Fon-don'ts

For Deleea, lover of cheese. We toasted you and your family as we ate out French cheese! And for her grandma Roberta who calls Deleea just to check up on us! We are doing great Roberta and will be back sitting behind you in church before you know it!
I attempted fondue last night! I actually make fondue at home once every couple of months using cheese from Inola Harps. Lori at the market cut the cheese (hahaha) for us and he used milder cheeses because he knows we Americans are weak when it comes to cheese!
His recipe said to start with olive oil and a garlic clove (just rub it in the oil for flavor then toss aside), then add the main cheeses he chopped (some for flavor, one for elasticity) and to add some dry white wine. He asked what wines we normally drink and I said we don't really drink any wine and I thought Lori would pass out! Curtis bought some cheap cooking wine for us to use which was not good.  After thats all melted and mixed together (you have to  warm it slowly, ugh, and anyone who has ever eaten ny cooking knows I cook everything as fast as humanly possible) Lori gave us a creamy cheese inside a rind and said to only use the cream part. The rind appeared to have mold on it but I think it is supoosed to! I wasn't sure how to get it out of the rind.
I felt like the Pioneer woman taking pictures as I cooked! I of course used my best Julia Childs voice while I made the fondue. I tried to keep the stove on heat level 3 but I went up for 4 for a bit because I am not a patient or cautious person.
It tasted fancy and good but I put the fondue in little bowls for the kids and it turned solid in about 2 seconds! Curtis cut his up with a fork! We ate it with chicken, potatos, brocolli and bread. At $30 for the ingredients, I am too cheap for this to become a regular meal :) I guess I prefer them to laugh at my cooking rather than the usual complaining!

Victor Hugo, Faces Addition

For my friend C'ann, who knows how bratty am I but loves me anyway! I love you right back! We have logged some hours out in the country running mile after mile together and hour after hour watching kids play and Ive enjoyed every minute  (ok not always the running). And for Martha and Esther, who C'ann keeps in the loop! Yep, I even have Amish fans. I'm that famous. Tell Ivan we have a business card and newpaper for him!
I went to the market with the kiddos and Curtis (no school on Wednesdays) mainly because I needed something to do. I can be in the apartment with the kids for about 7 minutes before I lose my mind. Lori put together the cheeses and ingredients to make a fondue (although he told me it is not fondue weather. I guess it is like soup, but I believe it is always soup weather). I will give a full update on the fondue later. I took the kids around to show them some gross out stuff.  Also we noticed the butchers were cutting the heads and feet off the birds when people bought them.
We saw pig snout, what appeared to be leg of deer, baskets of chicken and goose heads (50 cents each- thats quite the deal), rabbits with the guts and faces in tact. We also saw a UPS truck and thought of our friends the Waltons whose dad is a driver! We looked for the driver but didnt see them.
We saw a juggler on the way back. They have a lot of street performers. The juggler was better than the lady just standing there dressed in white we saw the other day. I think I could really out perform that lady and out earn her!

Beautiful View

For Susan and her beautiful daughter Jessica, whom I loved for well over a decade now. If you have eaten at my house anytime in the past 15 years, chances are youve eaten off my beautiful Fiestaware, literally some of the nicest, most beautiful items Ive ever owned, which Susan generously gifted me. I think of her and Jessica everytime I use them and am thankful. This is the view from my balcony and I think its beautiful like Jessica.

Beckett has figured out France

For Aunt Karen and Aunt Laura, who thankfully make my kids' childhoods as fun as they made mine.
Beckett noticed this about France today and remarked over dinner:
"You know, they seem to have good cheese here."

Easter!

I hope everyone is having a great Easter today! Ours has been great. It started off with a text from Cambry of her beautiful solo she sang Thursday (I've asked that she and Hanna keep me in the loop of all their pretty music and was so honored that she did!). So I will dedicate this post to my email suscriber Katie! She, like Cambry and Hanna, has one of the most beautiful singing voices I have ever heard. The first time I heard her I actually teared up. Why she isnt working as a Disney Princess singing voice somewhere I will never know. And this post is for her because twice Ive been to French church and twice they started a good 15 minutes late and people still trickled in after that, and only the mother of 3 young children like Katie and I could truly, truly appreciate a flexible church start time! Katie, I hope you enjoy this post!
French church today was exactly like American church, save the fact that it was entirely in French :) I couldn't help but notice different people doing different roles and then Id think of the American I know who does the same job! I saw the French Hanna singing, the French Cambry who came alive whenever she sang. The French Kendall who stood next to them and kind of moved her mouth. The French Curtis who worked the sound booth and had recruited a high school kid to help. The French pastor Michael and the French John Vick is my friend Florence. They even had a pretty brunette who taught children's sunday school like Amanda.
The there 3 adult baptisms today which was beautiful and moving. They did full immersion using a little pool they'dset up on stage. The one difference is I think the communion juice was wine! A quick google search told me today's sermon title was "God Welcomes Everyone. And You?"
They had a nursery and they both were English-speaking ladies, so my kids went for a bit when they got bored. They sang the French version of "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" and "On Christ Alone." Beckett and I were so excited and sang it in English very loudly!
I also loved seeing a new mother nursing openly with no cover and no one paid it any mind. I love how normal feeding babies is in France.
We have an egg hunt planned for later today and everything is closed today (I guess it is every Sunday) and tomorrow for Easter Monday.
Happy Easter!

Japanese Garden

This post is for my follower Rachel C.! She runs like the wind, is so pretty that last year I saw her from a distance at a women's charity fundraiser and I literally gasped and I am convinced is made of utter steel. She is tougher than I ever want to be and she is one of my personal heros. She would love this park and would run around or bike it til I was blue in the face.
Today we took advantage of the perfect weather and went to a Japanese Garden. Every park I have ever been to here is always brimming with people!  There was a rock garden, bamboo, a guy with no shirt or shoes on, a pond and playground. All the adults just strolled around and lounged. Everyone here has a dog and theyre always very well behaved. Theyvwere selling ice cream and other junk nearby but none of the kids seemed to eat any of it and I never saw the kids eat anything and only saw them drink water. No one seemed to be in a hurry, I didn't see a single kid in a sports uniform anywhere in town making me think little league must not be a thing here. It seems people here have a lot more leisure time than I am used to in the states. Curtis was the only person with their face buried in their smart phone.

Squatty Potty

I dedicate this blog post to Sam. Why Sam? Sam is my Garth Brooks stage rushing partner in cime! Sam is the girl you would want with you in a foreign country if you ran across a squatty potty. She would gave you the shirt off of her back to use as toilet paper, but she would probably take your picture with the squatty potty first and post it to the internet with the caption "Kendall Pooped In This." Sam knows how to laugh, how to have fun and she would even make this fun! She is one in a million and I am happy to do life with her. She i one of my favorite people and I hsve yet to be with Sam and not have a good time. She will also let you know if your post to her wasnt up to her standards, but you totally agee and fix it right away if she did :) She is so special she will get many, many mentions on this here blog, which is the only reason she simply got a lame squatty potty as her post. You're welcome. They didn't have toilet paper, either.

A Good Friday, Indeed!

This post is for email suscriber, Heidi! She and I will be neighbors at our new land and she has 3 boys, loves Jesus and is a foster mom. She is everything I want to be when I grow up. I know God has a great new friend for me and that's why He put us so close. I look forward to watching our 6 sons grow up together! I hope this post brings her joy.
When the bread lady couldnt speak English, she yelled at the guy at the cheese counter to help me. It turned out to be a man name Lori, who had lived for a while im Kalamazoo Michigan and was kind and had me come back the next week to help me shop at the market. Then he asked if Id be looking for a church in town. I said I would be!
It turns out Lori's wife Florence is a pastor at a protestant church in town. Only 15% of France attends church and of those only 2% are Protestant. I don't believe it was accidental (actually at TU I attended Massevery Sunday, so I love and appreciate many Christian traditions we just happen to be Protestant).
He invited us to Good Friday services. Although the service was in French, I could clearly understand the cross, Jesus Christ and Savior. That is really all I need to hear for a meaningful Good Friday service!!
The service was like any typical protestant service (it is an Evangelical Covenant church, same as Life Church), very casual, in fact the building looked remarkably like Calvary Baptist in Inola. The cello (note to IUMC, get a cello ASAP) combined with the French singing was beautiful. They had a dog they are training to be a service dog for people with disabilities! It name was Josie, like ours (and Heidi's) friend! It was as cool a dog as Josie is a girl!
Lori and his wife are so gracious and are helping us find a double stroller on the craigslist of France (le bon coin) bless them, and said they will get with us about getting together for dinner! How fun!
I love how God's people are His people in every language and culture. I can tell who Lori and Florence follow by their Love, because like the sign said in the Sanctuary "Dieu est Amour."
That's Lori in the white, Florence on stage in the glasses, and Josie the Dog.