ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING

One life does repeat itself, as we have landed ourselves in the most romantic, historic city in the world, PARIS FRANCE. I am truly drawn to the beauty and history of this city. At the present moment we surround ourselves with new promise, a new beginning, and years of watching, learning and tasting. What do I mean by these three wonderful things that so many take for granted?

To sit at a Cafe anywhere in Paris and watch the hustle and bustle of the many tourists ( at the moment myself included) and to take in all the sights and sounds and awe of them. The expressions on their faces as they walk up the Champs Elysees and see the Arc de Triumphe is priceless. But for a minute if you don't sit back and watch and listen carefully you miss so very much. I have now spent the last 2 1/2 months living in the 8th arrondissement right off the Champs Elysees. With the BIGGEST Louis Vuitton store at my doorstep and my choice of any little bistro chair to sit down in. Each morning I am able to wake up in our little apartment with our Tilly in Tow and venture out among the chaos. To watch, learn and taste.

At this point I am able to watch and listen to the culture. To hear the language of French, which by the way sounds like the most romantic language of the world to me. I will live as a tourist and explore all the tourists historic sites that one should see and educate myself on the time and history of when these beautiful places came to be. At some point I will no longer be the tourist and then I will just wander and find all the nice little niches of each neighborhood. When company arrives, I will then live a day visiting the sites once again and be a tourist for that day. How exciting is that??

Spring time in Paris is truly a real spring. The flowers are just gorgeous!! The air is fresh and crisp and you can see all the white linen cotton pants coming out on the French women. I love to watch their fashion evolve and change.

Now since I have arrived the smell and crispness of the French pouring their wine into a clear wine glass in the middle of the day has so intrigued me. I have arrived in France just about 15 weeks pregnant or so......... AND never thought I would be having the BIGGEST wine craving ever in my life. I really do not even drink when not pregnant! I will enjoy a glass of wine, and I do love to drink a glass with dinner. BUT in America, never in the middle of the day or work day. Here in France, there is nothing like a 2 hour lunch filled with wine and good food everyday! So I crave, crave, crave this white and red wine right now and everyone is pouring, tasting and sipping all afternoon this delicious fresh wine! UGH! I promise to make up for the lost of the taste right now in the Fall time!!

For now I will post some pictures of when my older children arrived and leave you with a little taste of Paris..........

PARIS FRANCE MARCH/APRIL 2009

IT has been several months since I've blogged. There is so much to write and many changes taking place so quickly!! I am going to leave a quick post here because as soon as we get settled I am going to write about our departure from the USA and from our short posting in England. We are starting a new adventure for the next 3 years in PARIS FRANCE!! It's all a really exciting time. I need to get my thoughts together about this exciting city!

THE MAGIC BEGINS.....

THERE IS TRULY SOMETHING VERY MAGICAL WHEN WATCHING YOUR 2 YEAR OLD EYES FOR THE FIRST TIME AS THE DISNEY PARADE TAKES IT'S JOURNEY THROUGH MAIN STREET AT MAGIC KINGDOM!! The sure delight on her delicate small little face just makes my heart full!!
We were blessed to take our kids to Disney for just 1 day! Now I know most of you would say ONE DAY are you crazy! BUT.... sometimes you can get more in that one day then you can in 21 days straight!! Yes, I do know this! I've never had the opportunity to stay at Disney for a week OR two weeks, but the one day we were able to take the drive with our children and experience as much as we could was VERY MAGICAL and enlightening for us! We truly enjoyed it. AND the ride from our house was so quick WE could barely believe that we were Florida residents now and able to do this! VERY NICE INDEED with lots of perks! :)
The park was VERY accommodating for our precious little one Anna Claire. We signed into guest services and they gave her a pass ( our whole family) a pass for her disability AND this really really helped us get through long lines, and we were treated very kindly by all of the staff. It certainly helped for Anna to have a good day -- I believe she would of been truly exhausted since having her Open Heart Surgery and would not of enjoyed the few rides that she was able to go on like she did!! THANK YOU MAGIC KINGDOM AND THANK YOU DISNEY for recognizing child with special needs!! All parents with children with special needs should do this and have a great experience at Disney!!

It is still sunny and warm here in Florida. I know over the next few days we are finally going to get some showers BUT right now it's very nice!!

We are blessed and grateful and we wish everyone a Happy 2009!!

HAPPY 2009 TO ALL!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy 2009. We are in the United States of America for the holidays at our house in Florida. I am loving every minute of it so much! It is warm, sunny and very happy here. Everyday since we arrived has been this way. I am blessed and grateful to have celebrated the holidays with all my children under one roof and my parents as well. It has been great. Now it is the New Year and today Andrew has had to fly back to London to work for the month of January & February. I have stayed behind here at the house with Anna Claire until we are ready to make our move now to PARIS FRANCE!! YES, the Tall Man has accepted the job in Paris and we are waiting for them to get us all set up!! There was no reason for me to get back to England and sit there in that house for 5 weeks, I would rather be here in Sunny Florida, walking the beaches, and getting things straightened out in the house.

We are greatly looking forward to our adventure of moving to Paris France for 3 years!! I can't wait for Anna Claire to learn the language and since she is just 2 years old, these will be very important years for her and of course all of us!! I will be learning the French language as well. Since the Tall Man is the only one that will be in the house speaking French it will be quite interesting.

My blogging this spring will be about our adventures of an expat family moving to France, getting settled and finding our way around. I will be writing about my ups & downs and finding my way through a beautiful city!! I am not quite sure yet if we will take a flat apartment right in the city OR if we settled into a home in the countryside outside of Paris!!

If there is anyone out there that has some experience getting to France with their kids, being an expat I would love to hear from you. I usually spend a great deal of time on the computer, learning and gaining any knowledge that I can find.

For now, I am very blessed and grateful for our New Year of 2009, and I am so looking forward to our newest journey that we are about to embark on. Join us for some fun reading and I am sure lots of laughs.