Bake Sale

The reception class had a pretend bake sale a couple of weeks ago where they were "selling" old playdoh. They made made them round and called them cookies and had such a great time doing it that Mrs. Jelenik (one of Clark's teachers) decided that we should do a reception class bake sale. So Laura and I made about 8 dozen harvest sugar cookies. We frosted about half and then brought the rest of them in for the kids to decorate. They had different color icings and sprinkles and they went to town. It was fun to watch each of them decorate the cookies - some super fast and some so slow and delicate. They also set up the table, made beautiful signs and got out the cash register because no good bake sale is without a cash register. Clark manned the cash register most of the time and was super excited to direct people to the cookies and then to remember to make a donation. The kids made about 1000 kc ($60) and were giving it to a local charity food bank. It was a fun day and I really think Clark has some entrepreneurial skill. the bake sale table all set to go
Laura and I had two tables for decorating happenings

here he is saying pick a cookie then pay me

Clark's reading

This week marked a very important stage in Clark's life. He read his first book cover to cover all by himself. It was a stage 1 book that had words that he knew and was repetitive - a good beginner's book. I cannot tell you how excited and proud he is of this accomplishment, and he can't wait for his reading time each day. All of our kids have a huge love for reading and and I know it is something that has been passed down in the genes from Yaya.

Horton hears a Who

We had a movie night and it really was Piper's first. She doesn't sit well through videos or movies but we thought let's give it a go. She didn't last long mainly because she couldn't decide where she wanted to sit. She started here but within 30 minutes she had made everyone move multiple times out of their spots so she could test them out. We watched Horton Hears a Who but it should have been called the "Who doesn't hear Piper?" In the end she went to bed thinking she was so grown up getting to watch a movie and was pretty delighted with herself.

Falks and Cookies

Over the last year it seems that when every new season comes, we have a cookie-making day with the Falks. Yesterday we had our harvest and Halloween cookie extravaganza. It is so much fun, they come for a few hours and we make, decorate and eat cookies. There is always lots of laughter and funny cookies. This day included owls with bulging eyes and ghosts with belly buttons. Lots of imagination and talent in this group.

this is my new hair...

pigtails

Harvest Program

Clark had his harvest program on Friday morning. He was so proud. The reception and nursery classes do their programs together and Lucy's will be next week. His class sang two songs and also recited a poem. We then had a special breakfast for all the moms and dads. It is so fun to be able to walk through life with them and watch all the amazing things they are doing.

Field Trip

On Thursday Clark and I headed back to the pumpkin patch for his class field trip. It was the first really cold day. Snow flurries in the morning and all children had on snow pants, jackets, hats and mittens. It was cold! But he was delighted just the same. He sat by his best school friend Grace on the bus ride up, while Grace's mom and I sat together. They laughed and chatted and just were really cute together. Each child got to pick a pumpkin, and run around and play, then we had pumpkin soup and lunch. Most kids fell asleep on the bus on the way home with huge smiles on their faces. Clark was SO excited about getting to go on a special trip!

dinners

This week we have had a few new friends for dinner... on Tuesday night we had Miss Teske and Miss Laura and on Thursday we had a family the Archer's, whom we met at the pumpkin patch and instantly hit it off with. I also had a fun girls night out on wednesday. It has been a full and fun week.
Miss Teske is the assistant in Clark's class. She just moved to Prague from Charlotte and is teaching for the first time. She is fascinating. She started making jewelry with Czech glass beads, that grew into a story about a little girl from CZ that got turned into a book that she wrote and illustrated. And now she is trying to open an orphanage. We had a grand time with her and so look forward to watching her life unfold here. And Miss Laura is an old friend whom we love who came along for the fun!

The Archer's moved here from Texas about 4 months ago. We randomly met them at the Pumpkin Patch and our kids started playing with each other and really did not want to stop. Emma and Noah are about the same age as Lucy's and Clark. Leigh and Becca are here working with a Czech church. We enjoyed dinner and chatting immensely and are sure to have more in the future.I also had a fun dinner on wednesday night it was an all girls dinner out to celebrate Sung Soon as she gets ready to move to Germany. We went to a Korean resturant and Sung Soon ordered all the food, we had a ton. It was all delicious. We will all miss the Crazy Korean Lady (as she calls herself). And when you are with the Koreans you do as the Koreans do, they also hold the sign of victory up when taking a picture so as you can see we all had a little Korean in us that night.

Where am I?

I got together with Sasha Flek yesterday, the guy who recently completed the new Czech Bible translation. He's a great guy, and I'm always encouraged by the time I spend with him. He suggested we meet at the new National Technical Library - not the place I would have suggested, but hey, I'm up for new destinations. It's close to our house, so I didn't have to search long to find it.

I was impressed! Prague is not known for its modern architecture, but this is a very cool building that just opened last month. There's a hip, ultra-modern cafe inside, and the lobby spaces are all open, functional - i.e. very unusual here!

However, the very large conference room is called the Ballingovi Sal, or BS for short. I couldn't help myself...

time to bundle up

snow is on her way.....

Just the 2 of us...

I may need a nose-wipe, and I may have the hiccups, but I am pretty darn cute...

jackie-laterns

Making jackie-lanterns (as Lucy keeps calling them). After the pumpkin patch they couldn't wait to carve the pumpkins. They both wanted smiley faces with teeth. I love watching them get so excited about things like this, because I get really excited too so I was so glad they want to carve right away!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Pumpkin Patch. We only know of this one and this pumpkin farmer does it right. Once a year he does a special day for the IWAP (international women of Prague) group. He has a huge spread with pumpkin soup, chicken and squash sides, special pumpkin bread and hot wine. He has pony rides for the children, and they can also feed the bunnies, as well as just run wild on his farm. He had beautiful pumpkins and squash for sale and we loaded up on them all. Some for jack-o-lanterns, and the rest for baking and freezing to use later. We had a great time and so look forward to the day each year.

Miss Angela

Miss Angela is a good friend from Charlotte who is making her second trip to visit us on her way to see the Krugers in Cambridge. We had so much fun hanging out with her and catching up. Piper especially liked to corner her to read Brown Bear. We also got to go out for a special dinner (more celebrating Phil) with her and Chris and Laura. We love you Miss Angela!

Happy Birthday Phil!!

Phil turned 36 on Thursday Oct 8. We showered him with presents, and had a fun pizza dinner at home with Snickers ice cream pie. He then had a movie night with a bunch of guys. We are so grateful for Phil and love him tons. He is gentle and kind. He loves to laugh, has a heart that is always ready to engage, and is passionate about Jesus. He loves his children well, he loves to play with them and listen and just enjoys them immensely and they know it. He loves me well on many different levels and I am so grateful he chose me to be his wife. We are so blessed. We love you Phil. Happy Birthday!!!!

"I demand the sum of... 1 MILLION DOLLARS"

(Name that quote!)

I had the privilege of talking with the board of World Harvest Mission today via Skype. Through the wonders of technology I was able to sit on my couch in my living room and talk to a roomful of people in Philadelphia - it was pretty surreal, and then I saw these pictures they posted. What a cool thing about being a 21st century missionary - that a mission board can pray for you, ask questions, and encourage you across the globe!

A special thanks to the board - for their time, energy, and devotion to World Harvest and us missionaries!

안녕히 가세요 - Auf Wiedersehen - Good Bye!

Our friends Sung Soon and Stuart and their three children Daniel, James and Matthew are moving to Munich in a couple of weeks. Stuart got a new job that is taking them to Germany. We are all very sad to see them go - they have been a fun family for us to do life with. They live close by, they have three kids, and they are crazy just like us. Sung Soon invited us over for a little dinner party where a friend of hers, who is a sushi chef, cooked us some fabulous Korean food. We had sushi, sweet chicken, glass noodles, soup, octopus rolls, and shrimp. Connie and Andrea made the most amazing chocolate cake with ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce, to top off the night. The kids ate everything that we asked them to try. We sat and talked and laughed and the kids did the same at their own table that was set up. It was such a fun family night. I am so sad to see the Porter's go, they really have been dear friends to us and have brought many moments of laughter into my daily life here. We will truly miss them.

football practice

Last year they played and only kinda loved it. So when it came around to sign up this year I was a bit apprehensive as to if we should try again. They (as they do every year) want to go and then depending on the day decide if they actually want to play once we get there. So this year I told them if they are going to sign up then they must play every week. Lucy and her friend Sofia have decided that they LOVE football and are actually quite good and LOVE playing together. Clark has also decided that he LOVES to play because he can run super fast in his super fast shoes (which are the shoes he wears everyday, but on Saturday mornings they are somehow faster then normal). Practice started out as normal with some drills and running then they broke them into two groups and each of those groups were broken into two teams. Lucy and Clark were on the same team for a while and Lucy was playing goalie, then she switched with Clark who was dying to play goalie. Piper really wanted to get in on the action so she (on her own) found a red shirt to wear and was just running interference with the game until Clark called for her at the other end of the field "Piper, Piper, it's me Clark, come down here and play with me!" and she took off running to be with him. They dug in the sand and made up games while they waited for the ball to come to them. When it did I would yell "Clark, here comes the ball!" and he would just nonchalantly stand up and stop it. and then go back to playing with Piper. They had a great time together. Saturday was beautifully crisp and the skies were amazingly blue and the sun was making an appearance and all three children were just laughing and enjoying life... I love days like that!

Goalies just passing the time away...Nothing gets past us...

Sasha turns 4

We celebrated Sasha's birthday this week at a Dinosaur party complete with fossil digging, face painting, and goodie bags. Joanna as always outdid herself and the kids had a great time celebrating. Happy Birthday Sasha!