We have been hinting to the kids that we may possibly move to Paris one day.  At first, they made comments like "but I like Texas", "but they speak Paris and I can't understand them", "but I want to live in California". 

Upon hearing this a month or two ago, I thought to myself; "I need a new strategy".  Now, whenever the kids have a negative comment about something to do with Texas I  counter it with a positive about Paris.  "These mosquitoes are driving me crazy", is countered with "they don't have mosquitoes in Paris",  "are we there yet"  in the car,  gets a quick reply of "won't it be fun to ride the subway every day in Paris"?  

Now, they are very excited about our move to Paris.  They know that it won't be forever and that we are keeping our house.  That seems to help them feel like they have a touchstone.  

When I asked what they would like in an apartment, their number one criteria was that they have a bunk bed.  Hmmmm.  This is becoming quite a challenge.  We may end up buying one once we are over there and moving some furniture around. 

I am having a ball looking at apartments and am going to try and figure out a way to post some pictures.  Some are so very frenchy with the old buildings and balconies.  I am licking the computer screen they look so lovely.  Some apartments are in newer buildings and have more of a loft feel which would be great for the kids.   

Dan and I are traveling to Paris in November to check out the schools and find our apartment.   I am beyond excited to see this all coming to fruition.  

I am exhausted from a fun, full, stressful weekend.  Max had two games and enjoyed every minute of them.  Dan and I had our French class on Saturday as well.  We also had to research a ton of schools, moving expenses, etc. to submit our counter offer to Dan's company. 

Dan and I are just a little tense right now.  Ha.  Sophie came into the living room this weekend where we were trying to "discuss" something about our move and she said "can you two keep it down, I am trying to watch a movie".......okey dokey.  We are trying so hard not to take our stress out on each other but we keep on tripping.  Dan wants everything to go smoothly and for me to never have a tense look on my face which is not realistic.  I love that man to bits and am grateful for his love for me.  He is a gem. 

Today,  I am in the midst of rating my top three schools in Paris for the kids.  I have my top two and they are polar opposites.  One is very nurturing and small and the other is very academic and quite large.  Oh, what to do, what to do.  Pray.   

We need to figure out where the schools are before we start looking for apartments because I want to be close to school.  They will be able to come home for lunch every day.  Is  that the coolest?  They will be in school from 8:45am to noon, home for lunch noon to 1:45, back at school from 1:45 to 4:00 pm.  I think this will work out well or they may not want to go back to school.  Hmmmm.  On  Wednesdays they have morning classes and then can take extra curricular activities like gymnastics, piano, chess, fencing, golf and tennis.  So different from the U.S.   Where is the football???? 

If the kids want to stay at school for lunch, they can.  I checked out the lunch menu.  What an absolute riot!  There were no corn dogs or canned peas on the menu.  Surprise???  I swear, the menu was amazing;  
                            Salade de pummes de terre
                                  (salad with apples)

                        Agneau a' la creme de' herbes verts
                                (lamb with green beans)

                                 Courgettes au basilic
                                   (zucchini with basil)

                                            tartare
                                           (steak)

                                          fruit frais
                                        (fresh fruit)

 I wonder if I can have lunch at school too?

We had a ball (no pun intended) at Maxwells first t-ball game.  He did great and had a blast!  There are no outs and no one really wins.  It is strictly to learn the game and fun.  They did.

One little boy was told to "run through" first base and he ended up at the fence.  He ran right through first base until he couldn't run anymore.  Hilarious.  Max didn't quite know  what to do with his bat on his first hit so he ran with it.  One little boy captured a ground ball and all the coaches and Dad's were yelling at him all at once "throw it to first", "throw it home", etc.  He finally just handed it to his teammate and threw his hands in the air.  

Enjoy these pictures......
 

We have our contract in hand.  It looks like the beginning of January will be our arrival into Paris.  That is as long as we don't have any trouble with our visa's.  Wow.  I am a little shaky at the moment. 

There are a few things we will need to negotiate and I guess we will be playing "ping pong" back and forth for a couple of weeks until all parties are satisfied.

Dan and I will be flying to Paris on November 13th to look for an apartment and schools and tour the Sagem facility.   This all feels very surreal to me right now.   Just wanted to keep you "in the know". 

Today was Maxwell's first T-ball practice.  We found out last week that his team name is "Riverdogs".  Perfect for Max since he has been a huge fan of dogs for years.  He was counting the days until his first practice.

His practices are on Wednesdays which just so happens to be Sophie's gymnastics.  Wednesdays will be our busy day.  The kids got off the school bus this afternoon and were greeted by Otis and my neighbor Gail and her dog Lily.  As the kids were exiting the bus, Gail and I weren't paying attention to the dogs until we saw all of the kids faces plastered to the windows and Max jumping off the bus saying "Oh Mommy, look at Otis, he is trying to "ride" on the back of Lily".  Whoops.   Gail and I could not stop laughing.  Our dog Otis, God love him, is just......Otis.  I remember when Gail was trying to figure out what dog they were going to get for the family;  I told her "oh, you will get some sweet little designer dog and we are going to get some mutt who licks himself".  This could not be more true.


After gymnastics and a little drama (I was on time picking up Sophie but her class let out 5 minutes prior and the girl thought I was never coming to get her).  I felt terrible and kept on apologizing until finally she said "Mom, it's ok, you really need to get over it".  Love her.  

Dan met us at the baseball field surprising  Max.  Could his day get any better?  He loved  meeting "Coach Finley" and his team.  Can I just say "Max rocks"!  He was having so much fun and I could not get enough of watching him.  His tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he was at bat, his little wave to me when he saw me, a thumbs up sometimes, playing catch with Dan.  He has a game on Saturday and Sunday.  Should be interesting since a lot of the boys don't know much about the game.  

The coach and the parents could not have been sweeter.  So encouraging and supporitive.  I tell you, I am going to miss this big ol' state of Texas.  The people are the nicest you will ever want to meet.  The sunsets are pretty amazing too.  It was gorgeous tonight.  It turned the baseball field a kelly green.

Enjoy the pictures and I will post some new ones on Saturday with their uniforms.  How cute will that be?  

 Well, like everything with your kids; "they get it when they get it".   Whether it's walking, potty training, reading or riding their bike.  We tried teaching Max and Sophie to ride their bikes without training wheels late Spring.  They both struggled time and time again.  On Sunday, Sophie was ready for the challenge once again and she took to it like a duck to water.  We practiced on the grass in our backyard first and then the back patio. 

The look on her face was priceless.  Pure amazement and excitement.  Her first ride without Daddy holding on to any part of her bike from beginning to end put the biggest smile on her face.  She immediately proceeded to get off of her bike and with absolute passion wrap both arms around the handlebars saying "oh, I love you so much bike". 

At this point Max has had just about enough of sister learning everything before big brother.  He is soooo over her.  Dan told him "Max, you were the first born, you will always have that".  He wears that badge with pride. 

I was in the backyard this morning having my second cup of coffee watching the kids swim.   I said quietly to myself  "I will miss this pool while in Paris".  We live in our pool from Spring through Summer and into Fall.  I love it because it brings back great memories of my childhood and our pool.  We always had friends and family over swimming.  I lived in my swimsuit, even slept in it at night.  Mom didn't worry about baths in the summer because we were swimming.  Loved that one. 

Funny thing is as soon as I thought this, Dan looked at me and said the same thing.  He also said that he is really getting excited about learning the French culture.  This put a fire in me and now I am ready to get this "train moving."  Let's just get a firm date and move forward.  I am tired of this hurry up and wait.  But alas, it out of my hands and I sit and wait.

This afternoon I cleaned out my closet.  I love purging all my old things that I no longer wear.  It is very easy for me to do this and I rarely have much regret.  I definately like things.........alot........but I am cool with letting them go also.  After my closet, I tackled my dresser and my nightstand.  I found an old journal in my nightstand and what a treasure it turned out to be.  I opened it up and started reading and stumbled on a number of entries about  my struggle with infertility.  My deep desire for a child.  My struggle with focusing so much of my attention on this desire and wanting to channel it into desiring Christ.  I have entries about invitro-fertilization, etc.  The entire process. 

Wow, it brought me back to "those feelings".  It is so hard when you want a child so desperately but for whatever reason, are unable to conceive.  There are so many emotions going on  inside; anger, sadness, loneliness, etc. 

I was comforted while reading about this part of my life because God knew.  He knew it all.  He gave me great comfort in the midst of that journey but He knew we would be blessed.  Thank you Lord for that period in my life.  It drew me closer to you and closer to Dan.  Thank you for the opportunity to lean into You and trust in You (not always but it was always my goal).  Thank you for answering my prayer. 

I wonder if someone reading this blog today might be struggling to have a child.  I want you to know that God can be your shelter through the storm you are in right now.  I don't know what plans He may have for you but I encourage you to cry out to Him.  He truly knows what you are going through and He can give you the wisdom to know what steps you are to take.  He is that soft place to land at the end of the day when you feel that no one understands what you are going through. 

I stayed home from French Class this afternoon since I was up all last night with some......ahem.......tummy trouble.  I have been puttering around the house all day because I don't feel awful, I just need to be close to "my" bathroom.  Enough said.   I can take a make up class on Thursday so I won't fall behind.

Exciting news last night; Sophie lost her tooth.  This is big news in the Johnson family with my two very exciteable children.  (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree).   She didn't so much as lose it as her mother knocked it out.......again.  This was the second time I have done this.  Both times, we were in bed and she jumped when I went to hug her and "bam", it came out.    They know the drill now so they were all about "ok, let's write her a note",  "me too", "I want to write her a note", "can I ask for earrings".  We got them down for the night and were jarred awake at 6am by two kids barreling through the house, fairy dust (glitter) twinkling on their faces, "she came, she came"!  Max even got a special note telling him that the tooth fairy looked in his mouth last night and she is certain he will be loosing his teeth soon.  (Dan's idea).  You should have seen the look on his face.  He kind of cocked his head like a golden retriever.  Huh. 

I also wanted to share with ya'll the best pumpkin bread I have made in a long time.  Sophie loves anything pumpkin and it is so good for her and Max, I try and bake and cook with it as much as possible.  I am always trying new recipes for pumpkin bread and never totally sold.  Not today, I found a great recipe in a book I just finished.  It is a memoir about an Italian gal in her 40's and her many relationships with men.  The girl can cook.  I'm not so sure about her expertise in other areas of her life but I have tried a few of her recipes and they are fabulous.  I wanted to include her pumpkin bread which I "tweaked" a bit and have renamed "Pumpkiny Bread" after Sophie took her first bite and said "Oh Mom, this is so good, it's so pumpkiny".  Max loves anything and is always happy with what I put in front of him.....oh his lucky wife.

Pumpkiny Bread

1/2 C. butter (softened)
1 1/2 C. sugar (I know, it's a lot of sugar)
2 large eggs
1 C. canned pumpkin
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 C. walnuts, chopped (if you like, Sophie is a purist and doesn't like "little thingys" in her quick bread)
toss some flax seeds in if you wish (maybe 1 or 2 TBSP)
toss some wheat germ if you wish (maybe 1 or 2 TBSP, I am always trying to sneak some good stuff into their food)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray Pam into a 9-in loaf pan.  Beat butter and sugar with mixer until blended, add eggs and pumpkin.  Sift flour, baking soda and spices, add to pumpkin mixture.  Toss in flax seeds and wheat germ and walnuts.  Mix it all together, and pour batter into your pan.

Cook for 1 hour 10 minutes but check after 1 hour.  Make sure your tester comes out clean after poking it into the middle of your loaf.

Enjoy!  Great time of year for it! 

I love music, all kinds and it truly moves me.  I can listen to beautiful Christian music all the way to rap music (thanks to my spin classes.....they are perfect for simulating climbing up a hill on your bike). 

Anyway, this morning as I was getting ready for my day (feeling fine), I had my ipod cranked up to some of my favorite Christian artists.  I was singing along when a song by "Casting Crowns" came on entitled "East to West".  This is an awesome song when you need to cry out to God for help to pull you back into His firm grip.  All of a sudden I heard them sing "in the arms of Your mercy I find rest, cause you know just how far the east is from the west" and I started bawling.  Seriously, the "ugly cry".  My fear of missing my Mom and Dad (terribly) while living abroad came bubbling up (seeing that they live on the "West" coast and I will be essentially "East" of them).  It's like it smacked me right in the face and I felt like a child all over again.  What was happening to me for goodness sakes?  I am not a child, I am almost 40 years old.  Come on Gina, deal.  God was nudging me to just deal with it and feel it.  It was ok.  Then as quick as this feeling surged through me the lyrics "I can't live by what I FEEL, but by the TRUTH your Word reveals, I'm not holding on to You, but Your holding on to me".  Oh, God is so good at giving me just what I need and those words were crucial for me in the middle of my meltdown. 

In the midst of uncertainty, I will be reminded that I am not in control and that  Christ has me in His tight grip, He will not let me go, He will be my comforter.  I will push through these "feelings" because they are so fickle. 

I am sure this will be one of many uncertainties during this move.  I find it so interesting how half of the time, I am so unaware of what lies beneath the surface.  I thought I was fine.......I am now!