You Are What You.... Watch?!?

Last night Lydia stunned us with her artistic rendition of Bob and Larry. (For those of you who don't know Bob & Larry (is this possible???), they are the stars of VeggieTales and Lydia's personal heroes).

I assumed it was a coincidence, but no... she proclaimed she was drawing Bob and Larry, then proceeded to state "I'm drawing eyes and mouth." And when Daddy asked if they needed hats, well... hats were necessary indeed. This gave me great hope since, for the past 2-1/2 years, our daughter has generally shown more of Daddy's engineering brain than Mommy's creative brain.

Anyone know if BigIdea is hiring artists?

Language Immersion

We were invited to a "work" party last weekend. I say that in quotes because when we arrived Brandon quickly realized we were the only work people to show up... the remaining 50 people were the village neighbors and friends of the party host. ALL Czech, NONE speaking English (with the exception of one English/Italian couple). Thankfully, they had rented a bouncy castle for the kids, so Brandon and I spent most of the evening stationed at the entrance to the castle.

It's funny, we realized quickly how far we have progressed with our Czech language lessons, but how incredibly useless it is. Once we get past the "hellos" and "My name is....", does ANYONE ever really ask "How old are your parents/siblings/pets and where do they live?" or "What did you prepare for dinner last night? And what time did you go to bed? What time did you get up?" If they did, we could've had some grand 5-minute conversations.... as long as the Czechs didn't respond in any way. Then we'd have to apologetically reply, "I'm sorry. I speak English". Translation: "That's as far as our conversation is going to go. My 'Czech' act has come to a conclusion because you have reached the limits of my conversing abilities in two minutes."

Lydia, however, is quite comfortable in these situations. We noticed that she was perfectly at ease in the castle, jumping, bouncing and banging body parts with multitudes of Czech-speaking children. A few 6-year-old girls were drawn to Lydia and very intent on talking to her, VERY close to her face (personal space is not as expansive here). She just sat there, enduring their speeches with a blank look on her face. Then calmly just turned away, stood up and resumed jumping.

Ah, the simplicity of communcation at the age of 2. Would it work to respond in that manner as an adult? We'll have to give it a try sometime.... if only they'd allow us into that bouncy castle!!!

Who needs words anyway?

Queen of the castle. While Czech kiddies fall by the wayside, she just keeps going and going and going.....

Just a little off the top....

Lydia had her first "salon" haircut last week. Much overdue, she left there feeling like a new woman!

Before...


During.... I may look angry, but that's just my "tough girl" act. I'm lovin' the pampering and the special cape is oh, so cool!


Looking good....


After

A good time was had by all

Oh, what a blessed gift. On Brandon's own initiative, he arranged a day off for mommy. He and a friend, Chris (a.k.a Owen's daddy), took the kids out for the day so Laura (a.k.a Owen's mommy) and I could have a toddler-free morning.

Daddies and kids went to an aviation museum that fascinated the kids. Both kids are still talking about airplanes and helicopters 4 days later!

The mommies went with no agenda (for once!). We sat and talked while we sipped our Coffee Heaven coffee. Then walked around Prague for a bit, did some shopping and stopped for lunch where we were able to eat and have great conversation.... uninterrupted and without rushing home for naptime! Oh, what bliss!

The best part of the day, by far, was when we arrived home to sleeping toddlers and daddies who both admitted they have a better appreciation for what we mommies do every day. And we didn't even have to pry that admission out of them!


"Hey Owen! How'd ya' like to look at some planes?"

Loungin' on the "tarmac"

Lydia knows a good torpedo when she sees one!

Preparing for a baby... in Czech

It's obvious that an expectant mother has many things to do to prepare for the arrival of a baby: purchase baby clothes, bottles, pacifiers, and bedding; wash said clothing and bedding, sterilize bottles and pacifiers; stock up on diapers (who knows when/if she'll ever get out of the house again?!?); shop for hospital-worthy robe and post-birth attire; manage an increasingly chaotic schedule of doctor visits; not to mention dealing with the backaches, exhaustion, lack of sleep and anxiety that accompanies pregnancy.

So, what exactly does Daddy do to prepare for the new addition? Take Czech lessons, of course!

Yes, Brandon's language lessons have an interesting theme these days: How to communicate with the hospital staff during/after my wife has given birth. Take just a moment to envision exactly what this means... Brandon (an ENGINEER) now sits in a room with a female Czech language tutor whom he knows only on a casual, weekly tutor-ish basis and dutifully recites sentences in Czech such as "Excuse me. My wife needs a hygenic pad" and various other blush-worthy phrases that a male wouldn't dream of uttering to a semi-stranger.

I guess you could say Brandon has his own version of a pregnancy headache. Ahhhh.... it's so good for him!

Welcome Kyrgyzstan!

We see your red dot and feel pretty special! ;-)

Italy, Sweet Italy

My final getaway from Prague (until Christmas), and as a mother of one child, was accompanying Brandon on a business trip to Italy. We spent the weekend as a family and then he worked 2 days while Lydia and I hung out at the hotel.

We stayed near the town of Assisi and I can't say enough about the beauty of the area and the town. Even though it was incredibly hot and the hilly cobblestone streets of the town were difficult for "Pregnant Lady", I absolutely loved being there. However, when I looked through our pictures after we returned home, it looks like all we did with our time there was eat gelato. Hey, I'm pregnant and I don't need another excuse, so quit making me feel guilty!!!!

We'll save the airplane horror stories for sometime when we see you in person...


Gelato...


Gelato...


...and more gelato!

"Sometimes"

So.... what is Mr. Cabaret supposed to do when his 150 girls AREN'T "up to dancing"?!? I should know better than to expect a good ol' Midwest work ethic halfway around the world.