheat days), pasta, sauce, spinach salad, melon
3. Grilled steak, grilled veggies, baked potato, melon
4. BLT salad (the kids like to eat the components separately with dressing for dip)
5. Hamburgers, fries, carrot slices (Tim makes a salad with greens, tomatoes, avocado, hamburger, etc.)
6. Grilled fajitas, beans, guacamole, tortillas and chips
7. Roasted pork tenderloin (and another version I like), roasted cauliflower, steamed green beans
8. Meat and vegetable stir-fry, rice
9. Baked chicken, mac and cheese, steamed broccoli, berries
10. Niçoise salad, baguette
11. Grilled salmon, grilled asparagus, roasted cauliflower, berries