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.

Time flies

Time flies real fast. My kids grew and now they are older. As a matter of fact, our eldest will be 18 this month of June. And what can I say about that? Nothing.

I thought I would just go with the flow, let thing pass and accept the fact that sooner or later we will end up like the ashes where we came from. With or without doing anything with it. But then I realized that my life will just be over without any meaning.

Unlike before, I find happiness in the smallest things in my life. And now, I never really appreciate anything that happens with it. Am I really getting old? And it is not the picture that I had in my head, an old lifeless person. So this year, I promise to do a lot of things that will change me and my family. Join me once again and see what happens...