Spring is Here!

I realize I've been kind of lame at posting lately. I've even been too lazy to change my holiday backdrop. Maybe I'll just leave it on until next year. Is that tacky like leaving your Christmas lights up all year? The truth is I haven't been lazy, just SUPER busy. Our lives are very full right now with deciding which grad school Ben will attend in the fall, planning travel for when my mom and sister and Ben's parents come in a few weeks (not all at once), and juggling things at home while Ben is busy with work, church, and traveling.

So, in an attempt to make up for my lameness I will post lots of goodies here... several events, but one post. Let's see how amazing my blogging skills are:

Ben was all pumped that he got this bona fide Polish army hat from a Polish officer when he went to help train a unit getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan
The girls had to try it on too... they look like little czarinas.
Ben got to go to Gdansk for a day, which is a port city in the north on the Baltic Sea. It's famous as the birthplace of the Solidarity movement (which was instrumental in overthrowing Communism) and it was also the first place the Nazis attacked in WWII, September 1, 1939.
Isn't it lovely? Ben, in typical Ben fashion, did not take any pictures of himself to prove he was there... hopefully we get to make the trip this summer with the girls!


This is a cool monument that Ben found... I guess in 1970 the Polish military (controlled by the Soviets) fired upon and killed some demonstrators who were protesting the regime. Ben liked how hardcore sounding the tribute is.




Meanwhile... back at the ranch, my world is wrapped around my two little ones...you can tell who's in charge here!
And you'd never guess that C has a "weight problem" from these pictures. We gave her some homemade cookies. She'll hate me one day for posting this pic... but isn't it awesome?

Last Saturday we went into the city to what we thought was the Warsaw University Library. Isn't this building lovely? Turns out it was closed. And it wasn't the library.
But it was beautiful anyway. We're just happy to be out and about again... thanks to day light savings and rising temperatures (fifties). You know, we've been here since August and I don't think we've had a day hit 80 yet.
So, we found the Independence Museum, which is kind of a confusing title since Poland has gained and lost its independence about 100 times in its history. I wasn't sure which independence they were referring to, but the museum basically chronicled all the revolutions and movements Poland has gone through to become the free republic that it is today! This sign is an original from the communist years and it says, "Soviets go home!" Sweet.
I believe this a picture from the Solidarity movement... which led to the overthrow of communism. You know Poland was the first Eastern bloc country to gain its independence and paved the way for the rest to break off from the Soviet Union.
There is no bread without freedom.
Stalin... not their favorite historical figure.

And onto a completely separate topic...

Am I turning into my mother??
So I took Em out in public like this. She rode a crowded bus sportin' these curlers. I can't believe how much I'm turning into my mom, (which usually isn't a bad thing). When I was little she made me wear curlers out in public and I wasn't old enough to be totally self aware, but I wasn't young enough to be totally oblivious either. Yes, there are pictures of me sportin' curlers at the Grand Canyon. I remember specifically once in the 2nd grade she put my hair in pigtails and wrapped each tail in a curler and made me go to school like that. She told me to keep them in until 10:00 and then I could take them out. I totally remember it. We had an assembly that day and I was sitting on the gymnasium floor staring at the clock, 10:00 could not come soon enough. It was embarrassing, but at the same time kind of a novelty because everyone was so intrigued by them and I got a lot of attention. But, yeah, I was 7.. Em's only 2 so I'm not that bad... yet.
So we were off to the park to meet my visiting teaching companion and her kiddo, Dougie. This is Dougie. He's the only other kid that comes consistently to church nursery. They are good friends.
He was so cute... he took her by the hand and dragged her all over the playground.

Smooth operator
Em went with the flow until he led her off the playground and began exiting the park. She just kind of whimpered, "Mommy!" I've got to teach her how to spurn advances. Ben says I'm really good at that.
And see?? Weren't the curlers totally worth it?