ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING

One life does repeat itself, as we have landed ourselves in the most romantic, historic city in the world, PARIS FRANCE. I am truly drawn to the beauty and history of this city. At the present moment we surround ourselves with new promise, a new beginning, and years of watching, learning and tasting. What do I mean by these three wonderful things that so many take for granted?

To sit at a Cafe anywhere in Paris and watch the hustle and bustle of the many tourists ( at the moment myself included) and to take in all the sights and sounds and awe of them. The expressions on their faces as they walk up the Champs Elysees and see the Arc de Triumphe is priceless. But for a minute if you don't sit back and watch and listen carefully you miss so very much. I have now spent the last 2 1/2 months living in the 8th arrondissement right off the Champs Elysees. With the BIGGEST Louis Vuitton store at my doorstep and my choice of any little bistro chair to sit down in. Each morning I am able to wake up in our little apartment with our Tilly in Tow and venture out among the chaos. To watch, learn and taste.

At this point I am able to watch and listen to the culture. To hear the language of French, which by the way sounds like the most romantic language of the world to me. I will live as a tourist and explore all the tourists historic sites that one should see and educate myself on the time and history of when these beautiful places came to be. At some point I will no longer be the tourist and then I will just wander and find all the nice little niches of each neighborhood. When company arrives, I will then live a day visiting the sites once again and be a tourist for that day. How exciting is that??

Spring time in Paris is truly a real spring. The flowers are just gorgeous!! The air is fresh and crisp and you can see all the white linen cotton pants coming out on the French women. I love to watch their fashion evolve and change.

Now since I have arrived the smell and crispness of the French pouring their wine into a clear wine glass in the middle of the day has so intrigued me. I have arrived in France just about 15 weeks pregnant or so......... AND never thought I would be having the BIGGEST wine craving ever in my life. I really do not even drink when not pregnant! I will enjoy a glass of wine, and I do love to drink a glass with dinner. BUT in America, never in the middle of the day or work day. Here in France, there is nothing like a 2 hour lunch filled with wine and good food everyday! So I crave, crave, crave this white and red wine right now and everyone is pouring, tasting and sipping all afternoon this delicious fresh wine! UGH! I promise to make up for the lost of the taste right now in the Fall time!!

For now I will post some pictures of when my older children arrived and leave you with a little taste of Paris..........

PARIS FRANCE MARCH/APRIL 2009

IT has been several months since I've blogged. There is so much to write and many changes taking place so quickly!! I am going to leave a quick post here because as soon as we get settled I am going to write about our departure from the USA and from our short posting in England. We are starting a new adventure for the next 3 years in PARIS FRANCE!! It's all a really exciting time. I need to get my thoughts together about this exciting city!

THE MAGIC BEGINS.....

THERE IS TRULY SOMETHING VERY MAGICAL WHEN WATCHING YOUR 2 YEAR OLD EYES FOR THE FIRST TIME AS THE DISNEY PARADE TAKES IT'S JOURNEY THROUGH MAIN STREET AT MAGIC KINGDOM!! The sure delight on her delicate small little face just makes my heart full!!
We were blessed to take our kids to Disney for just 1 day! Now I know most of you would say ONE DAY are you crazy! BUT.... sometimes you can get more in that one day then you can in 21 days straight!! Yes, I do know this! I've never had the opportunity to stay at Disney for a week OR two weeks, but the one day we were able to take the drive with our children and experience as much as we could was VERY MAGICAL and enlightening for us! We truly enjoyed it. AND the ride from our house was so quick WE could barely believe that we were Florida residents now and able to do this! VERY NICE INDEED with lots of perks! :)
The park was VERY accommodating for our precious little one Anna Claire. We signed into guest services and they gave her a pass ( our whole family) a pass for her disability AND this really really helped us get through long lines, and we were treated very kindly by all of the staff. It certainly helped for Anna to have a good day -- I believe she would of been truly exhausted since having her Open Heart Surgery and would not of enjoyed the few rides that she was able to go on like she did!! THANK YOU MAGIC KINGDOM AND THANK YOU DISNEY for recognizing child with special needs!! All parents with children with special needs should do this and have a great experience at Disney!!

It is still sunny and warm here in Florida. I know over the next few days we are finally going to get some showers BUT right now it's very nice!!

We are blessed and grateful and we wish everyone a Happy 2009!!

HAPPY 2009 TO ALL!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy 2009. We are in the United States of America for the holidays at our house in Florida. I am loving every minute of it so much! It is warm, sunny and very happy here. Everyday since we arrived has been this way. I am blessed and grateful to have celebrated the holidays with all my children under one roof and my parents as well. It has been great. Now it is the New Year and today Andrew has had to fly back to London to work for the month of January & February. I have stayed behind here at the house with Anna Claire until we are ready to make our move now to PARIS FRANCE!! YES, the Tall Man has accepted the job in Paris and we are waiting for them to get us all set up!! There was no reason for me to get back to England and sit there in that house for 5 weeks, I would rather be here in Sunny Florida, walking the beaches, and getting things straightened out in the house.

We are greatly looking forward to our adventure of moving to Paris France for 3 years!! I can't wait for Anna Claire to learn the language and since she is just 2 years old, these will be very important years for her and of course all of us!! I will be learning the French language as well. Since the Tall Man is the only one that will be in the house speaking French it will be quite interesting.

My blogging this spring will be about our adventures of an expat family moving to France, getting settled and finding our way around. I will be writing about my ups & downs and finding my way through a beautiful city!! I am not quite sure yet if we will take a flat apartment right in the city OR if we settled into a home in the countryside outside of Paris!!

If there is anyone out there that has some experience getting to France with their kids, being an expat I would love to hear from you. I usually spend a great deal of time on the computer, learning and gaining any knowledge that I can find.

For now, I am very blessed and grateful for our New Year of 2009, and I am so looking forward to our newest journey that we are about to embark on. Join us for some fun reading and I am sure lots of laughs.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

We all celebrate our holiday with a special family tradition, or a heritage tradition. Upon our travels the last few weeks I began to think about this as we entered and exited many cities and countries. Watching all the people and places that we encountered along our journey, it was a delight to watch people enjoy their heritage and where they have come from. Interesting to watch how they celebrate their country. We had the pleasure of visiting Koln Germany over the American Thanksgiving holiday!! It was just beautiful. The traditional German Christmas Market that was in front of the dom was spectacular. They celebrate in a big way. Everywhere you would walk everyone was sipping on a traditional mulled wine in these cute little cups. I regret not trying it but I do not drink and it is something I am not sure would of been good for me. BUT next time I am definitely going to try this with the crowd and I will be sure to get a photo of it all!

The trees were nicely decorated there and all the shops were filled with festive decorations. We traveled to many cities throughout England and Europe the last few weeks. We were down in London for the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving and it was really busy with lots of people shopping ( Recession?? I didn't see or feel one there) . Somehow within the crowd I managed to lose my camera so I am REALLY lost right now with photos and having a hard time getting my thoughts together for my blog because I usually use my photos for inspiration and all the words come to me. London was GREAT, and yes there was another Christmas Market in Hyde Park that I took Anna Claire to. It was a bit of a walk from our hotel but we spent a cold morning there and it was refreshing.

This now brings me back to the USA, that is where I am right now back in the Good Old USA!! I am currently in Buffalo New York, nice and cold and snowy. Visiting many friends & family. It has been a GREAT week, the kids are getting really excited for Christmas. On Sunday, I will fly down to some SUNNY, warm weather at our house in Florida and I REALLY can't wait. I've had enough now with the snow blowing in my face when I clean the car off, and enough sitting in the car waiting for the window to defrost from the freezing rain. All while my nice sunny, warm, fresh house down in Florida awaits me, and my nice warm swimming pool sits and waits for us too!! :) Can't get there fast enough. BUT this brings me back to TRADITION and spending your time with your loved ones, and keeping FAMILY TRADITION when you are miles and miles away from everyone. I managed, I came home, I visited, I gave, I received and above all I upheld the FAMILY TRADITION. We baked, we ate, we celebrated life, we celebrated one another. I had a reunion with a long, lost relationship with a dear cousin and that was the BEST gift of all that I could of received this holiday season. Love to you all........

THANKFUL FOR......

The season is upon us and it is a time that I look back and reflect over all the things, people, places that I am most grateful for. I do this every year at Thanksgiving time, even though I am in England and there isn't an American Thanksgiving here to celebrate, I have this place to write about my most grateful gifts that God has bestowed upon me.

It has been quite a year for us AGAIN! We had a wonderful weekend in the English countryside and I will post some photos of our time here today. First off, I am most grateful for our precious Anna Claire who turned 2 years old on the 31st of October. Yes, Halloween day and she is such a "treat" for us. A true miracle, nothing like it. She is a very special little girl and she gives me strength, faith and hope each day. For what she has been through is an amazing defeat! I can't believe it's been 1 year since her open heart surgery. She is growing and doing very well. We will have more hurdles to jump over, however, we are very good at going above, around, through and beyond anything that comes at us!! So I am most grateful for God being at our side so we can do this and be here for our Anna Claire.

I am most grateful for my husband, who provides for us, cares for us, and takes such "GREAT" care of Anna Claire. He is truly the best father any child could have. He is the most patient man that I've ever met, very loving and protective. A simple, no non-sense man, filled with a great sense of adventure and dreams that you can't even imagine. The best part is he is now able to make all his dreams happen and I am grateful to be able to help him do this. It's important for a man to feel successful, to feel like a GREAT DAD and above all to be the "MAN" in the house. I love having a MAN in my house, he gives us a great sense of direction and if you listen carefully he won't ever steer you wrong. You have to be still..... shhhh.... and listen for a moment. You will truly be awarded.

We are blessed with good health, gorgeous children, that I can't wait to hug & kiss and enjoy our holidays with. Soon we will be back over in the United States of America to bask in the sunshine, hug our kids and play in the sand...... I am simply grateful for all these simple things in life that come our way......the simple things that are already there if you just sit still and take the time to find them and to listen..... nature, people and the sky are the most beautiful things that God has provided!! Love to you all at this special Thanksgiving Season. Take time to sit and think about the things that you are most grateful for.

CHRISTMAS IN FIVE CITIES

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/share_skin?work_id=5053043&type=embed

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS VIDEO IN THE FIVE CITIES THAT WE WERE IN LAST YEAR! We are counting this year and so far we think we are going to be able to match it AGAIN! YEAH! I can't believe it! I never thought I would see the day that we would of been able to celebrate Christmas in five cities ever again! And yes, I will be posting all our happiness while doing so. Have a blessed day!