Language Exam & Results

Yesterday I re-tested on two sections of the language proficiency exam that I did not pass a year ago. Over the past two months I have been back in language study and private lessons with Alessandra. Things have been going well and I know I am making progress although it seems sometimes intolerably slow for me. Language learning will be a life-long process for me so even when I officially graduate from the language program it in no way means that I have "arrived." Kind of like our walk with Christ, right? We never can say that we have "arrived" and have all the answers. Life is a continuous learning process and as long as we remain teachable and desirous of learning with a humble spirit, by His grace He will grow us and mature us in our faith.

I am happy to say that I did pass the listening and reading comprehension part of the test. The other section contained 8 parts, mostly getting tripped up on pronouns and prepositions. Prepositions are usually the hardest thing to get down for a foreign speaker. But like I said, with time these areas of weakness will improve. So I will once again have to retake this final section at some point between the summer and early fall. My goal is to complete the language program when Lori (language Advisor) returns from furlough in September. Then it's on to another type of school...driving school!!

Sorry I didn't let you know sooner of the exact test date. I came down with a horrible cold/flu over the weekend that Luca and I are still recovering from. I still cannot breathe or hear well but at least the sinus headaches have decreased and my energy level is returning to normal. Funny how the last time I took my exam I came down with the flu during the exam. Hopefully I'll be sickness free for the next round of testing as it definitely affects my clarity of thinking!

Grass...finally

While away in Texas, Jonathan and his dad tackled a huge and long desired project of mine to plant grass in our front yard. When we moved in we were too preoccupied with working on the inside of the house to do anything with the front yard, except mow the weeks. The following spring we were in the States, but now two years later it has finally happened! They removed some unwanted bushes and transplanted a couple others which really opened up the yard.

They had to turn the whole area by hand, remove the weeds and then seed it. From what I am told it took them about 5 hours to do the whole thing, obviously while still taking care of the kids.

Two weeks ago -- Thank you Jonathan & Munga!!

Today we are thrilled to see some green peaking through!
And I planted a couple of boxes of petunias today for our balcony!!

: : Samuel : :

And finally, for the eldest Kleis update. Over the past couple of months Samuel has increasingly been growing in his inquisitiveness. It was even more apparent over Easter break as they had six days off of school and we were around him more. He is the incessant talker of the family. Here are some examples of a typical conversations with him:

Samuel: "Dada, what does candy do for you?"
(he always asks how different foods benefit his body or not)
Dada: "Nothing"
Samuel: "Why do we eat it?"
Dada: "Because it tastes good."
Samuel: "Why does it taste good?"
Dada: "Because it has sugar in it."
Samuel: "Why is there sugar in it?"

Samuel: "Dada, why do we have to walk?"
Dada: "Can we fly, Samuel?"
Samuel: "No"
Dada: "Then we have to walk"
Samuel: "Oh."

Every question is always followed up by another question and then another question. We are more than happy to answer all of his questions, but by the end of the day it can sometimes get exhausting.

Samuel is doing well at school. He's got the perfect little Italian accent. Kids are so fortunate when they learn the language early! Lately he has been complaining about a little girl at school that keeps trying to "love" him. From what he says she tries to hug him and blows kisses at him. He says he just runs away from her and tells her "lasciami stare!!" (leave me alone!) He receives applause from his parents on that one, as long as he is kind and not mean in return. However, the longer he goes without taking notice of girls the better for us! Besides female family members he thinks girls are gross. He is a girl magnet but doesn't have a clue. It's really funny.

For instance today we went to the park to play and there were some girls from school there. Immediately they came over to Samuel and wanted to him to play with them. Everywhere Samuel went they followed and he kept just getting up and finding a different spot only to be followed. He was kind of in a bad mood because he was too scared to go down the fireman pole. But here is Annalisa hanging out with Samuel.

Jonathan was serving as the parent supervisor for all who wanted to go down the pole.
Annalisa and Alice both go to Samuel & Emma's school.

He began his swimming lessons two weeks ago. The 5 year old kids at school have the opportunity to take lessons and for 22 euros for 8 lessons it is a pretty good deal. They bus them to the pool on Tuesday mornings and Samuel really seems to have enjoyed his first lesson, apart from having to wear his swimming cap, because it messes up his hair.

He is very particular about his hair. He does not like it sticking up or in his words "I don't like spikes!" The first thing he does each morning is to go and wet down his hair. Thankfully he does not have Emma's curls or else it would be a disaster!

That concludes the specific updates on the kids. Hope you enjoyed seeing them in a different light.

: : Emma : :

Playing at the park

Emma is now almost 4 1/2 years old. You can definitely tell she is stuck between two brothers, with most of her interests being that of her older brother. She and Samuel are so close to each other, it's really precious to see their love for each other. They were a little disappointed to find out that they cannot marry each other when they grow up. So now Emma is praying for her "man" and Samuel for his "lady" that they will marry one day.

Their new favorite thing to do in the mornings together is to color at the table. You can tell which book Emma has been coloring in because all the animals and bugs will be colored. She is very precise in her coloring and writing. It must be a girl thing.

Emma loves to create things. Here she is helping mix play dough.

Emma seems to be gaining more and more confidence at school. She really enjoys her time there and now runs in to her class each morning. We know she is understanding more and more, but she still is quite timid in speaking from what we are told and can see. The other week she did not tell her teachers that she needed to go to the bathroom and thus had her first accident ever in public. When we asked her what happened she just got an embarrassed look and said "I don't remember." I guess she'll learn the appropriate and necessary times to communicate the hard way.

When we drop the kids off or pick them up we often hear schoolmates telling their parents about Samuel and Emma. They must be some sort of novelty among the other kids. Emma continues to receive countless comments about her hair at school. Funny, there is a little girl in another class with blond hair and curls just like Emma and from the back one could get them confused. Emma's hair still does not touch her shoulders when it is dry.

She remains our little cuddle bug and dada's lap is one of her favorite places to rest. She is getting to the stage where naps are becoming increasingly shorter. On weekends she is allowed to skip naps since Samuel is around and she just wants to stay up and play with him. She still needs her naps even though she differs in opinion. You can always tell she is tired when she gets her silkies and holds them against her face and then sucks her tongue, the true indicator of her weariness. From my last count she has 15 stuffed animals in bed with her at night. She knows which one is missing at any given moment and ALL are required for her sleeping. They take up more room in the bed than she does!

Our Easter project that we did on Good Friday. After Jesus died on the cross he then went inside the tomb and when the kids woke up on Sunday morning the stone was rolled away and Jesus was gone! (A great project and visual for your kids!)

Dallas Wedding

I made it back safe and sound from Dallas on Monday afternoon. Since then we have been busy with meetings, class, time readjustment and the kids are now on Easter break so there is no down time whatsoever. It was a wonderful and unexpected blessing to be able to attend my brother's wedding. It was a very short trip, but also extremely long in a sense. I have not traveled alone since before we were married nearly 9 years ago, so it was a very strange feeling on the 15 hours of traveling alone each way. Also, I almost didn't know what do with myself without needing to keep a watchful eye out for the kids. Thankfully, my nephews and niece gave me an outlet to "mother" someone.

I arrive Wednesday afternoon and was able to spend a brief time with the happy couple before completely crashing. Then my sister, Jennie and her husband arrived along with Diego around midnight. We were able to have a tranquil day on Thursday, had lunch with Cody & Michelle and did some shopping before the rest of the family arrived after a flight delay later that evening. I roomed with Jennie and Miguel and it was so great to have the extra time together as our paths don't cross very often with them living in the Dominican Republic and us in Italy. Such precious times together and I truly miss my sister!

Jennie, Miguel & Diego

Friday we had a relaxing day, excluding dad and the groom. They were driving around Dallas trying to navigate to a few places getting lost along the way and didn't return until mid-afternoon. Poor guys! We were left stranded at the hotel as they had both sets of car keys. I had a special time with my Mom and Ben, Melissa, Maddie and Hudson during that time. It was great to meet and hold Hudson still in his newborn stage of life. The rehearsal went well and was most interesting with the Korean traditional wedding attire. You'll have to visit the Fisher's blog to see some better pictures from that night and of their whole family since I failed to get pictures of them and my parents. I was lost in the moment and am so sad I didn't get shots with any of them. Guess we'll have to wait for the photographer's pictures.

It was a beautiful and warm spring day on Saturday. Thankfully the high winds stayed away for the day. The service was beautiful and very God honoring. What a blessing to see all of my siblings loving and serving the Lord along such godly spouses. We are thrilled to welcome Michelle officially in to the family and are excited how God will use them now as one.

I left Sunday afternoon to return home to a very excited family and husband. I'll share more later on some happenings from their week and time spent with Munga, after I get some pictures from him. Enjoy the pictures!

The long awaited day went off without a single glitch

Melissa & Maddie

The wedding cake with a view of downtown Dallas

Isn't he the cutest kid ever?!

Only Emma is missing from this curly top photo of cousins.
As you can now see curls run in the family!

Hudson was either eating or sleeping the whole time.
Also a trend that runs in the family is big boys...Hudson is rising to the challenge already!