NO PRAY, NO PAY

July 22, 2012

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the wood playground that my hubby was building at the backyard. And here there are some pictures of it. It's an amazing Pirate Ship with a lot of accessories and games from a German brand... Ahoy Matey!!
It will hopefully keep the kids actively busy and entertained for a few minutes everyday. Adrien loves his horse swing!  However, it's still missing finish the sand area because we're looking for a way to cover it.
I took these pictures after André's tennis classes. By the way, André is very proud that he helped with the assembly of the pirate ship.

SADDLE UP WILD BOY!

July 17, 2012

 As I mentioned before, André is also taking equitation classes twice per week. I love horses and riding, so I can't be happier to find out that my son shares my passion.
Horses and riding have wonderful effects in children, physically, intellectually, emotionally and even spiritually. Why? Because of course it's a physical activity, but is unlikely any other. Like gymnastics, it improves strength, flexibility and endurance. Like dancing, requires physical skills and a "partner", so it develops skills like balance, coordination, plus intellectual, theoretical understanding, and even there's an emotional component to build a genuine relationship.
Having a partnership with horses, kids learn to be thoughtful and gentle, compassionate and empathetic. Also, they learn to be patient, and to have courage and determination. Learning to care for horses properly means learning how to take responsibility for another being which is dependent of them for its care, health and happiness.
I discovered that this activity helps my son to build his character and get values like respect, compassion, empathy, responsibility, honesty, integrity, and many more values. Who wouldn't want their children to have these values?

HUSTLE, HIT AND NEVER QUIT

July 15, 2012

André started last week his summer tennis classes for 4 year old kids. So here there are some pics of his first week. I hope he continues with this sport, because you know tennis is all about practice, practice, practice.
I couldn't help but notice that André is a lot taller than his pals of the same age. It seems my secret vitamin is working, isn't it?  ;)

THERE'S DEFINITELY SOME MOM SHOPPING GOING ON HERE

July 11, 2012

Sales season has arrived! And one the best places to go for good shopping is in the near city of Annecy in France. It's just 30 minutes from Geneva and besides of the good brands and bargains you can get in here, it's absolutely a gorgeous city.
People have been asking me which are my favorite French brands for children clothes. Here there are some:
Tartine et Chocolat (preppy and french elegance)
Cyrillus (very chic and preppy)
Grain de Blé (cheap and chic)
Petit Bateau (comfy and stylish)
Interdit de me gronder (stylish... love their tennis collection)
Catimini (not really a fan though, too colorful for my taste)
After a exhausting shopping day we took the children for some ice-cream and playtime... btw André has really with luck with girls  ;)

SOUNDS OF THE SUMMER

July 10, 2012

André started several courses this summer: piano, tennis, equitation and English classes in Gymboree.  He's excited with all the new friends he's making, and so do I!

To celebrate the end of his first week in piano lessons, we went to have some ice cream in the Yacht Club de Genève. He's having every afternoon, five days per week for a couple of hours, a musical course with emphasis in piano, and he seems to like it. I'm crossing my fingers for this trend to continue. His teacher is Greek and has a lot of patience and talent.

I always try to boost music in the life of my children, as it's proved that music has amazing effects in children. My baby Adrien was having music classes and baby disco in Gymboree when he was 5 until 7 months old. My older daughter Aimée was several years in the conservatory learning piano, as well as ballet, rhythmic gymnastics and dance courses.

The International Foundation of Music Research has published several researches about the benefits of music on early brain development. These studies have shown that children that had music education got higher SAT in intelligence scores. They say that music "benefit cognitive abilities, higher reasoning and motor skills, and higher achievements in language and math". Isn't wonderful what music can do for those little brains?