double digits

Eden is 10!
I can't believe we had our first baby TEN YEARS AGO!
Time goes by so fast
On the Friday evening before her birthday, we went out as a family to Eden's choice, Subway! We appreciate Subway so much more living overseas!

This was an early birthday present--a Sprite-flavored lipgloss that she wanted.


this was somewhere along the way...in the car

Her birthday "cake" was a giant cookie from you-know-where! Eden's all-time favorite, Walnut Wonder. It's a chocolate cookie loaded with toasted walnuts and white chocolate chunks







Eden received so many fun packages in the mail and birthday presents from friends and family. thank you so much everyone!



Grandpa made her special birthday dinner. Her favorite...Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce

Indoor Water Park

There is a really nice indoor water park here in Krakow. Grandpa and Grandma had told Eden and Truman that they would take them there for special end-of-school-year celebration...we were laughing about the fact that at this point I guess we could've called it a back-to-school celebration, but either way the kids had a blast!
Truman loved this climbing wall...I think it made him feel a little bit like Spidey

Family Biz

The best part of having a family business is...well, working together as a family!
We all went and worked in our Old Town location last Saturday. It was too much fun! The customers loved it too.
the kids offered samples to people passing by

HAPPY MEAL

Q and I have always been deliberate about spending one-on-one time with each of the kids on a regular basis. Last Saturday we had Mommy and Briar time. I took her out to lunch at our favorite McDonald's in Krakow. It's actually not that far from our house...just a few 'kilometers' away. I took this pic as I was driving so you could get the full effect.



They have a huge aquarium so first we looked at the fishies...



...and they also have a great patio. It was a perfect day to sit outside and to enjoy a happy meal together.



It seems they put a healthy spin on the Happy Meal here in Poland. They threw a Granny Smith in there for her.



While we were eating we decided to look for different shapes. Briar found lots of different ones and then we took pictures so we could show Daddy.


the handle on the door was a triangle...

...and we found squares and rectangles on the tile floor and the garbage can.





Briar was very observant that the lights around the patio were oval-shaped.




...and I was kind of impressed when she found this circle at the top of the umbrella
It was so special and so fun to spend this time with Briar. The years really do go by so fast...

Doctor

This is my fear factor when we are living overseas. There is something about the language barrier... and the not having my mini-van...and the not quite sure how to get there or who to call and again, the whole not speaking the same language thing when I do call...that makes my kids being sick or hurt extremely scary for me.
Well, we've been living here for 6 months and haven't been to the doctor until the last couple weeks--we've been back and forth 4 times. It started with Truman...strep throat...then Eden got it...followed of course by Briar.
This is Eden and Briar playing in the waiting area before the doctor called us in. Wow. You can really see in these photos that Eden is not well

One thing that eased my fears a bit...I was very pleased with the appearance and cleanliness of the clinic.

As I was saying, my life these past few weeks has been consumed with trips to the clinic followed by trips to the pharmacy and making sure my kids take their antibiotics and checking for fevers and giving them Tylenol...we've already used up ALL of the children's Tylenol that I brought from the states.

The bright side: During our many visits to the pharmacy, we became very well acquainted with the woman who worked there. She just happened to speak perfect English--"what a gift from God", I thought as she was explaining in detail how to mix up the medication for Eden...first boil the water then wait for it to become very cold then fill up to this line and shake then fill up to this line and shake again then keep it in the refrigerator and always shake before you use it etc. etc (*me: blank-stare jaw dropped*)...After she had gone through everything with me, I thanked her profusely for speaking English. I wanted to say, "Walgreens usually does all of that for me!"
During probably our fourth visit with her at the pharmacy, she asked if we were leaving [Poland] soon and I explained that we actually live here. I told her about More Than a Cookie and promptly gave her a business card--of course! So the next time, I stopped first at the cafe and got her a cupcake a cookie and a brownie packaged in a heart-shaped clear plastic box. You've probably already guessed it...YES, the next day she was at our store in Old Town buying all kinds of wonderful treats for her family and she called me on my cell phone to tell me how much she loved it!

...and now I have pinkeye...IN BOTH EYES!!!