We Are...

 Noah after a long morning in the forest. 

We Are...

Watching more snow fall and wondering where, oh where is the spring?

Enjoying a couple of weeks break from school and regular routines.

Listening to Celtic Dreamland and loving every minute of those sweet sounds.

Reading our new subscription of Swiss News.

Entering contests, winning some and just having fun.  Check out our latest entry - http://www.expatsblog.com/contests/writing-contest-march-2013

Looking forward to the long weekend.

Hoping our little bundles sleep better...soon...right?!   This mama is T.I.R.E.D!

Humbled by the response on our blog http://m2explore.wordpress.com/ entitled, Painting the Wrong Picture.

  

Loving that Tessa now says, “I love you!” and smiling each time she says those three little words.

Truly enjoyed the movie, Life of Pi.  Well done and very powerful!

Grateful for our health and each other.

 Noah after forest school...yep, pretty much this dirty each time I pick him up!

 Tessa wearing a new hat...AKA Noah's undies.

 Sunglasses and molasses - whew knew?

 Tessa on the phone and on the table.  Oh my!

We Are...

 Tessa in Santiago de Compostela at the cathedral

 

We Are....

Grateful for Heather who allowed us time to sneak out for a great date night on Thursday.

Looking forward to the sunshine later in the week and greatly needing those warming rays.

Enjoying putting miles on my feet, weights on my arms and sweat on my brow.

Listening to Celtic Dreams at playgroup and immediately enjoying the calm this music induces.

Remembering (or at least trying) to smile as my children make enormous messes unable to believe that people so small can cause such incredible disarray.

Reading, writing and dreaming.

Thankful for the new book and clothes Oma and Opa sent.  Thank you!!!!

Sending warm hugs and deep smiles to family and friends.

 This is what it is all about.

 Tessa on the plane...I tell you...this child is edible!

 My children at a recent birthday party on a horse farm...more interested in mud and rocks than those furry animals.  Go figure!

 Kiddos

 Tessa - already picking out her own clothes.

 Muddied children enjoying the horse.

 A little rock climbing.

 Noah planting some flowers.

Tessa all smiles.

We Are...

We Are...

Completely enjoying the soundtrack from Celeste and Jesse Forever.  We are especially eating up Baby by Donnie and Joe Emerson.

Had a great time with Noah at a birthday party in Germany over the weekend.

Watching Tessa delight in her raisin fettish.

Understanding that though the world will forever have strong opinions on varying topics, hoping that we can find a mutual respect for those differences.

Loving the quote, "Strong women – may we know them, may we raise them, may we be them.“

Grateful that my awesome husband thought Mother’s Day was Sunday and surprised me with some delicious cupcakes and flowers.  Thanks Robert...though we don’t live in the UK (Mother's Day was celebrated there yesterday) I greatly appreciate the sentiment and look forward to celebrating again with you and the children in May!

Reading new books, finishing old books and happy to embrace them all.

Feeling especially pleased to see so many people make the shift to simple living understanding that things do not bring happiness and hoping we continue down the right track.

We Are…

Looking forward to shedding that heavy winter layer and welcoming spring.

Anxious to see the ocean this summer – if only for a little while.

Enjoying Radio Paradise…still.

Still reading Walden, but happy to say I quickly read through and thought deeply about Me Before You.

Enjoying the following quote from Walden, “While I enjoy the friendship of the seasons I trust that nothing can make life a burden to me.”  Seems quite applicable for this time and place.

Grateful to see our children enjoying the early arrival of spring on our recent trip to Spain.  The photos are all from our trip.

Happy to see the sun finally shining in Basel.. 

Unable to believe that in 3.5 months Noah will complete Spielgruppe, welcome the summer and then head off to Kindergarten.  Please time, pass slowly.

Looking forward to a wonderful week.

We Are...

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We Are…

Settling back into our routines after a two-week break.

Grateful for having the opportunity to see a beautiful new city with people who are simply gorgeous with their welcoming spirit.

Happy to have watched 180 Degrees South and smitten with Yvon Chouinard. It has been a long time since I deeply admire someone in the public eye, but he is a true gem.  A quote I love from him.  “The more you know, the less you need.”  Yvon Chouinard

Listening to Ugly Casanova and enjoying the song Here’s to Now.

  

Realizing that we need more vacations with a rejuvenating spirit…this lady needs to spend more time in the Alps.  This summer sounds perfect when the snow has melted and the trails are open!

Eating more whole foods and seeing how happy our bodies are to consume more greens and veggies.  Oh, you are delightful in so many ways.

Watching Tessa’s vocabulary expand each day.

 Smiling each time Noah speaks more German.  

Santiago de Compostela

 Tessa loves Kindermusik

 Tessa reading..OK, so she needs to learn orientation

 Noah in the school Fasnacht Parade

 Noah getting his One Billion Rising On

 The local children's parade

 We are all loving Friday playgroup

 Crazy Fasnacht Guys

We Are...

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We Are...

Spending time outside in the snow sledding and rambling about.

Enjoying having a break from the regular routine for the Fasnacht holidays.

Happy to have run into a dear friend while among tons of people in Marktplatz this week.  Welcome back Anne!

Grateful to hear some delightful music at the music museum this past weekend with my littlest man.  Thought very much about Oma and Opa that day!

Enjoying saying "yes" this week to things I do not typically do.  GRIT training course on Monday and a Flashmob...yep, gulp, a massive coming together of people to bring peace to everyone on the planet...especially women.  An important message to send to my children on so many levels.

Listening to The Weepies - so sweet and so wonderful!

Setting the goal to close Walden down by the end of the month and happy to start a new book, Me Before You.

Preparing for our next trip and hoping the weather is kind to us.

Bracing ourselves for another year of carnival and happy to have enjoyed the children's parade this weekend.

Grateful Robert found sometime for himself this weekend.

Looking forward to a walk in a new area with a new friend on Monday.

Wishing you a beautiful start to a new week!

Loving the quote...

"The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life.  

It is so easy to make it complex."  

180 Degrees South

We Are...

We Are…

Still enjoying the cold, the snow and rain.

Grateful for revived health.

Looking forward to having a break from school for the Fasnacht holidays.

Listening to some Celtic music and reliving those Irish days of beaches, castles, pubs and the creation of beautiful memories.

Feeling thrilled that our surprise weekend for Noah was not a total failure.  Oh, that tricky weather – hard rains followed by insane amounts of snow, finally gave way to blue skies and no precipitation.  The 35^th annual hot air balloon festival in the Alps was a success!

Loving coming home from the gym and greeted by two happy, warm hugging babes.  Oh, it fills the heart.

Still not sure why the tears fell so freely last week, but embracing the fact that they did indeed fall, even at the most awkward of settings.

Looking forward to a little downtime this weekend.

Wanting to hug my best friend and kiss her babes.

 The Priest's home in Chateau D'Oex

 Noah just sitting around in the snow

 This one is for you Jacques.  More will come, but enjoy!

 These guys made us smile even though the balloons didn't fly on Saturday.  

We love you funky chickens.

 Loving those shades

 Ahh...they flew, they finally flew!

 I love the simplicity of this picture.

 Noah admiring the hot air balloons. 

 Sledding and hot air ballooning...does it get any better than this?

 Tessa admiring the balloons too!

Thank you!

A full write - up and more photos will come soon on our other blog!