Only one worry

 

In many ways this was the last week for us to really just enjoy the slow pace of just living in France. After this week we will be in tourist/entertaining/moving mode. So, this week we really enjoyed just having Gideon home and being able to take it slow. I did about a million loads of laundry in our tiny washer and hung them all up around our apartment, we took multiple trips to the grocery store and walked back with heavy bags threatening to cut off blood supply to my hands... all part of the beautiful reality that we live in FRANCE!! Here are a couple of other random snapshots of this week's normal life in France. 

Snapshot 1: We met up with Benjin for a picnic in the park where the boys ate croissants while Benjin and I enjoyed our favorite African wraps!! My mouth is drooling just thinking about the spicy roasted veggie/plantain goodness. In the afternoon we took a trip to the zoo where we got to watch a sloth work it's way across the entire ceiling of the rainforest enclosure. It was incredible. I don't think I have ever seen a sloth actually move and this one was booking it! After the zoo, we got totally soaked in a downpour on the way home, but I kind of enjoyed finally not being the only one not prepared for rain! (French people ALWAYS seem to have a coat/umbrella with them and I am often the only crazy person that is ill-prepared. However, this time no one was ready for the rain and it felt like all of Saint Mande was scurrying home together and all getting totally "trempe." And I kind of loved it).

Snapshot 2: we met up with a friend from Gideon's school and his mom at the Ludotheque. The boys were in heaven dressing up like pirates, competing at magnetic air hockey and playing with "Monsieur Patate." I also, had a great time chatting with the friend's mom. It really felt like a relatively normal play date (apart from it being all in french)!! I sure have missed those!! 

Snapshot 3: With Gideon home, this week has been filled with chemistry projects, legos and "assignments" during quiet time. We got Gideon a little note book and each day I give him some thing to draw or math problems or connect the dots or something to do in his book. I have been surprised by how much he LOVES having little home work assignments to work on. As one of the chemistry projects we made little orbeez-eque balls. The boys thought they were the coolest things ever. So in the evening we had a orbeez bath. Where they swam around surrounded by the homemade balls. It was hilarious.

Snapshot 4: We went for a family Paris walk (from my study abroad book). This time it was on the far side of the Eiffel Tower near the Statue of Liberty. We got some fabulous views of the Eiffel Tower, posed by the "mini" (still pretty big) Statue of Liberty and had a nice walking lesson about Art Nouveau architecture. We loved walking around keeping our eyes peeled for the "signature" of architects carved into the buildings they designed. 

Snapshot 5: Another day I took the boys to Jardin des Plants and we explored the Paleontology museum. We haven't been back to that museum since we first moved here and it was so fun to walk around and think about how much we have changed and experienced since we were there last. We loved seeing all the different animals and just relishing in the magnificent variety of all of God's creations. We then walked over to the Menagerie to continue our awe of the animal world. Here the highlights included watching zoo keepers try to catch a runaway mongoose with nets only to watching the little guy re-escape as soon as the zoo keepers started to leave! It made me amazed that zoo escapes don't happen more than they do. 

Snapshot 6: Thursday night I got to go for one of my last solo nights and I just did a simple walk in the bois. It was delightful to just wander and fun to feel comfortable enough in the bois that I wasn't particularly worried about getting lost as I just meandered down random trails. As I walked around and people-watched older french men smoking on park benches, moms riding their bikes, couples holding hands, or french men and women walking alongside their impeccably trained dogs, I couldn't help but think, "This is France!" This is the France that most tourists never see, but this is real life, everyday France. It may not have the same wow-factor as the Eiffel tower, but to me it still has a beautiful, magical charm. Additionally, I got to have a nice chat with my sister (which, given the time difference, has been more of a rarity since moving to France.)

Snapshot 7: On Saturday we made the trek to Versailles to explore the "Queen's Hamlet." I have been wanting to bring the boys here since we moved to France and it lived up to all my expectations. It was such a perfect place for the boys to explore. They ran down the wooded paths, threw pebbles in the pond, watched the fish, smelled the flowers, said hello to the bunnies, pigs and sheep. It was just delightful to take them to a beautiful, historic place and yet to be able to let them essentially run wild (rather than police them all the time to not let them breathe too hard, let alone touch anything.) 

Snapshot 8: Pierce has gotten really into standing up in his highchair at the end of the meal and shouting, "hoy! hoy! Matey!!" Well, we found this super hilarious until this past week he decided to do the same thing during the middle of a prayer at church. The harder I shushed, the louder he boldly "hoy! hoy-ed." It was hilarious and humiliating at the same time. 

At one point during this week, Gideon was getting frustrated by trying to "parent" Pierce. I responded by saying, "Gideon, thanks for trying to help, but please stop worrying about that. Let me worry about that." To this, Gideon responded, "But mommy, I only have one thing to worry about!" 

At first it was hard for me not to laugh, but, as I have thought about it, I have thought about how often God and I have the same conversation. I start obsessing about lots of things. I worry about how we are going to get all our stuff back to the States or how to best entertain our guests or what to feed people or how little french I have learned or what to wear to my sister's wedding. As God tries to comfort me, I often refuse to be comforted and instead frantically search for yet another thing to worry about. But, in reality I think He just wants me to trust Him to be the parent. Trust Him to take care of things. And this leaves room for me to just enjoy the little snapshots that make life so interesting, unique and grand. 

Loads of pirate love, 

La famille Facer