Christmas 2021

For this rainy Christmas eve (here in France), I wish each and everyone to experience an abundance of love shared with your families, friends and loved ones. 

A happy home that creates wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. 

Good health so you'll continue experiencing the company of the people dearest to your hearts, spending quality time with each one of them which  I find, in these times, (extremely) essential. 

And may God bless all of us with more happiness, joy and peace. And may He continue to fill our lives with true miracles.

From my family to yours, have a blessed and meaningful CHRISTmas!

May we never forget what is worth remembering.

His love for building things

Even when he was younger, he likes to build things, to create things. He always says that it is a great accomplishment for him if he can see a concrete result of his efforts. That is why it is not hard for me to find to find a gift for him on Christmas day. (Remember we don't give our kids gifts on their birthdays for the reason that I already explained in one of my entries here in this blog).

In finding a gift for him, I just bear in mind that he likes to use his hands to create something beautiful. So his gifts revolves around lego, meccano, construction kit etc...

 Another quality of my son is that he saves money and he spends it rarely. He will just use it to buy things that he really likes or he needs after a long and multiple reflections about it. Will I use it as often as I like, is it necessary for me to buy it, will it make me happy and so on and so forth. Those are some of the questions he asks himself before spending his money. (By the way, he earns money by doing chores at home. He's only 13 so it's impossible for him to work at the moment.)

Yesterday, after months of reflection (as usual) he decided to buy himself a new skateboard. Because his old skateboard is not age appropriate anymore; it's for 8-12 years old. Second, wheels and board are broken. 

Going to the store he saw a kit wherein he can build his own skateboard. But the price is few euros more that the build one. 25 € to 30 € more. Knowing my son, it will be a big dilemma for him. He's thrifty. He doesn't buy on impulse. So after so much calculations, he asked me if he can do more chores at home to earn more. Lucky for him, my daughters don't really like the chores that we ask our son to do. (Like picking up our dog's poop.) So we had an agreement.

So I just want to share the photos of my son making his own skateboard. (He really don't like me taking his photos, so most of it are taken without his consent. Sorry Bixy!)

    

                                        

   

A very different Christmas this year

 0h00 here in Noisiel, France

Christmas this year may differ from the other past years, but God's message remains the same. He blindly loves us that's why He send us His only son.

For this year, may your Christmas be filled with more blessings, joy, love and peace.

I pray that may your heart's be filled with gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ who was born on this day.

Let us be glad, for once, we were in the darkness but through his birth, we were given the grace of light. And will continue to receive His light amidst these trying times.

From our family to yours, we wish you a meaningful and wonderful Christmas.

Sonic Boom

I don't know if some of you actually heard it or heard it on the news. Last Wednesday, the 30th of September (2020) a military aircraft pierced through the sound-barrier that caused a "Sonic Boom," which was heard all over Paris and it's neighboring villages. It was so loud that some people thought that it was another terrorist attack.

Unfortunately, our youngest (9 years old) was left at home by herself due to unavoidable circumstances. She was playing with her phone when she heard it. Too loud, that she accidentally threw her phone, run to her room and hid under her blanket because of fear.

So during dinner time, she was telling all about it. On what was she doing during that time and on how scared she was that, (in her own words) "she saw her life flashes right before her very eyes."

We all laughed when she said those words after all shes only 9. Our eldest made a remark that if your life flashes a second per year then the summary of her life is already over in 9 seconds.

Ah, kids this days, particularly this kid of ours will never ceases to amaze us and make us all laugh with her expressions, her voice, her opinions, her chosen words and how she explains things.

A real source of wonder, laughter and happiness. 

Officially a teenager

Our son turned 13 today on the 28th day of confinement against Covid-19 or also known as Coronavirus.

Officially he's now a teenager. But the celebration that we had didn't change, covid or no-covid, his birthday was celebrated in the simplest way possible. Just like any birthdays of our other two kids.

You might not agree with us but my husband and I decided on this long before we had the three of them (not by choice at first though). They only get a gift on Christmas. None on their birthday.

Why none? Because we want to teach them to see blessings in the (most) simplest form and to find happiness in it and be grateful for it. Be grateful for everything, even the smallest and simplest blessings that life offers them. We taught them that in this world, we need to learn "empathy" for us to remain human. No one is born with equal rights as the next person. How can they empathize with someone else if they never experienced being deprived of something else.

None of our kids looked down upon someone else. None of them brag about anything that they have. They know how to be contented in what they have, they never covet something that they don't have and that they appreciate the smallest  and the simplest form of blessings that they get.  And we are proud that they grew up well.

And our son is the rarest of the rarest. Why the rarest of the rarest? Because he is a living proof that someone his age can teach someone like me, his mom, humility. Just a simple anecdote of our son.

Our soon-to-be 19 year old daughter have a boyfriend, we'll just hide him in the name of Thomas. Haha! He's name is Thomas, he's 20 year old. He is working during weekends while studying during weekdays. Thomas has a car, a Clio Renault. Which is, by the way I look at it, is really old. And if you know me as a mom, you will also know that I only want the best for any of my kids and specially because she's our eldest, for my husband and I, in our eyes, no one is worth of her love.

So I sometimes, jokingly (with intent), criticize her choice of boyfriend. Sometimes to annoy her, I will team up with our youngest to say something "bad" about her boyfriend. One day, I was looking out the window in kitchen when I saw Thomas' car. My son is with me at that time. And voila! Bad thoughts came into my mind at that moment. I bursted out, "Vance, look at his car, it's old!" Thinking that my son will side with me, I was grinning foolishly but then he burst my bubble by saying these, "Mom, and so? Have you ever taught if he bought it with his own money? What's the problem if it is old? He got it because of his own effort. Have you forgotten that the worth of the person is not measured on any of the things he have?" BAM! He pulled me back to the ground. You know what made me cry on that day? It was the way he said it to me. Not screaming. Not angry. Just with a voice filled with love teaching his mom how to be a good person.

This is not the first time he taught me something about life. It's not also the first one. There are many anecdotes of his young life that taught me about humility, kindness, friendship, generosity, love and many more.

As always, I will never get tired of saying this, "I must have done something good in my past to deserve a son like him." God blessed me so well when I had him. Our family will be forever grateful. I will be forever grateful.

Happy birthday Bixy-Lou. I wish that God grants all your heart's desires. I know He's preparing you for a greater purpose. Je t'aime mon amour.

Officially a teenager, still a baby in my eyes yet already a man of God in his heart.

For my husband

18 years ago

Just like that she turned 18.

How time flies... and it flew real fast, that at one single moment I realized that she's no longer a baby.

Happiest birthday to our first. May God hears all your heart's desires and make them all come true.

On a starry, starry night or day

It's May 1 once again. And I'm celebrating "the international labor's day" by not working at all. I rarely do that, for my work requires me to work even on a holiday (and even on week ends at that). But since I went back to school in January, small things like this is very much appreciated. And so I promised to spend it with my family.  Quality time with my loved ones.

Following Van Gogh path

But since it's in the middle of the week, a Wednesday, everything was decided on a last minute basis. (For the next day, we need to go back to work.) So to avoid being tired and everything, we initially planned just to go biking with the kids for an hour or so but for sometime now our youngest really wanted to visit the village where her second favorite artist/painter spent his last breath. Her second favorite painter? None other than Vincent Van Gogh. I don't know if the reason behind it is because it has the same name of his father or because she really loves the work that she did at school following the "starry nights made by Van Gogh."

So after breakfast as soon as we decided to cancel biking at a park near home, we spent few minutes preparing for our family's first "joy ride" for the year 2019, which is rather late. Normally, our first joy ride happens on winter break on the month of February but since there's a lot of changes going on in our lives as a family and in my life personally, we didn't have the chance to do so. So to Auvers-sur-Oise it is.

#myhappinessjustbesideme

Well, a little bit of background to the village of Auvers-sur-Oise. It is a small village once described by Vincent Van Gogh himself to his brother Théo as "seriously beautiful." It's a quiet town located on the northwestern of Paris. Around 50 minutes to an hour ride by car. Although you can also reached it by using public transportation. Using the Transilian U train from gare de Nord and then changing into Transilian H at St. Ouen L'Aumône and going down on the Auvers-sur-Oise train station. It will take about an hour and 10 minutes ride by train.

So what treasure did we discover there? It was as seriously beautiful as Van Gogh has described. Aside from the village itself, one main attraction there was the story behind his death. And of course, the painting he created based on houses, fields, streets that were there during his time and that are still there today. 

The village was quiet even with tourists and hikers going through and fro through out the village. Maybe because it's a holiday or maybe because it is the aura released by the village itself. Everything was lovely to look at.  

There's a tourist information near the train station where you can get a map of the whole village. With suggestions on where to start first or where famous spots can be located. There are also replica's of famous paintings made by Vincent Van Gogh on the exact spot where he got the inspiration for such paintings. 

                                  
And because it is the village where Vincent Van Gogh stayed and since he was the second favorite painter of our youngest, she and his brother had fun finding all those paintings and comparing it to the real ones. 

All in all, we spent our day really well, spent it well together plus the fact that my kids learned something about someone who is written down in history. Although his death is still a debate (suicide or murder or accident) as of this day, he has given humanity beautiful perspective through his paintings. And a lot of artists derives their inspirations from those.

 

Before ending our day, we visited his grave located at the Cemetery found on the road "Chemin des Vallées de Butry." 10 minutes from the train station.  Said a little prayer for his soul and his brother's. And went home. And then I readied myself for I am sure that I'll be facing endless questions about him as soon as we get home. 

My son's 12th birthday

My son's 12th birthday fell on a Thursday, meaning everyone is either at school or at work. His father will be working on the afternoon shift so we don't really have a choice but to celebrate it without him and celebrate it simply by having dinner outside. For as you might not know, I am a horrible cook. So I think my son, and my daughters agree with him, that it would be better if we ate at a restaurant of his choosing. But of course I want it to be special since he is a special boy, so I ask the someone who's working at the restaurant to bring him a cake at the end of our meal as a surprise, but he already knew and was a little bit shy about it (a sign that he's already growing to be a little man). But he thank me for everything in the end. Gave me a hug as always and said that it was the best birthday ever (even though we can't celebrate it with his father). The sweetest little man on earth.

So here's my message to you my love, for one day, I am hoping that you'll be reading this:

When God showered the world with all the good qualities, good humor, good character, superior intelligence, beautiful smile, charm, a warm heart, well roundness, sweetness and tons of positive attitudes, you made sure that you catched them all. God blessed me so well when I had you. That's why I am always grateful to Him. To the best little man, we love so much... "Happy birthday!" #myhappinessjustbesideme.

Caveman Family

Yes, I am a caveman and my family as well.

I think that I was frozen in time. People might call me prehistoric, ancient, traditional or even old.

Why you say so?

Because even in these era of modern technology, I choose to write letters by hand and stamp them and send them by the post.

And even though there's a lot of modern gadgets for kids, I don't get them just for the pleasure of keeping up with the modern time and  being "in" and not an outcast.

No not I. And if not I, my family as well.

Sometimes my kids ask me why. I can only reply "because..."

...because there are lots of things to discover outside of that square or rectangle world that you keep on tapping or pointing your finger to.
...because it's better to smell fresh air and run on the grass than to spend most of your time sitting on a couch like a couch potato or worst, a zombie.
...because it's better to laugh with your sister or brother or your friends as you play along with them rather than laughing out loud by yourself while you watch some cartoons on YouTube.
...because it is better to play pretend with your family that let your mind wonder away while pretending you are what you are watching for the whole day.
...because it is better to play some music on the real piano or real guitar and not just the piano or guitar application on your phone or tablet.
...because it is better to create your own toy or draw or color rather than watch someone doing it for a show.
...because it is better if you are the one dancing than watching someone you don't know dance.
...because it is better if you're the one singing rather than just watch someone sing for you.
...because it is better if you're the one baking and tasting the good food (or not) that you created rather than looked at the food on the screen and don't know how they taste like.
...because ....because ...and because it's for their own good.

It's not that I don't like technology, on contrary, I love it but with limitations. Why would I have these blogs if I don't love it. But it all comes down to limiting it.

I would be a hypocrite if I lie to you and tell you that I don't use these modern instruments called gadgets or technological advancements. I have tablets and smart phone and some or more of those technologies that everyone is having.

But I chose to limit the usage of it. And limit how it will affect my life and the life of my kids.

Of course, my kids can use it from time to time but not every time that they get bored and nothing to do. They are not the solutions to their boredom. On the contrary, they are the cause of kids boredom.

There are lots of books to read at home, papers to cut, to draw on and colored. They are just stuck somewhere they can see. There are lots of bottles, pots, sticks and cans that are just waiting for them to be used and turned into something magnificent.

This early Sunday morning, as they woke up, while my husband is preparing breakfast, our eldest still asleep and I doing my homework, my other two kids contented themselves to reading each other a book. My son read in French and our youngest daughter read in English. Did they missed something out in modern technology? I don't think so.

Well, it's just my opinion. Who am I to tell you that I am right, I am just a caveman anyway.