Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Christmas 2011
Cute Marianna with our bouche de Noel.
And the deeeeeeeliciousness of our Christmas meal:
Salmon over baguette and cheese, Cheesy potatoes, garlic green beans.
The gorgeous lake in Chambery and the mom and friend who had us over.
Skyping in grandma and grandpa Gregory for some present opening fun:
Christmas morning stocking excitement:
The family that had us over for Christmas (or us plus the mom and her son:)
And the deeeeeeeliciousness of our Christmas meal:
Salmon over baguette and cheese, Cheesy potatoes, garlic green beans. 
The gorgeous lake in Chambery and the mom and friend who had us over. 
Skyping in grandma and grandpa Gregory for some present opening fun:
Christmas morning stocking excitement:
The family that had us over for Christmas (or us plus the mom and her son:)
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Menu Plan
Been awhile since I made a menu plan! I've really struggled to figure out the best way to eat/shop/budget since here (in France). I've actually been menu-planning still for the most part, but haven't been posting it here. To make it even more complicated I am going grain/sugar free until the end of January (then to re-evaluate at that point). This is the first time I've significantly changed my diet that hasn't been for weight loss or pregnancy related. I've been struggling with a number of health issues that may or may not be related and thus far medical tests have been really really expensive and have yielded absolutely no answers. I am thinking it is related to my thyroid and/or something to do with adrenal fatigue. and have been reading some about how diet and lifestyle can really affect those.
So...I decided it really couldn't hurt (and really don't know what else to try at this point!) to try some drastic dietary changes.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Today is my second day of no caffeine, no sugar, and no grains. Yesterday I had MAJOR caffeine withdrawal headaches, but today has been much better. I need to work on some good breakfast options because although I love eggs...I like some variety too. Yesterday was also great timing in that our "family" Christmas present arrived: a brand new crockpot (from amazon.fr). This will make things a lot easier when I start school (and yes, we decided finally that I would start in January rather than Daniel). So I have some delicious lentil soup in the crockpot right now!
Here is our menu plan, or at least what I have so far:
Thursday (tonight): Lentil ham soup (crockpot):
Friday: Cheeseburgers and Fries, cooked carrots (I'll just skip the buns)
Saturday: Ratatouille
Sunday: Stuffed Peppers in the crockpot (stuffed with onions, ground meat, tomatoes and topped with cheese
What's on your menu this week? Any good grain free recipes for me to try (especially breakfasts or snacks...I'm hungry!;)
So...I decided it really couldn't hurt (and really don't know what else to try at this point!) to try some drastic dietary changes.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Today is my second day of no caffeine, no sugar, and no grains. Yesterday I had MAJOR caffeine withdrawal headaches, but today has been much better. I need to work on some good breakfast options because although I love eggs...I like some variety too. Yesterday was also great timing in that our "family" Christmas present arrived: a brand new crockpot (from amazon.fr). This will make things a lot easier when I start school (and yes, we decided finally that I would start in January rather than Daniel). So I have some delicious lentil soup in the crockpot right now!
Here is our menu plan, or at least what I have so far:
Thursday (tonight): Lentil ham soup (crockpot):
Friday: Cheeseburgers and Fries, cooked carrots (I'll just skip the buns)
Saturday: Ratatouille
Sunday: Stuffed Peppers in the crockpot (stuffed with onions, ground meat, tomatoes and topped with cheese
What's on your menu this week? Any good grain free recipes for me to try (especially breakfasts or snacks...I'm hungry!;)
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Around the house
Too tired to post all the Christmas pictures tonight but wanted to get a few up for ya'll.
Louis is enthusiastic about getting in his 5 a day fruits and legumes (as they say here in France!)
A lot of the basic fruits and veggies are really reasonably priced here which is nice. Most things are NOT, so it is great that at least something healthy is affordable! We eat a huge cucumber, 4-5 carrots, 5+oranges, several bananas daily for snacks in addition to our veggies with meals. Yum!
Cute kids in the tub:
Daddy love. Here I was trying to get a video of Louis laughing at sis brushing her teeth, but it didn't work.
Louis is enthusiastic about getting in his 5 a day fruits and legumes (as they say here in France!)
A lot of the basic fruits and veggies are really reasonably priced here which is nice. Most things are NOT, so it is great that at least something healthy is affordable! We eat a huge cucumber, 4-5 carrots, 5+oranges, several bananas daily for snacks in addition to our veggies with meals. Yum!
Cute kids in the tub:
Daddy love. Here I was trying to get a video of Louis laughing at sis brushing her teeth, but it didn't work.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Post-Chrismtas catch-up
We had a really nice Christmas and *almost* felt like we were with family since we were able to skype with family some throughout the weekend. We were blessed to have received a ton of toys, books and a few clothes even for the kiddos for free before Christmas so the kids were actually overwhelmed with things to open on the big day but we barely spent any money. We anticipate needing a number of things for the kiddos clothes-wise in the upcoming months so the money we don't tuck away into their savings will go to that (plus any school related expenses Marianna might have).
We also spent the entire day on Christmas day with a French family from our church here after the service. We enjoyed multiple courses of delicious food (first was a variety of breads with pate, salmon, and little meat/prune things on toothpicks with olives and nuts in dishes on the side, next were noodles that were like homemade, turkey in a delicious wine/truffle/broccoli sauce with bread, and then we enjoyed salad with a cheese platter. We then went on a walk with most of the family to the lakeside park. SO beautiful! We can't wait to take our families there when they visit. Really breathtaking. It was super cold though and the girls froze a little:). Then after our "digestion walk" we came back to the house for the bouche de noel log (a chocolate cake) that was A-MAZ-ING! and really strong coffee in tiny cups. After that the girls were gifted with a ton of hand-me-down kids' stuff that the family had been given from some other people (not sure who). Thankfully there were two English speakers (their son who has studied in New Zealand or Australia) and another single lady who spoke great English. We still tried to communicate with the hosts who didn't speak English as much as we could. I told Daniel that would be the way to learn French super fast (living with a French only speaking family for a few months)! We came home around 7:30pm exhausted. It was quite a blessing to be able to do that.
Yesterday we had our "family" Chrismtas and the girls opened their presents from the grandparents and had our special meal for lunch (smoked salmon on fresh bread, special cheese on roasted potatoes, garlic butter green beans and bouche de noel (before we knew we would be having one at the family's house) with bourbon vanilla flavored icecream. It was delicious and fun.
Today we are back to "normal" and figuring out how next week will work with one of us in school plus Marianna going for half days 4 days a week. I rode my bike to school/ the local thrift shop to see if I could find it (with Daniel's careful instructions...he takes good care of me!). It was a cold and long bike ride but I did it! Plus I got my Chrismtas present from Emmaus, the thrift shop...a french outfit! Boots, tapered/skinny type jeans, and a long sweater. I felt very accomplished surviving a hour plus bike ride and finding the school/thrift shop! Good to get out and get some sun/exercise too of course:)
We also spent the entire day on Christmas day with a French family from our church here after the service. We enjoyed multiple courses of delicious food (first was a variety of breads with pate, salmon, and little meat/prune things on toothpicks with olives and nuts in dishes on the side, next were noodles that were like homemade, turkey in a delicious wine/truffle/broccoli sauce with bread, and then we enjoyed salad with a cheese platter. We then went on a walk with most of the family to the lakeside park. SO beautiful! We can't wait to take our families there when they visit. Really breathtaking. It was super cold though and the girls froze a little:). Then after our "digestion walk" we came back to the house for the bouche de noel log (a chocolate cake) that was A-MAZ-ING! and really strong coffee in tiny cups. After that the girls were gifted with a ton of hand-me-down kids' stuff that the family had been given from some other people (not sure who). Thankfully there were two English speakers (their son who has studied in New Zealand or Australia) and another single lady who spoke great English. We still tried to communicate with the hosts who didn't speak English as much as we could. I told Daniel that would be the way to learn French super fast (living with a French only speaking family for a few months)! We came home around 7:30pm exhausted. It was quite a blessing to be able to do that.
Yesterday we had our "family" Chrismtas and the girls opened their presents from the grandparents and had our special meal for lunch (smoked salmon on fresh bread, special cheese on roasted potatoes, garlic butter green beans and bouche de noel (before we knew we would be having one at the family's house) with bourbon vanilla flavored icecream. It was delicious and fun.
Today we are back to "normal" and figuring out how next week will work with one of us in school plus Marianna going for half days 4 days a week. I rode my bike to school/ the local thrift shop to see if I could find it (with Daniel's careful instructions...he takes good care of me!). It was a cold and long bike ride but I did it! Plus I got my Chrismtas present from Emmaus, the thrift shop...a french outfit! Boots, tapered/skinny type jeans, and a long sweater. I felt very accomplished surviving a hour plus bike ride and finding the school/thrift shop! Good to get out and get some sun/exercise too of course:)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
More snow!
We enjoyed the snow while it lasted. I would have loved to take the girls out more, but I've found that the 30 minutes it sometimes takes to get everyone out the door is NOT worth the 15 minutes it takes for one of the three to get too cold, fall in the mud or have to go potty and then we are all back inside! So...we spent more time watching the snow from the inside than actually out in it.
We've been here over a month now (in France) and are learning a lot about life and language. We've had a lot of "firsts" (many embarrassing ones!). Today I rode our shared bike to pick up a few things from the store. Now I appreciate the convenience of having had a car all those years for quick trips! I am sure in a year I will be thinking back to our time here about the convenience of having a store like the one I went to to go to and how convenient that was! It is all perspective, that's for sure. I am learning to be more creative in certain things, especially when I can't make it to the store (or it is overwhelming to try to find what I need/want:). Today it sparked a little creativity in me (which is unusual...I am SO not creative). The results were homemade crayon wedges make from old crayons melted together and little make-up kits for the girls (with q-tips, make-up wipes, chapstick and nail files, all things I had extras of here already). Fun little stocking stuffers and all free! Looking forward to the girls opening their stockings in just a couple days...now I know that it really is fun to be the one watching present opening and not just a kid getting everything!;)
We've been here over a month now (in France) and are learning a lot about life and language. We've had a lot of "firsts" (many embarrassing ones!). Today I rode our shared bike to pick up a few things from the store. Now I appreciate the convenience of having had a car all those years for quick trips! I am sure in a year I will be thinking back to our time here about the convenience of having a store like the one I went to to go to and how convenient that was! It is all perspective, that's for sure. I am learning to be more creative in certain things, especially when I can't make it to the store (or it is overwhelming to try to find what I need/want:). Today it sparked a little creativity in me (which is unusual...I am SO not creative). The results were homemade crayon wedges make from old crayons melted together and little make-up kits for the girls (with q-tips, make-up wipes, chapstick and nail files, all things I had extras of here already). Fun little stocking stuffers and all free! Looking forward to the girls opening their stockings in just a couple days...now I know that it really is fun to be the one watching present opening and not just a kid getting everything!;)
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