Spring is Here!

Spring is finally here and it couldn't be more gorgeous.  The last 2-3 weeks have been full of warm temperatures and sunshine.  So much sunshine!!  I really don't mind the long, grey winters here, but I always forget just how much the sunlight makes a difference in everyone's attitudes, energy, and joy through out the day.  People and families are outside constantly right now, especially after school and work let out in the afternoons.  It's lovely.  Pure beauty.

Here are a few of the things we've been enjoying as Spring has arrived:

We've been playing outside a lot.  And picking wild flowers. And having nature hunts to see what God has made/is making all around us.  And going on long walks and bike rides.

I've also been the lucky recipient of some beautiful flowers, both wild and store-grown, and yummy breakfasts, and more hugs and kisses than I could ever count.  And private concerts and dance parties. These days with these kids can be so. much. fun.

Here are a few more things going on with them:
- They both go to pre-school now and are doing very well there.
- Sofia has begun speaking Czech and plenty of it.  She's a talker.  It's not all correct in Czech, of course, but it's obviously Czech and mostly understandable.  I'm so proud of her.  She's not shy with it at all!
- Jakub has had another growth spurt, looks like a 10 year old instead of a 6 year old, and he has 2 loose teeth.  He's super excited about loosing the first one and can't wait for it. :)  He's not afraid of it at all and I'm so glad.
- Sofia is learning to ride her bike and doing a great job.  Her balance is pretty good so far.  I'm sure it will get better and better with Spring time and being able to be out more often.

- JAKUB CAN READ!!!!  I have to say this is one of my favorite things to have witnessed so far with raising the kids.  A whole new world is opening up to him and he's reading in both languages and working on it so well, and all on his own.  Here they wait until 1st grade to teach reading and really learning the alphabet, phonetics, and some basic grammar and writing skills.  So we haven't pushed it much at home, other than just reading books every day for enjoyment and also relaxation before bed.  So, a couple of months ago when Jakub just started doing it on his own and picking it up quickly I was so amazed by him.  And now he can read and it's awesome.  He's reading to me at night, and reading lots of things he can see around him, and starting to read his own Bible.  What a beautiful milestone to witness.

And to end, here's a picture of Jake from our Easter markets on the square.  Easter was a beautiful time here of celebration of Spring and, more importantly, Jesus and his resurrection.  More on Easter later. ;)

What's been happening lately...

Back in January Jakub went for his "zapis do skoly."  He went for his entrance exam to 1st grade.  It's a major childhood milestone here and something families get anxious about with anticipation and celebrate highly after going through it together.  It's a big deal and we were no different as we went through it together and with several friends and families we have grown close to over the years.

Each year in January the grade schools host 2 nights of open house where parents and kindergartners visit one night and meet the 1st grade teachers and director of their local grade school where they might attend the following fall.  The children are "interviewed" or examined by a teacher who asks them a series of questions, does some basic math and hands-on activities with them, and assesses whether they seem ready for entering the 1st grade.  Of course it was all in Czech so I was most nervous about how Jakub might do in this new environment and being challenged with the questions in a way he is not typically.  We were able to watch from standing off to the side, where they had us filling out paperwork to enter him into the first grade, and I could not have been more proud.  He did excellently and was fluent and confident and very smart.  He may have felt nervous, but he didn't appear to be and he handled the situation very well.  I was so proud of him.  We both were.  And 2 weeks later we found out he was officially accepted into the school, which is just behind our home and we feel grateful and blessed for this good news!

Jakub you never cease to amaze us with your confidence, your willingness to try new things and take on new challenges, and your then wonderful ability to handle those challenges and usually excel at them quite well.  You are one very talented boy and blessed by God.  May you always look to Him for your strength and confidence and give thanks to Him for being abundantly blessed.  You are pretty amazing and we love you!!

Here's some of the other wonderful things you've been up to:

It's not the best quality, but you've just finished your first semester of swimming lessons with your classmates.  You LOVED it and did very well.  By the end you were confident in the water, swimming on your own with waist belts, and able to hold your head under water for at least 10 seconds.  You received a certificate at the end with your name on it and the saying "Ve vodě jsem jako doma."  You are comfortable in the water like you are at home.  I had so much fun watching you there and I look forward to swimming with you sometime.

Here your class at školka was showing all of us parents everything you had learned thus far at school. You and your teachers were letting us know that you are ready for 1st grade in the fall. :)  You were playing a game here, racing against the girls, to answer questions quickly and correctly.  I'm always amazed at your ability to speak Czech and to be comfortable with your friends and teachers.  

You don't look happy here, but you really were.  You were tired because you had to get up at 630 am for your first day of ski lessons with your school.  The bus came at 730 to pick you up and you were so excited and ready to go!  You've also done really well with this, not been afraid, and accepted the challenge of learning to ski.  You are doing very well at it and will have your last lesson, the 6th one, this week.  You are not ready for it to end, but there is not much snow left now on the mountain. :)  You have learned very well and are much more confident in it now.  I hope I get to ski with you sometime and you will teach me some things. :)  I'm constantly impressed with the opportunities your school and director make possible for you young children.  What an amazing thing that you have learned to ski with friends at the age of 5-6. 

Your bag and note I made you for the first day of skiing.  I love making you these morning notes as much as you love getting them.  You often write me one back and it's so sweet.  You liked this one, but you teased me that my skiers looked more like they were falling down or falling off the mountain. :)  

You sweet boy.  You are full of energy, confidence, adventure, and life.  I love to spend time with you! :)  I am sure this year is going to bring even more adventures as we both figure out what it means to enter first grade here. :)  I hope you love it as much, or more, as you have loved pre-school and the many experiences you have had thus far!

Sweet Sofia turns 3!! Happy Birthday!

This darling, loving, sarcastic, funny, dramatic, sugary-sweet little girl turned 3 yesterday!  Happy Birthday Sofia!  You are one of the best things that has ever happened in my life.  You, and your brother.  You had a wonderful birthday yesterday and it was full of celebrations that started with your family and Auntie Madison in the morning at home and was followed by celebrations with your church family in the afternoon.  You were shy about accepting all of the attention and well wishes from everyone, but you enjoyed it as well and loved the celebratory atmosphere.  It was great!

Here are some pictures from your special day.

Here's the heart-shaped cake that Madison and I made for you.

Here's you with Jakub.  He wanted to help you blow the candles out. :)

 Family cake and lunch, and brother being silly as usual. :)

 Jakub made you a birthday card and he was so proud of it. :)

The new dress that Madison gave you.  So beautiful! And you wore it to church.

Your new "Frozen" princess Elsa dress.  You love it more than anything else I think.  :)  You ran around in it all afternoon.  When you and brother are sweet to each other and having fun together it's one of the best things.  It makes for a happy and peaceful home. :)  

 The new "My Family" playhouse you got from me and Daddy.

Happy Birthday sweet Sofia!  May you always be so sweet and tender-hearted.  May you always want to be where the people are, laughing and singing and dancing, and telling stories full of imagination and adventure.  You have a creative and lively spirit and I pray that continues.  We love you to the moon and back 1 million times. :)

Today, on Monday, you are off to pre-school for your first full day there.  You were excited this morning, and ready, and not afraid at all.  You wore your back pack there like a big girl, with your pajamas inside for your first nap time at school.  You're looking forward to it because your class naps in your brother's classroom, usually.  And you are both looking forward to seeing each other after lunch.  I'm proud of you both for looking out for each other and I hope it continues at school. :)  And I hope you always love school as much as you do now- looking forward to being with friends, to learning, to helping the teacher and wanting to learn from her.  You are even starting to speak Czech quickly now and are not as shy about it as before.  That's great!

And I can't forget to mention that as you have turned 3 now you have begun sleeping in a big-girl bed on the bottom of the bunk bed.  Brother moved to the top and Daddy took your baby bed away this weekend.  You were nervous about it at first, and didn't go to sleep the first night until 11pm.  You were happy, but nervous and excited, and couldn't stop talking and exploring in your new bed. :)  But you also woke up dry from your nightly pull-up on your very first morning and were extremely proud of yourself.  Things change so quickly. :)

We love you Sofia and look forward to hopefully many more happy and blessed years together as a family!!

More of Christmas! :)

Here are some more pictures from Christmas that I just felt like adding to the blog. :)  What a wonderful time we had here at home and with friends!  Above are the Christmas brownies Sofia made with me and Madison.

 So much love!

 Probably his favorite gift of all- a new hot wheels car.

 She was so excited about each and every gift.  There were a lot of "wow!" and "I love it!" moments.  She is super sweet. :)

 What a blessed Christmas time with plenty of gifts and love given to us from friends and family both here and in the states.

 "Wow!!!"  I think it was about her blue toenail polish from her stocking. :)  Her first one!

 Winter socks! :)

This is the beautiful ginger bread house that Jakub won in our white elephant game the week before Christmas.  It was his first year to play with us and our students at our annual Christmas party.  I think it was really the best gift of the night and he was so excited when he opened it and then got to keep it.  It also tasted very good. :)

 The beautiful knit-ornament family my friends Sona and David gave us this year for our tree.  I will hang them every year and remember what a dear friend she is to me and how much we love and appreciate their family and all we get to do together here in Olomouc.

 Playing some of the games we got for Christmas, including an x-box from our family in the states.  Everyone loves it!

A quick Christmas-time trip to Prague to see some friends and also renew my passport at the embassy.  We had a great time and I'm so glad Madison went with us.  Train trips and hotels with kids are always a fun and exhausting adventure. :)  Here we found a beautiful nativity scene and some live animals to pet and feed in downtown Prague.  Thank you God for one of the best Christmases so far and thank you for your Son- the reason to celebrate every single day of life.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015!

You sweet things!  This was a very magical and beautiful Christmas holiday!  You were so excited for it to begin and every week was full of fun events, parties, surprises, and special moments with friends and our church.  Thankfully, Jakub was well in time for it all.  Prior to the holiday time he had been sick for about 5 weeks with urinary infections, antibiotics, 3 stomach flu viruses, a bad cold, and iron-deficiency anemia.  It was rough and I felt like he might never be fully well again.  Thankfully, with the help of his doctor and God's blessings, and a lot of prayer from many people, he was well just before the holidays started and was able to enjoy almost all of it with us and with his friends. Praise God!  Here's to hoping and praying that in 2016 he feels much better, is very healthy, and the anemia does not return!

The kids helped me make Christmas cookies this year and we had so much fun!  I especially loved the little reindeer with hearts.  The kids were most excited about their extra-large Christmas trees they ate after dinner while we watched Frosty the Snowman together.  :)

Our beautiful, real Christmas tree.  Jakub, you and Daddy picked it out and carried it home together.  We usually use our fake tree, but this year we enjoyed very much having and smelling a real one. :) It was great to decorate it with you and Sofia while we listened to Bing Crosby sing Christmas carols. This is my favorite time of the year!!

I just really love this picture of you three getting the lights ready.  I hope we have many more Christmases together and that we always enjoy them this much.

This beautiful lady, Madison, also spent Christmas with us this year.  Jake and Sofia, you love her very much and she has been a very good Aunt to you all while living in Olomouc and working with us here the past two years.  She loves you both more than you'll ever know and she spoils you rotten. :)  In a good way.  She is constantly bringing you treats, and gifts, and thinking of you and helping take care of you.  She doesn't even mind when you are sick and she has helped me through some difficult times to take care of this family. :)  She'll be leaving Olomouc this April to return to the U.S. to continue in life and work there, and be near her family, but I hope our family will always be connected to her and that you might know her the rest of your lives.  She's wonderful!

And Christmas was wonderful as well.  We took you on Christmas Eve morning, with Madison, to the movie theater to watch old Czech Christmas fairytales from the 50's and 60's.  You laughed a lot and we had so much fun together.  The Kino Metropol does this for families every year and they are so sweet there.  They give gifts to you children and really provide a great, family-like, holiday atmosphere.  We then spent the rest of the day playing and eating and listening to Christmas music.  You both were so excited!  On Christmas eve, after your baths, we heard the bells ringing near the Christmas tree and we knew that Ježišek had visited and brought you some of your Christmas gifts.  You both received some new books, crafts, markers, and chocolate.  You were very happy.  And you couldn't wait for Santa to come in the night and bring the rest of your gifts.  Madison also spent the night, which you were both thrilled about.  And waking up the next morning all together was very special.

We had a very magical Christmas time and I'm thankful to God for the many gifts and blessings He gave and continues to give us.  The best and most important is his Son, Jesus, whom we thanked and celebrated at Christmas time.  I'm also extremely grateful for our family and the good health we enjoyed and the memories we made this holiday season.  I pray we have another great, even better, year together loving each other and making more memories.  We are blessed!

Beginning of školka for Sofia!

Sofia, my princess, you LOVE school.  You are only 2, but you already want to be at pre-school with the other kids, with Jake, and to learn and play with others.  You are very social, though shy at first, and love to be around other people and where the activity is going on.  You talked with us many times about going to school, long before the day came to try it out.

In December your class at pre-school opened- a brand new class.  They are called "little mice" in Czech.  Since you will begin full-time in February when you turn 3, you are now allowed to "try" school for 5 days each month.  You were and are so ready for it.  :)  On your first day you were so excited and jumping around the house, getting ready enthusiastically, and practically running to school with your little back pack on.  You're adorable and happy almost all of the time (until you get sassy and bossy).  Unfortunately I didn't get to go with you on your first day because Jakub was very sick at home, but Daddy took you and you were so brave.  You put your things away in your locker and left him to go into the classroom and to your teacher, a very kind woman you call "Pani Učitelka" (ms. teacher in Czech).   You held her hand as she walked you around the room to meet the other children and tell them your name.  You were very quiet, but brave, and stayed until lunch time with no problems.  The teacher said the entire week you were very sweet and very quiet and happy to be there. You did many crafts and played with some of the kids.  You were also happy to play alone.  On your first day to be picked up you hugged the kids goodbye. :)  Sweet, sweet, sweet Sofia.

You liked it very much and are ready to go back "when I be 3."  As you say.  My heart breaks for you to leave me.  I have loved having you home with me every day and through all things.  You are sweet to me and love to be by my side doing most things together.  And I love to play and cook and clean and do those things with you as well.  But I'm also happy for you to go and play and learn with the other children, because it makes you so happy and you already thrive there.  I think you will be just as social, energetic, smart, and happily challenged by school as your brother has been.  I can't wait to see what all you learn there and how you grow. :)  And I can't wait to see you confidently speaking Czech.

We love you Sofia!!

Happy Birthday Jakub!

Happy Birthday Jakub!  We had a wonderful time celebrating your 6th birthday at home.  Your best friend Mikuláš and his Mom, my best friend Stana, came to celebrate with us, as well as our good friend Madison.  We had so much fun opening gifts together, eating, and playing.  You and Mikuláš ran around like crazy, as usual. :)  You can see in the two pictures above that you two have been friends since you were babies.  In the first picture you are both 1 year old.  Now you are 6!  The time has gone by so quickly.  You both remain good friends at pre-school and like to play together there as well.  You sometimes still fight like brothers, but you also play very well and love each other.  You especially love to go to his house and play and spend the night.

Madison helped me make this beautiful cake for you.  I saw a picture of it on the internet and really wanted to try and make it.  You really love super-hero things right now, playing with spiderman and batman, and you also love to build with your legos.  You have great ideas about how to engineer things and maybe one day you will want to build, design, or be an architect.  You really liked the cake, but didn't want to eat much for some reason.  We would later find out in the night that you were going to get a stomach flu and be very sick for a few days (and then a few weeks... more on that later.)

Here's a picture of me and Stana.  She has remained a very good friend of our family's.  She's very encouraging, positive, and sweet.  I love to spend time with her while you kids play.  :)

And very close to your birthday we had a "fall festival" party with our "Moms and Kids" Wednesday English program.  You were dressed as Spiderman and Sofia was a princess.  You both had a lot of fun on this day and we had a good party.  Two of your friends from school started coming this semester and it made the class more fun for you.  In general, though, at this age you didn't like to participate anymore because you were "bored" and already knew all of the English well.
It was hard for you to sit through the classes, but you loved to play with your friends. :)  I always have a lot of fun teaching this class and many of the moms have become my good friends as well.

So, Happy Birthday to you Jake!  You're awesome and we love you very much!  You are confident, smart, energetic, and constantly wanting to learn something new, try something new, run, play, and live life to the fullest.  You keep me on my toes and striving to challenge you and show you new things.  I think you are going to love first grade next year and the new challenges it brings.  I can't wait to see it!