Steve and Jenny Valentine

March 11-Batman Bear was ready to bust out of the hospital as much as Steve and Isaac were...and they came home this day and we are happy that Isaac has made a full recovery! March 12-These three were VERY happy to be back together again. March 13-We were tired from the past couple weeks of sickness and had some early nights to bed and tried to rest and get our own energy back after several weeks of sickness around our home.  March 14 - Lots of catch up to do on homework for language class as we missed several classes.  March 15 - Getting our guest bed ready for a two week visit from our sweet Florida friend! March 16 - The kids were SOOO excited to go to the airport and await the arrival of our friend from Florida. This was a sweet moment and I was just as happy to hug her too! Our kids love Larinda and she is affectionately known as "rinda or Aunt rinda" around here. She has loved on our family since we first met her and our kids adore he...

March 4-Both of our older two kids attend Polish speaking schools. Isaac's is more of a day care type school and they do fun preschool type activities. Karis' school includes different subjects such as basic writing letters, religious education and English class. Of course her main goal at this point is trying to understand and learn Polish as best she can. Next year she moves up to class one and that will allow for the opportunity for her to have a language helper, but now she is figuring things out as they come. And honestly, she is doing great picking up on things. When her teacher sends home notes, it's all in Polish and that leaves us to figure out what she needs to bring or be prepared for the next day or week. Sometimes she types the messages, and that helps, but other times (more often) they are hand written and it's hard for us to figure it out many times. With the help of google translate, we make sense of many of the notes, but there are a l...

February 26-Isaac headed to school with treats to share with his classmates. Here in Poland it is a big deal to celebrate your "Name" day but birthdays are special too. In class, kids can share treats with their classmates they bring. He was so excited to do this and had fun when all the kids sang "Sto Lat" to him, which is what is sung to you on your birthday here. February 27-Today was Isaac's 4th birthday and one of his gifts was a batman costume.  He has worn it every day since getting this (with the exception of this past week where he was in the hospital-more pictures about the week in the hospital to come in the next blog post). His name means "laughter" and he embodies the meaning of his name! He is our family jokester, witty, caring and tender hearted. He is extroverted and learning how to express himself in a new culture in light of this. He is a rambunctious little boy and we couldn't imagine life without him!  ...

When Steve and I got married and our first anniversary was approaching, we decided to buy gifts for each other based on the "traditional anniversary gift list" (google it if you are not familiar). This took off any pressure to have the perfect gift for the other and also gave us practical ideas that brought about some creative gifts. It's always been a fun thing we have done and this year is no different. This year happens to be pottery. It's a good thing we moved to Poland this year, where they have some beautiful pieces of pottery (again google it if you are not familiar with Polish pottery). But we will not be exchanging our gifts with one another today, so I thought I would write. And as I sit here with a feverish baby at my side and my middle child away from me (with daddy) at the hospital, I can be discouraged, and wish we weren't in a place where we can't understand doctors and such. But I'm not...2 Corinthians 4 tells us this: 1 Therefore, sinc...

February 19 - There are a couple places we have found where you can buy produce (among many other things) outside in markets like this one. The day we walked by this one, we were told it is one of the best ones in Poznan. February 20 - Finally, two months after receiving our shipment of belongings from the States, we are beginning to hang things on the wall. I had to put this one right in our dining room, a very sweet reminder of our home in Florida and the amazing friendships we have there.  February 21 - Sunday afternoons we try to relax and take naps if possible. ALL of us! This is really good for our hearts to take time to rest. February 22 - This begins the birthday week for these two cuties (Olivia and Isaac turned 2 & 4 this week). It was a full week and we are thankful for a healthy family this week in order to be able to celebrate these two little blessings! February 23 - ok we will gush the rest of this week on little Olivia! Olivia is the third born...

February 12 - A quick visit to the doctor for the two littlest in our family, and antibiotics prescribed to help them heal. Now, the first time we had to take kids to the doctor (which actually was one of my biggest fears before arriving to Poland) we had only been here about a month and so you can imagine my surprise (then) when I brought the medicine home from the Apteka (Pharmacy) to find powder in a bottle! After some translation help from friends, I was able to figure out just how much water I had to add to the powder and begin administering the medicine properly. So now, as we were prescribed antibiotics (probably the third time since being here)  I'm a pro at knowing what I need to do to prep the medicine. This is very different than back in the States for us, and actually very surprising!  February 13 - What to do when most everyone is stuck inside sick over Valentine's Day weekend...why bake heart shaped chocol...

Sometimes our days don't go as planned, and you just have to go with the flow. This Valentine's day has been one of those days. Sunday, a day when we would usually be headed off to church, we find ourselves waking up to sick children who can't keep their breakfast down! As I stood in the midst of the sickies and tears, flipping heart shaped eggs...I looked over at Steve and said "happy Valentine's day, I love you" . Sometimes special days are filled with sickness and "not as planned" moments...but despite it all, we are reminded of God's great love for us in Christ Jesus! So HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all our family and friends, may you find true love and contentment in Jesus today. And if you didn't get our Valentine letter yet in your email today, please message us and we will send it to you. Just a few pictures from our annual Valentine photo shoot a few weeks back, enjoy!