Kiva loan #5

The gift that keeps on giving. More than 2 years ago, Alex and I received a wedding gift in the form of Kiva gift cards, and here we are, still making loans to individuals all over the world. Earlier this week, I selected Maria Adilia from Nicaragua. Her loan caught my eye because at the time, it was only 90% funded, and had only 4 days left before expiration on the Kiva website. (Since then, Kiva has updated me to let me know that her loan did indeed get fully funded in the time needed.)

From the Kiva website:

"Maria Adilia, 24, is married and has a six-month-old son. She lives with her family in a community called Cerro Grande which is located in Yalaguina, in the department of Madriz. Some time ago, like all women entrepreneurs, she had to seek her fortune outside of her community and went to the city of Managua where whe was a domestic employee. After a while she returned to her community and got married. She and her husband decided to use a small amount of capital to set up a store, which is now a bit larger. She has requested a loan to buy basic grains and other grocery items. In the future she would like to improve her house and buy household goods to improve her son's lifestyle."

July vacation: Avignon

Oh to be in the south of France during summer! 

At Alex's parents' house in Avignon, we enjoyed swims in the pool, good food, visiting with his paternal Mami, more good food, and a relaxing end to our 3 week stay in mainland France.

I think this might be our only family photo from the entire trip!

Alex's mom

Alex's Dad and his mom

Alex's brother Rom

at lunch on le quatorze juillet

the boys go for a ride

he might kill me if he sees I put this picture on the internet...

Every time we go on vacation, Alex always grows a beard, which I love, but after a couple of weeks he eventually finds it too itchy and then shaves it off. This time, he did so in horrible facial hair stages. First it was the goatee. 
Me: "Umm, you missed some parts, go back and try again."
Alex: "What? You don't like goatees? They're cool!"

Then he came back with a long mustache.
Me: "Eww."
Alex: "Oh come here and kiss me!"
Me: "Get that thing off your face and I will."
Alex: "All your brothers have mustaches!"
Me: "Yeah, but I'm not kissing them!"

Then, I suppose all the talk about Nazi soilders occupying his grandmother's house, or the fact that in Strasbourg you hear almost as much German as you do French, or maybe the fields of hops, all the local breweries, and smell of sauerkraut went to his head. Because then he came back with this:


(UPDATE** Alex did indeed ask me to take down the photo of him with a Hitler mustache, so really all you're left with is the story!)

Me: "Jerome, will you call for a pizza, because we can't go out in public with this guy."

July vacation: Strasbourg

After Paris, we headed to eastern France, to the regions Alsace, and Lorraine, to visit with family from Alex's mother's side. Lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, and his Mami too.

The cathedral in Strasbourg

Dorine, Luc, me, Alex, Jerome

I could live here, except for the cold part.

Jerome teaching Alex how to make traditional Alsacean food.

hey, mix-master

One of our highlights of the whole trip was our day spent at the monkey park. They roamed free, and you were allowed to give them a few pieces of popcorn, but the staff was pretty vigilant that you not linger too close.

see the little baby monkey in the middle there?!

When we visited Alex's Mami, she took us to see the house she grew up in, where as a child, she tells us  the German soilders occupied her house!

The house faces huge wheat fields, where her family took it in and processed it to make flour.

Unfortunately, the house hasn't been lived in for a few years, so there was no way to get in and explore any further.

Luc and his cousin

beautiful countryside

And now we take the train to the south of France, see you in the next post!

July vacation: Paris

Basically, this will be a photo dump of our vacation in France this past month. There will be a few more posts to show the other places we travelled, but enjoy Paris first!

One day Luc and I walked over to Jardin des Plantes which is a botanical garden, but also has a zoo, which he loved.

Luc thought the ostrich was playing with balls. Other nearby kids shouted that it had potatoes. I love imagination.

Turtles from Madagascar!

 

We also walked over to Notre Dame. While the rest of the tourists were taking pictures of the incredible structure, we were gazing at the excavator working just in front of it.

I love that there's another little boy captivated in the same way!

Jardin du Luxembourg, beautiful!

but the real treat was watching the guy on the lawnmower.

Me, Luc, and Flo

Dinner with Alex and Florent's cousin, Gregoire.

Amazing lamb.

the oxygen mask principle

Though I haven't felt inspired to post recently or happened to have a chunk of time I've set aside just for blogging, today I've finally found a spot where those 2 things colllide.

And I'd like to share this thoughtful post I found on the Etsy blog that kind of surprised me. I wasn't expecting to find a piece on parenting on a site more directed to the arts, but, if you read it, I think you'll agree, it does have it's place. The question at the end is a good one (how do you take care of yourself/what recharges you?) and something I'd love to hear back from more people. For me, recharging as of late means getting out of the house on my own, even if it's just to run an errand, a cup of warm tea (baby, it's cold outside now!), making plans with friends, curling up with a good book at night, and a good long hug with Alex. Seriously, that last one we've made into a habit every morning and I cannot tell you what a great way to start your day that is!

sewing - 1; blogging - 0

These are the third pair of pants I've made for Luc this season, and this time, I tackled pockets, a fake fly, reinforced seams, and a flat front all at once. They're not perfect, but I've made some major improvements throughout the process. The second pair, which I don't have a picture of, are reversible PJ pants.

Finally got up some curtains on the windows in the 2 back bedrooms which have a view on our kitchen. I made simple canvas panels which maybe later I'll add some designs to using this book Alex got me for my birthday.

A winter duvet cover for our bed. I am so happy to be done with this project. I started it almost a month ago, and was ready to quit after cutting the first piece. The challenge was worth it though, and we're pleased with the results.