Weekend Adventure: Part 1 - Geneva

Hey,

How are you doing?

This past weekend we went away on a Church retreat up the in the mountains and ending up stopping by Geneva for the day on Friday. The car ride was beautiful. There is something so majestic about mountains and for some reason they made me think of the ocean. Unfortunately the photos did not turn out as well as I would have liked. There are times when something is too beautiful or amazing or breathtaking that you cannot take a picture of it. You just have to experience it. Sometimes there are not even ways you can accurately describe it.

Geneva has many twists and turns and charming streets and shops. We spent time at the Reformation Museum and the Cathedral that was right next to it. Here are a few pictures from Friday.

Hope you are well.

Best,
bjl

Kids talk "French"

Hey,

How are you doing?

Kids are funny. They ask lots of questions. They have strong likes and dislikes. They like to imitate things... especially adults. Having both parents study French all day, I think it invokes a certain curiosity among the kids and a desire to be on the same boat. The following videos are of Al speaking "French". You will see that she is trying to educate other members of her family and join in the fun. I will occasionally chat with her in "French" which of course, is very amusing. As one heroine put it "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."So I hope the French are very flattered with these imitations!

When you read things like "Communication is 90% non-verbal" sometimes it is hard to think that that could possibly be true. However, I am amazed the amount of potential we have to understand others, even when we do not know the "language".  Music, smiles, waves, and some body language are all universals and a little can go a long way. 

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your Sunday!

Best,

bjl

Friday Fun

Hey, 

How are you doing? These past few weeks, we have made a friday tradition of pizza and a movie. Thanks to my friend Evie in Canada, we have a wonderfully easy recipe for the dough that can be found here. 

This week, E and Ir were able to help me make, and learn how to knead the dough. There is something so calming and refreshing about kneading pizza dough after a long and productive week.

We have enjoyed a couple movies together including the 1950's Zorro, Persuasion, and the Anthony Andrews The Scarlet Pimpernel.

The kids are great with asking many questions concerning the plot line and motives of characters. E, I think it was, was saying that he thought there were many similarities between Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel. Both of them have alter egos that are rather into fashion and books, and both are men of action and justice accomplished by disguise.

What have you been enjoying this weekend? Any good recipes or movies?

Hope you are well!

Cheers,

bjl

Beautiful Day

Hey,

How are you doing? I hope that your day is going well - wherever you may be!

Today is Ascension Day in France. I only learned that after I saw three hot air balloons this morning at 6:20. The sky was crystal clear and the air was fresh and clean. While I was out, there were so many times when I wished that I had my camera. Like when I saw the park path lined with white pollen and the light was coming through the trees to create that story book dappled lighting and the church was in the distance and the sound of the waterfall was so peaceful. 

Behind our house there is an overgrown field with trees on the edges and long weeds of a foot tall throughout. This evening, as the sun was starting to retire, and the backlighting was perfect on the kids playing. They were sitting in the long grass playing hide-and-seek or just making odds and ends with the weeds. You could just see their faces through the grass. Again, right out of a story book. 

Although these photos are not from today, they do accurately portray the beauty in this area. 

Enjoy!

bjl

A great place to just "...feel a prayer..."

Chocolate and Math

Remember those days of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division? The other day the kids were learning some new concepts and the pen and paper approach was just not cutting it. 

There were few Math problems in our household that were not able to be solved without drawing a picture or using some chocolate chips. We tried it and found that it increased interest, promoted interaction, and made for memorable lessons.

I must say though, that using the chocolate for Math was not the entirety of it's purpose. By breaking the bar into chunks to illustrate division ect. we were also preparing it to be baked.

In the afternoon, the younger two have naps and the older two have SSR (Sustained Silent Reading).

 We sometimes bake together or I will throw something together. With the freshly broken chocolate chunks, I made our favorite cookies.

There were a few ingredients that had to be changed, but on a whole I think they turned out reasonably well.

Wish you were here!

Best,

bjl

Park Time

Hello,

How are you doing?

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather here which has allowed us to explore various parks. There is a small little area for the kids the play in about a fifteen minute walk from our abode.

There is a swing set, slide, and little roundabout. Simple, yet enjoyable. The other day, J learned how to go down a slide all by himself. At first with some apprehension, and then with unstoppable eagerness. He is determined to climb the ladder and requires little assistance. 

Because we go at the (approximately) same time each day, we will occasionally see the same kids. On several occasions, the kids have had a chance to play with a little boy. I would guess is he around the age of seven. They all like to pretend that the roundabout is a ship upon which they are traveling. E will dramatically fall off the ship which cause the little boy to express the cutest little laugh. It is interesting to ponder what makes certain things funny to some people and not to others. The more obvious humour appeals to kids, yes, but is that something you grow out of? Or do adults learn to contain their laughter more? Is there a standard of humour? Sorry to divert. Curious. 

A couple days ago, we were leaving for the park, when the French tutor was leaving our place as well. I asked her to teach the kids a phrase they might be able to learn, remember, and use. She gladly did so, and she taught/reminded them to say "au revoir". Well, that day at the park, the little boy was there, and chatting away at the kids. Speaking only English, there was no verbal response to these little conversations, however, as they were leaving, the kids said "au revoir" to him. A curious express was on his face as we left. As if to say "Why wern't you speaking French before?"

Hope you are well!

Best,

bjl

The Kidz

Hey, 

What's up? 

I thought I would write a quick post introducing the kids. Initials will be used for security reasons. 

Ir is the eldest. She is an excited eight year old with lots of questions about favourites. What is your favourite book, colour, dress, place, person, ect.! Trying to figure out what is attractive to kids about favourite questions, I think it might be that forming good questions develops over time and as you mature with interests, your questions are better crafted... just a thought. Ir loves to bake and listen to books. Last week she read through Sarah, Plain and Tall. As for Narnia, she would like to be Lucy. 

E is six years old. He is good at many things and excels very much in school. Spelling and Math being his two primary strengths. E likes reading as well and plows through anything he can get his hands on. Right now he is working on reading 100 books so that he can get a prize of a pocket knife. The other day after our session of sustained silent reading we talked about the stories and E really enjoyed trying to answer some comprehension questions and relating to ideas to biblical concepts. 

Al is three and is the most independant of all of them. Everything is done "all by myself". She is very affectionate with her family and often translates for me what J wants. She is creative and imaginative and left handed. She has an excellent memory and is able to correct me when mine is not up to par. The other day we were reading some french children's books and, as I do not know french, I was making up the story based on the illustrations. Well, when we read the same book the next day she told me I forgot a part (which I had - silly me) and I was amazed that she paid that close attention to detail. 

J is one and keeps you on your toes! He is not as fond of books as the others, but he does like being outside and playing with any toy that is being used by someone else. He has his really cute moments and his more vocalized moments, but I think that is true of almost anyone. J is good reminding people to just go with the flow because you never know what is going to happen next. One moment all five of us are piled on the couch reading a story, the next moment, someone is screaming, one is crying and two are fighting. Life just happens and you enjoy the time you are given. 

Hope you are well.

Best,
bjl

A Sunday Stroll

Dear All,

Happy Mother's Day! I hope your day is going well and that you are able to enjoy going outside for a spell. 

I can hardly believe I have just been here for a week. It is drag-and-fly time, I suppose. The days are long and the weeks are short. Anyway, we had church this morning. It was interesting to note that singing in french seems a lot easier than trying to speak it (maybe because nobody can hear you!). The church has been very friendly. They all seem like a big family together.

For one of the songs we all held hands - which was a first for me, at least in church that is. After the service, which started at 10:15, they cleared out the sanctuary and turned it into a dining hall for lunch. Lunch concluded around 15:45. It was a potluck, which was very well engineered so there was little chaos. 

We had the main meal, then cheese and bread, then dessert and coffee. The food is very good and I have been trying so many different kinds of cheese that I am running out of hands on which to count them. I sat with a girl I met last week who knew English because she worked in London for a year.  

You can imagine how tired you feel after a long service and delightful lunch, so I was able to take a little rest and then decided to head out for a walk. It was not until I was halfway down our street that I noticed dark clouds gathering in the distance. There is something so alive about the wind before a storm - like you want to take it all in. 

I took a few photos to show you what the surroundings are like. There is a beautiful town, a walking path and park near the river, and some quaint houses. Few stores are open on Sunday so that is why there is a deficiency of people in these. There was thunder and a good downpour for the last few minutes of my walk, but, as I am beginning to learn here the weather changes swiftly. Not fifteen minutes after getting soaked, the sun was brightly shining with hardly any clouds in the sky. 

If you would like to listen to a thoughtful song, here is one that I have really enjoyed these past few days. 

Hope you are well!

bjl

Narnia and Friends

Hello All,

What is new with you?

We are pretty well settled here in France. I think that it is going to be a season filled with learning and adventure. During this summer, I am responsible for helping the two older kids with their studies.

One of our last subjects to complete each day is Dictation. Typically, I read a chapter of a book, pick a sentence for them to write down, then we correct spelling and grammatical errors, and sometimes, discuss the themes and meanings of the given sentence.

We have just finished reading aloud The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I am quite intrigued by the fact that every time I read it there are so many things that come alive or make an impression that had not previously. This particular day I had them write down a sentence about Aslan when he was about to die.

"...for now that the first shock was over the shorn face of Aslan looked to her braver, and more beautiful, and more patient than ever." (Lewis, 168)

This sentence led to a good discussion about how people can look several different ways at one time and how it is possible (in most circumstances) to read how people are feeling or what they are like, based on their face. We then tried to play the "Face Game" with several different emotions at one time. I am being educated as to what sorts of games young creative people play these days!

The "Face Game" (for those of you who don't know) is when one person is "it" and they say an emotion, i.e. happy, sad, angry, pouty, ect. and then count to ten and when they look around the room, they are to chose the person who makes the most fitting face for that emotion. I find that you really have to conjure up memories where you felt those emotions in order to execute them fairly well (although there is a good amount of imagination that also is convenient). We found it amusing to try and combine emotions. You should try it sometime!

Anyway, yesterday, we were looking at photos on my iPad and there is one of a very good friend of mine. They all wanted to see it again and give their opinion as to what they thought she was like and not surprisingly, they were fairly accurate (give the picture is a very good depiction of her personality). What do you think? How would describe this type of person?

They said that she looked, fun, adventurous, and the eldest girl said that she wanted to look like her when she grew up!

The kids decided that it would be interesting to try and attach three words to how I looked (at that given time). Oh kids, they are funny sometimes. Apparently my face looked kind, loving, and sad. Who knew? :)

Hope you are well!

best,
bjl

Bonjour!

Hello Friends!

How are you all doing?

I am writing you from my sunny room in Montbeliard, France. We arrived on Sunday after a early morning (taxi pick up at 6:20am) and a four and a half hour train ride. We are staying right next to a church, in fact, the second floor of our apartment is part of the Sunday school and nursery. We were very graciously welcomed by the congregation and were invited to join in with their once a month lunch after service. There were several members who spoke English, but spoken language did not influence the hospitality or attitude that emanated from the group.

My trip started out with a visit to Cambridge to stay with old family friends. I could not have asked for a more loving and welcoming family on the first part of this adventure. Cambridge is beautiful and quite enchanting. I felt like I was living out of a book while I was there. There was one church garden in particular that made me think much of Anne from Anne of Green Gables. It seems as though everyone bikes everywhere, which to me is novel. Pictures and hopefully stories to come.

From Cambridge I traveled to Paris where I met up with the missionary family that I am working with this summer. They have four children ages one to eight. We had a packed week of sight-seeing which included the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Versailles, and several other museums. I think that I am going to learn a lot this summer!

Look forward to hearing from all of you. I think of you all often and wish you were here! Hope you are well.

bjl