Holidays in Poland

Easter in Poland is a four day weekend full of lots of excitement, tons of food, religion, and fun for all ages. It would take me a full week just to shed the extra few pounds I gained, if I wasn't eating the leftovers. :) Magda is a crafty individual so every holiday she will spend some time with Lydia making new decorations for the house and Easter is no exception. Dying eggs for Easter is a universal hobby but I really enjoy the older traditions in Poland of dying eggs naturally using vegetables. This year we dyed eggs using onion skins, beets and red cabbage. Magda added a cool highlight this year by dipping a needle in wax and drawing on the egg before dying them. By doing this it would leave a pattern without color on the eggshell. I think red cabbage is my favorite source for natural dye, it gives the eggs a kind of blue color which I like.

Magda did another really cool art project this year for Easter but I don't think it has to just be limited to the holiday for a household decoration. The basic idea is to blowup a small balloon. Dip the balloon in glue, wrap the balloon in colored yarn and wait for it to dry. After the yarn and the glue dries, you pop the balloon and remove it leaving the shape of the colored yarn. It is also pretty cool when you pop the balloon because it slowly retreats from it's environment while fighting the glue and trying to stay in place.

In the United States my Easter revolved around searching the house or yard for a basket full of goodies left for the Easter Bunny. I know I am getting older these days and my hair is turning grey, but a part of me really does miss the excitement of searching for what might be found. In recent years I think my favorite Easter Basket treat has been Starburst Jelly Beans. :) The bottom line about Easter is that the holiday is about spending some time together as a family.  

We also just celebrated Labor Day and Constitution Day. Mila the Destroyer even created a Polish flag in her preschool. We went to a few BBQ's over the long weekend and had some guests over at our house as well. Overall it has been a busy few weeks on my social calendar. :) The girls are doing well, and one teacher apparently called Mila the Destroyer an Angel in Preschool?! Well Mila can be an Angel at times and Lydia too, but my girls are born to be wild and I try not to be surprised by their actions, good or bad. For the most part the weather has been good, but a recent cold snap killed some of the gourds we had just planted. We are starting some more plants from seeds inside the house and will put them in the yard soon. The flowers in the yard are coming along nicely and Magda and I planted some more in the yard which I will take some pictures of soon. Well bye for now.

Mila The Destroyer enters preschool!

Any new parent can read the title of my post and realize just how epic this moment is! :) Anyone who reads my blog can understand how important it is to have Mila away from our house where she can destroy and play with other kids her age. Mila is an amazing little girl and completely different from her older sister in many ways. If I had to explain the difference of how my daughters act at home in simple terms, I would say that Lydia is an introvert mostly wanting to be by herself and Mila is an Extrovert wanting to grab your hand and go do something together. The difference in my girls starting preschool is also quite different. When Lydia started preschool in the US she was shy and cried and didn't want us to leave at first. When we started Mila this week for preschool, we brought her inside, removed her hat, and changed her shoes and she bolted before we could even say goodbye. When Lydia was starting preschool we would have to wave to her from the window while one of the teachers held her so that she could say goodbye. Anyone who has had to wave and say goodbye when the child is crying and screaming for you knows just how hard this can be and fortunately we don't have to do that with Mila. Mila the Destroyer is however daddy's girl and will run to me whenever she hurts herself, or is sad, or hasn't seen me in a while and I come home. So I am spoiled with the reaction I get from Mila when I pick her up from preschool. :) Mila with yell Dada and run into my arms to be picked up and hugged. :) Mila was awesome this first week and did a very good job behaving herself. She played well with all the other kids and even behaved herself when eating at school in a group at the table. If she can continue to do well at this pace we might be able to leave her at the school to take naps in a month or so. Lydia is doing well at school and is pretty smart for her age but she has a tendency to want to do her own thing and ignore what the rest of the kids are doing. We will pick Lydia up from school and find out that she didn't do one of the exercises that the other kids were doing and we will have to complete it with her at home. The teachers will also tell us however that Lydia is a very smart kid and is good at math and spelling, so I guess I just have to chose my battles. Lydia loves to color and this week Magda got her this little note book that makes it fun to be a fashion designer, and Lydia has already created several cool outfits, like this one.

The most confusing individual aspect of my Lydia is the fact that she does not like to dress herself. Lydia loves to be a princess, and color pretty things, and create outfits, but asking the girl to get dressed is like pulling teeth. Well I will leave you for now with this picture of Mila sleeping after her first day of Preschool.