Easter Bake Sale

On Friday the girls school had its Easter bake sale.  Since it was last bake sale we will attend at their school I decided to make cupcakes.  Most of the bake sales I don't make anything and opt to help set up instead but this time I didn't want to have to do any work so making the cupcakes the night before was easy.  Anyway, the weather was nice outside so as soon as the kids were done having their faces painted we headed outside with their sweets to enjoy the day.  I got there early to browse the different stalls and finally bought some baskets from the basket lady.  These baskets are made out of plastic and I have looked at them for a while but have never bought any but I decided to buy two of the smaller baskets to go in the kids bathroom of the house we don't yet have in the United States. Haha, at least I'll be ready when we find a house!

The Dump

Over the last week I have been cleaning out closets and drawers and donating the things that are in good condition to a food and clothing drive that is being held by the kids school.  It really came at the perfect time for me!  Over the weekend Jason and I attacked the attic and the basement to get them all cleaned out for the move.  The attic was fairly simple as we only had a few boxes up there but the basement was a little more involved.  We did manage to get it all cleaned out and had piles for "move back to US", "give away" and trash/recycleing.  Most of the trash/recycling was easy and just went in our outside trash can but we did have 4 old winter tires and the old crib mattress from Ali's crib which couldn't just go out with the trash.  They needed to be disposed of separately and since I knew where the dump was I headed there today to see if I could get rid of the tires and mattress.  I found my way to to the dump and went into the office building that was there.  Noone spoke English so I used some horrible czech since my automobile czech and dump czech are not my best and got my point across that I had tires and mattress to get rid of.  They found a man to help me and the rest of easy.  He brought me over to the "little house" where i drove the car onto the scale to be weighed.  We went inside and filled out some paperwork.  The man then came out with me and directed me to drive to deposit the different items.  After dropping off everything I had to drive back to the "little house" and drive onto the scale again.  I then went inside and paid about $12.  I guess it doesn't matter what you dump since you pay for how much it weighs.  It was an interesting experience and even after four and a half years in Prague I still get to do new things.

Flights booked!

Jason and I have started the moving process in full now.  We have made our to do list and have divided the items to complete.  It feels much better having our lists in place and knowing when everything has to be completed.  Last night we booked our flights back to America (the girls and I on April 16, Watson on April 18 and Jason on April 23rd) .  Finally booking the flights was a big hurdle for me.  It makes it seem real and definite.  I wanted to feel excited about the flights but I actually felt sick to my stomach.  I realized that I felt like I was in a sort of limbo...I can't stay/don't want to stay but also am nervouse about making the transition back to the States so it is a can't stay but not ready to leap forward yet either.  Today I am feeling better about it but am still a bit torn.  As I have said to the kids and Ali repeats back to me often, "it is happy and sad".  Either way the limbo feelings won't last forever though becuase come April 16th the girls and I will be on a flight bound for the United States.  Even as I write this a smile comes to my face...maybe my limbo feelings will end sooner than I think! We're coming home!!!!

Outside playtime

The weather was absolutely beautiful over the weekend.  Jason was in Chamonix and Melissa left on Saturday morning so it was just me and the girls.  The kids are at an age now that they don't need me outside with them which gives me the flexibility to get things done in the yard or in the house and I don't have to worry.  The girls love being outside and they have such great imaginations that even in a small yard like ours they can spend hours.  On Saturday they were outside for about 4 hours and Sunday they spent the entire time from after lunch until 6pm when I called them in for dinner just playing together in the yard.  I am happy that they enjoy the outdoors so much and I am thrilled that they are such good friends.

Chamonix

While Melissa and I finished out week of sight seeing in Prague Jason headed off to Chamonix, France for skiing with his brother.  His brother had asked him if he was interested in joining him and a group of his friend for a guys ski weekend.  Jason thought about it for a while but I told him he should definitely go since when would he have the opportunity to ski in Chamonix again?  No time in the near future for sure!  He decided to make the trip and he had a great time.  The snow conditions weren't great since apparently it was a bad snow year for Chamonix.  They still skiied it and they had a Chamonix Guide for the day on Saturday so they got to see things they wouldn't have seen had they just done it on their own.  After hearing of crevases I'm glad they had a knowledgeable guide with them.  Jason may post more about his trip but in case he doesn't here is a picture of Jason, his brother Graham, and the Chamonix Guide Robert.  Jason and Graham looking a little worn from their day of skiing with the guide.

Tour of Prague

Melissa and I toured the city while she was here.  It was nice to see the sites again.  We did not sight see every day but the days we went into town we spent the entire day walking around the city.  We were able to see Prague Castle, Old Town Square, the Powder Tower, Obecni Dum, Wenceslas Square, Strahov Monastery libraries, Petrin Hill, Mala Strana, and my favorite view of the city from Letna Park.  We ate at our favorite Italian restaurant twice and had lunch with my friends one day so Melissa got to know some of my friends as well.  It was nice to catch up with her after not seeing each other for two years.  It is nice to know that nothing has changed between us and we fall right back in where we left off.  I guess that is the benefit of being friends since third grade!  I'm glad she had the chance to see my life here so that when we move back it won't seem so abstract and she will be able to picture things when I tell stories.  Being here for a week does make it a bit of a whirlwind tour for her but I'm glad we fit in as much as possible.  It was a fun week.

1st Lost Tooth and 2nd lost tooth

Sofia lost her first tooth last Sunday!  The tooth (lower middle) has been loose for a while and she has been playing with it non-stop in hopes that it would fall out.  She is the last of her friends to loose a tooth.  Some of her friend have lost multiple teeth so she didn't understand why hers weren't falling out.  I told her it was because her baby teeth didn't come in until she was a year old so since she got teeth late she would loose teeth late.  I don't know if this is an accurate assumption but it was the best I had and she did seem to buy it.  I'm happy that she finally lost a tooth.  She was very excited.  The American Tooth Fairy came last night and left her $1.  I have been playing up that their are different fairies for every country since some of her friends received expensive toys from the tooth fairy so I thought it only fitting that she would receive American money.

Quickly following the lost of the first tooth Sofia lost her second tooth.  She lost the second one at school.  It is a little unclear to me if she just fell on her own or if she was pushed during some game the kids were playing but either way she fell and smacked her face on the ground.  Since the tooth was already loose the impact with the ground knocked it out so now she is missing her two bottom middle teeth.  The American tooth fairy is making a lot of transatlantic flights!

Melissa arrived!

My best friend, Melissa, arrived this morning from the U.S.  I'm excited that she was able to make it over to visit before we move back.  We will be dropping the kids at school everyday and seeing the sights of the city.  It will be a good chance for me to see everything another time before we leave.  I'll keep you posted on our adventures.

Taxi driver excitement

On Thursday night Jason went out for drinks after work with some friends.  He took a taxi home since he was out after the last bus left the city.  The taxi drove him to the end of our road where Jason told him was good enough.  The driver told him the price but the price was too high.  We know what the price should be since we have taken taxis many times.  Jason asked the driver to show him the meter.  The driver refused and got angry.  He started to back up so Jason immediately jumped out of the car as it was reversing.  He repeated to the driver that he wanted to see the meter and then he would pay him the fare.  The driver got out of the car and pushed Jason.  Jason's was holding his phone in his hand at the time and his phone fell to the ground.  The driver picked up Jason's phone and got back in his car and locked the doors.  he again told Jason to pay but this time he had to pay if he wanted his phone back.  Jason again repeated he wanted to see the meter and if not he would call the police.  The driver didn't believe him though because he then drove away with Jason's phone.  Jason came in the house and got my phone and called the police.  After speaking on the phone for a while with the police we waited for the police to come out to our house.  When they arrived they brought Jason back to the police station with them to fill out a police report.  When he got to the police station he was told they had already recovered his phone (since Jason had the taxi number) but his phone was at a different station.  Jason got back home at 5am and we went to sleep for two hours before waking up at 7am for Sofia's birthday.  We went to the police station in Prague 8 in the morning to pick up his phone.  After waiting over an hour Jason was told that they did have the phone but could not give it to him since it needed to be sent back to the station where the complaint was filed.  So now we are waiting from a call from the police station to call us so we can pick up Jason's phone.  So in the end, Jason is fine, his phone will be given back to him and the taxi driver will have a problem with his taxi license.

Happy 7th Birthday Sofia

Yesterday was Sofia's 7th birthday!  I can't believe that she is seven years old.  She was very excited for her birthday.  Jason and I gave her a Nintendo DSi for her birthday that she has really wanted.  It will actually arrive tomorrow so we wrapped up a picture of a DSi and gave that to her yesterday.  She was happy to know that it will be here soon.  She opened that present as well as presents from her grammie in the morning and then went to school.  Jason came to read for the mystery reader which was extra special for her birthday.  After school we picked the kids up and headed to a bowling place in Horomerice for her birthday party.  The kids jumped on the trampoline at the bowling place and also bowled in between jumping.  After about an hour of play the restaurant served the kids chicken schnitzel and fries (kureci rizek, hranolky) which was yummy and eaten up fairly quickly.  Next we brought out the double layer cake that I had made and sang happy birthday to Sofia.  It was great to see her so happy and surrounded by friends.  After cake the parents came to pick up their kids and we headed home to open presents.  Sofia was very happy with all her gifts.  It was a good 7th birthday.  Now she is just waiting for her first tooth to fall out...I'll keep you posted.

Mystery Reader

Every friday in Sofia's class a mystery reader comes to read to her class.  I have been the mystery reader twice but yesterday was the first day Jason was the mystery reader.  Since it was Sofia's borthday we both went to her class.  She was so excited to see Jason that she didn't even say hi to me.  I didn't take it personally though and I was glad she was so happy to see Jason.  I sat in the back and chatted a little with Sofia's teacher while Jason read to the class.  He chose two books that were both a hit and the kids were very involved with the story.  I took a short video with my iphone to share with you.



Gymnastics

After a few weeks off from gymnastics becuase of our holidays and the czech holidays we finally went back to gymnastics this week.  The girls always have a lot of fun at gymnastics and have made friends even with their limited Czech.  There is a little girl in the class, Ester, who is taking English lessons too so she often tries to say a few words in English to me and the girls.  I finally downloaded the app to my iphone to take short videos so I took a couple videos of the girls on the bars.

We are moving.....

BACK TO AMERICA!!! Yes, you read that correctly,  We will be moving back to the United States at the end of April.  We have had a wonderful four and a half years in Prague but it is time to say good-bye.  We have always struggled with when to move back home.  We came here thinking it would be for two years but arrived here and just loved it.  There was no way we were going to move back after only living here for two years.  We were happy.  The kids were happy.  Watson was happy.  We all had good friends.  Why would we leave that?  So, we kept putting off the decision to move back home.  After four and a half years the kids have grown a lot.  While we all still love it here the kids are at an age where we want them developing their relationships with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  We also want to move them into a school system in the U.S. before cliques form and it becomes more difficult to make friends.  With the girls finishing up kindergarten and first grade (Year 1 and Year 2 here) it finally makes sense to move back.  While we all feel sad about leaving we are also looking forward to the next chapter in our lives.