Let's Eat

We moved into our house at the beginning of August and since then we have been letting the kids eat at their little  table while Jon and I held our plates.  We sold our old table with our house in Houston and our table in Norway was provided furnished.  I found a table that I liked very early on, but it was almost 1000 euros and it wasn't exactly what I wanted.  Even the tables at Ikea were 200 euros or more and I am not buying any more Ikea furniture unless I absolutely have to.  

I started looking at furniture at the French version of craigslist called Le Bon Coin.  The only problem there is that everything is in French and everyone that is selling on there speaks French.  I found this set of chairs and they offered to deliver for a small fee.  I was able to email back and forth with the sellers using google translate.  We were able to work out a deal and I got this great bench, two arm chairs and two regular chairs for 225 euros, delivered and carried inside.  I am planning on recovering and repainting everything, but that will have to be a project for another day.

I kept looking at Le Bon Coin hoping to luck out with another delivery option or a good deal close by.  Then I found a store in St Ouen advertising a table and chairs.  I looked at the store's website and they have 2 pages of inventory listed on their website.  They also advertise free parking and delivery options.  Last Friday I loaded up Garrett and we made the drive to my new favorite store.  I found several pieces that came home with us, but the most important piece was our table.  It is rough looking with some water damage, it is a little uneven, but it has potential.  And it was only 60 Euros.  I was able to fit all of my find in the back of our new car in just two trips so I got to avoid paying delivery fees!  This will be another fun project one day.

This is my current project, 36 weeks with baby Malachi.  I have an appointment today to see how he is doing and when we might expect to see him.  I am almost done with his nursery, I have all the important pieces in place, now I just need to hang all of the fun artwork on the walls.  Hanging the first few pictures is always the hardest part for me.  Thankfully my mom is coming to see us next week and I know she will be able to help me get things settled around the house.  Right now I am happy to have all the furniture that we need for a family meal.  As tired as I have been these last few weeks I have been able to get dinner on the table for everyone and I love that time with the kids around the table.

And that is the Arc de Triomphe in the background.  How fun is that?  We were at an immigration appointment this morning and as we looked down the street and saw this view it was another one of those moments for us.  We know we are lucky to be having these experiences and I can't wait to put pictures like this into Malachi's baby book.  

Shared at The Scoop.

Apple Picking

When we moved into our house the fig tree was bursting with ripe figs and the blackberry bushes were full of juicy berries.  We tried the figs, but never really found a way we liked to eat them.  The blackberries lasted about 2 days before they were picked clean.  Our last fruit of the season was our little apple tree.  We have been fighting with the kids to keep the apples on the tree until they were ready to be picked.  We have tried a few that 'fell' off the tree over the last month and we finally decided it was time.  We had to wait until everyone was home and awake.  This Sunday, after nap time and before a trip to the park, all the kiddos were anxious at there turn to climb the ladder and pick some apples.  Of course I was on hand with my camera to capture this moment.  Daddy was busy holding the ladder and keeping everyone safe.

Here is our harvest, ready to go!

This little guy just cracks me up sometimes.  Ben was really excited, but you can't always tell in pictures.

Addie took the first turn, she was ready.

Ben was up next, he was a little more timid.

Garrett was completely freaked out by the ladder.  

He finally steadied enough to reach for a few apples.

Addie got back up for another turn when Garrett had had enough.

They made quite the team.

Bennett was counting our haul.  He has been learning so much at school and it is so fun to see him using his new skills.

They were so happy to finally get to pick these apples.

I haven't been able to do much fall decorating around the house, but it definitely feels like fall now with our apple harvest.

Now I am ready to start doing some cooking.  I did make one recipe tonight from pinterest.  So yummy!

Shared at The Scoop

10 on 10 September

I am so happy that I remembered to do this today!  I started around 9:30 when Garrett and I were getting ready to go meet up with friends.  Garrett loves to help open the gate, especially when it is just us. 

10:30 While we were out with friends they showed us a very cool pet store.  This fish pond was just part of the fun, the puppies and kittens were pretty cute too.

 12: 00 We got to go to lunch with Luke.  We know Luke from church and my kids all adore him.  He is such a sweet boy and Garrett had so much fun getting to have lunch with him today.  

 2:00  Then it was time for the drive home, guess who fell asleep?

2:30  Then we got home today and this is what our street looked like.  We don't have a dedicated parking spot so this is a problem.  I had to drive around the block twice and then parked around the corner and carried a sleepy Garrett back to the house.

3:40  Not too much later it was time to head to the bus stop.  This is about half way up our walk.  10 minutes of uphill walking every day is quite the work out for this very pregnant momma.

4:00  Hooray, we got Addie and Ben from the bus stop and headed home.  I have to remind myself that the walk uphill is worth it because it affords us this view of the Eiffel Tower.  

5:00  Back at home it was play time, here is my Power Ranger.

6:00  Ben was showing off his star that he got at school for being a good listener.

6:30  We are still working with out a dining room table.  This set up works for now and one of these days I know my patience is going to be rewarded with a really good deal on a cool table.

7:00  Daddy had to work late tonight, and by the time he got home we were all really happy to see him.

34 Weeks

This week I got to go for another ultrasound and see our sweet little man.  The ultrasound tech kept asking me if I had my dates right.  I wasn't sure what the problem was until I realized that the measurements all seemed to be on the big side.  We finally agreed that my dates were correct and that this looks like a large little boy.  Seeing a head measurement in the 90th percentile is not what any expecting mother wants to see.  

Other than being big everything else looks great and I am so excited to get to see this little face in person.  

This morning at church I had one woman ask me very seriously if I was having twins and another that said I must be ready to deliver any day.  I assured them both it was just one big little guy and he still has a few more weeks to bake.  

I did buy a crib at Ikea this week and I got it assembled this afternoon; nesting is in full swing as we continue to settle in to our house.  

First Days

My sweet girl started 1st grade last week.  Addison loves school and she is so excited about starting at her new school, especially since she gets to start on the first day unlike last year.  Her brothers helped us take her and drop her off at school.

I love this sweetie.

Daddy got to come too to help us drop her off.  Everyone was a little sad to leave her behind, but she was so excited it made it easier.

The next day Ben had his first day of school.  He looks so little with this giant backpack on.

I can't believe how big he has gotten.

This little man was super excited about getting to go to school.  

Once we were at the door he got a little apprehensive, but the second he walked through he ran to the playground and didn't look back.  He is having so much fun at school and he comes home with a great big smile on his face singing all the new songs he is learning.  

This picture makes me realize how giant my belly has gotten too!  In the photo I am 32 weeks with baby Malachi.