France 2014 : 3 Days in Paris

I had originally planned a fun and simple post about our trip to Paris during the summer of 2014.  However, in light of what has happened there in the past few days, I feel I must begin this post a little differently then I first planned.

It was difficult to explain to our 3  children, who are 10, 8 and 6, about the travesties that took place in the "City of Light" this past week.

During the summer, we had taken them on their first European vacation where we spent a few days exploring Paris before we journeyed out to our rental home in Normandy. 

They remember Paris as clean and safe and filled with beautiful buildings and happy, joyful people. The news of the shootings at Charlie Hebedo was shocking to them. 

Of course, we explained things like this rarely happened in "civilized" cities like Paris.

But lately, it HAS happened a lot.

  Even in Canada.

We used to be able to say, "Don't worry kids.  It never happens in Canada." 

But it did, back in November. 

Rosie DiManno, a journalist for the Toronto Star said it best:

"Will it be repeated? Probably, in some manifestation, at some future juncture. As these attacks were preceded by strikes three months ago at a war memorial in Ottawa, a month ago at a chocolate café in Sydney, a fortnight ago at a school in Peshawar. As in London, as in Madrid, as in Bali, as in New York City and Washington D.C. As in, over and over, Kabul and Baghdad."

Scary.  But true. 

I guess our job as parents is to make sure our children don't live in fear.

And to help them be accepting of all races, religions and creeds so that they can spread love in the world instead of hate. 

My heart goes out to all those who lost their lives in Paris and the surrounding countryside. 

My heart breaks for the Parisian children and parents who may be afraid to walk their city's streets for awhile. 

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Now onto the more pleasant part of this post -- photos from our 3 days in Paris, July 2014. 

Our rental apartment was in the 17th arrondissement near Sacre Coeur.  It was down a lovely cobblestone street and had pretty views out of it's large windows. 

(Our youngest son located these labels on the door frames in the main lobby of the apartment building.  They also perfectly labeled our three children - Afton, Bryn and Camden!)

Once we had settled into our "home," we ventured down to the River Seine to take a river cruise through the centre of the city. 

(Bryn found his favourite lock on one of the bridges across the Seine.  We saw so many "faces" looking back at us as we cruised the river.)

After enjoying an inexpensive and delicious traditional Chinese dinner (where the kids ate duck for the first time!) we went to fulfil one of the kids "Paris Bucket List" items:

*See the Eiffel tower lit up and sparkling in the darkness.*

(The view of the Eiffel Tower from the Chinese restaurant.  A,B & C fulfil a travel wish!)

We slept REALLY well in the apartment our first night ( jetlag will do that!) and then were up early to see another one of the kids' "Paris Bucket List" items:

*See the gargoyles at the church where the Hunchback of Notre Dame lives."

So, off we went!

(So much beauty and history here.  The kids enjoyed imagining about all of the people that have walked the tiled floors here over the centuries.)

(Afton found the stained glass to be the most memorable part for her.  The boys listed "lighting a candle for Poppa in heaven" as their favourite part. )

After touring the church, inside and out, we went on a walk around the cathedral, checking out hidden streets and not-so-hidden patisseries!

(These purple tables were outside a cupcake shop that wasn't open yet (darn!), so instead we "settled" for these super-sized meringues and several flavours of macaron at a nearby bakery.) 

The final event of our 3 day stay in Paris included dinner out in a simple, yet fine little bistro near our apartment.  Some dear friends, whom we had known since our university days, had recently moved to Ireland.  They had also recently celebrated their 15th anniversary so they decided to book a weekend away in Paris.  Of course, we planned their visit to coincide with ours so that we could reconnect and have a wonderful night out in Paris.  

 

Our dinner lasted for 5 hours as we sipped wine, munched on bread, cheese and olives and then ordered delicious main meals and desserts that were to die for!

 

Our waiter, Mario, was a hoot and got in on the "fun" quite often during the evening. 

 

 

Looking back on it now, all four of us list this night out as one of the most amazing of our lives!  In fact, because Kevin and I are in Italy during the summer of 2015, we have already planned to meet our friends for a dinner in Rome!

 

(If you are wondering who was taking care of our kids while we were out- my Mom and my sister were in charge and took the kids up the mountain to see Sacre Coeur and the view of Paris from above!)

 

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I look forward to sharing more photos of our trip to France. After Paris we moved out to our rental home in Normandy and spent two weeks exploring the area and getting a real feel for French culture.

 

So many adventures, so many pictures!!

 

XOXO,

 

Bronwyn

A Wint'ry Pompom Wreath

Now that all of my Christmas décor has come down and been relegated to the storage space in the basement, our home was full of a few gaps that needed to be filled.

 

Even the kids thought the front door looked rather bare after the wreath with the festive berries and big red bow came down!

 

After a quick look around the local craft store, inspiration hit!

Well actually, I found a set of these pom pom makers (which I had been coveting for a couple of months) and knew I needed to buy them right away and get to work using them. 

 

 

I had seen several people on Instagram using these strange looking contraptions.  I had no idea how they worked and it turns out, they are EASY to use!

 

 

 

I created several pom poms in the icy shades of white and pale silvery blue.  I also coached my daughter through the making of several in crazier shades of hot pink and lime green. ( Don't worry - they are not going on the wreath!)

 

 

A little glue gun here, a lacy burlap bow there and my wint'ry wreath was done!

 

 

 

I'll admit that I bought a premade bow.  I was only $10 and I had a half-off coupon so I splurged on pre-made.  It's colour added a bit of warmth to a rather cool-looking wreath. 

 

 

And here it is, hanging on our front door.

 



 

The white wreath itself is actually a Christmas decoration that I found in the 80% off section.  I figured it looked just as much "January/February" as it did "December," so I used it.

 

As you can see from the reflection in the window here, we have snow in my little neck of the woods (near Toronto).  The snow is light and not deep at all.  Easy to handle. 

Now the cold - that is another story!
 We are having record cold temperatures with wind chills that feel like -35 degrees Celcius.

Way too cold to enjoy the snow.  The kids can't play outside and no one wants to leave their cosy beds EVER!


Hoping for the predicted "jump" in temperatures on the weekend.  We're expecting  -12 degrees or so!!



Bringing Me Joy today.....

Back to work for me today after 2 glorious weeks off.  

Here are a few things making my heart sing as I return to my classroom full of munchkins.....

1. This amazing 3D Ravensburger  puzzle of the Eiffel Tower slowly coming together at our kitchen table.  Each family member has spent some time on it and we hope to complete it tonight!

2. Dear old friends visiting all the way from Ireland.  S & N are both university pals that we reconnected with when we ended up buying homes on the same street nearly 15 years ago.  We've raised our kids together until they moved to Europe for S's work.  We miss them terribly but are glad to see them twice a year.  My daughter Afton loved her 48 hours with her bestie, Charlotte.   

3.  My current read - "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters.  I love a good historical novel, and this one is astonishing! Just when I thought I had the story figured out, there was  gigantic twist and I couldn't put it down.  I hear that the BBC has recently made a TV serial of the story.  I can't wait to watch it too!

4.  I bought dearest hubby this cookbook for Christmas.  We have used it constantly since then.  Two favourites - "Curried Fish Pie" and "Winter's Night Chili."  Not quick and easy, but well worth all the time spent infusing flavours and adding layers of ingredients.  

5.  A set of pom-pom makers - my new favourite crafting tool! Actually - the whole family loves it!  My daughter has been making pompoms constantly and my youngest son likes to play with it because it can be transformed into a "spaceship" !

6.  My mom was cleaning out her super-sized freezer and gave me a TON of frozen fruit.  I brought it all home and started making jam.  So far I've done a batch of rhubarb and a batch of peach.  Next up - blackberry!

7. Winter has returned to our part of Canada.  Actually - it's come back with a vengeance!  An ice and snowstorm is expected tonight and we will get at least 5cm of snow a day for the next week. 

The kids love it.  I love it.

  Bring it on!! 

Thanks for visiting!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Please leave a comment - I LOVE  THOSE!!

XOXOX,

Bronwyn 

My Favourite "Makes" from 2014

This past year I tried to make as much time as I could for my own personal creative pursuits. I really do like creating things - for myself, for my home and for others.  I always have several projects on the go at any one time - usually a knitting/crocheting one, a large sewing project and smaller gifts meant to be finished for certain people and dates.  

I have selected a few my favourite ones from this year to show you here. 

(Oooh!! I get totally giddy to see all the colourful bits and pieces I have put together all by myself!!)

 Favourite Sewing Projects 

Clockwise: ~ A hexagon stitching travel case - it held everything I needed to make hexi-flowers while we were on vacation in France. Perfect for day-tripping! 

~My collection of hexi-flowers created on our vacation.  I've decided that I will only work on this project while on vacation so it's put away until our tip to the UK in March.  

~ Union Jack pillow ( with cute polka-dots, of course!)

~ Appliqued Foxy - he became a pillow for my living room.

Favourite Crochet Projects

Left to Right: ~ A baby blanket made with scraps of pastel yarn

~ My Cherry Heart tree skirt

~ A baby blanket made with Simply Crochet's Granny square App.

Projects for Kids

Left to Right: ~ An Eiffel Tower printed skirt for my daughter for our trip overseas

~ A Foxy pencilcase for my son who was starting first grade

~ A vest for a cute little family friend who was turning one!

Patchwork Projects

Left to right: ~ An appliqued circle quilt in shades of blue and red

~ My chevron Christmas quilt ( I promised the kids a new quilt each year, and this is the Xmas 2014 edition!)

Gifts for Danica

(She is our new niece and we ADORE her!)

Left to right: ~ A newborn sized sweater given to her mommy Amy at her baby shower.

~ An afghan I created in pretty pastel shades to celebrate Danica's arrival.  

~ This is the pennant decoration I made using my Cricut machine for Amy's baby shower.  We had an autumn-themed shower back in September.

Painting Projects

I promised myself I would take up a new "craft" during 2014.  So, my daughter and I gave water colour painting a try.  We bought a set of colourful paints, some new brushes and a variety of water colour paper pads.  We painted whenever the mood struck us.  Above are two "paintings" I did during the summer - one of a corner of my garden and the other of a foxglove flower we picked at our vacation home in France.  

Well there we go.  Two blog posts out into cyberspace. So far I have really enjoyed flipping through my  picture files and sharing my thoughts that go with them.  

I have many more posts flying around my head right now. 

I REALLY hope I can keep this up after I return to work in a few days.  It's easy to blog when one is on holidays, but will I have the energy after I head back to my classroom filled with 30 kindergarten children??

  I HOPE!!

Hugs to you and yours,

XOXO

Bronwyn

I'm Back! & Our December in Pictures

Well hello there.  It's been awhile.  I took a long and unexpected break from blogging for over a year and you know what? 

 It feels lovely to be back.

  I've been contemplating returning to this blog for several months now and today, after reading blogposts by several of my favourite bloggers, I felt inspired to give it a go again. 

However, after my year-long hiatus, I feel I am not the blogger  I was before.  Most simply because I am not the same person I was before.  

As I inch closer and closer to my 40th year, my priorities have changed.  Where I put my energy has changed.  How much energy I have  has changed.  

I used to be a blogger that felt she had to post 3 times a week, each time with a new and exciting crafting/baking/decorating blog post.  

Not anymore.  Now you get ME.   As I am, what I am thinking about and what I am doing today.  

I may have just scared a few of my followers off, but what can you do.....

So without further ado....  a blog post about December with my lovely family of five.

 (This one is a little pic-heavy. But I assure you... they are ALL lovely photographs! )

During the busy and festive month of December,  we:

...visited many cafes and enjoyed gourmet hot chocolate, lattes and a variety of delicious baked goods.

At home, we spent a fair bit of time cooking and baking together.  We began the month with homemade gingerbread cutouts, 

..then made 3 batches of caramel corn.  Each batch lasted no more than 2 days!!

Later in the month, we had several friends for dessert and drinks and I  "threw together" a Black Forest Pavlova (recipe here.)

And Camden helped create these gigantic chocolate chip cookies complete with Christmas coloured candies pressed into the top.  

The weather throughout the month was moderate for winter in Canada, so we took advantage with several outings. One such outing was a  visit to the European-style Christmas Market in Toronto where we ate super-sized Bavarian pretzels and took in the gorgeous light displays.  

 We had several days of thick snow in December , but with the "warmer-than-normal" temperatures it never lasted longer than 24 hours.   We got outside and into whiteness as often as we could!

And of course, we feathered our nest for the festive season. The boys wanted their own tree this year so I helped them collect a few "boyish" ornaments (robots,  cars and golden nutcrackers) and they put together this tree in Camden's bedroom. 

Afton had a tree too - hers was pink and silver and covered in twinkly lights. No pics though,  I'm afraid.  

I did my usual "more is more" decor throughout the house with splashes of red, green, blue and pink throughout every room.  

And of course, the centre of our decor was the 8 foot tree that stood in the heart of our home - the kitchen.  We've had the tree here for the last few years because, frankly, it wouldn't fit anywhere else in the house!!  The kids happily sit around it to open their presents on Christmas morning, and its light adds a bit sparkle to mundane tasks like washing the dishes and vacuuming under the table on an everyday basis.  

I love the mix of vintage, homemade and gifted ornaments on our tree.  Every year each little trinket brings back so many sweet memories. 

Looking forward to sharing more of my thoughts and photos with you over the next months.  

We have had so many marvelous adventures in 2014 that I hope to catch you all up on.  And 2015 holds so much promise, too. 

Happy New Year to all of you who have spent a few moments looking over my little part of blogland. 

Much love to you and yours!

XOXO,

Bronwyn 

Bryn's Book of AWESOME - A Brain Tumour Journey

My oldest son is a non-malignant brain tumour survivour.  

The tumour was found and removed all on one day  nearly 3 years ago.  He was 6 at the time.  

Now he is a healthy nearly-nine-year-old.  

I took many pictures throughout Bryn's journey in hopes that one day I would be able to put together a book of memories for him.  Because he was so young, he couldn't really understand the scope of his health issues and I knew, eventually, he would have many questions about what he had been through.

Hopefully this book of "Awesome" will shed some light on his story and help him understand.  

I have worked on it for almost 6 months, journalling the events of his diagnosis, surgery and recovery.

To help tell the story, I have gathered photos and memorabilia.

As well, I have used a line of scrapbook papers from Simple Stories called "Awesome." Perfect, I thought!

I've inserted some excerpts from my journalling to go with these pictures of the finished book.

"Kevin had spoken to the emergency pediatric doctor, and he let Kevin know that Bryn would have an MRI sometime after 4pm.  All we could really do was wait. Both of us were thinking horrible thoughts, but never really spoke of it.  I guess deep down we were preparing for the worst and hoping for the best."

Bryn gets an IV inserted and has his first MRI

"Kevin and I kept our brave faces on as we hugged and kissed our son.  We reminded him we would be RIGHT THERE when he woke up and we would do anything to help him get better after his surgery.  

“ I think I want a purple popsicle, Mommy.  Don’t forget.” 

And with one more kiss on each cheek, they rolled our boy away.

We prayed to God that this wasn’t the last time we would kiss our little boy’s warm little cheek. " 

Bryn is rolled into his 7 hour surgery and we say our "See You Laters"

"Oh Bryn.  You are so brave."

" And your lump - it's gone!"

"Do you hurt?"

"Mommy and Daddy are here."

"My head hurts."

"So does my throat. Can I have some water?"

"Where is my popsicle?"

"I'm really tired.  Sleep."

Bryn post-surgery covered in monitors and tubes

"Kevin left to grab us some breakfast and it hit me - how are we going to get through this?  A nurse named Katrin put her arm around me and asked how I was.  I guess the look on my face gave it all away.  We have this darling boy, straight out of surgery, with weeks of recovery ahead.  But we also have 2 other kids, jobs, a home - how will we ever get through this?  Katrin simply said, "You have to and you will!"  From what she had seen already, she knew that Bryn had a wonderful "team" for parents and anyone could see that this family was going to be all right.  It was at that moment I knew what my job was - to keep strong, keep smiling and press on, no matter how hard things seemed to be.  After all, nothing we were dealing with would ever be as horrible as the possibility of losing our first-born boy."

This is a photo of Bryn's 7-inch incision, stitched up with numerous stitches.  I covered it with love because the sight of it would make many of you quite queasy!

"Bryn's CT scan came back clear. There was no swelling of the meninges. However, the pediatric doctor recommended he stay for several days for strong anti-biotics and further monitoring.  Alright.  Time to get the hospital game face on again.  How many days?  We were told that it would take a few days for the blood testing to be completed so at least til then.  Maybe Monday if the infection passed.  Okay – 4 days over the weekend.  We can do this....."

After a few days at home, Bryn is re-admitted with possible meningitis.  He spends 4 more days in the hospital and the infection turns out to be only an ear infection!

"Within minutes, Dr. Izaza confirmed the diagnosis.  Bryn was blind in his left eye.  The optic nerves were damaged and there was nothing we could do.    Instead her recommendation was simply “protect the other eye!”  Glasses with safety lenses would keep his sighted eye safer from everyday issues.  She let us know that she would send us to another specialist whose expertise was in optic nerves in hopes that he might be able to figure out the cause of Bryn’s vision loss.  We hoped he would be able to give us some idea about possible surgeries or therapies that could help our son.  After all, he had been through enough!!"

Bryn is found to be blind in his left eye as a result of the tumour. We see a slew more specialists to find out whether the loss could be corrected.

Luckily, Bryn's  MRIs have been clear since the removal of his tumour.  We still spend lots of time at his hospital seeing a variety of specialists and Bryn handles all of these necessary tests and assessments wonderfully.  

At the back of the book, I included  three plastic pockets that hold bits and pieces from his hospital stays and events that we attend that are run by the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada.  

When I completed the book this past weekend, my husband asked if it was REALLY finished.

I suppose that Bryn's story could continue.

After all, he will be on "tumour watch" for the rest of his life.

Really, we can't know the future of Bryn's brain, but our hope is that these hospital stays are a thing of the past. 

Hopefully Bryn can look back at this time in his life and know that he can meet and beat any challenge set before him.

He has the strength and courage to get through anything!

He is truly AWESOME!!