Family Visit

Last week my mom and brother flew in to enjoy a long weekend with us. We had a great time and did a lot of fun things!

Saturday: Corpus Christi
We rented a van for the weekend (which was waaaay convenient I admit) and drove about 2.5 hours south to visit the Gulf of Mexico. It turned out to be a gorgeous day - we all enjoyed dipping our feet in the sand & water, delicious ice cream, and a good dose of vitamin D!




Sunday: SeaWorld
We live really close to SeaWorld so I have been anticipating its opening day. Sophie has been talking about SeaWorld and Shamu for a while now too...to the point where each day she would ask things like: Is Seaworld open yet? When is Shamu's birthday? And even "does shamu wear underwear?" Needless to say, she was excited about going to SeaWorld!
So we went, and we all surprisingly had a great time! I was actually a little shocked at how entertaining it had turned out to be. The shows were great, there was a play area for younger kids, and Sophie went on her first roller coaster -- the shamu express! She was excited to go on it, but lets just say that she wasn't interested in going again afterwards. We ended up purchasing a season pass to SeaWorld and I am excited to make frequent visits there. I hear that they have a great water play area for kids once it gets hot....and here it will be hot before we know it!

Bill and Sophie waiting in line for the Shamu Express :)



Monday: River Walk
Monday we spent a relaxing afternoon in downtown San Antonio...sipping coffee at starbucks, strolling along the paths of the riverwalk, and enjoying some good mexican cuisine! And Tuesday they left :(

Here's a random pic of Sophie sporting my mom's curlers - cute eh?


Now don't you want to come visit? ? :)

Little Helper

Claire was sick last week, and I mean sick! 104 degree fevers, cranky, snotty, you name it. It was a bit rough for all of us (not to mention mommy was sick too). I certainly feel more compassion for families who deal with sick kiddos. Who knew a simple ear infection or virus could be so debilitating? Not to mention cutting some new teeth too :) Sophie never really got too sick as a baby so this was my first go at it. I pray it won't happen again for a while!

Thankfully I had a little help from Sophie. Look at her mommy-like skills in feeding her sister!

The All Encompassing

Even ordinary days have their excitement. Here is some of ours:

First Wave:
Claire started waving the other week. She also started full out moving. Now her favorite activity is eyeing something on the carpet that doesn't look like it should be there (aka crumbs, fuzz, what have you), booking for it and tasting it. Last night I found a piece of carpet fuzz in her mouth, it was so gross!

This week she has been sick, and not a trooper about it either. I think she is on the mend thankfully. Now it looks like it is Mommy and Daddy's turn to be sick. Oh well, at least it is a weekend and we can be sick together!

The Rodeo:
After almost an entire week of rain last week, we ventured to the San Antonio Stock and Rodeo Show on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was...a glorified 4-H fair. We had fun. It was a great day to be outside, Sophie loved all the animals. Did I mention that I've never seen so many pick up trucks in one place before? Never. Also my favorite reptile was on display with an exhibit called "Snakes, Snakes, and More Snakes"! If you know me, you can imagine my excitement... Can you believe my disgust when Sophie actually asked to see them, twice? Even though moments earlier when I was taking her to the potty she had just finished telling me how she thought snakes were yucky. Bill was the lucky one to take her to them. I was just freaked out enough by being in the same building as them.

This is what Claire thought of the whole thing:

Sophie at the petting zoo


When I asked Sophie what her favorite part of the rodeo was, she told me her favorite part was getting a sticker. Never mind the animals, or ice cream....kids!

Paczki:
And who could forget Paczki Day earlier this week? Some of you may know it as Fat Tuesday. Incase you are unfamiliar with beautiful paczki tradition, here is a little blurb. It is my favorite day to celebrate my heritage, or at least Polish food. Anyway, the excitement brewed on Paczki Day Eve. I started googling bakeries in the area that I could call or go to in the morning. And the morning came, and so did a lot of phone calls in which I heard things like "what?", "no, we don't even make those", "huh?". Yep, I didn't expect such rejection! I think I forgot that I was in San Antonio, a city not exactly heavily populated with Poles. So, what's a Polish girl to do? Well, a really motivated girl would have made those. I took the road more traveled, and made an easier Polish fried treat to get me through the day. Chrusciki (angel wings)- basically a crispy fried dough with powdered sugar sprinkled atop. Delicious. Not quite paczki, but I will save that project for another day! By the way, I can say that even the paczki in Hamtramck do not comapre to a homemade one. My grandma makes the BEST paczki.

my chrusciki

Sun where are you?

I'd like to say that lately we've been soaking up beautiful weather and playing outside - but since it's been raining on and on and on...i'll just share some indoor randomness from the last couple of weeks:

First story: I'll start out by saying that since Sophie has been sleeping in a big girl bed she has gotten out of it one time. And it was the very first time I put her in it, and she has not done it since. That was back in April. On to the story. Right after Bill left for work this morning I decided to jump in the shower before the girls woke up. I took my shower, and almost immediately after I turned the shower off, the door knob to the bathroom door started to slowly turn. That gave me just enough time to stop breathing and start playing the horror music in my head. Then I saw a little arm poke through and was greeted by a nonchalant Hi Mommy. I don't think she realized that she had almost killed me on the spot! I think I will be sleeping with a monitor next to my ear as long as there are kids in the house so that I won't have any surprises like that in the middle of the night!

Potty Training=check! Finally, finally, we have made potty progress! Hurray. #1 that is, as #2 has been tackled for months now. Sophie is doing great so far and I hope it keeps up. It is sooooo nice not to have to change enormous & bulky diapers all day long. Of course she is still in them at night, but 1 diaper sure beats a lot :) Speaking of potty things...it reminds me of a question I have -- Sophie insists on having all of her clothes off for going #2 - any thoughts/advice/anything? I just don't get it.

Claire is rocking on all fours. And although not quite crawling she is very good at doing side planks, and mysteriously getting herself to wherever she shouldn't be. It is amazing the difference in these 2 children of ours. At this age Sophie hadn't even rolled over yet (she did the day she turned 9 months). She just sat, a lot. Claire used to sit, but now she just wants to get places - like to the sharp edge of the coffee table, or the computer cord...

How is the sleeping you ask? Currently they are napping in separate rooms so you can only imagine how good it is! All sarcasm aside, night time sleeping is not bad. The naps seem to be worse.

Getting to know the area: We have been regularly attending a storytime at the library where we've met some new people and sophie has enjoyed the stories. That has been nice. I also succumbed to letting Sophie play at the mall play area since the weather has been icky. I say succumbed because I think mall play areas (really any indoor play areas) are disgusting. And this one that we went to was no exception. It smelled like a combination of dog pee and rotten eggs. Along with a smelly play area, the mall offered interesting small talk like a lady who shared with me that she still couldn't get her 2 year old off the boob...(2 things I wanted to tell her were: aren't you the mom? and do you realize that you just made me throw up in my mouth a little?) but anyways.... to each their own I guess.

On a happier note - we seem healthy and we really have sooooo much to be thankful for. I am trying to focus on having a grateful heart and attitude since being here because the Lord has truly been gracious. Even though we may not be surrounded by all the comforts of "home" we still have food to eat, a roof over our heads, bibles that we can freely read, a church that we can worship at, along with a gazillion of other things that we don't even deserve!

Who can resist this cuteness?

Oh how I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this, but little princess would not let me (probably wise for the sake of any dignity). She is wearing one of my work out head bands, her heart shaped sunglasses, sesame street pajamas and white flip flops. It would be perfect as a tabloid cover.

taking turns with our ladies

Life in the South

We've had a good couple of weeks adjusting to life in San Antonio. 70 degree weather sure helps that too. Bill's parents came for a visit which kept us entertained and running around exploring our new area. We celebrated Bill's birthday. We ventured to the zoo. We've also started attending a church down here and have enjoyed the 2 weeks of that. Sophie has even been learning some new bible stories.

Here are some pictures and Sophie's version of Samuel listening to God. (You will also get a little tour of our new apartment)

Claire-bear turned 8 months yesterday. She has been a bit of a crank pot lately. I'm going to blame it on teething. She is still a sweet thing though, and quite the little mover. Although not crawling - she started an army crawl which usually gets her to what she wants.

Sophie and Bill blowing out his cannoli ice cream cake (he turned 3 according to Sophie)

Yes, these are palm trees my friend. I'm not sure if they are native to this area, because it seems that they are mostly growing outside of stores and restaurants, but still so nice to see!


Zoo fun

A week ago...

A week ago today we said goodbye to our friends, neighbors & home and set out on our 2 day drive to San Antonio. After 2 full days of driving, we made is safely to San Antonio. Here is a little recap of our journey from the past couple of weeks:

We spent Christmas in Boston and enjoyed it greatly. It was wonderful to spend time with family we don't get to see often. Christmas Eve day was spent with all of the Logozzos, and Christmas day took us to Connecticut to spend time with the Lockerts. All of it was so nice. Bill and I really enjoyed getting a "mental" vacation from all of the thoughts & stresses about moving & preparing for life in San Antonio.

We came home on Tuesday, and spent our time packing, sorting, cleaning, putting away - you name it! In the midst of this we took time to be with friends. So many were gracious to have us over for meals. It was nice not to have to worry about cooking during that time, and to enjoy quality time with amazing friends!

We had one last Sunday at Grace and were both balling like babies at times when we had to say goodbye to friends. You'd think we were moving away forever... and even though we don't plan on that happening, it was still hard because we are surrounded by such a loving church body. They exude godliness, extend grace, and love so well! Thank You Lord!

The next morning we stood in the kitchen of our almost empty house, took some time to let the emotions flow :) & prayed for our journey ahead. Sophie was funny that morning. She woke up cranky and I think she was a little sad too. However, she took it to an extreme and found it necessary to whine, a lot! At one point I asked her - "sophie, where is your happy attitude?" and she said "it's upstairs." That was a perfect answer for that morning!

Our drive was amazing. God seriously poured out his grace. The girls did fabulous in the car. I was a little nervous about Claire being in the car for so long because she has never been a huge fan of car rides, especially at night time. BUT, she did great. Maybe the switch to a convertible car seat did the trick! The most eventful part of our time on the road had to have been in Waco, TX. We were enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant. I went to the bathroom to clean out Claire's bottle and a lady at the sink next to me said: "You're cleaning a bottle and I'm going to clean my teeth." Hmm, before I could even form a thought she plopped out her dentures and rinsed them off. It was pretty disgusting, but I had to laugh.

We arrived at our apartment on Tuesday night, and it was a bit hard. It really sunk it that we were NOT home. But with time, rest, & prayer - it is getting a little better each day. It has been a good reminder for me that this world is truly not our home -- whether TX or KY - it is all a temporary dwelling place.

The girls have been adjusting pretty well minus the sleeping thing. We are attempting to make them share a room. It hasn't been too terrible. The worst parts have been getting Claire to fall asleep quietly, and getting Sophie to sleep past 5:30am! Thankfully this morning she slept to 6:15am. Sad, but that is actually good for her since we've moved here! Claire on the other hand wouldn't dream of waking up before 8am. Maybe in few months they will get used to each other. :) Other than sleeping, Sophie seems to be enjoying her new apartment and is anxiously awaiting the day we get to visit Shamu. Seaworld is literally up the street from us. Claire has been enjoying her new found talent of rolling around everywhere.

A couple pics from the last week:
One last pic in Claire's room

Hotel fun in Little Rock

Sophie in her big hotel bed

The girls in Sophie's bed here in our apartment.


Although we eagerly anticipate returning to life in Kentucky next year - we don't want to miss out on what God has in store for us this year in San Antonio. We recognize his sovereignty over our lives and his placing us here. Our prayer is that we would live life to the fullest, for his glory where ever we are.

What Have I Done???

The other day I was doing my very routine grocery shopping at the local Kroger (that I already don't like for many reasons...) and stumbled upon the large banner hanging outside of the front of the store. It read: "Holiday Evergreens." I looked below the sign and noticed Christmas trees. Then I got ticked. Holiday evergreens? Really? They are CHRISTMAS TREES!!! Surely, if you are buying a tree then it must be for Christmas, not Thanksgiving, New Years, or any other "holiday." Grrr.

So I came home and wrote a lovely note to Kroger saying that I am officially resigning my grocery shopping at all Kroger stores until they do something about this sign. I even gave them my Kroger Customer # and told them they can consider it inactive. BOLD, I know. This means I can't show my face at Kroger, any Kroger, even the nice Kroger stores until they give Christmas the credit it is due.

I realize that I have completely inconvenienced myself (hence the title "What Have I Done?") and now may have to resort to shopping at Walmart since it is second closest, or driving far to Meijer or Whole Foods, but I think it is for a good purpose. I am sick of retailers taking Christmas out of Christmas! This is a purposeful time of year celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Enough is enough. And though I realize that there are MANY more retailers out there doing the same thing, and that I may not tackle all of them, I thought one was a start...especially a grocery store that gets a lot of our business. So there. :)

I will let the blogger world know if I hear back from Kroger. I hope I do.

In the meantime, enjoy some pics of this Christmas season at our house.