It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

This last week was wonderful! With Summer comes an increased level of activity and service here as our students are out of school and our older friends typically have more time away from work. The weather also helps draw people out of their homes and every-day routines. This week was especially full of various projects, fun, laughter, teaching, playing, helping others, and feeling really used by God. It's a great thing to feel used up by Him. It's what we want and hope for in our lives, and when it happens it leaves us feeling excited and exhausted. :) Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming as this summer will prayerfully continue to bring us a lot more of the same! Our English camps are also just around the corner- our first American campaign group arrives in one week. I can't believe it's almost time. One of our biggest prayers right now is for the hearts and minds of all of the Czech and American students who will be with us at camp and will be learning about God with us for an entire week!

Also, if you have interest and would like to help financially support a Czech student at camp please write me. We have many students each year who need scholarships to attend camp and we have a program set up just for them. Let me know if you would like to help!


Now, here are some pictures from our week:




As usual we had a good time with our friends Stana and Mikulas this week. With them being so extremely close in age (Miki is 3 weeks older) it's always good to watch them play and to have Stana to talk with about all of the things we are currently going through as their parents.





Dancing to our Thomas the Train video. Jakub has finally realized he might like to watch a video now and then. He asks for "toot toot" and points at the t.v. So, we watch a little Thomas the Train and he really likes the intro song and does the cutest dances to it. Today he took an exceptionally long nap in the afternoon and then he immediately asked for "toot toot" when he woke. It was cute- this time. :) He also snuck a paci out with him... stinker. :) He usually can only have them in the bed and soon enough I hope to work on getting rid of them. Any useful tips would be welcomed.





He's finally riding his "motorka" very well, both forward and backward. We've even been taking it outside so he can ride beside me while we walk to the river to feed the ducks (there are some baby ducks there this week! yeah!). It's exciting to see him want to use it so much- such a big boy! It's also nice to have him walk, run, and ride beside me now and that I don't always need the kocarek to push him in.


He's also doing well on the potty-training front! I'm sure once we have an "intensive training" or "diaper-less weekend" week sometime this summer it won't be long then before we're moving out of diapers! Yeah! If any of you have some special tricks regarding this feel free to pass them along. So far Jakub has been very observant and interested, so I don't think it will take long once we put some real focus on it. Right now we're just lightly teaching about it and helping him use it when he asks, which he's doing more and more and doing well.





I don't think I've posted about these before... These are part of the alphabet letters we put up along one wall in Jakub's room. He loves to point at them and sing the ABC's now. He can also say "A, B, and C" to start the song. The rest of the time he just dances and hums. :) This wall above looks pink here, but it's really a khaki brown.

And these are the letters Jakub's Aunt Nellie made for him. I LOVE them- thank you Nellie! They hang just above his bed and if you ask him where his name is, he can point to it and make 5 sing-song noises to match the 5 letters we say to spell it out.

I still have 3 more art projects to hang in his room, as well as curtains to buy and hang, and when I do I will finally take more pictures. Who knew it would take me so long to get it together. :) I guess that's why most people try to do it BEFORE the kid comes. :) My sister, Hope, painted him something, Josh's Grandmother just sent us her painting for him, and I'm painting him something at the moment. I can't wait until it's all complete!



And finally... the Rizotto recipe that several of you asked about. I made it again tonight, which reminded me that I had forgotten to write down the recipe.

Above you can see the type of rice you will need for true Rizotto, Arborio, though I'm sure any short-grain white rice will do. This particular rice stays soft and fluffy and responds well to cream. I've never made this in the U.S., though, so I don't know what options you have there.

Recipe for the rice:
- 1-2 cups of rice
- 1 spoon of butter
- 1-2 cubes of chicken bullion
- Real whipping cream
- Parmesan grated finely
- Salt to taste

In a non-stick sauce pan put 1-2 cups of rice- depending on how many you are cooking for. I usually do a little more than 1 cup, and that makes enough for me, Josh, and Jakub, as well as some leftover for Jakub the next day. Heat the pan to medium heat and very lightly brown the rice before adding anything else. Stir frequently. Then, add 1 cube of chicken bullion, 1 cup of water, and a small spoon of butter. Continue stirring often and cooking rice until soft. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water at a time as rice dries out, until rice is finally soft and fluffy. It takes about 30 minutes. Rice should be a little moist at end of cooking, not completely dried out. Once it is soft, add real whipping cream and stir it in until all of rice is moist and creamy, not too wet or soupy. Turn off the heat now. If I had to guess I would say it's about 1/2 cup of cream, but I just do it to taste. I also sometimes add a little salt or more bullion to the water for the rice during the cooking process until the flavor is just right. After adding the cream and thoroughly stirring, then add Parmesan to taste. I add about 1/2 a cup and stir it in well. You want a light flavor, but not so much cheese that it becomes clumpy and stringy in the rice. The rice is done.

You will also need:
- Olive oil (or other oil/butter if you like)
- 2-3 chicken breasts cubed
- Chopped leaf spinach - 1/2 to 1 cup depending on how much you are making
- Fresh, chopped mushrooms - maybe 2 cups
- Garlic powder to taste
- Onion powder or chopped onion to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste

In another pan, while the rice is cooking, you can cook the things that will go in the rice when it's finished. First, add a small spoon of olive oil to the pan and heat it on medium heat. Then add cubed chicken breasts and season them with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powders to taste. Lightly brown the chicken until it's done. Then, add the chopped mushrooms and spinach (and onions if you want) and cook until everything is tender/done. Once the rice is done you mix all of these things together with it.

I hope you like it! I wrote out a lot of details so you would know how I do it, but don't be overwhelmed. It's really very easy! You can mix and match things that you like as well. I sometimes make the chicken with chopped onions and red bell pepper instead of mushrooms. Green peas are another great veggie in it. I almost always add spinach because it tastes so good with this type of rice, cream, and cheese. Enjoy! And let me know if you try it. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week!