Potty training #3

Karis was a breeze to potty train and it happened right around the time she turned two. She was interested one day and just about the next was trained. She wanted to wear big girl panties, had one accident and after that only had smallish accidents. That was it!!
My twins have not been so easy. Their 3rd birthday came & went and still no interest! Now, I do have to add that we had a lot of change in that time with being in TX for so long and then moving back to Prague. I just didn't stress it and knew we would have time to work on it. My plan was to start in the summer, but summer just about came and went and still no interest. And life with 3 that are 4 & 3 is just a crazy, busy time and having to be really focused on potty training, well it just wasn't a huge priority.
But then, one day Brennan finally showed some interest. It took some accidents and training (hey, what kid doesn't...they aren't all like Karis, Ha!), but we got there. Reegan, on the other hand, showed no interest whatsoever! Their Nana has been helping me to get her to go these past few weeks while here. Putting her in panties and having her go every couple of hours (the girl doesn't drink much....working on that too). And I must say she is finally getting it. I say that when she had 2 accidents today! She just gets busy and doesn't want to stop to go! I think she takes after her mama! I was having accidents up until I was 8 or so. Yeah, not one of my prouder moments! Ha!
While out on our excursions the past couple of days, Reegan WANTED to go to the bathroom AND kept her pull-up dry! Slowly, but surely we are getting there. And then NO MORE DIAPERS! Yay!!

And to end this post. I just heard Brennan on the outside of the bathroom door, yell to daddy "That's a good boy {for going tee tee}." Oh that boy cracks me up constantly!!! Ha!

Here are a few more pics from yesterday. The series of these were funny to me. Especially the last one!



Look at that face!! Ha!

Fun stormin' the castle

We've been going strong the last few days with Jerry's parents here. Trying to make the most of their last few days in Czech Republic. We hopped a train mid-morning for the very quaint village of Karlstejn, about 45 minutes outside of Prague. Here the kiddos are waiting to go to the platform.



I should have worn my pedometer to see how far we walked, but it was a quite a distance! Even though our 3 were tired, they just about walked every bit of it. In to town from the train station, up a steep hill to the castle and all the way back down to the train station. We took some moments to rest along the way, but not a lot.


We have ridden our fair share of trams, buses & metros, but not many trains and there seems to be something magical about a train. Maybe it is all those episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine we've watched. Ha!
Before going all the way up to the castle, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that seemed to have a bit of everything.....omelets, gulash, pork steak, and even pizza. And each of us enjoyed what we had!

The whole pathway up to the castle is lined with all kinds of shops. It was crazy comparing the price for some of the same souvenirs we see in Prague. Sometimes being about $6 cheaper! We let each of the kids pick out a souvenir from our trip.
Karis got one of these cheesy things that we see all over the place. It looks like a rat tied to a ball. I have NO. IDEA. why she wanted that thing, but that's what she wanted. She first picked out a wig of crazy colored hair, so I guess we should be happy by the ratball! Hee hee!
Reegan picked out a windcatcher and the best purchase was Brennan's...a wooden sword. Daddy decided to get one too so they could jab together!

As we found a bench to wait for the train, look what we found! Awwww!!

We decided to spare the kids a tour through the inside of the castle. Just walking around the outer walls is impressive. We were exhausted at the end of it all, but it was a great day!
Here's Brennan thinking "Are we home yet?!" Ha

A trip to Karlstejn, Czech Republic

The castle at Karlstejn.

Backtracking

Before I lost the ability to update my old blog (due to ye ole hard drive crash) it had been awhile since I had given any news on us. September was fairly low key. Jerry's parents joined us at the end of September for a 5 week stay. They're here for another week before they head back to TX. We sure have enjoyed them being here.
A few days after they arrived, Jerry & I headed to Madrid, Spain. Jerry had a meeting and I had the chance to tag along. I've always wanted to visit Spain, so I was excited to get to go. We had a great time getting to know some of the M's in the Western Mediterranean area (Portugal, Spain, France & Italy). It was also great to get a feel for the culture. We also got to see some old friends and get some tours of the city.



Things are picking up with our work with our ministry, Bridge Community We are having a blast and adding to our group consistently. We started out with 2 Czechs involved and we have more than doubled and now have 6 coming to our church services. Others have joined us for events like a trip to a pumpkin patch, a couple of flag football games and trash pick up.

Jerry took another trip recently and just got back from more meetings in Richmond, VA. We're glad to have him home after a 9 day trip. This week we've taken some family time with Jerry's parents and gone out on the town. We spent one day at the castle, today at the zoo, and plan to take some day trips by train to some surrounding towns/castles.

Thanks for checking in on us!

A Day to Myself

Living in Europe without a car can be a very convenient & sometimes inconvenient thing. Grocery shopping without a car can be one of those inconvenient things. Especially when you are shopping for 5 people! My colleague, Jennie, was headed to the store in her car and made an offer to join her. So, I took her up on it and left the kids with daddy, nana & papa. We took our time and it was very enjoyable. I know some people don't enjoy it, but I absolutely love going grocery shopping. It's not quite as enjoyable in Prague as in America. In the US, you just can't beat the variety! I truly miss that! But as time goes on there is more and more available here. Anyway, over 2 hours in the store with a friend was kind of fun!
I got home, unloaded all my stuff into the elevator and was surprised to find an empty apartment. Jerry had taken the family out on the town. I've recently discovered my love for having the house to myself! Ha! It's fun to go out by myself, but it's also fun to stay HOME by myself! I had a quiet couple of hours at home before heading out again to get my haircut with a new stylist. We clicked and I really liked her and how she cut my hair!!

I decided to stop off at one of my favorite stores, Marks & Spencer after my cut. It's a funny combination of a clothing store with a grocery store section (it originates out of the UK) and they are getting a great selection of stuff. Items you can't find anywhere else. Even their own version of Cheetos. And they're not too bad!
I was quite surprised to arrive home again to an empty house!! But it wasn't long that they all came home and crashed. My kiddos had had a long day out and are now sleeping peacefully!

And to end the day...at our Bible Story/Prayer Time tonight with the kids, Reegan's prayer was "Thank you God for Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy, Daddy, Karis, Brennan, and me and CANDY!" Silly girl! She knows the important things in life! Ha!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from our day at the Prague Castle. Mostly from our stroll through the mote! I just love it! So green & plush, beautiful and peaceful!!

Sunday, Sunday

I can't say that we had a very exciting Saturday. I don't think we even left the house, which isn't unusual. But Sunday was an exciting day! First of all, it's God's day, so that is always exciting! But it was also the day that daddy (Jerry) came home after a 9 day trip to the States!! It's always so fun to hear the door open and see the kids running to welcome daddy home!! Then they are all over him wanting to know what he got them!! Cause daddy doesn't come home without presents and they know it!!! Ha!
A special day must include a special breakfast. I had several cans of pumpkin brought to me from the States by a friend and Nana & Papa (who have been here for about a month now). I've been wanting to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Sunday was just the morning to do so. And boy, were they good!!
Chopping up some chocolate chips.


And the finished product!


I wish I had a picture of the welcome home, but I kind of got caught up in the moment and the camera was forgotten. Maybe I'll get better at this picture taking thing!!

Hard Drive Went Buh-Bye!

So, I killed the hard drive on my Mac. What a shame! It had done me well until I decided to download mass amounts of pictures from our pumpkin patch experience and then forgot to delete the RAW pictures, from our high-tech camera, off the computer. It's amazing what computers can do! So why can't they tell you when it is WAY TOO FULL and close to crashing?!
Luckily, ALL our music & movies had recently been switched elsewhere and all our photos are also on Jerry's computer or backed up. Whew!! Happy I didn't lose those!!
I did, however, lose all the info I had for our website/blog on our Mac account. It is on the web, of course, but I can no longer add or subtract from what is already there, so I must start a new. So, instead of risking losing it all again, I decided to switch my stuff to blogger. Not quite sure how J will feel about that. He's not a big blogger fan (shhh, don't tell).
It's kind of nice to start a new though. There is something about having a clean slate.
So, here is to a fresh start and a fresh new blog!