It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

Sneeze. Sleep. Sneeze. Cough. Etc.

I had a feeling this was going to happen again. A lot of people around here have been getting sick lately and now Titus and I down for the count. Avery had it a few weeks ago and Bethany is showing early signs, but it looks like the current cold strain has hit the family.

I’m just not a huge fan of sore throats. I feel like I can deal with just about any other symptom, but the sore throat is the worst. I’ve tried sleeping a lot today and am hoping to get to bed early tonight (shortly after finishing this blog).

The timing a huge bummer as we’ve already made arrangements to have a mini-vacation in Prague this weekend and to see our friends Zach and Kara. I’m holding out hope that I can feel better in the next 24 hours. We have an 8:00am train leaving on Friday and will come back on Sunday afternoon. Although we did a small tour of Prague our very first time we came to Czech, we were severely jet-lagged and I don’t really think we got the full experience. Our trip this weekend is kind of our first time really experiencing the capitol city of the country we now call our “home.” Please pray we’re able to feel better and enjoy some time away as a family.

It rained most of the day today and it was one of those rare days where I never stepped foot outside. The kids have wanted me to “rascal” (wrestle) them, but I just haven’t felt well enough or even have enough energy to do so. These are not my favorite days, but I’m trying to have a good attitude. Sickness is never fun, but I guess it’s just another opportunity to look to the Lord for strength.

February 25, 2015
Holiday At Home

Throughout the day today I was getting little photos of our kids messaged to me from Bethany. Above is a photo of Titus dancing on our ottoman to a song that he can’t seem to get enough of lately. We love music in our house and we often have “dance parties” when we just want to get some energy out. Titus especially loves music and always ask for “rock songs.” I guess he’s enjoying his week off from school because of the “Spring holiday.” It’s always fun to have a holiday at home.

Below is another photo Bethany sent me of Avery painting. Apparently she was painting a picture of me and said, “Daddy has glasses.” I think I look great.

Here’s another one of Avery folding here little wash clothes and baby clothes just like mommy does. It’s really fun to see Avery copy Bethany and want to help around the house. The other day I found all of Avery’s babies lined up perfectly, each one with their own tiny blankets.

It rained a little today and the weather has been warmer, but definitely not warm. Bethany commented that we needed a little rain. It feels like with all the snow melt and and dirt that the roads and sidewalks just needed a rinse. Other than that, it’s just been a normal day. We didn’t do language lessons today, but we’ll pick things up tomorrow. We’re also working on a plan to take a mini vacation to Prague this weekend to see our friends Zach and Kara. We’re hoping to take the train and rent a little apartment because it’s the most affordable and comfortable way to go. We’ll see how it goes!

February 24, 2015
Titus and Mommy Go On a Date

Tonight was the first time Titus and Bethany have gone on a “date.” Titus has had this idea in his head for about a week now and he has been talking about it a lot. Bethany and I decided they would go tonight and they had to drive a little bit, but they went to an American classic: McDonald’s.

As they were trying to get out the door Avery was crying a lot. I think she was a little confused as to why mommy and Titus would leave and she not be allowed to go. We reassured her it was OK and I tried to distract with the grilled cheese I made her for dinner. From the sound of things, I think Titus had a fun time. Bethany said they met a few Czech kids at the play place and she successfully asked them their names in Czech. Strangely their names were Max and Samuel. I say strangely because those are just not normal Czech names, or they are not Czech names we have heard before. Apparently Titus did really well and Bethany said she was surprised he that he finished his entire Happy Meal. I’m really glad they got some time together. It’s something we have wanted to do for some time now, and you really just have to plan to make the time. Here’s a few more photos Bethany got.

Avery and I enjoyed just playing at home and here’s a photo of me putting her “way up high” and her laughing.

We continue to push forward every day with Czech language speaking drills (aka: “LAPS”). Today it actually felt like we were running laps because the difficulty level increased immensely. Today we were working on location type words like besides, beneath, above, and in. It’s pretty incredible how much sentences in Czech will change depending on whether, for instance, a pen is “in the book” or you are “putting the pen in the book.” They are basically completely different sentences. To practice we were putting papers on our heads and books under the table and all kinds of things. At one point Titus came and sat on my lap. We were doing the drills and he just decided to grab a piece of paper and copy us. It was pretty funny and I got a photo of it.

That’s all for today!

February 23, 2015
Church and Exploring Poland

Everyone was up early this morning to get read for church, including these two rascals you see in the photo above. I was enjoying a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee before church and we were having fun hanging out in the kitchen. “Dad, take a picture of us!” Done.

We had a good morning at church. It was the first time we have all been as a family in three weeks and the kids did pretty well in their classes. Bethany went with Avery to her class and I stayed with Titus in his. Titus’ class read from a book which was an illustrated version of the parable of the lost coin. Both teachers in his class could speak English so they would ask the kids questions in Czech and then turn to Titus in English and ask him. They also celebrated one of the kid’s birthdays and sang to him “Happy Birthday” in Czech. Then I heard the kids saying, “Anglicky!” or “English!” They sang “Happy Birthday” again in English which was fun for Titus…and me!

We were thinking over dinner last night of what we might be able to do this afternoon and one thing we’ve wanted to do is check out a few stores we’ve heard about it Poland. One is a grocery store and Bethany also wanted to go back to “TK Maxx” (or TJ Maxx in the States) which she had visited back in August. The grocery store was amazing. It was kind of like a Super Wal-Mart, at least that’s the best way I can explain it. They had a wide variety of items and they are only store that we know of that carries flavored coffee creamers (a favorite of Bethany’s). Not only that, check out this meat selection (photo below)!

Bethany and I were pretty focused on trying to scan and see all that the store had, but apparently Titus had a little time on his hands because at one point we looked down and he was applying tiny stickers to his face. Here’s a photo I got of him.

After the grocery store we headed over to TK Maxx which wasn’t far away. That place turned out to be our golden ticket and we found a ton of things. Some of the best finds were two little books we got for the kids because most of the kids book they had were in English! This might not be a big deal to some people, but for us it was shocking. Another huge win was that they actually had shoes in my size which I haven’t been able to find since we moved here. I didn’t end up buying any today, but we plan on going to back at some point and spend more time.

We actually had a really fun day together even though we were most just walking around and exploring. There is so much to see here and we’re enjoying the search for new things.

Titus is off school this coming week because it’s “Spring break.” He’s excited he doesn’t have to go to school, except I’m concerned he thinks he never ever has to go back. One week feels like forever when you’re a kid, I guess!

February 22, 2015
Saturday is for Strollin’

Often on Saturdays we find ourselves trying to catch up on house work and errands. Today we spent the morning and early afternoon focused on cleaning up the house. Bethany worked with the kids on getting toys put away while I helped get the kitchen cleaned up. We have what I’ll call a half-size dishwasher which means we just can’t do large loads. One large pot or pan in that thing and it feels full. This means if we even delay one load we’re backed up. I’m happy to report we’re back on track and things are nice and tidy.

After the housework we decided to go out and just spend some time in our town. The weather was in the high forties and we had clear skies, so it was a nice day for a walk. We headed to the town square where the kids like to run around the water fountain. They were sad that it’s not running right now, presumably because of winter, but we had fun chasing each other in circles around it. Below is a photo of Avery on the big concrete pillar things that line the square and beneath that is a shot of Bethany with Avery in our big stroller in front of the town hall.

While we were out Bethany remembered our friends telling us about a little cafe that we had never been to. A lot of stores and shops are closed by noon on Saturday in our town, but we decided since we were just walking and having fund we would go see if they were open. Amazingly, they were, and we went inside. It was a fun little place and they even had a little play area for kids inside. Below is a photo of Titus beginning work on a puzzle he found among the books and toys.

We had fun trying to figure out how to order hot chocolate for the kids and coffee, for us but the woman running the cafe was very gracious with us. They didn’t really have hot chocolate in the traditional sense, but they had this kind of hot chocolate pudding stuff. I can’t really describe it, but it’s thick enough to eat with a spoon. It wasn’t expensive, and you could order lots of different flavors. We ordered chocolate/banana and chocolate/strawberry for the kids. Titus and Avery weren’t really into, but Bethany and I loved it! I’m so glad we got to enjoy that little shop and hopefully we can go back some time.

The kids enjoyed a little video chat time tonight with Nana and Papa (Bethany’s parents). Papa was kind enough to read them a book over the computer and the photo above is them just enthralled with the story and Papa’s storytelling abilities.

Immediately after we finished with Papa and Nana we headed to youth group at our church. It was a special night where they were inviting friends and doing an extended music time. There were a lot of students there and we were a little late so there weren’t really and places for us to sit. It probably wasn’t the best night to bring the entire family, but the kids had fun listening to the music and they were a little sad when we left early. It was fun to be there and I like that the students are getting more familiar with us being around.

All that to say…it was a great Saturday!

February 21, 2015