what you've all been waiting for...

above our changing table...___byron frank and some verses we like

pillow covers & shelf curtain made by meg luginbill!

hanging chair. excuse the ladder, yes, we're lowering it soon

free crib, comfy with meg luginbill bumpers and musical mobile!

10 days away

We visited Dr. Husslein yesterday, and according to him, Baby Frank will most likely make his GRAND ENTRANCE in Vienna within the next 10 days. No inductions, no C-sections, just a big early baby. All systems are functioning, and we are ready to meet this boy! Please be praying for a safe and healthy delivery...whatever day it happens. I'm just hoping I won't go into labor at school! I'm working half days until Thursday, March 9th.

We also picked up our stroller and carseat last night, too. It's such a cool contraption! Pictures to come soon...also of the room.

Kids a Bloggin'

Hey:). Some other teachers & I at VCS have been doing "book clubs" with our 4th and 5th grade kids. Once a week, we meet and talk about the novel our group chose to read. We've met three weeks now and we started a blog! I think all the kids have posted at least once, and I wanted to give you a chance to read first hand what the kids say about the books they're reading. The books (in case you're not familiar) are:

Chocolate Fever
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Half Magic
The Littles
The Hundred Penny Box

Take a look! www.4clubbin.blogspot.com The kids are pretty into this! Oh yeah, the group I lead is the Chocolate Fever group.

quite the eventful day!

photos from today...

1. blank frank poster...complete with stick-able anne and chris facial features...kind of like pin the tail on the donkey...i mean, pin the feature on the baby!

2. 35 week belly shot...only 5 weeks until d-day! it's sure sticking OUT!

3. a super cool VIENNA collage our friend natalie made for baby frank

4. anne opening up a gift at her baby shower today with friends from school

Spiritual Emphasis Week, Me, and Lydia

This week has been Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week at VCS. You may be thinking, don't you emphasize spiritual things always, hence the name Vienna CHRISTIAN School? Yes. We have chapel weekly, we teach Bible daily, and are "supposed" to incorporate faith into as many areas of our curriculum as we can. Honestly, that's a hard thing for me. I can't just force a "biblical" comment into my lesson on rocks and minerals or how to do multidigit multiplication. It's often a stretch for me. Curriculum guides give all kinds of cheesy ways to drop a God line into your lesson...LAME. When those things come out of my mouth, I want them to be real. I want them to come from something deep in my heart. I want comments or questions I raise to my students to be meaningful not obligatory. I do often talk about following Jesus in my class, yes, because I have learned in my limited life experience that following Him is THE way I want to live...bottom line. Not because my math problems are about kids who are sinners. So it's hard for me to accept it when people throw fluffy spiritual comments at kids and expect them to praise God and get excited about something. The whole time I'm wondering if this is really doing any good. Will it stick when the kids are 15 and are making bigger decisions without guidance? Who knows. Yes, they have heard God loves them but do they really believe He still loves them when something hugely terrible happens? Not sure. So the battle rages on in my head, and Spiritual Emphasis Week to me comes with the territory of a Chrisitan school.
This week Jerry Jacoby, from Michigan, has been at our school doing chapels each day for the elementary kids. He's hilarious. He's real. He's just short of amazing. Wow. He captures kids attention like no one I've ever seen, and doesn't present the fluff. Go Jerry!
Today was the day when Jerry presented the truth of Jesus's death and asked the kids if they wanted to choose to accept His free gift of eternal life. Altar call, kind of. He did it in a really great way through this story, and then asked kids to stick around and talk with him after school. One of my Austrian students who stayed, Lydia, told me something interesting after she came down to class, and I thought it was super. Know, though, that Lydia's parents are Christians, she's gone to VCS since she started school, and knows a significant amount of knowledge about the Bible and Christianity. Sweet sweet girl. So she came downstairs with tears in her eyes, so I asked her if she was okay. She said to me: "I know my mom and dad believe in Jesus, but I've never been sure. Now I'm sure." Simple comment, and then left to go home for the afternoon. Lydia is not a kid you'd think, "ooh, I hope she really listens today" or "she is the one I'd love to find Jesus." She's just a normal great kid who probably thinks about deeper things than anyone would ever know. I'm thankful she shared just that small comment with me today. It's worth it to teach here. It's worth it to teach period. Thanks for allowing me to do that at VCS.

New Room!

So our baby room is in progress! We are anxiously awaiting the installment of a hanging chair and a few things on the wall, and then Blank Frank's room photos will be unveiled. See it HERE first! Coming soon!

Oh Gross!

Funny thing just happened...

My class took a math test today and most kids were finished and playing math games on the floor by the huge window that looks out to the train track next to our school. Noah looked over and yelled, "Oooh, gross, that man is going to the bathroom on the tree!"

So...my whole class ran to the window and watched this Austrian construction worker pee on the metal pole. And now..."Oooh, there's a wet mark, and he didn't even wash his hands. Gross!"

I guess we teach all kinds of things here, huh?

Life and Work at VCS

Well, it was almost a week ago that I had a really cool conversation with a parent. This is the kind of stuff that gives me an extra boost.
Because I used to work with refugees - particularly ones from non-Christian countries, I'm a little sensitive to saying names and all in stuff like this blog. Anyhow, there are two kids at our school that just started this year. They are from Iran and are not believers. I've heard that the kids LOVE school so much that they always talk about it at home and don't want to leave school. It's a very new experience for them - language, culture, faith. Most of my interactions, though, are with their dad.
He is a very friendly man whose English is excellent. Almost every time he sees me, he asks me when I'm going to make him come visit me and take his money. (some people pay for tuition in cash directly to me) It's funny because it's the opposite of most parents. Anyhow, he took a liking to me and my candy dish on my desk in the fall. He's always been curious about the school - why we do things like we do, curious about chapel and what that's like, etc.
We were talking a little business and he basically asked how the school made it with tuition being so low. I told him about how almost all of the staff raise support. He didn't know about that and was pretty surprised. He is very smart when it comes to business and said that we must all be very committed. I said yes and told him about how we all feel strongly that God has led us here and that we do our best to trust him.
I didn't whip out the Bible on him or anything, but did give him more insight into who we are. And who we are is only because of God and his grace.

I wish you could meet this parent from Iran - he's cool.

Greatest C-Group EVER!

You are now gazing at the GREATEST C-GROUP EVER! Jim & Debbie Fix (a couple that supports us and I had their son Josh in my first 5th grade class), along with these Indiana University students, have adopted US as their missionaries from our home church, Evangelical Community Church, in Bloomington, Indiana. They email us, encourage us, and lately have BLOWN US AWAY with their generosity and kindness. Woah.
Number one...they PRAY for us EVERY DAY. Different group members pray for us each day of their week.
Number two...they are hosting a baby shower for BABY FRANK next week at the Fix's house! They have invited the WHOLE CHURCH (it's NOT small) to come and speak to us on a video and bring gifts for the baby. They'll celebrate Baby Frank with cake and ice cream, too!
We definitely do not deserve this amazing generosity, and we are SUPER thankful for the love and care God is showing us through them. I wish we could be there for the party!

Reverend Hewson??

So, I'm not sure if this link will work for you, but here's the scoop. Paul Hewson (Bono) spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast (American meeting of big time leaders to talk and pray - I think). I've only heard a few minutes of it so far, but I just know it's going to be good. It's 22 minutes long - and you might be able to download it so you can listen to it on iTunes or your iPod or whatever you use.
Share your comments on this "message" by Bono after listening. It might take a minute or two, but it will guide you to a screen that plays the message with Quicktime. If it doesn't work, just go to Simon's blog or Tom's blog and scroll down.

Writing Recess and Prayers

This week has been good in 4th grade so far. A couple reasons...

1. Sophie prayed yesterday, "Jesus, I want you to come back, but I really want to help gather your people." I was taken aback by this, thinking wow, a fourth grader's heart dwelling on these things. But then I started to doubt myself thinking, "Of course, Anne, she's a Christian, her parents are Christians, we are at VCS, it makes sense." But then my principal reminded me that there is NO guarantee that just because a kid grows up in the "right" or "good" atmosphere that they will spend life following God. So, it's important to guide kids like Sophie in how to follow Jesus as much as it is important to rejoice when a Muslim kid decides to choose Christianity.

2. I LOVE poetry, and more than that I love TEACHING poetry to kids. We began yesterday with a unit I hope to finish before I leave for Baby Frank. As usual, my students were ho hum about it, thinking only I'm sure in rhymes and the difficult experiences they've had in the past either reading or writing even just one poem. So, I thought that it would be fun to dive in without stalling. I showed them some poems on the overhead projector, we read them together, looked at the illustrations, and then commented about them. Then, though, I told them my favorite things about the poems we read, and honed in on alliteration (repeating beginning consonant sounds of words like roaring rushing river.) I told them that writing poetry was like taking a RECESS from WRITING the normal way. Start on the right side of the page, write in ALL CAPS or all lowercase letters, write upwards or downwards, even in circles. Poetry is just when you write down ideas you have the way you like it. You can even forget the periods, commas, and apostrophes. They LOVED that part especially. So, we're taking a writing recess in fourth grade the next few weeks. Maybe you should take a writing recess too? In your journal or on a scrap sheet of paper...anything works. Maybe I'll even be brave enough to share a poem or two I've written on this blog. Oooh! Chris has written some great poetry, too, so maybe I'll encourage him in the same way. Fun!

3. Last reason...we made strawberry floats today for Valentine's Day! Yum!

TOO Huge

I have one more thing to say before I try to get a good night's sleep before school tomorrow. My stomach isn't HUGE enough for this baby. Woah.
I've been feeling kicks in the ribs all night, and Chris and I have been spectators as Blank Frank tears it up in my stomach...like a dance floor. Picture waves and a funny looking disfigured stomach. Really. Too bad we couldn't capture it on film.

The second thing I have to say...okay I thought there was only one, but now I thought of something else...is that I officially have 15 days of full time teaching left, starting tomorrow and going until March 3. I will then teach only until noon for the week of March 6-10. After that, two different substitute teachers will teach my class for the remainder of the school year. Please pray I can do my job well until the end...WITH ENERGY :).

A Nice, Long Break

So this past week we've had a break from school called Energy Week, or Ski Week. Funny, though, that very few people from VCS actually ski. It's just that most of Europe takes to the slopes this week. We spent the week here in Vienna, though, getting some pretty important things done.
Here's a quick run-down of what we've been up to (sorry it's been a while):
~baby shopping
~moving furniture to get ready for Blank Frank's arrival
~hanging out with friends
~sleeping in!
~reading good books like Captivating, by John & Stasi Eldredge
~sipping Chai Lattes at Starbucks
~hosting a game & dinner party for the staff left in town over the break
~babysitting for some friends so they could enjoy a date
~watching movies
~baking & decorating Valentine cookies
~my favorite: watching Chris be silly in the baby crib!

Happy 70th Birthday, Bubba!

Happy Birthday Bubba! Here's a HUGE HUG from us to you:). We hope you have a super day.

Back by popular demand, it's another picture of Annie and Baby Frank!! 32 Weeks big. 

Counting the Days

That's what I'm doing, now that I know exactly how my last days this semester at VCS will be spent. Here's the low down, the down low, the skinny, the 411, whatever you want to call it.

We have a week off for SKI WEEK this coming week. Are we skiing? We WISH. But no. We're going baby shopping, going to the musical Mamma Mia, and relaxing in Vienna with some friends.

Then, I will teach full time 3 more weeks, until March 3. Then comes 1 week of me teaching until noon, and Linda Schwartz (an amazing lady, mom, sub, etc.) teaching in the afternoons. As of 12 noon on March 10th, I am not Mrs. Frank-teacher anymore, I am Mrs. Frank-wife and mom. MOM. Yikes. Linda will teach for three weeks until the permanent sub comes from the USA.

I'll then spend a few weeks waiting for Blank Frank's arrival, scheduled around April 1. I hope that's not a joke! I'll be washing his clothes, organizing his room, and cooking goodies to put in our freezer for dinners on nights when Chris & I are wiped out.

So that's the latest. Don't you feel privileged to know?

FREE crib!

This is Baby Frank's new bed! The Warner family from VCS gave us this crib for FREE! We are so thankful and excited for this gift. They also gave us a free bathtub and fire truck. We have been hugely blessed by the community at our school. The bed still needs a mattress and some more love, but we're on the way!

New Look

Hey! Some staff at VCS recently updated our school's website, and it looks great now. Please take a minute to check it out, and maybe you'll learn something new. You can see photos of staff and students, too!

www.viennachristianschool.org

Up, Up & Up

Hi. We prayed in my class this morning, like we normally do, but something struck me about it I'd like to tell you about.
A couple things to preface...fourth graders LOVE to pray and they LOVE to pray for Baby Frank! So he has been covered in prayer for months as his arrival draws nearer. What a blessing! So today, Rina, a sweet Japanese girl in my class, prayed for Baby Frank.
SIDENOTE: The Japanese language is full of what we call vowel sounds, so it's interesting to hear the language spoken or see it written because there are vowels EVERYWHERE. It's sometimes silly! I'm sure it makes total sense in Japan and they wonder why we have consonant blends:).
So Rina. She prayed today for God to help Baby Frank grow up and up and up. I thought that was a great way to ask God to continue the work He has started in Baby Frank already. I'm not sure if that means he will keep growing taller and taller and taller, because there isn't much room left in my stomach, but still, I am thankful for Rina's simple way of stating something I so much long for.

The Hot Dog Clan

This is from our field trip in December to the Vienna Christmas Market at the city hall, which here is called the Rathaus (meaning "advice house"). Glory, Elizabeth, Rina, me & Selyn all enjoyed those Kasekrainer hot dogs I mentioned yesterday. So you know what's on the docket for tonight's dinner! Also one more cool thing...my class managed to throw me a surprise birthday party today in the middle of math. Someone came and told me that Chris needed to talk to me for a few minutes and they'd watch my class. So, Chris detained me in his office for a few minutes while the kids prepared the classroom with confetti, signs, and chocolate covered marshmallows. Then the huge "SURPRISE!" greeting came when I arrived back from my chat with Chris. Wow...they really love to serve people...AND not work:) Hehe. Don't worry! We'll find the time to finish math later today. :)

You Know You're Pregnant When...

A student gives you a package of 3 sausages for your birthday!!! I must have mentioned once or twice that I really have been loving these sausages here called Kasekrainers, which are sausages filled with melted cheese. They serve them at outdoor stands in a long hot dog bun....mmmmm.....just what my prego tummy often wants...but does not need!

Anyway, today I opened up this gift and to my surprise! Sausages! Happy Birthday Mrs. Frank!

Hope you laugh as much as I did today:).

The determining Part

if you know what I mean :) look straight up here ^

4 Pounds of Fetal Power!

Just call me...

the VCS Tax Guru.
I held a couple meetings this week to help out the VCS staff with their US taxes. Today was the bigger meeting with all the second year people - filing for 2004. How'd you manage that, Chris??? It's called an extension. It allows us to qualify for a credit for living outside the US. So I helped explain that and walked them through the form. Then I ended up helping a few others with the 1040 too.

It's funny, cause I never thought of myself as good at taxes. But I just know how to do the things that I've had to do myself. So I guess I can explain those things to others pretty well. It was fun, actually - but I still don't care for taxes that much. It bugs me when they say "to fill in this blank, see document 9312" Then I look at document 9312 and it's 80 pages long!! Ugh. Thanks Uncle Sammy.

Viennarnia

Do you get it? Vienna + Narnia = Viennarnia

It IS winter, and there WAS Christmas, which was super by the way. There is NO white witch, except for Mrs. Frank after a long week with fourth graders AND being pregnant! And lastly, I CANNOT find my wardrobe anywhere! I guess there's no leaving Viennarnia for now. Come soon, spring!

In Vienna today, trees are frosted with perfectly fallen snow. Sidewalks are caked with perfectly muddied up slush. Eew! Necks are adorned with colorful scarves, and kids at VCS are armed with a bazillion new Christmas toys. What could better explain our first week back?
It's long and tiring trying to get back into the swing of things here with jet lag lagging us down. Thankfully, though, it's TGIF and dinner is almost ready!

One more note...a new belly picture is coming very soon...Blank Frank, and my stomach, are HUGE. I'm wondering if I'll make it until the end of March. More bigness to come!

A Few More

We had a great time hanging out with family in California over Christmas...here are a few more pictures.
~Chris & Carrington
~Anne & Leighton
~Chris & Grandpa Coleman (didn't mean for the lamp to look like his hat! hehe)

A Quick Recap

Here's a quick photo recap of the last few weeks of us galavanting around the USA~
~In N Out Burger
~Chris & Anne at the Luginbill family dinner
~Anne on Christmas morning
~Floats in building stages for the Rose Parade (THAT was cool:))
~Frank family on the beach! Yahoo!

Classic Quiz

So, we're in Indiana enjoying time with Anne's family right now. We're about to frost a bunch of Christmas cookies and put together some good questions for a classic Christmas movie trivia quiz. I think we're going to pull stuff from Holiday Inn, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street.
Fun, huh?

Are you serious?!?!?!

I've been working on some US tax stuff recently - for myself, and helping some of the newer staff at VCS. There are some different forms to fill out since we're overseas. Anyhow, I was looking through the IRS website, which has all kinds of good info on it. I found this page that is just unbelievable and funny!

Woah!

This is me at 24 weeks, one week ago. That's SIX MONTHS. Wow, I can't believe I'm 6 months pregant. Woah. We went to the doctor the other day, and he reports that Baby Frank, which I've told my class to call Blank Frank, since he has no name yet, weighs in at 950 grams. For those of you who are metrically challenged, that's about 2 pounds. It's amazing to me how much my trust of our doctor skyrockets after we meet with him again. Then it goes down, down, down as I find things to worry about, and then back up when we are reassured that things are okay. You'd think I could just trust him. But alas, I worry about things like preterm labor, chromosomal abnormalities, and flying across the Atlantic being pregnant.
Speaking of, we are flying to the USA in SIX days! We are getting super excited to spend time with both of our families over this short break. No one in the states has seen the belly yet, including YOU, so get ready!
In other pregnant news, I'm super TIRED. It takes all I have to give my energy all day at school and then climb up our stairs to get home. I know it comes with the territory, I'm just not good at being weak. I can usually fight it and just go on, but now my tiredness is taking over! Yikes! I'm trying to find times to nap while my students are at PE or music, so that's helpful. Babies take a lot of work, even before they arrive. Okay, that's enough writing for today. I'm off to bed! Goodnight:).

Christmas Poem by Lydia

One of my fourth graders wrote this poem on her own initiative this week, and I thought it was super cool and wanted to share it with you. Her name is Lydia, and she's Austrian.

I love Christmas!

You celebrate the birth of Jesus
He was born in Bethlehem
I wish I was one of the angels praising him
In Christmas you surely get more than one present
The Christmas cards I made are now ready to send
You get candy in every kind of flavor
But mostly I like Christmas becuase Jesus was born as our Savior!

Audit

Tomorrow's a big day for the business office at VCS. A lawyer/finance guy is coming to the school with his colleague to check out the books.

He might snoop

But he's allowed

He better be gone

Before my eyes droop

What's the stance

of the school cash

Manfred's the man

With our record's

he'll dance.

22 Week Belly Shot

Ooh, Baby Boy Frank is growing! This shot was taken on Thanksgiving Day, BEFORE the feast we enjoyed with some friends. So, maybe now the belly is a few pounds heavier!

Fourth Grade Thanksgiving

Both of these pictures are from the Thanksgiving mini-feast that I had with my class on Wednesday last week. We had food from Japan, India, USA, Nigeria, Austria, and the Philippines. It was worth it to indulge:). We thanked God for all the blessings we enjoy in our home countries before we ate, too. One thing I am thankful for in my home country is YOU!

Weekend in The Hague

I just realized today that I haven't been blogging...so here goes!

I got back late Sunday night from the ECIS conference in The Hague. It was jam packed with learning. I told my students on Monday that I just went to school from 8 to 6 four days in a row. They were impressed, hehe. Really, though, I learned SO MUCH more than I could ever implement this school year. Representatives were there from the International School of Bangkok, Prague, Brussels, The Hague, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Saudi Arabia, and so many more. They imparted wisdom to me and other teachers about teaching science, using portfolios, new books for kids, and having students lead their parent-teacher conferences to name a few. I am really thankful that VCS paid for me to attend this learning-fest! The four of us that went are planning to share all that we learned with our staff during the next few staff meetings.

for you non-German-learning folk

boy

Danktag

A turkey sat
on the backyard fence
and sang this sad, sad tune
Thanksgiving is coming
Gobble gobble gobble gobble
And I know
I'll be eaten soon
Gobble gobble gobble gobble
Gobble gobble gobble
I would like to run away
Gobble gobble gobble gobble
Gobble gobble gobble
I don't like Thanksgiving day
I love it.

Sorry to keep you waiting...

So you might be asking us:
Knabe oder Mädel?

The answer is:
Pimpf! Junge! Bub! Knabe!!

Is this mean and cruel??? I guess it would be if I didn't give you a way to find out the meaning of those words. Never fear - the answer is here. Then type in the word you want to know and hit enter (or click "Suchen"). Then you'll find out!!

What educational fun!

Organ Screen

So, Baby Frank had an organ screening today. It was really amazing to see all the intricate parts - the spine, the brain, the heart, the stomach, the bones all over the body, the eyes, the mouth - just amazing stuff. We heard the heart beat and it was fast! It weighs about 1 pound and is 9.5 inches long.
We were in the same building as where we might have the baby, so we got a tour. It's called Privat Klinik Döbling. The lady was so so nice that spoke to us (which isn't very normal in Austria). The place was so clean, quiet, and seems to have all kinds of the latest technology and nice stuff for people like me that will have to wander around and wait - free drinks, comfy chairs, etc. We were really sold. :)

Oh so you might be wondering if it's a boy or a girl. We aren't. :)
But we can't tell yet. Soon........

Summer Memories

So today I took a walk after school around 5, and it was PITCH DARK. I mean, really! As I walked I dreamed of being in Oden, Michigan, like we were in the summer, where the sun shines until 9:30 or 10 p.m. You can water ski AFTER dinner. Oh, the days! Here's a few Michigan memories from this past summer. Top: Us with Chris's parents, Fred & Judy. Second: Us the night we told our parents were were PREGNANT! Third: Anne's crazy cousin, Laura, making a typical Laura face. Bottom: The grandparents to be: The Franks and the Luginbills.

The Business Manager Hard at Work

Chris definitely works hard every day at V.C.S. These are a few shots of his office, which he is proudly decorating more and more as the year goes on. One of his favorite things is the green dog dish on his desk filled with candy for his visitors. Maybe you should make a visit to the Business Manager's office sometime soon. You might win a yummy treat!

Watch out world...Baby Frank is coming!

If you can't see the blue shirt...it says "we're hungry." It was fun to wear it to school yesterday! The we're hungry shirt is 19 weeks, the green t-shirt is 18 weeks. The belly is ever-growing! Watch out world...Baby Frank is coming!

Winter is Coming with Kicks and Punches

The time changed this past weekend, signaling the approach of a stinging winter in Vienna. Ooooh. Bring out the turkeys, cookies and sprinkles, white lights, and presents! I'm ready for the holidays! Really, though, yesterday it was completely dark by 5:15 p.m. in Vienna, and we were shocked but probably shouldn't have been. It has been this way year after year here, but after long summer days our shock is still renewed.

In other news...Baby Frank has kicked its first kick and punched its first punch! I'm pretty sure that over the last few days Baby Frank has begun his or her workout routine that will supposedly continue for the next few months inside the cozy space of my belly. It feels like little hits now and then, and sometimes it feels like bubbles inside. A sensation I've clearly never felt before. Woah. Signs of life. That's really amazing.

Smart Car

We just had a 4 day weekend since it's Fall Break for VCS. Anne and I went to Guntramsdorf - the town where I used to live - and stayed at the International Teams hospitality house. It was amazing weather, inexpensive, and relaxing. Plus - we rented a SMART CAR!! Those things are so cool - and it actually didn't feel cramped or anything inside. It has a sort of manual/automatic transmission.

Anne Frank in Holland

So yeah, Anne is going to leave me for a few days. Sad.
But as I was reading what she wrote, I had a thought. It might seem to you that "Woah!! She's going to Holland just for a conference! Dang, it must be nice to do crazy travelling like that!" Or maybe something else along those lines.

Well, from a European perspective, it's not quite as big of a deal. It's more like saying I'm going to a conference just outside of Denver, Colorado. Cool, maybe. Awesome if you love the Broncos. But otherwise, it's not THAT big of a deal. It's a little more like that for Europe - lots of countries that aren't so big, close together. Oh yeah, and the school is paying for it. :)

So, there's my 2 cents.

National Holiday in Oesterreich

Today is a National Holiday in Austria. 50 years ago today the Russian, American, British, and French occupation officially left Austria and Austria became it's own free republic since before World War 2. It was an exciting day for Austrians. John Foster Dulles was one of the 2 American representatives who signed the treaty giving freedom to Austria at the Upper Belvedere Palace on October 26, 1955. Most Austrians are not particularly patriotic, but today they'll celebrate with a military parade around the city's Ringstrasse, which means Ring Road, and I believe that some Russian soldiers are coming to pay their respects. Chris and I are going to check it out after our work day at school. Congrats to Austria!

Trip to Holland!

Good news! I was asked by my principal to attend a conference put on by the European Council of International Schools with four other V.C.S. staff members in Holland in a few weeks. I'm so excited for this professional opportunity to learn more about international education and bring it back to the others. I will be attending workshops and seminars primarily focused on elementary education, curriculum development, and student learning. The conference is in The Hague, which is close to Amsterdam, and I think we'll have one whole day to check it out, which is fun. Here are some links for those of you who are interested in more information about the conference or The Hague.
www.ecis.org
www.denhaag.com
I'll keep you posted in a few weeks on what I learn:).

Photos from Fall Festival

Fall Festival at VCS

This last Friday was a really fun annual event at VCS...Fall Festival. It's a night when families and teachers come together and we play all kinds of games and enjoy yummy treats from all over the world. I'm loving the international food aspect of living here. Not too long ago I went to an Indian cooking class put on by some Indian moms at our school. Ohhh, yummy. I'm inspired to branch out in my cooking skills.
Anyway, at Fall Festival all the choirs and bands perform, and some elementary kids too. There's a raffle for the Library to earn money to buy German and Reference books, and the prize is a fully equipped Thanksgiving basket. I can't even imagine the value it has, turkey included! We didn't win...bummer. There's also a Student Council Pie in the Face contest, where people put money in jars with teachers' names on them. The jar with the most money in it requires that the teachers whose names are on it get pied! Chris was pied last year, but this year he didn't win. The pies were still extremely funny, though!
That's about it from Fall Festival. I helped paint faces for kids, and Chris roamed around and did security since he's on the Administration Team this year with his new job. It was a really fun night! The photos above are from that night:).

16 week portrait of Baby Frank :)

So we visited Dr. Husslein last Wednesday to get our latest portrait of Baby Frank. Exciting! Sorry the portrait is kinda fuzzy, but here's how to navigate it. The head is at the bottom in the center-rightish area. As you curve around up and to the left, you see the lit up spine. That's really amazing. In another shot we have you can see each individual vertebrae. As you curve up more you get to the butt, then around is the upper leg, and then the shin bone is pointing straight up. I guess it's the left side? Yeah. Another fun fact: Dr. Husslein says that every baby always has something that grows faster so it's bigger through development than other parts. He likes to watch what will be bigger in each baby, and in Baby Frank, the FEET are big! He lauged about it on Wednesday, and told me that this will even out with the rest of the growth by April 1st. Maybe Baby Frank is destined to be a soccer player with fancy footwork? Hope so!

Anne & Sophie

Anne & Sophie on the observation deck at the Donauturm. Sophie was born in Austria, but her mom is Austrian and her dad is Egyptian. He is a missionary full time, and travels to Arabic speaking countries to spread the Gospel. It's a cool thing. Sophie's mom is pregnant with their fifth child, and is due a month before me. Sophie is the oldest of four girls right now. Wow, that's a houseful! Funny story...Sophie asked me to explain sex to her a while ago. She had read some article about it in a church magazine and was wondering why a man might want to force this girl to have sex if he didn't want a baby. It was a really interesting conversation, to say the LEAST. Wow. Fourth graders really think!

Girls:)

These are some third and fourth grade girls on the observation deck of the Donauturm. They were freezing, but they had fun!

Donauturm field trip

My class visited this tower, the Donauturm, yesterday on a field trip. We rode the lift 150 meters to the observation deck and observed a lot of Vienna and the surrounding areas. This tower is just next to the Donau, or the Danube River, that runs through Vienna. The Austrian government requires that all children in school in Austria learn about Austrian history, culture, geography, etc., so we have a special teacher for this each Monday. Her name is Brigitte Condell, and she and her husband actually went to the U2 concert with Chris this past summer. She's Austrian and her husband is Irish. They're great people, and she is completely a volunteer at our school. No money. No support. Just giving. That's it. Oh yeah, there's a revolving restaurant on the top of the tower, and they have a special deal going on now so Chris and I made reservations for Christmas time. Fun!

16 Week Baby Facts

Well...I've been searching on babycenter.com over the past few days, and I've learned a few interesting things about our 16 week old baby.
1. He or she can hear sound now, not just vibrations, since the ears are close to fully developed, so Chris is prepping the iPod with Crispy's hits so the baby can learn early about U2, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Folds, and other of dad's favorite bands.
2. He or she is 4.5 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces. Imagine an avocado in my stomach.
3. His or her heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and that's suppose to increase to 190 by month 9!
4. Toe nails are starting to form this week.
I think that's about it for now. I've really loved babycenter.com because they email me and say, "Hi, Anne, you're 16 weeks pregnant. Here are some things you should know this week." Then it is really great to find out about everything from clothes to healthy snacks to birthing videos. I'm not so anxious about those videos, yet:).
We're going to the doctor on Wednesday, so stay tuned for more information about Baby Frank!

Pulling Out My Hair

Not literally. I feel like it some days, though. Uggh. My student teacher has officially taken over my classroom this week, and she'll be fully in charge until November 17th. I'm stuck in this tension between being involved to advise and make sure the kids are still learning and I also need to be disconnected some so Elizabeth can have time to herself, experiment, do it her style. But it's making me crazy. I literally have 4 weeks with NOTHING to do at school. I've been getting jobs from other teachers, making games for them, laminating, or searching for information on the internet, but it's not teaching, which is why I'm here. So I'm stuck, and pulling my hair out. I'd rather be in or out. Not in between. I heard today that's a characteristic of my personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. I'm and ESFJ, and something that comes with it is an all or nothing mentality. I'm definitely that. And right now I'm not all or nothing. It stinks.

Picture of the Day

It's been a while since I've done one of these (a Picture of the Day, not a tatoo, silly). Now what you have to ask yourself is:
1. Is this considered a concealed weapon?
2. Do you feel lucky?

Well..... do ya?

Might Sound Boring to you

So, as I'm starting to get used to my new job as the business manager, I'm having a little time here and there that I can work on stuff that isn't urgent. That can be kinda fun for me. One example is that I've changed a couple forms that people use regularly. Usually a few times a day, various teachers and staff come into my office and cash a US check with me. It's a service we do for them to save some time, hassle, and money in exchanging money to Euros. They write a US check to the school and I give them Euros in cash or I transfer Euros to their Austrian bank account. Anyhow, the little form that they fill out to do this is old and confusing. I've fixed it up to make it simple and included the new school logo too. :)
Honestly, that was pretty fun for me to do. There still are another 5 or 10 forms I plan to do in time.

A little more skin than before!!

Visually Speaking

Budapest

I'm probably going there tomorrow with the volleyball team (as a coach). It's about a 3 hour drive to the international school there. But there's a chance the game will be cancelled because of injuries and some of the girls not getting visas to be able to go into Hungary. Citizens of the US have it pretty easy in most countries, but some citizens of other countries have to do a lot of work to be able to go into another country.

I'm kinda hoping I won't have to go, honestly. It'd be nice to get ahead on some projects in the office - wow that sounds so desk-jobish. Hmmm....I guess that's what I have. Speaking of, I've been thinking about working on an MBA. It'd help my with my job, give me good training for whatever in the future, and VCS would pay for it (I'm pretty sure). Seems like IU would be the natural choice - for location and since Kelley School of Business is a top business school from what I've heard. Top of what? Top of the pile of spaghetti? Top of old smokey? Top of the world?

Something like that.

Peeping Toms

So, we've had construction going on to our building for about a year. Some days it's been frustrating - like the days when they seemed to be dropping 50 pound metal bars right above our bedroom at 7am on a Saturday, or when they covered all of our windows with a thick plastic and duct tapped all the edges down. Prison-like? You decide.
Anyhow - one of the funner things about all of this is the fact that they have scaffolding around the entire building. This past week, there have been guys out there sanding the entire building (made of stone I think) and now they're doing painting preparations. The funny part is seeing guys RIGHT outside our windows. Plus we live on the 4th floor and these guys are yelling and singing in Kosovar or Macedonian or some Baltic language.

We are: low on privacy, high on entertainment.

There we go!

So, we finally got the picture to load correctly!
OK, so she's been getting a little more hungry than normal. Snacks are important, of course, but the size of the snacks are needing to be bigger. Interesting thing is, though, that as of her last doctor appointment, she hadn't gained any weight. According to the doc, it's no problem. He says don't eat for two and exercise and almost act like nothings different. He's really laid back and it helps relax us too. :)