Creative Juice

Daily Downpour

It's been years since I've been in Panama during rainy season. Let me tell you, it does not disappoint. Everyday since we've arrived, we've been honored with a show-stopping downpour. It usually happens in the afternoon. You can be going about your day and before you know it, BOOM!, rainfall. Non-stop.

In a matter of minutes everything becomes flooded. An umbrella is of no use since water pelts you from every angle. Sometimes it is accompanied by flashes of lightning and rolling thunder. Sometimes the lights flicker a few times before they just give out. And it always smells like rain.

Yesterday I sat in the car for ten minutes waiting for it to pass. It did. Today, rain started and hasn't stopped. It just keeps washing the day away. Kind of cool if you have nowhere to go.

Photos by Denise Laborde

Scenes from Christmas

Sharing meals.

It was a (Lego) Technics Christmas for Andrea

Love to wtach these two cousins play together

Lucien's first Christmas

Board games near the fire

Last night we came home after a week-long celebration with family. It has been as fun as it has been cold. Beween un-packing and playing with new toys we are perfecting the art of being together.

Wish you all a nice end of the year :)

La Toussaint or How I Opened My Heart to Fall

Last night we came home after spending five days in Ladreyt, my mother-in-law's family home in l'Ardèche du nord. The boys and Thierry are on vacation for All Saints Day and this short getaway to breathe crisp mountain air was glorious.

I don't usually make the distinction between fall and winter. To me it's just cold and colder. But this week I got the whole fall-is-my-favorite-time-of-year thing that I read about on so many blogs. Three days of sunshine and two days of continous rain. The weather was an in between place perfect for togetherness and doing nothing in particular. Simple really.

Love this maple tree's color.

Andrea waiting for a fish to bite. One never did. (Photo by Aïta.)

Reading and talking and playing by the fire.

Cousins playing.

Beautiful light. Clean, crisp air.

Maxi cuddles with Ama to nurse his double ear infection.

Outdoor adventures.

Lucien meets Bonne Maman, one of three great-grandmothers, for the 1st time.

Walks in the sun with Lucien in tow.

Smiles + Love.

A tray of chestnuts ready to be roasted on an open fire.

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You can see the rest of the photos here.

Lucky 7

Seven years ago today we began this journey in a church:

Followed by three days of celebrating in Bocas del Toro with our friends and family:

I love to look back on that beautiful time.

I am thankful we are both willing to put in the effort to make our life a happy one. I am thankful for what we have lived and what we have learned. Happy anniversary. I love you Mr. T.

Just for the Max of it : Four

 

Happy birthday my dear, dear Maximiliano,

It's hard to believe four years have passed since we welcomed you to our family. Just yesterday you turned one, two and three. You are funny, agile, sensitive, creative and very willful. DId I mention willful? That's my nice way of calling you stubborn.

What a year it has been for you! Newness all around. Your vocabulary took off. Being able to express yourself verbally has taken your relationship with Andrea to a new level. You two have become friends. You look up to him and love to play with and learn from him.

You still eat slowly and deliberately. You often ask for plain yogurt for dessert just be able to add honey. You love chocolate and cauliflower (with butter) and carrots and rice and pasta and bread and peas. You are on the fence about green beans. And there is no way corn will pass your lips.

You went through an I-will-not-wear-clothes period this spring. During summer you only wore very short shorts. And now that it's autumn we are having a hard time getting you to wear pants. As a matter of fact, you will put them on but ask that we roll them up past your knees. (I need to think of documenting that look - it's funny.) 

Recently you had your first dentist and optometrist visits. You sat quietly through each and allowed the doctors to check you without a fuss. It shows how much you have grown, Maxi. Just a year ago there would not have been a way to reason with you to sit still.

You were adorable getting your eyesight checked. It sort of sucks that you couldn't make out all the images on the eye chart. You kept looking at me to help you out, but I couldn't. Sorry, baby. It looks like you may need glasses. (Like Andrea!) We will know next week.

You became a big brother this year. I think Lucien's arrival represented the most change for you. It fills me with love to see you take interest in your little brother. You are always looking for him and caressing him. You are tender, tender, tender with him. I love that.

You also try to make him smile. (He's not smiling in this photo, but he usually lights up when he sees you.)

You have always loved to cuddle and still do. I am so thankful that you are not afraid to ask when you need to be held or loved. I love when we put you to bed and you say "there's a spot for you in my bed. Mam." (And I love that you call me Mam when you are speaking in English.)

You have recently sarted drawing recognizable objects (airplanes, divers, submarines, whales and pirahnas are among your favorites.) And you do a lot of pretend writing.

I love when we are home alone and I can hear you sing from another room. By yourself, playing with your train set or your playmobil or lego, just humming a tune. You are happy on the inside.

It's been a big year for you, my baby boy. I am excited to sing to you and celebrate you today when you come home from school. Will you ask re-light the candles a second, thrid and fourth time like you did last year? Or will once be enough so you can open your gifts?

Thank you Maxi for being so perfectly you.

Je t'aime,

Maman