pool day

Today we spent the day at the pool with the Luce family. Fun, sun, perfect!

louis' birthday party

Saturday we had the pleasure of going to Louis' 4 birthday. Vanessa and Hanley have become sweet friends over the last 3 years. Their oldest Sophia has been in Lucy's class for the last two years, and they just had twins Oscar and Hugo two months before Piper was born. So we have lots in common. They had a blow out party at their house with trampoline jumping and swimming, not to mention that Phil got to play the Wii for the first time and was hooked. It was an all day party and was lots of fun!

antique shopping

This week has been a fun surprise of antique shopping fun. Sara W. and I did a bit of shopping on Tuesday-we spent most of our time lost and making loops around the airport and then laughing at lunch, but we did happen to go to two shops. Then on Friday we went to another place with the Baker's. We were more successful and had a great time. Piper slept most of the day but when she woke up she was very contemplative about what antiques she wanted!

After the breakfast she dressed up and was off to work in the "flower shop" in her class. They have fake flowers that they take care of and sell.

Mum Breakfast

This week I received a special invite from Lucy to come to a Mum Breakfast at school on Friday morning. She was excited beyond belief and whenever I would ask her about it she would say "it is a surprise!" So I waited with anticipation for our special time together. The children performed two songs and a poem about mom's to the tune of Frere Jacques and then served us apple muffins and juice. Each mom also received a card that had a handmade flower that actually had a scent to it! And Lucy wrote a message inside. It was a sweet morning together. And we both had a wide smile!

Cross-cultural lessons for 3 year olds

Clark is getting his driver's license this week at pre-school. They've marked out the garden with road signs, so the kids ride their little bikes around and have to obey the signs. He told me the other day about stoplights. Here's a snippet of the conversation:

"Clark, what do the lights mean?"
"Red is 'stop', orange is 'get ready,' and green is 'go'!"

"Orange is 'get ready'?"

"Yep"

"Get ready to stop, or get ready to go?"

(pause) "Both!"

Well, sure enough he's right. Before red turns green, it turns both red and yellow (orange). This is usually when people start to accelerate through the intersection, and I'm still a little unsure who has right of way. Maybe I should join Clark for class.

cutie

Everyone comments about my amazing head control, really it is just my cheeks that hold it up!

a woman of many talents

Joanna is amazing she knits, cooks from scratch, throws pottery, and makes jewelry, these are just a few of her many talents! I am trying to get some of her talents to rub off on me so far knitting did not stick, cooking is a slow process (I am slowing adding to my repertoire) but today I tried to jewelry making...I loved it. I made a few pieces of GLAM with Danielle, Sarah and Joanna that I love. Thanks Joanna!

special friends!

Miss Becca and her sister Miss Claire came to visit us! Becca was one of our first summer interns and we LOVE her and we now Love Claire too. They both go to JMU (Claire just graduated) and are from Richmond originally, so we get to see them when we head back to the states. For the first half of their trip they stayed with us, and the second half they moved over to the Syvertsen's. We can not wait to see you soon!

it's the little things

Today we went to futbol practice where the air temp was not too hot or too cold, stopped at the local potraviny and bought sandwiches where we ate lunch along the river. Fed the ducks. Came home and all 5 of us took naps. Had a slow afternoon. Topped it all off with S'mores in the backyard before a rainstorm. Perfect.

Alice in wonderland

On Friday night Lucy was in Alice in Wonderland at school. We thought it was going to be about a 45 minute school musical of some sort but we were very surprised when we realized that it was actually a 2 hour and some change with a 30 minute intermission full blown school play at a real theater! The whole primary school was involved and Lucy's class was a train and did a little song and dance. She was on stage all of 3 minutes and then came back at the end for some all school singing. Chris, Laura and Owen came to support Lucy(thanks guys!) and we all had fun at Subway(Lucy's choice) for dinner. This is just the beginning of her acting career!

lunch-ing

This week after bible study some of us ladies walked over to the local Greek restaurant and sat outside for a yummy and fun lunch. The weather was beautiful and the company was delightful.

Playmobil Land

Lucy had (yet another) break from school, so we figured that since this was the last one of the school year, we'd try an overnight trip with the 5 of us. Destination: Playmobil Land in Zirndorf, Germany. First of all, if someone asked me to make up a name of a German town, I might actually say "Zirndorf." Secondly, Zirndorf is where it's at! Playmobil Land was awesome.

Imagine all those little figurines with their strange little clasping hands stretched into giant proportions. Throw in a castle, a pirate ship, the Wild West, and several wading pools, and you get Playmobil Land.

Lucy and Clark, not suprisingly, wanted to spend most of the time at the water areas. So we did.

Guess who likes blue ice cream?

And in an efficient marketing scheme, on your way out you have to go through a megastore and wrestle your children away from the various displays. Long day in the sun + thousands of Playmobil toys for sale = meltdowns of epic proportions.

The end result: a success!

More Playmobil fun

Another very cool aspect to Playmobil Land is that they have every single imaginable Playmobil area set up for you to play with. And not just one of each - I'm talking dozens. We strategically decided to make this the first thing we did before mass chaos had taken over the area. Wise move. We had our pick of things to play with. (There are employees whose jobs are only to constantly sort and re-organize Playmobil toys in this area. I hope they're paid well)

The hospital area was fun:

Our favorite section (appropriately enough) was the church/wedding/reception area. We all liked different parts of it - Lucy and Clark liked the bride and groom, Shanna liked the party-planning of the reception tent, and I developed a natural affinity with the little Playmobil pastor. I got a little creative.

Preaching...

Conducting a wedding...Bible-beating...Holding a successful revival meeting (notice the participant who's been slain in the Spirit)...

At this point Shanna told me it was time to leave.

tuckered out

They drag me everywhere the farm, the pool, they have me perform supermom poems, they want me to be happy all the time and not to fuss well I have had it, I am done. This is my time.

We made it...

Today is our 3 year anniversary in Prague. We are excited and blessed to be here and are encouraged daily that this is where God has called us for now. Thank you to so many of you that have made it possible for us to be here.

Miss Sunny.. Where are you?

Saturday was a very sad day in the Davis house because our dear friend Miss Sunny moved back to America. Sunny has been living with us for the last few weeks as she prepared for her big move back to the states so that she could go to school and get her counseling degree. each morning Clark would run to the top of the stairs and yell down, "Miss Sunny are you awake? Do you want to come and play with me?" Friday night we had the privilege of throwing her a going away party, we got to pray for her and share some warm fuzzy moments and we presented her with this beautiful watercolor. We the Davises, have all shared many fun and funny moments with Sunny, we have laughed together and cried, we have gone on great adventures around town and pretty big adventures right in our own home. But most of all we have just lived life together. Sunny has loved each of us very well and each of us will miss her deeply. Actually we already do. We love you Miss Sunny!!

pool's open!

The pool is open and we are there in all of our glory! "Yeah- who" as Clark says.

A day at the farm

Friday was Clark's field trip to the farm and we made it a family affair. The weather was beautiful and we headed out of Prague to a nearby stable. The kids got to ride a miniature pony, play on a tractor, feed apples to Miss Petra's horse Bellybutton and it was all topped off with a picnic in a meadow. It was a really fun day. Great family time, great time with some of Clark's friends and a beautiful drive. It's the simple things that are so great!

(please take note of what Clark is eating... a hard boiled egg!! What ??? a) I did not know he had ever eaten one, apparently they have them at school sometime with his hot lunch b) he LOVES them, who knew).

Super Mom

Yesterday was Mama's special day - whatever she wanted, she got. (This was, for her, a welcome change from the last 2 Mama's Days, which I managed to ruin. 2006: Phil is sick in bed all day and Shanna has to fend for herself. 2007: Phil volunteers for a water station for the Prague marathon, is gone all day, and Shanna has to fend for herself.)

Yesterday's theme: Super Mom. Shanna woke up (eventually) and we presented her with a poem. We all wore big "S" cutouts on our shirts to go with the poem. We gave her a necklace that has a cool design on one side and says "superhero" on the other. Actually, we gave her a print-out of the picture of it, because we've ordered it to the States and we'll get it this summer.
Mama wanted to go to the pool (shock!) so we gathered our things and headed over. It was a beautiful, sunny day - perfect for us to splash around, lay out, eat ice cream, etc.

Then back home for a quick rest before church, where all the mommies got a flower.

But perhaps the best gift of all was a dinner at home with no whining or complaining, and 4 members of the Clean Plate Club (Piper was already asleep)!

We love our Mama!