Categories
365 Czech Republic

Prepping For Baby

With the help of a Czech friend, I was finally able to get our winter tires changed over to spring ones. Sadly, however, the weather didn’t seem to get the message that it’s actually spring. This morning as I walked with Titus to school it was 46 degrees fahrenheit! I realize it’s technically still spring, but it’s the end of May. For this California native, wearing a jacket in May is like…actually, I have no comparison. I don’t know if I’ve ever worn a jacket in May. But I digress.

With a jacket on, I gave my father-in-law a quick tour of the town this morning. I needed show him where the little grocery stores are and how to get around just in case this baby decides to come soon and they are in need of food. We’re hearing that when she does go into labor she’ll be in the Czech hospital for at least three days so we’re prepping Papa and Nana for life abroad with two little ones while we’re at the hospital. It was fun to quickly walk the town and see Bethany’s dad’s reaction to walking around a European city. I remember that feeling well and every now and then it bubbles up which is really fun.

Playing and Having Fun (5/27/15)

Another friend, Romi, came over today to help Bethany fill out all the paperwork for the hospital. Bethany said it was a lot more than she had thought and she was very thankful for Romi’s assistance. During Romi’s visit, I drove Papa, Nana, and the kids over to the local grocery story, again, to give them the lay of the land in case they need to go to a bigger store for anything. We needed some groceries anyway so it worked out. There was lots of new fun things at the store today, including a bunch of Kellogg’s brand cereals. I was actually shocked because normally the cereal aisle is pretty limited. Needless to say we bought a box of “Frosties” (aka: Frosted Flakes) just because we could. Here’s a photo of Avery in the cereal aisle in her little car cart (if you look closely you can see a box of “Frosties” in the bottom left).

Playing and Having Fun (5/27/15)

When we got home from the store Avery wanted to park the car like Titus did the other day, so I let get some time behind the wheel while Papa captured video. Avery is clearly not as aggressive as Titus, but I think I like her style. Here’s what he got.

Playing and Having Fun (5/27/15)

After the successful car parking, Titus had started a pickup game of baseball with Nana so Avery, Papa, and I joined in on the fun. Titus eventually let me bat and after hitting what I believe was a line drive over the third baseman’s head, he chased me down and tagged me out. Papa somehow captured a short video of that as well and here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Finally we ate fast food tonight and went to a grocery store in Poland to find a baby bath sponge pad. We had tried different stores today but were unsuccessful and found one tonight in Poland which was a great. We got back kind of late so we quickly put the kids to bed and now I’m ready for the dream world as well. Good night!

Categories
365 Czech Republic

Winter Wheels and Good Meals

Winter Wheels

Today was Czech Independence Day from when they became Czechoslovakia back in 1918. Like many American holidays, in observance of the holiday many stores and shops were closed. Our team in Czech follows the Czech calendar so our office here was closed as well. With the extra day I had hoped we would be able to get our new winter tires on the car before this Saturday because November 1 is the date you’re supposed to have winter weather tires. We bought them a few weeks ago, but I’ve had them sitting in the garage for a moment when I can go get them switched. Thankfully, I can see the tire place from our house and it’s a 30 second walk to get there. While looking out the window today to see if they were open I saw their gate was unlocked and cars were driving in. Score! Titus and I packed up the car and coasted down our street to get them changed.

Winter Wheels

Winter Wheels

Titus thought it was great fun. For him, changing tires is just like the movie Cars and a pit stop with Lightning McQueen and honestly the guys today were about as fast as little Guido is in Cars. In about 8 minutes they had our car in and out with the tires on and ready to go. The guys at the shop are really nice and the main guy spoke really good English which was so nice. I don’t expect it and when it happens it’s an extra blessing, especially with the technical stuff like tires and auto repairs. They told me we probably need a few new tires for spring time, but we’ll get those fixed at a later date. And in the end the total charge was like $11 for the work. All in all it was a great little errand and I’m thankful to have those guys so close and be so helpful.

Winter Wheels

For lunch we decided to do a little picnic outside on the grass. The weather was cooler for sure, but the sun was shining and it was actually very nice outside. We basically did leftovers from last night’s chicken and drop biscuits. Bethany brought a little blanket out and all four of us enjoyed lunch together. It was nice just to relax a bit and be still.

While we were eating lunch Avery started to collect these leaves with long stems and turned them into a bouquet of dead leaves. She was really proud of it.

Winter Wheels

Tonight we had dinner with our friends, the Stephens. They invited us out since it was a holiday and we were excited to join them for a big family meal. The food was incredible and we enjoyed these fully loaded, barbecue grilled quesadillas! When we walked into the door Brian was still prepping them on the counter to get them ready for the grill and I snapped a quick photo. Mmmmmmmm.

Winter Wheels

The Stephens have a daughter, twin boys, and another boy on the way in November. Our kids had a lot of fun just playing with their kids and later in the evening they enjoyed playing the Wii in the living room. Brian and Aliesha are a blessing to chat with and wealth of knowledge on helping us continue to maneuver the Czech culture and transition here. As well, they were our regular support and Skype friends for the past few years before we came over here and I don’t know what we would’ve done without their help. Thank you, Stephens family, for having us over again and for the wonderful evening and great food!

Categories
365 Czech Republic

Titus Didn’t Start School But Made Himself a Sandwich

Today was supposed to be the day Titus was going to start preschool. I had hesitated to write about it because I really didn’t want to get my hopes up about it and I had a feeling something would go awry. As suspected we got a phone call a few days ago telling us that the preschool would be taking a field trip today and we would need to have a Czech/English speaker come with Titus. We discussed it, made a few phone calls to see anyone could do that for us, and finally decided we would just wait until Wednesday (10/15) to start him. With everyone not feeling well it just made sense to wait and see if Titus’ cough goes away and hope we can take him on Wednesday. Honestly, I’m trying hard not to be anxious about it because I know this will be a big change for our family. But I also know it’s part of life, and definitely a great tool that God will use to get us in to the community and getting Titus learning the language. I guess we’ll see how it goes on Wednesday.

Kids (10/13/14)

Above is a photo Bethany sent me today of Titus making himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He’s probably seen his mommy make them a thousand times and lately he’s been helping her and today he said, “I can do it myself, mommy.” Bethany said he needed a little help, but that he did a really good job on his own. Watching him grow is such a blessing, but it’s also hard (as I’m sure many parents know). You just want them to stay small. I know it’s the Lord’s plan and growth is part of life, but that doesn’t mean he has to make his own sandwich!

Here’s another photo (below) that Titus said he wanted to send to me. When I showed it to him later on my phone, he said, “That’s the cross.” Thanks for reminding me of the cross, son.

Kids (10/13/14)

Our friend Tadek came over this evening and brought us our new winter tires for our car. They weren’t cheap, but its’ a Czech law to have those kinds of tires on your car by November 1. Tadek, who originally help us buy our car, is such a great resource and help to us–I don’t know what I would’ve done without him. So now I’ve got a stack of tires in the car that I’ll have put on in a few weeks. Before he came over I played with the kids outside and got this photo of Avery. This kid is seriously gonna break some hearts…unintentionally, of course.

Kids (10/13/14)

Tonight Bethany had a ladies hangout at our friend’s house. Normally they would do a Bible study, but the leader is gone right now so they decided just to hang and watch a movie. I’m glad she got to get out of the house and enjoy some fellowship. I had a good time with the kids just finishing up dinner and cleaning the house. They both went to bed very easy tonight so I assume we tuckered them out today. Avery cried just a little bit for mommy so I laid her in our bed and she went right to sleep. And speaking of sleep…it’s about that time for me too.