Lady at the grocery store: “Are all these kids yours?”
Me: “Yes.”
Lady: “You have your hands full.”
Me: “Yes, of good things.” Continue reading
Are all these kids yours?
Author: everydayparismama
Cover the yellow walls!
Renting a place has never stopped me from painting, wallpapering, adding chair rail, removing an unnecessary radiator, ripping up carpeting and refinishing hardwood floors or even relocating a built in. Continue reading
Organizing- who hasn’t been inspired by Marie?
Watching cute Marie Kondo on Netflix or Youtube organize and get excited about clutter is enough for most of us to start sorting and asking, “Does this spark joy? Do I want to take this into my future?” While I don’t tri-fold my socks, I have modifying a lot of her tips.
Comparison stifles the beauty of our story
Last weekend Dave hung our chandelier from Paris up in our breakfast nook. Seeing it hang there brings me back to our apartment on rue du Rendez-Vous. It hung against a deep turquoise wall and above our lacquered dining table. Out the big balcony windows we could see and hear the busy commèrcante street. We now see palm trees and dog walkers out our Floridian window but there’s still an elegance to the chandelier that I scored as a street find. Continue reading
Traveling with four kids, ages six and under.
We are on the move a fair bit as a family on mission. This summer, we are visiting our ministry partners in the Midwest. The last time we did this, was four years ago and we had a three year old and a one year old. Now, we have four kids: 6, 5 & 3 years old and 5 months old. Here are a few of our best practices as we travel and set up “home” in six different houses. Continue reading
The emotions of moving (again)
I crabbed at my kids all day today, Lexie had a tantrum before she even got on the bus and Chloe asked, “Papa, what doing?” as he taped another box together. We are in the thick of transition, and it isn’t always pretty. Continue reading
Tips on a positive postpartum season
This is the best I’ve felt after having a baby and I want to share a few things that have really helped:
Having a labor coach. I had a wonderful friend who coached me during labor and helped make it a peaceful, redeeming birth. Having a good birth, was a great start to post-partum.
Advice from a lactation consultant. Theo is my fourth baby I’ve nursed and I didn’t think I needed help in the breast feeding department, so I turned the lactation consultant down at the hospital (or I tried to). Continue reading
Birth, advent and being elderly
What did Mary feel as she set out to Bethlehem on a donkey; what was going through her mind? Did she trust Joseph to take the fastest route, be the best labor coach and stick a special encouragement note in her labor bag to read right before the transition stage of labor? If the Bible read more like the popular “Birth Partner” book maybe we’d get an answer or two of this nature but instead we get a deeper glimpse into her heart of what sustained her through that long, difficult journey and unexpected place she gave birth. Continue reading
Stitches, Chick-fil-A, Animal Kingdom and other “firsts” this week
We have been living in Orlando for two months now, yet each week there are still plenty of “firsts” to experience. For some reason, this week seemed to have a lot of them. It started Tuesday by shopping for the first time at a wholesale store (think Costco or Sam’s Club). Is that shocking? I’m 37 years old, have a family of five and never bought a twelve pack of Annie’s mac n cheese? Well I have now.
Hurricane Irma happened
“Oh, so you’re an evacuee…” As those words sunk into my head and soul a lot of things started to make sense. The anxiety, the feeling of being displaced, the poor sleep and the 14.5 hours logged in the car. Uh, that’s why I feel this way. Continue reading
Everyday Paris Mama 