Grammie sent E a Dora backpack! She wears it often and does not like to take it off when Mommy says (for instance, to get in the car). The backpack is terrycloth and folds out into a towel. E wore it to the gym, takes it on the school run, jumps with it on the trampoline (it makes her fall over even more than normal).
Here is darling M with no teeth. They're coming in now, and I have no idea where all the teeth are going to fit. They're huge!
V and M are both loving science right now. They're doing science fair projects at the school, and I think V might do one, too. Probably have to buy a board for E, too, because no one can stand to be left out at our house. Much screaming when Daddy takes someone out in the jogging stroller. Everyone wants to go.
Speaking of screaming, I had trouble getting good pictures of this dress. (The other picture is at the top of the post, I couldn't get it to move and am too tired to fight with it.) E was so busy on her motorcycle that I couldn't get a straight shot. But isn't it precious? I've been very busy sewing the last couple of weeks. This dress was made from Nathan's old shirt, off a tutorial I found. So cute that I've made one for V, too. There are several ideas online for how to turn a man's shirt into a toddler dress, but this is my favorite because it's so clever. It not only uses the back yoke for the front dress yoke, and uses the button for the back closure, it evens uses the curve of the armhole opening to make the flutter sleeves. Some of the other tutorials are just basic dresses cut from a shirt, but this one appeals to me. And V is so happy about having something made from Daddy's shirt that I don't even have to put pink on hers! I could have avoided the pink on E's, but it looked beautiful with the navy blue, so there you go. 
Finally, a few photos. We stayed in an apartment for a couple of days before we left Prague. I had to take this picture of the kids in the cabinet really quick before Eliza fell out. 
The kids were literally laying in the middle of the foot path at the Amsterdam airport. I also let them eat off the floor and scrub their backs with toilet brushes. Now, why do my kids always seem to get sick after a long plane flight ...
Best thing about our new house -- the ice cream maker attachment I bought for the KitchenAid. They are eating chocolate malt frozen custard. 
This weekend we went to see my grandparents in Shreveport, along with Aunt Naomi. It was a fantastic visit. We had Poppi burgers, the kids played the organ, we chatted. E loved these little dolls that my sibs and I played with many years ago. There are three dolls and 2 beds -- because Gramma and Poppi have a daughter and twin boys. Poor guys have to share a bed. 
M lost one of his front teeth just before we went to Shreveport, so the tooth fairy visited him there. The gap is really, really big. I need to get a good picture of it. He's showing off his tooth box the dentist gave him.
We finally had our last day of school on Wednesday, and I've been thinking about what a great place Riverside School has been for our children. The teachers and administrators at the school have created such a lovely place for kids and parents. These are the teachers who accommodated M being advanced a year, and not just tolerated it, but really encouraged him and helped him grow. They taught him how to spell, do fractions, and the life cycle of a frog. V's teacher learned about the reading scheme for older children and sat with her every day to hear V read a book. Her teachers helped her bake and plant a garden, paint (which she loves and I hate) and write letters for the "nursery post". The classrooms were always, always open to parents (and younger sibs). Teachers always had time for parents, and of course, the kids. 
Riverside School brought some great friends to us. M found 2 kindred spirits on the first day of Year 1. He sat next to them when we walked in and they did a puzzle together. M was introduced to Power Rangers, Star Wars, and the real pleasure of having best friends.
I don't like all the good-bye stuff, I just don't. But there are perks. Some beautiful paintings of Prague, and a doll that my girls have been forbidden to touch. Seriously, a dear lady knitted the doll's clothes, even pantaloons. And the paintings are still drying, because someone cared about us enough to paint them. And yes, maybe this is why I don't like the good-bye stuff. Emotional overload.
The paintings were from one good-bye event today, thankfully mostly focused on the Czech mission president and his wife who are leaving this week. They're amazing! Another fantastic couple will arrive to take over for 3 years. The mission president's wife reminded me I had helped her get settled in her first week in Prague. I do love helping new expats get settled in. There are so many tough things you have to do, and it makes me feel so helpful to tell someone how to find sour cream at the grocery store. Because buying buttermilk instead can be the proverbial straw. Anyway, the zebra is from a much happier event for me, because it was a casual one thrown by Nathan's former employees here in CZ. So not as emotional for me (plus) and I got to see people who actually know how great my husband is (double plus).
It was out at a "chata" - a cottage in the country. The kids had a fantastic time, playing with balls, stuffed animals, the other kids. E didn't stop toddling around, M didn't stop playing some game any game will someone play with me, and V did her sort of floating about routine. Wandering uninvited in the house and taking off her shoes in odd places, giggling. 
This picture is out of order, from another event last weekend. Lots of church friends all together :) Again, V is on her own program. M is not pictured. He was playing ping pong, or possibly badminton. Who knew it was so popular.
Nathan got a copy of some book about Lovosice that actually has info about Flexfill! His factory is immortalized, too bad he can't read the text. And a gorgeous Czech glass bowl, an item we had been wanting anyway, and so great that we can remember his employees when we use it. And no joke, Jana actually blew this glass piece Nathan's holding herself. 2 varieties of sugar-free Coke were available at the shindig, Nathan's favorite. Seriously, because of Nathan's schedule and his more introverted personality, in most areas of our lives I'm much better known than he is. It's really lovely for me to see people who can appreciate his awesomeness. 
Took the girls to the embassy yesterday in order to sign the papers for our new house! They have the only American notary in town, so they can charge rather shocking prices for the service. But it's all done and the documents should arrive in Texas tomorrow morning, when the sellers will sign everything. I'm really hoping we didn't miss any initials ... we checked it twice, but still. Anyway, I showed the kids just the front of a couple of houses when Nathan and I were making up their minds, and this was M's favorite, because it looks like a castle to him. V is excited because their room has the upstairs bay window, which looks like a perfect reading spot to her.
I'm trying to just post photos that don't show too much of the current owner's stuff, just seems like a better idea. This is the view when you walk in. Photographer is standing in the formal living room, which will be entirely empty even when our furniture shipment arrives. Although I might put the piano in there.
I'm very excited about the kitchen. Note the double sink, double oven and not visible ... a disposer! Now I realize that the double sink and disposer are standard equipment, but having done without them for 5 years, I think they rock. Ok, wait. We didn't have a disposer in McKinney or Portugal either, so make that 9 years. 
And the unwanted but soon to be beloved pool. First week in the house, I'll start teaching E how to swim. Sunblock, lots of sunblock.
I didn't have any pictures of E in the post, so I added this one. Upon the grandparents' arrival, E immediately enlisted them as book readers. They read a LOT this trip, at least to her. 
This picture's from our trip to Cesky Krumlov. It was raining, so we stopped for a meal at Laibon. It's a cute vegetarian restaurant with a great deck on the river, which of course we couldn't use. But the interior's pretty fun, too.
Grammie giving an impromptu show at the marionette museum in Cesky Krumlov, because that's the kind of grandmother she is. Our trip was pretty fun -- the kids were amazingly good in the car and even during a rather dry tour of the castle theater (I liked the theater, but the tour was not great.) It was a bit odd for us, though, because Nathan was in Dallas at the same time picking out a house for us. So I'd get phone calls at odd moments and have to split off while the grandparents watched the kids (or drove the car), and I was busy on the hotel's wifi looking at pictures every night. Our hotel was great, by the way. Aparthotel Castle View. It's right next to the square and is very nice. Kitchenettes with microwave and fridge, plus breakfast at the hotel down the street. We were in a 2-bedroom apartment with a contained outside area as well.
And here's M in his school's production of Peter Pan. If he looks a bit serious, it's because he was. He did a great job and was quite intent on getting it all right. He was one of the best dancers in the group. Our other kids were great, except for V randomly throwing a program at another guest. E was seriously dancing during the musical numbers. And I fed her lentilky (M&Ms) during the dialogue.
E loves ice cream! And she spent tons of time in the backpack, thanks to big, strong Daddy. All the museums we visited had strollers for rent, or just to borrow. We just traded our backpack in for a stroller and off we went. By the way, if you want to get into Paris museums quickly, borrow yourself a baby. Having a baby along lets you use the handicapped entrance, bypassing all the lines! We happened to attend the Louvre on the monthly free day, meaning it was even more of a zoo than normal. The line curved around the courtyard where the pyramids are, through to the next courtyard, around 3 sides of that one, out onto the street and down 2 blocks. There was someone with a sign informing visitors how long the wait was from that point. Loooong, but at least they didn't have to queue for tickets as well. Our bigger kids were fantastic museum visitors. M loved following the map of the museum, and both kids liked the artwork. The Musee d'Orsay was especially fun, because we have a lovely series of board books using impressionist artwork. So they got to see several paintings they are already familiar with. E loves those books right now, so even she had fun. Unfortunately, we always had to leave the museums earlier than the big kids would like due to little bit's need for a (food) break. Child needs her snacks. She even got worn out at the children's museum (rather the children's section of the science museum) after a while. We're huge children's museum fans, and this is a great one. The main science museum is really cool as well, but we didn't manage to see it this time, since it's really aimed for much older children. The complex includes a 360 degree movie theater, a submarine, and lots of other amazing things. It's out at La Villette, which isn't as bad a hike as you think. The museum is directly in front of a metro stop, so all is well. It was V's favorite stop in Paris.
Here is V, standing in the very center of Paris. This spot is in front of Notre Dame cathedral, walking distance from the (rather bachelor-pad-ish, don't-look-at-the-bathroom-tile but otherwise OK) apartment we rented in Le Marais. The Le Marais area is a fantastic place to stay in Paris. It's quiet and residential, but has lots of funky, artistic shopping (salad tongs shaped like crescent wrenches), restaurants, and an unbelievable number of food shops. Such a perfect place to rent an apartment, because when you see food like this, you just want a kitchen to cook it in. Absolutely gorgeous produce, cheeses, bread, pastries, we didn't even make it to the meat shops but I'm sure they're fantastic, too. It was Easter weekend, so lots going on at the chocolatiers. I think there were about 20 in a 5 block radius. I'm not sure if that's the chocolate center of Paris, or if Parisians really love chocolate! Why can't I get food like this in Prague?!? Of particular note was a cupcake and cheescake place called Berko. Although cupcakes are their primary business, I think they are much more successful on the cheesecake front (cupcakes were fancy and beautiful, but I found the cake a bit too dry). I know that cheesecake and cupcakes are not exactly classic French food, but I swear I ate the best New York style cheesecake I have ever had (and I love cheesecake). A crunchy, cookie-like crust, perfectly creamy cheesecake with whole blueberries, and to top it off? A particularly soft-set meringue with whole, uncooked blueberries. Divine. 
The kids' favorite food? Crepes. Seriously messy.
These are the fountains next to the Centre Pompidou, also very close to our apartment. M called it the Inside Out House, and claims it as his favorite site in Paris. Nathan took the big kids into the museum and also watched a huge street performance in the sloped space at the entrance. Checking off another classic Paris experience. The kids loved the street performers in general. Of course, we have them in Prague, but mainly on the Charles Bridge, and we don't go down there too often (too many tourists, hah). M's favorite was a 5-piece jazz group, including a sousaphone, who seemed way too good to be busking. V preferred a soprano with keyboard accompanist. She was American, which was funny, and she was OK on her jazz pieces, but totally compelling singing an Edith Piaf classic. She stopped all the foot traffic on a bridge during that one.
Doesn't Notre Dame look great? She's all clean and beautiful right now, with tulips out on Easter Sunday. M liked the flying buttresses and gargoyles, of course.
That's right, it's not Eurodisney, it's Disneyland Paris. We had a fabulous time at Disneyland and in Paris itself ... since we started at Disney, I'll start my blog about that. It's really hard to get good pictures of people on rides, but I did manage this great one! There were so many great moments on this trip. We splurged for a suite at the Disney Hotel New York, which actually meant in our case that we ended up with a one-room suite plus a connecting room. I think they do have 2-room suites, but none available at the time. We opted for this because we travel much better with a separate room for the kids, and you get benefits from staying in the Disney hotels. At any of them, you get 2 extra hours before the park opens, so you get some selected rides all to yourselves. And because we were in an upgraded room, we had breakfast in a separate lounge (with characters), and a VIP fast pass, plus some other little things. Any ride that offers a fast pass allows a VIP fast pass owner to go directly to the front, any time. This rocked! We rode Peter Pan soooo many times. I know that's all a bit too much information, but some friends were interested in where we were staying and how it all worked.
The weather wasn't as bad as I expected, and some things were lovely, like the flowering trees. Here is E and her Daddy after riding Small World. As I expected, she loved this ride. So many things to look at, and music to dance to. Surprisingly, our big kids loved it as well (I thought M would be a party pooper on this one, but he got a kick out of naming the different countries and watching his baby sister.) Since we had several days at the parks, we reserved some rides for the later days of our trip, not even telling the kids about them. M's face when we told him about the Star Wars ride was priceless. I did ride it with him once, but then allowed Nathan the honors. It is a flight simulation ride, which made me a bit queasy. I love the little kid rides -- Small World, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear is probably my favorite. You get laser guns and the game keeps score. Fun for all ages.
Here we are in the breakfast room with Pluto. E was beside herself about the characters, and Pluto was her favorite. Even just looking at the pictures today, she got very excited. The handlers noticed at one point and were tickled about how much she loved Pluto. Some of the characters have more fun than others, and Pluto did a great job of acting like a dog. Also having fun were Wendy, Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Tweedle Dee was annoying and starting bouncing V up and down in the stroller. Funny to him, maybe. It was also made apparent to me this trip how small some of the characters are! Minnie Mouse is so short. Even my little sis might be too tall.
As expected, V wore her princess dress a lot (see how it rivals Goofy in shine?), and M wore his pirate costume less. That's totally OK since his costume took about 30 minutes. I'll post a more detailed look at V's dress at some point. The dress pushed her over into full-fledged pink love. Nathan and I kept giggling over statements like, "Yes! I want some of your salmon. Because it's pink!" 
Most of the food is poor at Disneyland, but there were some highlights. Breakfast at the hotel was good, and E developed a taste for pain chocolat. The fresh juices were pretty amazing as well. We rented a stroller at the park, which became E's home away from home. She enjoyed the music playing in the ultra-clean park, and often bopped along as we walked.
V was lucky enough to have a birthday party early (Dad was out of town on her bday, so we asked if it would be OK to have it on Sunday instead. No one says no to early presents) AND fun on her real birthday. She took cookies into school (sugar cookies in the shapes of pumpkins, ghosts, angels and hearts, with purple icing) and had an open lesson during her dance class. I took some pictures and video of V and her best friend. The dancing is pretty random, but very cute. Hard to beat girls in tutus. Speaking of dancing, there was a valentine's disco at M's school this week -- I was slightly surprised to hear the kids sing along to Michael Jackson songs. I knew a lot of his songs were getting played on the radio, but I didn't really expect the kids to know them. And how about the macarena? Ha. When M was in the cloakroom getting ready to leave, he told us how lovely the peace and quiet was after all that noise. Yup, he's ours. (He did do some excellent dancing at the disco, I must say.)
Have we traveled in time? My little pony has not changed, guys. Even smells the same.
Aw, everybody loves the baby. E's giving hugs these days on demand. She also has a few words in addition to her signs. She probably says "baby" and "ball" 30 times a day. Maybe a lot more, I lose track. She also learned how to climb on the couch yesterday, which is not so lovely for me. She knows how to get down safely, but doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to the edge.
In brief, traveling backwards in time: M had a birthday party with his friends, for the first time ever. It was a big pain and took a lot of time to prepare, but the kids all had a great time! It was a Lego Power Miners party. Lego should be paying me for advertising. Power Miners are on the hunt for crystals, but have to watch out for rock monsters. Here the kids are tossing dynamite beanbags at a rock monster. 
Although I didn't intend it that way, Nathan ended up running the party games, while I chatted with the moms and took care of E.
M did have a party on the actual day, also. He asked for chocolate cake with green icing. 
The famous Christmas morning entrance. They were much more excited than they look, I promise.
