Tag Archives: photography

A Kid’s Life: USA

13 Aug

I’m happy to present another A Kid’s Life interview today.  This series is a way for us all to learn a little bit about daily family life from countries around the world.  I’ve absolutely loved the last two interviews from Italy and Japan.  I can’t get enough of  hearing about all those cultural differences between countries and daily kid rhythms.

Today’s interview is with Jen from the Classic Play! blog.  Jen lives in America, is mom to two beautiful kids, wife to a talented photographer and filmmaker and exudes an energy that baffles me.   Her blog Classic Play! is a fountain of ideas, resources and creative endeavors for families everywhere.  This blog has saved my sanity on more than one occasion when I had a house full of bored kids (her kid’s art projects are a fave of mine).

On top of running her successful blog she’s co-owner of a really neat kid’s toy company and even writes for various other sources.  Jen is all about inspiring and motivating families to get creative.  And I love that.

I’m really grateful that she took the time to answer my questions and give us all a peek into her and her family’s daily life.    And I learned some new things…I’d never heard of red shirting before in my life!   So here we go…

What country do you live in?

The United States

Are you and your husband the same nationality?

Yes.

How many languages are spoken in your house?  Which one(s)?

Just one, English.

How many kids do you have?  What are their ages?

We have two children.  Ellie is 9 and Jonah is 7.

At what age do kids start school in your country?

Many kids in America, if they’re not in daycare, start school in a private preschool around age 3 or 4 for a couple half days a week. The public system kicks in at age 5 with kindergarten. Parents do have the option to hold their child back one year, which more and more families are doing. It’s a phenomenon called Red Shirting. It’s not very popular in my area, but in other parts of the country, it’s become the norm.

During the school year at what time do your kids usually wake up?

Between 7 and 7:15am.

What do your kids typically eat for breakfast?

My kids have a several favorites: yogurt with honey, cold cereal with milk, scrambled eggs and toast, and oatmeal with a little maple syrup. On weekends we have waffles or pancakes.

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Ritorno

9 Aug

Do you have an unbelievable amount of renewed energy to clean and organise your house when you arrive home from a vacation?  For me, the first days after returning home from a long trip away is really the most efficient time to get the house scoured clean and all those  nagging little  house jobs done.  It usually starts within an hour of opening our front door and lasts anywhere from 2-3 days.

Shortly after arriving home from Belgium last week I could be found re-organising and scrubbing inside kitchen cupboards which haven’t been touched since, well, I don’t even want to say.

In the following days I emptied the fridge of all the out-of-date salsa and chutney.  I organised and classified the entire book shelf.  I swept the ceilings of all the cobwebs and who knows what.  I even hand washed the pot holders.  And it felt so so good.

I can’t really explain why I do all this but I’m happy I do.  At no other time do I have the motivation and physical energy to scrub bathroom grouting with a toothbrush or re-fold my entire linen cupboard.  Sometimes I even think about planning a trip just for the return and the rampant cleaning of my house.

So here I am at home for the rest of the summer in a beautifully clutter-free and sparkling clean space (should last a few minutes, no?) and ready to pass the next month with my three children at the lake, on the forest trails or simply lounging around at home reading or baking or sewing.   Oh, and drinking LOTS of cold lemonade…

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

8 Aug

The other day when it was 38 degrees outside my children came to me with a specific request.  They all wanted pumpkin spice cake.  Desperately.  I told them that such a cake filled with cinnamon,  nutmeg and pumpkin AND involving putting on the oven for almost an hour was something for a cold winter’s day in front of the fire with a pot of hot tea.  They looked at me with confusion in their eyes and asked again for pumpkin spice cake.  And because it was too hot to rationalize with 3 surprisingly insistent kids I just caved and started to bake.

While the cakes baked the house smelled of autumn but was hot enough that I laid on the cold  tiles until they were done. But the ecstatic and grateful kids were well worth it all.  Kind of.

 

This recipe calls for cream cheese in the batter which helps makes it really moist and dense.  Instead of adding cinnamon and cloves you could also just add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.  I usually make this recipe in a loaf pan but considering the heat and the fact I wanted the oven on for as little time as possible I made them in mini muffin tins. Here’s the recipe if you would like to give them a try.  Whether in summer, fall or winter (go for the latter two!).

Continue for recipe: Continue reading →

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Lam Musee d’Art Moderne

3 Aug

The other day we woke up in Belgium to a rainy cloudy sky.  We hadn’t really made plans for the day so we decided to drive to Lille, France to visit the Lam Modern Art Museum.  After wrestling the kids out of their pajamas and into normal clothing (they wanted to stay home and read comics all day) we made it out the door.

Luckily the French border is mere minutes from where we were staying and we made it to the museum in less than half an hour. The kids were slowly getting over their dismay at being forced out of the house and by the time we saw the museum they were actually excited to visit it.  They kept asking whether the “beetle-guy” (Jan Fabre) would be exhibiting seeing as it was a modern art museum.  Unfortunately for them he wasn’t.

The Lam Musee d’Art Modern is a great museum to take kids.  It has some really lovely permanent collections as well as temporary ones.  The museum isn’t too big which means the kids can visit all the collections without getting  too tired or  “bored”.

The museum offers modern art collections as well as contemporary art collections.  The kids loved all the cubist pieces and the way they evolved over time.  I always find it amazing what kids notice in art and they way they communicate what they see.  When they were looking at the Modigliani paintings they were commenting to each other on the ladies he painted and their long necks and noses, their blank eyes and sloped shoulders.  They also really enjoyed the room with art brut.  They loved reading the stories of the untrained artists and their life stories.

The museum offers (for a small fee) ipods for kids, teens and adults with guided tours of the museum.  Our girls took the French version of the teen tour (after 4 years of French as a second language!).

After our successful trip to the museum the kids were motivated and excited to walk into town with a box of charcoal and some paper to do some sketching at the local convent.

They all found a little spot with a view and sketched away for the rest of the afternoon.

After the drawings were finished we headed to the local waffle shop (of course).  All in all it was a perfect ending to our Belgian summer vacation.

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“Traveling With Kids” Column on Classic Play! (Cultural Preparation)

2 Aug

The newest installment of my Traveling With Kids column is on Classic Play! today.  This time I talk about the importance of culturally preparing your children before visiting a new country and culture.  These are simple things that can make a big difference for everyone involved and make your trip that much more enjoyable.  Pop on over and let me know what you think!

You can check out my other posts in this series here and here.

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Immagine d’Estate

28 Jul

There hasn’t been much action around this blog lately.  We’ve been on vacation for the last few weeks and have been having a great time visiting family, friends and doing lots of Belgian-like activities.  We’ve had everything from winter weather to 35 degree heat and we’ve cycled our little hearts out through it all.  It has been an amazing holiday so far.  Here are a few images from the last few weeks…

Standing on their sand castle and waiting for the tide to come in.

A great-grandfather and a great-granddaughter sharing their love of stamps.

Visiting a vintage wallpaper shop in Gent.  The two old sisters who own it are worth the visit.

My kind of beach hut.


Some cows and on old German war bunker on the beautiful bike trails in Lier.

The kid’s set up a traditional Belgian bloemenwinkel (flower shop) on the beach.

Creating with clay with extended family.

A culinary experience involving paling (eel).   And it was (surprisingly) good!

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A Kid’s Life: Japan

23 Jul

A while back I published my first post in my A Kid’s Life series.  I give a short interview with families from around the world about their daily traditions and routines.  I thought it would be a great way to see how other people pass a regular day in their life and see how it differs from ours.

For this A Kid’s Life post I decided to contact my friend Kumi who lives in Japan.  Kumi and I studied French together many years ago and she is one of those gentle, generous souls.  We’ve kept in touch on and off over the years via snail mail and we recently got to see each other again in person on our recent trip to Japan.  We met as young single women and are now both happily married mamas.  How times have changed.

After spending time with Kumi and her family we realized that although we live in different countries with different cultures and daily rhythms, some things about life with kids are universal.  Such as ice cream and skip rope!

Here’s Kumi’s interview accompanied by a few photos that I took while staying with them.  Enjoy!

Where do you live?

We live in Japan.

Are both you and your husband the same nationality?

Yes, we are both Japanese.

How many children do you have?  What are their ages?

We have one daughter who is 7 years old.

Do you both work or does someone stay at home?

My husband works full time and I work only 2 days per week.

How many languages do you speak at home?

We speak Japanese together.  Sometimes we speak some English as a sort of game.

At what age do kids start school in your country?

In Japan kids start school at 6 or 7 years old.

During the school year, what time do you wake up?

We wake up at 6:30am.

What is a typical breakfast for your family?

We eat rice balls and miso soup.

What time does school start and finish?  What is the weekly school schedule?

My daughter is in the second grade and starts school at 8:40 and finishes at 2:20pm.  In the higher grades the kids finish at 3:15pm.  In second grade the kids learn Japanese, arithmetic, drawing, manual arts, physical training, calligraphy, music and life studies.

Do your kids learn a second or third language at school?  From what age?

In Japan they learn English from the second grade.  They learn English games and songs…not too hard!

Do kids eat lunch at home or at school?  What is a typical lunch?

Usually kids eat lunch at school.  They mainly eat rice or bread and milk but sometimes also Chinese, Italian, Korean and Mexican food.

Do your kids do any after-school activities?

My daughter doesn’t do any after-school activities but this is VERY rare in Japan.  Usually almost all kids do dance, swimming, calligraphy, English, abacus etc etc.

What time do you eat dinner?  What is a typical dinner you would eat?

We usually eat around 7pm.  A favorite dinner of my husband is okonomiyake (Japanese pizza).

How much television/computer time do your kids have on a daily basis?

Usually 2 hours.

What’s bed time in your house?

My daughter goes to bed around 9:30pm.

What are some typical family week-end activities?

In the mornings my daughter watches cartoons and then we do some shopping and go anywhere my daughter wants!

When is the school vacation?

In the summer there is the 44 days of summer vacation from late July to late August.  Then there are a few weeks in December and in March/April.

What are the typical “first foods” for a baby to eat in your country?

A vegetable soup made with white radish or cabbage and boiled fish or meat paste.

Do you notice any big differences between Kumi and her family’s life and yours?  I personally love the breakfasts they eat and the fact that school ends so early in the afternoon.  Any other questions that you think might be interesting to ask?  Check out the last A Kid’s Life:Italia here.

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“Traveling With Kids” Column on Classic Play! (Kroller Muller Museum, Holland)

19 Jul

Pop on over to Classic Play! for my next Traveling With Kids post.  This time we’re visiting the Kroller Muller Museum in the Hoge Veluwe National  Park in the Netherlands.  It’s a beautiful spot and well worth a visit.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and even experiences if you’ve already been there!

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Tattly Tattoos

14 Jul

A while back I was browsing around on-line and ended up on the Tattly Tattoos website.  I was immediately smitten.  Like they say on their website, they sell designy temporary tattoos.  And they are gorgeous!  They have such a huge selection of the most original, stylish and fun tattoos.

It took me ages to actually choose the ones that I ended up purchasing and my kids (and I) love them all.  The girls were invited to an old-fashioned outdoor dance party in an old Italian village and they decided some Tattly tattoos were the perfect special accessories to wear for it.  They went and danced the night away on an old stone dance floor in the middle of a park and had the time of their lives.  My teensy little (10 year old) daughters waltzed home past 11pm.  I’m thinking this is a taste of what our future week-ends will be like.  Oh dear.

One of the things I love is that they only charge $2 for international shipping!  Bonus for us Europe-living fans.  They just celebrated their first birthday and are offering 50% off all orders until Sunday evening (promotional code “1yearold”).

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Tavolino

11 Jul

The other day I made a quick stop into my favorite mercatino usato (2nd hand shop) and found this little table on wheels.  It was brown and ugly.  And did I mention it was brown?  I hate brown.  The guy who owns the shop couldn’t believe I actually wanted to buy it.

I’ve been looking for a little table to put my computer on in the evening while I’m browsing the internet, blogging or watching downloaded episodes of Mad Men.  I’ve started getting paranoid about always having the computer sitting on my lap.  That heat must have long term bad effects on our thighs.

So I brought it home, gave it a coat of primer and then three coats of paint and called it a day (I don’t like sanding).  I’m really happy with the result and love the fact that it’s on wheels and I can push it around from couch to couch and room to room.  I kind of feel like a stewardess sometimes.
It really is amazing what a few coats of white paint can do!

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