I've got the joy, joy, joy...

I can't get that song out of my head since we sang it with the children during worship yesterday. Our theme was related to the fruits of the Spirit: love, peace, and joy- and how they are interconnected. It was a good time of worship sharing some of the best parts of our lives and dreams with others.

Here are a few pictures from last week. I'm hoping this week will be just as wonderful.



Last week started off nicely with some flowers from Josh. He picked them all out himself, so I was very proud of the arrangement he made. :)



We found these shoes for Jakub. You can see that the top won't even velcro all the way. :) He has such sweet, marshmallowy, baby feet. Too bad shoes don't have the same affinity for them as I do!




Our Moms and Kids class went very well again. We have a very good group of people this time and they make for an encouraging and loving environment. We had 11 kids total, and are expecting even more this week. It gets a little chaotic at times, but it's so worth it for all of us. Jakub has really enjoyed all of the interaction with others, and he loves to watch the older kids performing some of the activities. We're even having some Dads visit as well, and that's been wonderful!




"Ahhhhhhh!" Oh the refreshing taste of ice-cold milk. It does a body good! :)

What a week!

We had a very full and blessed week. We had our friends Stana and Mikulas over to play. Jakub and Mikulas play very well together and this week it was a joy to watch them "talking" to each other more than ever. It's a good thing they still speak the same gibberish. We'll have to help them figure each other out more as they get older. I look forward to Jakub picking up Czech from his friends. :) You'll have to excuse Stana in the background as she was teasing me about my "fat" baby photos. Josh and I were both very healthy babies and toddlers. She enjoyed seeing our photos. Jakub doesn't hold a candle to how we were! (When watching the videos you might have to double click on them to get to a full-screen or larger version for viewing.)






We finally found a pair of shoes in our long search for the shoe-that-fits-a-healthy-foot. :) Would you guess that they were Nike's in the end? The Nike store was the only one I found here, at least so far, that carried a wide enough variety of "sporty" baby shoes (the only style of shoe that's working for Kuba's feet right now). After trying many, many shoes on we finally found one to fit Jake's foot- and we bought it immediately. Thankfully, the store was having a great sale and we walked away paying what we had hoped. Above you can see Jakub trying them out with Daddy. We've been taking him on more walks outside now and he's loving it! We even met a friend to play with on our walk yesterday. They were able to swing together on our playground outside. I'm very much looking forward to Spring!






If you're not looking for too much excitement and want to watch a 5 minute video of Jakub playing- see above. It's nothing terribly thrilling, but it's a good chance to see him playing around the living room. My favorite part is when he gets shy about his dancing. He's really starting to get shy and won't perform on command anymore. :( I wish you could see him dance when he thinks no one is looking- it's SO funny! He still loves music- loves to listen to it, play it, and sometimes tries to sing along. It's amazing to see this gift coming out of him.







And here's a pretty short one of him before bedtime one evening. He still LOVES the boppy pillow his Aunt Hopey gave him. He likes to sit himself in it and lean back to relax. Also now, at bedtime especially, thanks to the guidance of his Daddy, he demands back rubs. He situates himself inside this boppy pillow, waits for you to get beside him with a book, then he takes your hands and places them on his shoulders, leans his head back, and says "mmm...wowww...mmm.." while you rub his shoulders. If you don't do it long enough he'll take your hands and put them back there. Sometimes, he grabs a book to read while you're doing it. I still can't stop laughing while I have to rub his back. What a trick to teach such a young child. Josh says it's payback for having to rub mine. :)

Some of the things that made this week full and wonderful- a very well attended Moms and Kids class for the second week, 2 play dates for Jakub, an enjoyable floorball event with other families, success with shoes, and plenty of work to keep us busy throughout it all. We're really getting into the swing of things for our summer camps and that's exciting!

Enjoy the videos. I have more pictures and stories to come later. I'll also post that risotto recipe soon. I hope you have a good weekend. Love to you all!

Happy Valentine's Day (early)!!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend with better weather than most of you have recently experienced. Ours is still very much cold, but oh-so-sunny! We've had sunshine 4 out of the last 8 days and that's as much as we've seen the sun in 2 months. It's been a hard, long winter here, but the sun is finally starting to shine on us and it feels great! I took Jakub for a mid-morning stroll outside today and it was truly heavenly to point our faces into the sunshine and smile and laugh. We walked across the street to the playground and Jakub went down the slide for the first time (he's been on them before in other places, just not at home due to weather). He's doing well at walking outside on sidewalks and such. It's good to just be able to walk together a little, even at a snail's pace, instead of always having to get the carriage out to take him around block or for small walks. This is one more reason I am REALLY looking forward to spring weather.

Another reason today was joyous was that Josh and I were able to celebrate Valentine's Day a little early. Our friend and teammate Christie volunteered to watch Jakub for a few hours in the late afternoon so, Josh and I enjoyed the afternoon, did a little shopping, and had a delicious Chinese dinner before heading back home. It was very sweet and kind of her! Jakub did well and didn't miss us much, at least on the outside. :) She said he played well, didn't cry for us, and that they had a good time together. We were so glad and do not take this opportunity for granted. It's just the nature of life here that we don't really have many babysitting options, so it's not often that we get some much needed "us" time. It was a great day!


Here are some other fun things we've been doing:


Teaching Jakub to thoroughly inspect his toes after his bath to make sure they are clean. :)




Getting pajamas on before reading together in bed.




We do a lot of reading before naps and bedtime. He loves to look at books. He especially loves to point at every object to learn it's name. He's even starting to repeat some of the sounds or names. He loves teddy bears and this book is full of them. He also loves the "I love you through and through" book with the bear inside. In the picture below you can see him "reading" it. :) A couple of months ago he started turning the book upside down when got to the page you see below (with upside down teddy bear). Pretty clever!





On Friday we had our very good friends Stana and Mikuláš over to celebrate her birthday. Despite their disparaging looks here, the boys had an amazing time together. They playfully screamed, laughed, chased, and actually shared many toys and good times together. I was able to make dinner and a cake for them and we enjoyed a nice evening together. I made Risotto for dinner and if you've never made it before and would like a recipe let me know. It's a delicious rice dish that is not difficult to make, and great for kids, too. It's pretty popular here.



I hope you all have a great and blessed weekend. :)

Visitors...

This past week we had some dear friends (Ashley, Jamie, and Luke Sides) come to visit for a few days. They are missionaries working in a city about 4 hours away from us and we've known them for many years now (They've been in CZ since last summer). We had a wonderful time visiting, letting our children meet and play with one another, and encouraging each other. Here are just a few pics from our time together. Above, the Keens hosted us for dinner one evening. It wasn't as hectic as we thought it might be to get 4 children to eat at the same time. It was really a great dinner time together.





Here Jakub's playing with Evan and Thompson. Luke was there, too, but he loved walking everywhere and didn't sit down much. :) Jake loved this tunnel they had in their living room. It's about time for us to invest in a couple of more active, big-kid toys. If any of you have some suggestions from what your toddlers have loved, let me know!



Here Jakub's practicing his soccer moves with Luke. These two were busy boys! Jakub is doing really well with his balance and kicking balls. He loves it! And that belly- can you believe it? That's in the afternoon- long after lunch and just before dinner. Do any of you have kids with big, cute bellies? :) By morning it's pretty flat again. So funny, and hopefully normal. :)






And this one, though it's not clear, is my favorite. :) Jakub, after eating his dinner, hiked his foot up on the table and leaned back on me. It was so funny!!! And his shirt could not have been more appropriate for that look on his face. Thank you, Aunt Hopey, for that. :) It's still too big, but he'll grow into it quickly I'm sure! We tried to find shoes for those big feet today, but the ones that fit the length were too narrow for his big foot to fit inside. :) So, we'll have to keep looking around. It was fun to shop for him, though, and he was great about all of it. He liked looking at himself in the mirror while we were trying different shoes on. :)

Freedom!

I've been looking forward to and praying about this time for several years now and I want to thank all of you who have been praying with me and for me (and will continue to, please). I am currently not taking any medication regarding my autoimmune problem. I've been slowly weaning off of the medications for a few months and as of one month ago I completely stopped everything. To date, I'm not having any major problems or repercussions and I thank God for that! I have noticed that I feel warmer in general, and my face flushes easily, but hopefully that will be the worst of it. It's been almost 4 years with this struggle and I'm thankful for this joyous moment right now. When it all began and was at it's worst it was difficult to believe in and hope for a time like now, but I'm glad God doesn't give up on us and that we can keep asking Him for help and healing and increased faith. This is just one way I'm experiencing a sweet freedom right now.

Another way is with Jakub as he has been completely weaned from breastfeeding since January 1st. I cannot say enough how thankful I am for the child God gave me. I know I am blessed in how sweet and easy-going he has almost always been. In most ways, including breastfeeding, he has always been pretty great. As I began the weaning process last November he didn't seem to mind a bit as I cut out feedings and replaced them with formula or whole milk. He has always loved to eat regular food, as you know, so making sure he had enough calories was not much of a struggle, either. I know many Moms who battle with these issues regarding their children, and as much as I tend to worry in general, I know a child's health/growth/eating habits can weigh heavily on a Mother and that I have not had to actually worry too much. Now, it did take about a month of constant work and encouragement to help Jakub be the good-milk-drinker he is today, but he didn't make it that difficult- and he never seemed to care that I was stopping my feedings. In fact, I was nervous about the first day he wouldn't feed from me at all and I had Josh put him to bed so as to not "tempt" Jakub by being near me. Well, that sweet boy played and read books with his Daddy and went off to bed without a peep and slept well, as usual. The next morning we did breakfast together in our normal routine and he didn't even look at me as if I had abandoned him or anything! :) And he's never seemed to look back. So, I thank God for this new found freedom as well. It's been a blessing to have that relationship with Jakub, and to be able to give him the nutrition he needed for a year, but it's also been a blessing to my life and work here to have more freedom and flexibility in my schedule.

My continued desire for another freedom would be freedom from worry. Many of you know me well so I won't say much- just that I continue to worry about EVERYTHING more than I should, so please keep praying for me. Please pray that I will constantly experience the freedom God can give me from worry. It was my new year's resolution last year, and this year as well, and though I would say I do actually get a little better with this in time, it could be a lot better if I would let God have more control.

Ok, if you've maintained consciousness this long then here are a few recent photos to enjoy. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!




Josh and Jakub enjoying playing a "hot potato" type game with the teens at out activity center.






Jakub LOVES to sit on a couch with people, especially guys, and just lean back and relax. It's so funny to watch him do it- makes him seem like such a big boy! The teens really love him and that's special for us to witness.


Here's our little sportsman! He loves throwing the football with us, he's starting to run now, and he can kick the ball pretty well without falling. He's definitely active and I love that. I can't wait for some warmer weather so we can go to the local parks and playgrounds!

I hear many of you are enjoying (or not!) a lot of snow and ice. I hope you have fun, but stay safe and warm at the same time! Thanks, always, for reading and for the comments or emails you send my way. They keep me encouraged!