Sweet Six (or Eight) Sunday

I am pretty sure that everyone goes through the same end of the school year/beginning of summer craziness! We are definitely experiencing it and LOVING it! I am not entirely sure where the month of May went, but we love that June is here and we have EIGHT days until we leave for MN.  Woot woot!

Due to this crazy spring/start of summer, I am going to quickly highlight the last two weeks! As we near the end of our first "year" here in Poland, before heading back to MN, there are so many posts that I have started or want to start in regards to our time here.  We shall see how many (if any) I get done in this next week. :)

one. The kids' good friend, Addy, turned four and had the cutest puppy party! Her mama is quite the planner (I have mentioned our shared love for this in prior posts), and had everything set up days ahead of time! And Tiffany is a teacher, so I loved watching her guide the kids from activity to activity throughout the party! I may have made some mental notes! ;)

Reese refused to go into the party, so she spent the first 20 minutes lounging in the car.

Each child got a dog! Meet Blue!

Decorating party hats

The crew, less Reese and Adelina!

Time to search for the missing tennis balls!

Beckett and Victor's turn! To say Beckett is competitive is an understatement!

Birthday girl - Addy!

two. Beckett and Reese go to the ABC Montessori three mornings a week, and we love all of the special activities that they get to do with the school.  Two Fridays ago, Beckett went to the Spring Sleepover, where kids 3.5 years old and older are able to stay over at their school.  Their teachers are amazing and handle all the chaos without breaking a sweat! Reese is excited to join him in the Fall!

Goodbye hugs!

This girl was enjoying her alone time with Mommy and Daddy!
Lots of silly pics!

Miss Karolina sent us this picture right before the kids went to sleep!

Big hugs when we arrived in the morning!

three. Well, we gave potty training one more effort before heading off to MN and it was a complete failure.  Ha! We ask Reese on the daily if she wants to use the big girl potty and every time, we get a firm "NO!" Reese had two UTIs when she was a little and due to this, she had a catheter put in to get a urine sample every time she had a fever.  She has always been hesitant and usually refuses to let us wipe her when changing her diaper - we are assuming due to the various experience with the cath her first 18/24 months.  This may be leading to her refusal to go on the big girl potty.  Has anyone else dealt with this? Any tips or tricks?

four. Daddy was gone for work travel last week, so we tried out a new park one of the nights.  The kids loved the truck and the zip cord! We will be back!!

five. As we pack for our trip to MN, I have started to go through areas of the house that haven't been touched since we moved in nine months ago.  Our move here has really put into perspective how much stuff we have and how much we can do without.  I am not a hoarder, but I don't like to toss away money, so I do hold on to items that I know we will use again some day.  Examples - extra bike locks from a vendor we used to rep from 8 years ago, or rain pants from highschool, just in case we go on a rainy hike.  I know, I realize that most of these things we will never use again, but when we pull out the extra bike lock today because one of the kids took the key from our previous lock, and we cannot find it, my belief is strengthened on holding on to these items! :)

I also like to buy ahead for the kids when I see a great sale at a store or an incredible price at a garage sale! I made this nifty cheat sheet for me to have in our closet of kids' rain suits and snow suits.  I then took a picture of it and will have in my phone in case I need to refer to it when I see a great sale! :)

Pile of rain/snow jackets and pants!

**A special shout out to my parents, my sister and Dan and the Pearsons for collecting a few (or many) shipments that we have sent from Amazon, Target, etc. :) Stocking up on items to keep at my parents for the summers (floaties, scooters, etc.) and others to bring back to Poland with us! We greatly appreciate it!!!

six. We thoroughly enjoyed the kids at their Spring Concert on Friday afternoon.  This is the second concert that they have had with their school and we get excited for it every time! There is just something so sweet about watching your kids show off their dance and singing skills, seeing the friendships and interactions with their classmates, and watching their bravery as they walk up to the mic to lead the class in a song.  We are proud parents! Front row and all!

The Casa and Toddler class!

Reese stood up on stage with this pose for the first five minutes!

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Beckett singing with two other children - both Polish.
Listen to the pronunciation! SO cute!

Gummy bear song!

Dance number! The kids practice this on Thursdays, when B & R are not at school.
He did pretty good, considering this!

Last dance number!
There was a dance instructor at the front of the stage guiding the kids -
Reese wanted to do her own thing and danced her own dance! Melted our hearts!

As the music teacher started a solo, Reese and Adelina snuck off to pull out the
baby doll and phone from a previous song.

Addy, Adelina and Reese - goofballs! 

Nothing like hitting up the ice cream shop after a great performance!

Can you tell that Reese was ready to be done!?! No nap!

seven. Even though we don't attend ASW, American School of Warsaw, we often go to the events at the school and help with fundraisers when we can.  Saturday we went to the Summer Send-off/Spring Fair at the school.  It was so fun to see a lot more familiar faces, when compared to the Fall Fair! We have really created a lot of great friendships here!

Kids' first experience with fidget spinners!

B watching one of the bands!

Time for some track and field games!

Puppy purse and all!

Three legged race!

Beckett was SO sad that the cotton candy machine was not working!

eight. Today the kids went to their first Polish birthday party at a cute place called, Lider! Pola, one of their classmates, is turning four! There was a lot to do at Lider for the kids, and they were locked in from the entrance, so the parents could sit and chat without worry of losing a child. :) It was fun to see the differences in celebrations, food offered and songs sung at the party! The kids are pooped and are off to bed early!

Check out this sweaty mess! Hair completely soaked!

We have a busy week ahead, full of celebrations, goodbye parties and packing! Lots of packing! :) Please cross your fingers that I am able to stick to the limited amount of luggage Andy wants to bring back. :)