Bumbling Bygones

 

Wednesday was not one of our better adventure days. I had taken us all the way across town to the home of Balzac. I chose to go there because online it was listed as being one of the free museums in Paris. However, when we got there, I found out that it was not free. So, even though it was not crazy expensive, I decided not to go inside. Afterall, I didn’t know anything about Balzac and as long as I am paying money to get in, there are other museums I would rather chase my kids around. The only problem was that we were now on the other side of Paris with no plan, it was freezing colds and it was pouring rain! I quickly looked at the map and told Gideon that we could walk down to the nearby French Statue of Liberty. We had the big rain cover/tent thing over the umbrella, so at least the boys were dry… I told the boys that if we could just make it to the statue of liberty then I would slide some PBJ’s into their little rain tent. Well, we made it to the Statue of Liberty standing boldly in the middle of the Seine. She was lovely and sparked an interesting discussion with Gideon about the American Statue of Liberty and the fact that she was a gift from France. He followed this by asking if Germany had one, when I told him I didn't think so, he responded, "Why? Don't they care about freedom?!" 

Anyway... our powwow by the river didn't last long. It was frigid cold, Pierce was attempting to take an early nap (which I didn’t want) and Gideon began crying because of the cold. So, instead of standing out by the river we booked it into a nearby mall and ate PBJ’s while the boys ran around and warmed up. On the way home I let Gideon choose what he would like to do after quiet time and he said we should try and make pretzels. So, after quiet time we all braved the rain again and walked up the street to the store to get some yeast. Pierce walked the whole way all by himself in his little rain boots. He was so proud.

Well, it was the perfect day for pretzel making (all dark and drizzly and cold outside.), but pretzel making certainly did not go perfectly. It turns out it is a little chaotic trying to shape pretzels while boiling others, while cooking the rest of your dinner, while letting your little boys help without letting their fingers get scalded by boiling water. But, in the end we ended up with some delicious pretzels and at least one proud little boy.

On Thursday we woke up to another beautiful dusting of snow. So, after dropping off Gideon at school, Pierce and I went on a little walk in the woods. The dog walkers were out in force and Pierce was entranced by all the doggies. He was also concerned by the lack of “quack quacks” (ducks) on the frozen pond. That is, until we found some of them “ice skating” on the top…. which he thought was delightful! Our walk was just magical: the woods were so quiet, the frosty branches and icy waters eye catching. Unfortunately, the magic bubble burst suddenly when Pierce realized we had pushed it a little too far and he was now overly cold. The result was an earsplitting scream the whole way home, thus bursting the magical bubble for all of our dog walking neighbors as well. 

On Friday we went as a family to the Ludoteque after school. It was so fun to get to show Benjin around and let the boys play to their hearts content. On the way home Benjin and Gideon scootered up to the store to buy a frozen pizza while Pierce and I got the rest of dinner together. We then had pizza and watched the Aristocats… a delightful film to watch while living in Paris!

On Saturday we had a delightful last-minute visitor – Benjin’s brother Jon. He was on Business in Germany and decided to ride the train all the way to Paris to see us. We had so much fun taking him around Paris, but even more fun showing him around Saint Mande. Gideon gave him the “grand tour” of our apartment. We took him walking/biking in the bois. And showed him our local chateaux. In the evening we had a yummy French style dinner complete with cheese board and patisserie smorgasbord (our favorite was the passionfruit mousse…. Yum!)

Sunday we all went to church and Jon was a good sport and watched the boys while we taught our temple prep class. I am not sure how much I have talked about our class on here, but it is a miracle every week we teach. We have such incredible students, but it is linguistically and logistically challenging to teach in French and Spanish especially when Benjin and I can only really understand each other in English. It ends up being a lot of three way translating. Even then, my French is so basic that I typically am too scared to even try to translate. 

To top it off, this week I was feeling queasy thanks to a stomach bug. However, the ridiculousness of the situation made it a smidge easier to laugh at myself and just do my best without quite as much fear of looking like a dork ---- it was just a fact --- I was going to look like a dork ---- The question was, is God powerful enough to use the tripping and tumbling efforts of a dork 

Well, as expected, our class was far from perfect. There were many moments where people didn’t know what I said, or I didn’t understand them. There were many moments where I relied on others to translate or simplified the translation to the point of being barely recognizable. BUT, there were also moments where we felt the holy spirit. There were moments when the students got excited, nodded their heads, shared their thoughts, etc. I continue to choose to believe that God made something of my bubbling efforts.   

I have to believe this is also true in my mothering (ie: when I drag my kids around in the freezing cold or pouring rain), in my cooking (ie: when I am doing my best to just not let anyone get scalded --- forget what it tastes like), in my entertaining (ie: when I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to buy groceries instead of hanging out with our guests because I haven't thought farther ahead.) and certainly in my gospel teaching and French speaking. I am grateful that time and God's grace typically do wonders at making things seem much more graceful than they initially felt. 

Here is to another week of blessed bumblings! 

Love, La Famille Facer