Laughter

I love that we all know how to laugh and have fun in our home. Don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of sibling rivalry and there are many times when we need to choose our battles wisely but more often than not we act silly and laugh. Today was a perfect example. Ali walked into the bathroom while I was blowdrying my hair and yelled, "I'm a pirate!" I turned to look at her and I just had to laugh as she stood there with her eye patch on, her hand on her hip and her leg bent. My little pirate with attitude. Once I started laughing so did Ali and she lost the whole pirate with attitude look. Luckily she was able to pull it together for a picture.

Sickness

Sickness has found our house during this school vacation. We started with Sofia's headache on the last day of school which moved into a fever. Ali followed suit with a fever on Sunday. By Tuesday we seemed to be in the clear. We were wrong becuase on Saturday Ali had another fever with a sore throat. Saturday brought vomiting from both children. Strangely, Sofia seemed completely unphased with the vomiting and seemed fine on Sunday albeit slightly tired. Ali's sore throat and fever continued. Jason also started with a cold over the weekend as well. On Monday I brought Ali to the doctor in fear of strep. Of course she had strep so we started antibiotics. While at the lekarna (pharmacy) I also picked up some antibacterial hand sanitizer. I have been on a sanitizer frenzy since...no sharing germs! I don't want to get sick and I want the rest of my household to feel better! The girls seem to be doing much better now that Ali is on antibiotics. The amazing thing so far is that Sofia hasn't gotten an ear infection. I think this may be the first cold that hasn't resulted in an ear infection! I'm hoping for a sickess-free remainder to school vacation.

Merry Christmas!

Surprisingly the girls slept in a little bit on Christmas morning. Sofia didn't come into our room until 7:20! I know that doesn't seem late to a lot of people but we consider that "sleeping in" for our kids. She was so excited and wanted to go downstairs immediately. She asked if she could wake Ali up so we could all go down. We convinced her to just stay with us for a little bit until Ali woke up which didn't take long. Once Ali was up we all headed downstairs to see what Santa had brought. The girls were so excited to see all the presents and after going through their stockings started to tear open all their presents. This is the first year that they have reallt just ripped through all the presents. Last year they would open a present and want to play with it but this year they wanted to see what everything was first. It was fun to watch them as they opened their gifts and see the joy on their faces. After all the gifts were open then they were ready for some food so I got out the holiday sweet bread that I had made. I knew they weren't going to come sit at the table for a real breakfast so at least this got something in their bellies. They ate the bread and played with their toys until abou eleven when we had a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, and homefries. The rest of the day was very lazy. The girls played with their toys, Jason had about 5 cups of espresso/cappucino/coffee since I got him a nespresso machine for Christmas, and I just relaxed. It was a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

The day before Christmas we hung out and played at home during the day. I made my yearly holiday sweet bread and Sofia helped me roll it out and braid it this year. She was excited to help me make the bread since she remembered helping to make it last year. Jason made our dinner a little early and stuck it outside once it was done so that we could go to our friends house for a little while. My friend, Beanie, had invited us over to her house for drinks and hors devours with friends. It was nice to be with our friends on Christmas Eve.While it is nice to have family time it is also nice to celebrate Christmas with other people. I have always celebrated Christmas Eve with extended family. For those of you who know my mom's family, Christmas Eve is a large gathering with lots of laughter and singing. It was nice to keep the tradition of celebrating with extended family even if it is a different family that isn't blood related.

Snow

The temperature finally dropped here and with it the rain changed over to snow. We had about 3 days of snow that amounted to about one inch. It was beautiful to watch the snow as I backed cookies. Since it has remained cold the snow has stayed around and yesterday the girls went out and made a snowman with Jason. Since the temperature had warmed up a little bit yesterday the snowman is not the cleanest since the snow had turned a bit slushy and wasn't that deep to begin with the snowman has a little dirt in him. The girls didn't seem to care that is wasn't the purest snow and had a blast making the snowman.

Strasbourg, France

On Saturday morning we got up and ready to go to Strasbourg. Sofia's headache was still not gone though and she complained that it only hurt on one side and when she shook her head. We were a bit concerned that maybe it had something to do with the tubes that had been put in her ear. We also didn't want to get to France only to have it get worse so instead of heading to Strasbourg we headed to the ear doctor. After waiting we were able to see the doctor and we were happy to hear that her ears were fine and her sinuses weren't showing signs of being clogged. It appeared she just had a cold. It was amazing that she could have a cold without an ear infection! After getting the all clear that there wasn't something majorly wrong we dosed her up with motrin and headed to Strasbourg. Of course the doctor had said to stay home and rest but we decided the fresh air of France would be a good rest! Once she had the motrin she was fine and happy that we were continueing on to France. The ride was very snowy for the first 3 hours but the remaining two and a half hours the ride was fine. We arrived without any problems to our hotel. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant which was surprisingly good and since it was a Holiday Inn the kids ate free. The girls were both exhausted though and we all headed up to bed.

In the morning we went to breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast was buffet style which is always nice with the kids. If they don't like something they can just have something else. Yes, it is incredibly wasteful but as a parent it is much easier! After breakfast we bundled up and headed outside. We knew it would be cold so we brought the kids snow pants but we just didn't realize how cold it was going to be. Unfortnulatey for us Strasbourg was having an unusual cold snap and the temperatures were about -13 celsius (about 8 degrees fahrenheit)!!! Who knows what it was with the windchill but it was down right freezing!! We had to buy new boots for Sofia and my feet were so cold I had trouble walking. After a stop for hot chocolate and a stop for crepes we decided to head back to the hotel to warm up and regroup. We bundled the kids even more with tights, pants, turtlenecks, hooded sweatshirts (with the hoods up), hats, jackets with hoods up, kneck warmers, scarfs, snowboots, snowpants and gloves and we put vaseline on their faces. I changed my socks so my feet would stay warmer and I changed my scarf to my giant thick scarf. I put my hood up on my long down coat and wrapped my scarf around my neck and face . Jason put on an extra layer as well and we were ready to brave the cold again. It was more enjoyable this time around. We were able to take a little more time to look at all the stalls and stop for waffles and hot wine/ hot apple cider. Since it was now dark we also had the chance to see the city lit up with Christmas lights. We found and bought a nativity that we really liked and then had to go in for dinner to warm up. Since we had just had waffles and pretzels we didn't need a lot for dinner so we stopped for crepes. While in France I find it completely acceptable to have crepes for breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner! The kids love this as it is such a treat. Little do they know that I enjoy it as much as they do!! On Sunday we headed out again, of course well bundled, to check out a couple other markets before we headed home. It was a fun weekend but I think we need to go back to Strasbourg again when the temperture is a bit warmer. I think it is probably a cute city but since it was so cold we couldn't lazily look around as we strolled to sightsee. Luckily it is a easy drive to get there so who knows maybe we will find outselves there again soon.

Since we have been home we have been enjoying the nativity that we bought and put on our mantel as well as the "biscuits" we bought. In the Alsace region they make bredle which we thought was gingerbread but isn't gingerbread at all but rather small cookies or "biscuits" as they call them. We stopped in a shop to buy some and we saw a tin that was very cute. We decided to get the tin since it was only 5 euro. We didn't realize that to fill the small tin it would cost us 26 euro! So we are enjoying our 31 Euro biscuits and laughing about how silly we can be while on vacation.

Parties Parties everywhere!

The last week has been filled with parties! After visiting Santa's Grotto on Friday we headed to the first party of the season. The kids' friend, Lucy, had her 7th birthday party. The party was filled with fun games like pass the parcel and freeze dance. Our friend Laura was also at this party to do the girls hair. The girls were so excited to have their hair done....what better way to celebrate than with a braid or ponytail with red and sparkles sprayed in the hair! The following Wednesday we went to Lucy's brother's party. Clark is in Ali's class and this was his 5th birthday party. This was definitely a boy party with a star wars theme. The kids made light sabers and had sword fights followed by some pin the light saber on Yoda. (Sofia didn't go to Clark's party since it was all "younger" kids and she would rather have a playdate with her friends!) On friday we had the class parties. No longer will I have combined class parties for the girls. Instead I had to head to Ali's building for her class party in the morning and then Sofia's class party in the afternoon. Ali had a lot of fun at her party. The teachers played games with the kids while the moms set up the classroom for the party. Once the room was set up the kids came back in and one of the techers put on a puppet show about a dragon who only ate meat and was convinced to eat fruits and vegetables. I'm not sure how much of the story really made it to the kids since the first thing they reached for were sweets once we let them sit down to eat! In the afternoon I went to Sofia's class party. Sofia did seem a little pale when I saw her so I asked her if she was ok. She said she was fine but after watching her for a little bit I asked her again and she started crying. She told me her head hurt so much. I thought that it may have been caused my the loud dance music that had been on for the kids to dance to in the Jidelna (cafeteria) while the parents set up the room so I gave her some tylenol. Luckily my friend Natalie brought Ali over from the early years school so I just packed Sofia and Ali into the car and headed home. It was a busy week with a lot of parties and happenings. It was time for some quiet time at home.

Christopher Pop-in-kins

My Aunt Carlene mailed Christopher Pop-in-Kins to the girls this year. If you don't know Christopher Pop-in-Kins, he is an elf that visits children before Christmas. He "pops in" every night to homes to see what children are doing. In the morning the kids have to find where Christopher is hiding but when they find him they can't touch him or he loses his magic and will have to go back to the North Pole. The girls have really been having fun searching for Christopher every morning. We started out with easy hiding places but have been getting more difficult since the girls are becoming very good at finding him. Ali brought the book that comes with Christopher into school last week to tell her class about him. I think this will definitley make it ito the yearly tradition.

Our Christmas Tree

Life has been crazy but before Jason went to work on Saturday we set out to get our christmas tree. There is a garden shop close to our house and since we knew they had trees we headed there. We could have walked to get the tree but since we then had to get the tree home we decided to drive. Christmas trees here are not as symetrical as they are in the states. Your average Christmas tree here has many barren areas and are just randomly shaped as trees are. We were, of course, on the hunt for the perfect tree. I didn't want a tree with bare spots or funky shapes. The pickings were slim but we did find the perfect tree. As Jason commented once we had it in the stand, "It looks like an American tree!". Amazingly it was also of the cheapest variety and only cost about $20USD. I guess the Czech standard of beauty is different for Christmas trees. I'm glad beauty is in the eye of the beholder and our beauty is cheap!

We put the tree in the stand and left it there overnight to let the branches fall before decorating. On Sunday we got ready to decorate and realized that for the last two years we have had a very small tree that only required one string of lights. That was not going to cut it this year so we bundle up and headed to Hornbach (like Home Depot/Lowes). We purchased more lights for the tree as well as some new decorations and outdoor lighting. Once we were home the kids couldn't wait to start decorating. We had to keep telling them to wait until the lights were on the tree. Once we started putting the ornaments on the girls had so much fun. We tried to let them decorate the tree as they wanted but sometimes we had to adjust some ornament locations. We didn't think three of the same ornament on one branch was ideal! Now the tree is decorated and Jason put the lights on the shrub outside. We are ready for Christmas!

Santa's Grotto

Every year the girls school is lucky enough to have Santa come visit. A little Santa's grotto is set up in the high school and Santa awaits the children with a little present and a lollipop. This year marks the first year that the girls weren't scared of Santa. Now I'm not saying they ran up to him with joy but they did go up to him and sit on his lap without major cajoling and tears. Sofia couldn't think of anything she wanted for Christmas and Ali, with some prompting, said she wanted a barbie doll. This year we also brought the girls friend Bella along with us since her mom (my friend, Beanie) was out of town. Bella was also perfectly happy to go in to see Santa so it was an easy year for visiting Santa. After visiting Santa we headed over to the bake sale. The kids ate their lollipops from Santa as well as some cupcakes, chocolate and juice that I let them buy at the bake sale. I prefer the bake sales at the high school since they always sell used books. While the kids were snacking on sweets I was able to get six books for 120Kc ($6.50USD)! They may not be the best books but at least they aren't $15 a book.

Nativity Play

The Nursery and Reception classes had their Nativity performance this morning. This is the first year that the two classes have performed together. They set up a stage and the kids were very excited for the show. Ali was a little difficult to see since she was all the way in the back but she seemed to have fun. She really got into some of the songs and others she stayed true to being a four year old and was often distracted. Strangely enough she would continue singing the words while she was playing with her hands and staring off into space. Here is a video of the welcome song. Ali is in the back row. If you can't find her at the beginning you will notice her at the end waving to us.

Belgium without kids

Jason and I finally made a trip without the kids. Being so far away from family meant that we couldn't just leave our children at home. When they were younger we didn't feel comfortable leaving them overnight with someone other than family. Now, however, the kids are a bit older and Iva, our babysitter, is wonderful. We asked Iva if she would be willing to watch the kids for the weekend and she agreed. I was very excited and I told the girls who were also very excited. I wasn't sure if they would be excited or if they would break down in tears. I should have known that they would be happy since whenever Iva can't babysit on a Friday night the kids cry becuase she isn't coming! She really has become part of our family. She is so good with the kids and not only did she take care of them over the weekend, she also brought them into town to see Mikulas (St Nicholas). "Mikulas" also left chocolates on the windowsill for the girls. They were excited to tell us how Mikulas came in the night and left candy for them. These are the special things that Iva does that makes her one of a kind. In any event, becuase of flight times I also had to depend on my friends to help me out with the kids as well. My friend Inge was wonderful and picked the kids up from school on Friday and kept them with her until six when she drove them home (since Iva was getting to our house at six) and then she picked them up again on Monday morning and drive them to school. She is amazing since not only did she do this for me without batting an eyelash, she did with it with three boys of her own to take care of! At the end of the day on Monday my friend Kelly took Sofia and my friend Natalie took Ali and kept them until we arrived home and picked them up around 7pm! Thank goodness for great friends!

With all the logistics taken care of, Jason and I headed to the airport for our flight to Brussels. Flying without the kids is a completely different experience. I fell asleep before take-off then woke up read my book and watched part of a tv show on my iphone. Before I could finish watching my show we were landing in Brussels. We got off the plane and went in search of our bus to take to the train station. With kids this can be hectic but without them it just didn't matter how long it took us to figure out where we were going! We found the bus and headed to the train station where once again we didn't know where to go. We figured it out and boarded our train into brussels where we switched to another train bound for Brugge. The transitions were so easy without having to drag the kids around bus stations and train stations etc. This is actually one of the reasons we chose Brugge as a destination without the kids. It just is not that easy (with kids) to get to since it requires a plane and a couple trains. Anyway, we arrived in Brugge and found our B&B which was lovely. The ground floor was an art gallery and the top floor was the owners apartments. The first floor (2nd floor in the States) was where the B&B rooms were. Our room was small but very comfortable and since it was just the two of us the size was perfect. Jason and I did get a laugh when we arrived though and started to walk up the stairs to our room. Being in Czech for three years has rubbed off and we both felt very uncomfortable wearing our shoes inside and walking up the steps which were painted white! I had to make a quick look down to make sure the owner was wearing his shoes before I stepped on the first step. The owners were very friendly and gave us good tips on what to see and where to go for dinner. We had anticipated spending a lot of time sitting in cafes but instead we spent most of our time walking around and seeing how cute everything was in Brugge. We also went on a canal tour which was a great way to see the town. While we didn't spend our time sitting in cafes we did still take a couple breaks to have hot chocolate and to stop in many chocolate shops. On Saturday night we went to the oldest cafe in Brugge which is really a bar. It is also on the narrowest street in Brugge. Anyway we ended up sitting at a table with two british guys, Paul & Charlie, and two Flemish people, Dieter & Angelique. We learned a lot about the difference between the Flemish people and the people from Waloonia (Waloonia is in the South of Belgium). I'm not sure how accurate the information is but we had a lot of fun hanging with this random assortment of people. On Sunday we headed back to Brussels. We did a lot of walking in Brussels as well. We took in a couple of major sites and went to the Christmas markets. We flew back to Prague on Monday afternoon after a fun weekend. We were happy to see the kids and they were happy to see us.