The Last Day

And just like that, this...

turned into this...

And this year we had a few more friends joining us for our last day of school pictures - The Feather and Suich families.  Since we are all moving a few days after the end of the school year, we had moved into the local hotel just down the street.  That last week of school, we spent our days with the packers and ran errands to help finalize the move but we spent our nights at the restaurant letting our kids play in the grass while we enjoyed a bit of adult time (and maybe some wine).  In the mornings we had breakfast together before walking the kids to school.  It helped immensely having people around that knew exactly what we were going through, having kids that were dealing with the same emotions and struggles, and having a friend just down the hall, literally.  Who would have thought that our local hotel/burger bar/bowling alley would be the place I would find comfort during this move?

And on the final day of school, one that we knew would be hard for all of us we put a plan in place to make the transition just a little bit easier.  After the tears had all been dried and we said our final goodbyes at ISP, we threw a bowling party at the restaurant for the kids and their friends and then we had our usual dinner.  And it wasn't over yet - because afterward - (and this was probably the best part) - we had a giant sleepover party.  Stinkerbell and her best buddy S were in our room, MadHatter and L-M (one of her very first friends here in Prague were in N's room just two doors down) and the mom's pulled their chairs up in the hall, clad in their comfy clothes and slippers and stayed up too late and drank too much wine.  And had too much fun!

A last day of school to remember, for sure!

Communion Photo Shoot

As you know, MadHatter had her first Communion last Sunday (click here to see the pictures).  I knew that the day of the ceremony was going to be hectic and I probably wouldn't have time to take her portraits so a few weeks before the actual ceremony I helped her get dressed, drove her to the church and captured this very important moment in time.  She was so happy to pose for me (I am not kidding when I say that almost all of the poses she thought of herself) and she looked absolutely gorgeous...though I am not sure what happened to the baby girl we baptized seemingly yesterday.
I hope you enjoy them - I know we had a lot of fun together doing them...

First Holy Communion

For the past 9 months, MadHatter has religiously been attending RE classes at our St. Thomas Church here in the city center.  RE stands for religious education  (I'm pretty punny, aren't I?) and the classes prepare the children for receiving their first communion.  It is a pretty intense period as the kids are expected to learn the 10 commandments, understand the difference right and wrong, define what is a sin and even be able to explain what their conscience is.  They also have to prepare a reading that they do in front of the congregation, memorize the Act of Contrition, the Hail Mary and Our Father, and learn how to properly make a confession.  Like I said, it is pretty intense.

Throughout the entire process, MadHatter has really taken ownership of her education.  She has been studious, and interested, and very involved in the learning.  She practiced her prayers and learned her readings and did her homework without any much prodding/reminding/pleading from us.  She learned to apply what she learned on Sunday's to her life outside of the church and she became an integral part of her church community.  B and I were very proud of how she took on this huge undertaking and never once complained or asked to skip class.  In fact, she was usually disappointed when we had a week or two off for holidays.

This past weekend, all of her hard work paid off.  She participated, with her whole class, in receiving her first communion, the 3rd of 7 sacraments.  The first was her baptism, which MadHatter was lucky enough have celebrated in her Papa's church back in Caracas when she was still a baby, and in April, she completed her second sacrament, The Act of Penance, by reciting the Act of Contrition and making her first confession.  (I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall to hear what an 8-year-old considers a sin).  On Sunday, she completed her third when she took communion in front of the congregation.

She was a bit nervous that she and her communicants would be the center of attention for the whole service but the nerves were offset by her excitement.  She could hardly contain herself as we got her ready.  And as we were walking through the streets to get to the church, she couldn't stop smiling at all the people that paused to wish her luck and take her picture.  She was a sight to behold.  And when she met up with her friends, you could almost feel the energy buzzing around them - they were very ready for this!  And they rocked it.  The ceremony was sweet and went off without a hitch - well, except for the fact that the wine was spilled all down the front of MadHatter's dress.  Thankfully it was white wine. 

Congratulations on your big day! We are proud of you beyond measure.

A, MadHatter and L-M are all in the same grade at ISP.  I am so glad that they got to do this together.

Congratulations to all of the Communicants!

Marvelous MadHatter

Each week, one of the students in 2L (MadHatters class) has an entire week dedicated entirely to them.  They student of the week fills the bulletin board with pictures of their lives and descriptions of what makes them unique- their family, their cournty, their favorite foods and their friends to name a few.  They put them all up on Monday morning while the rest of the class is settling in.  I am sure that all of the students are very excited about their week - and MadHatter was no exception.  She couldn't wait for her class to learn more about her life and her family.  And she proudly selected each and every picture for each and every topic.

Monday morning - she proudly led her class through her timeline...and answered questions.

Tuesday - she shared her love of everything Disney and brought in a few of her souvenirs to share with the class.  Including all three of her signature books (one from her trips to Disneyland, one from her cruise/DisneyWorld and the one from her trip to Disney Paris)...

She even brought in her nesting doll set from Russia.

Wednesday - she brought in her Papa.  She selected one of her favorite books in Spanish (Pooh, Te Quiere!) and Papa read it in Spanish as she translated it to English.  It always amazes me that all of these children speak a minimum of two languages and they are still astounded by the fact that someone speaks a language that they do not.  The kids loved the story but I think they were more interested in B.  He really is quite exotic to them as most of them had never met anyone from South America (most of our students are from Europe and Asia).

Thursday - I got invited to come in and teach the kids a little bit about Chile and taught them how to make rainsticks (which legend says originated in the Atacama desert).  The kids loved listening to stories about MadHatter's time in the southern hemisphere and how the Chilean people live.  And they are always up for a good craft...

Finished rain sticks!

Friday brought MadHatters final day of her Marvelous Me week.  This time, she decided that she wanted to share her magnet collection.  When we first moved to Europe, we started picking up a magnet in each city we visited.  We couldn't bring them all so she just brought her favorites and explained whey she picked each one...

It was a fabulous week, focused on a Marvelous girl and she was so excited to have her classmates learn all about her life and the things she loves.  Thank you to Miss Erian for the pictures and a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in 2L!