Farm Fun!

Liana told me the story of the Three Little Pigs today in English. It was really cute. "Wolf scazat, 'Little pig, little pig, mozhna come in!' Little pig scazat, 'No, no, no, chinny-chinny-chin.'" Gonna hafta tape it tomorrow... It's too cute.

John and I took the kids out to a farm owned by a friend from church this afternoon/evening. Before we went though, we told the kids where we were going, and Aleksa wanted to know if we were going to MacDonalds. ("Old MacDonald had a farm...")

Lots of other families came out too, and it was a great time for everyone. The kids got to play games, and the older two got to go on a four-wheeler with John. They were still talking about it at bedtime.

One of the games they played was a relay race with two teams. One person from each team had to walk with a cup of water and dump it in a pop bottle which was sitting on the forehead of two of the teen boys who were laying on the ground. There was lots of water "accidentally" splashed on their faces, on their clothes, etc. They were shivering by the middle of the game. Liana surprised everyone. As she got up for her first turn, she appeared to try to put the water in the bottle for the first microsecond, and then dumped it all on his face - on purpose. Everyone laughed. They don't quite know the little spit-fire in her yet. Everyone's first impression of her is that of a shy little girl who would *never* do something like that. Right! John zoomed Aleksa across the field in his arms to "help" her a bit. It was cute to see too.

During the race, I had Twinkle Bear in my coat pocket since Aleksa was busy. Someone wanted to take a group picture, and they laughed that the "photographer" didn't have a stuffed animal to get us all to smile at. I pulled out Twinkle, and she used her. Out of the woodwork came Aleksa, who came up to her and cried, "My bear! My bear!" It was cute. Hadda be there. *sigh*

We all had a wonderful chili supper in the pole-shed. Aleksa spilled hers the second she sat down to eat it. I asked her something like, "Why did you do that?" and she replied, "Ya little, Mama." Duh. What was I thinking! She's just little! HellOOO!

They also had another hay ride, a bonfire and mud galore. Their shoes are trashed. Guess that means it was a very fun day! The kids will probably remember this day for a long, long time. Hope so, at least. I sure enjoyed it!

I've been trying to think up some of the words that I want to continue using once the rest of their Ukrainian/Russian is gone. There are a few words they say that I think are WAY too cute to lose completely. Like the word for lollipop. It's a "chupa-chupe." And a bellybutton is a "Poop-chick." "Baby" is "lalichka" or "la-la" for short. I also like the word they use when they toot. It is called a "pook" ('oo' as in "broom") (It's also a verb... "ya pook, Mama.") Much nicer of a word than anything in English I can think of... ;O)

OOOOOPS!

Today I went to Mom Fisher's house for the afternoon (12:30-5ish) to sew up some little dresses for the girls. I have No Idea how to sew, so this was a good lesson, and we had lots of fun. John took the kids to the children's museum again, and this time Adam decided to try out the climbing wall. He only got half-way up, but I think it was pretty cool that he attempted it to begin with!

Ok, back to the sewing day thing. Ready for this? At about, oh, I'd say 4:00 or so, Mom Fisher's sister called. Wanna know why? To wish her a happy birthday! OOOOOOOOOOOOPSSSS! Guess who didn't wish her a happy birthday or come up with a present, or anything? That would be me, that's who!

So, everyone was laughing that I had blown it so bad, and then I yelled into the phone something about how Mary should have called at 12:31 so I could have faked my forgetfulness a little bit easier. But, to FURTHER get myself into trouble, they laughed again and said, "Shelly, her birthday was YESTERDAY." Oy. Talk about blowing it, and then blowing it AGAIN!

Thankfully, she isn't the vindictive type (probably y'all have noticed that by now!), so she just laughed it off, but BOY do I feel awful! (And yes, John did too!) Can't believe we both forgot. Knuckle-heads we are. Knuckle-heads.

Fair and Foul Weather!

Today's weather was GORGEOUS. Short-sleeved weather on a beautiful fall day with all the trees orange and yellow. Perfect day.

Dad needed a few things at Walmart, so the kids and I shopped this afternoon for a cart full of schtuff. Dad has my name on his checks so I can do such things, but unfortunately, I had forgotten my own checkbook and drivers license at home. So, there we were at the check-out with three kids, five bags of groceries, and me with a check without my drivers license number on it. They didn't quite know what to do with me, but when I told them they could "call my dad" and find out the scoop, they let us go. *whew* (I'm just so thankful the kids are so good in stores, or I would have really been stressed!)

We put together about 20 meals again today, so it doesn't look like we need to do a Cooking Day for another month. (He still had about 10 meals left in the freezer from last time.)

Anyway, after John was done with work, we took the kids to a park called Kids Coulee. It is any child's DREAM. We played over an hour and still didn't see it all. Lots of things to climb, lots of slides, mazes, steps, secret passages, etc. this park was built completely by the community with community donations and volunteers. It is INCREDIBLE. They had a blast! I got a couple pics of the park itself (or part of it!), but didn't take any of the kids playing... I was too busy playing myself! We all played hide-and-seek in it, and boy is that a perfect place to do it! Especially at 6:00 pm on a week night in October (I guess! - at one point we were the only ones there!)

John and I commented on the way home at how far Aleksa has come since she came home. She was running and playing and exploring right along with the rest of the gang... and didn't need to be coaxed or held. No screaming, crying, or whatever. When she first came home, she would have screamed at the thought of us setting her down at such a place let alone expecting her to "go play." (Remember when she gave me a death-grip-bite on the shoulder when I put her on an unfamiliar toilet back in Kiev? Oy!) Anyway, she loves slides, and they had spiral ones, enclosed tube-slides, and the boring regular ones. She loved them all, especially the biggest one (the enclosed tube). She's definitely come a long way baby!

One lady at the park asked me how old Aleksa was. When I told her she just turned four she was shocked at how little she was. I suppose she is pretty small. I haven't paid too much attention to what a "typical four-yr-old" should look like. She's the only one I got, so I just pay attention to her. As long as I feed her and give her her Flintstone vitamins, God can worry about the rest. She sure ain't gonna blow away any time soon!

While we were at the park I also got to thinking about what a vast difference this park is compared to what they've been playing on for the last two years at the orphanage. Thought I'd share some pics so you can better understand the delight when they saw THIS park!

Kids Coulee
Inside Kids Coulee
Playground at Orphanage
Playground at Orphanage

Tonight while tucking in Adam, he commented on how scared he was of the thunder and lightning outside (our perfect day ended with a big storm tonight.) We swung open the shade and sat and watched the storm for about 20 minutes or more. Liana joined us for a little bit while John tucked in 'Leksa. I talked about how big God is to be able to make a storm like that, and really tried to ooh and aaah about how pretty the lightning was, etc. so they wouldn't be afraid of it. After the kids started relaxing and started adding some oohs and aahs themselves, Liana finally said, "Mama, I like it, God!"

After she went back to her room, there were some pretty huge lightning bolts nearby and when they flashed, the streetlight outside would go out. I joked with Adam that the light must be scared too or something. Adam said, "Oh, ni boysya, light! It's ok!" (Don't be scared, light, it's ok!") Then, the light flickered back on. He giggled and then the lightning flashed again and it again went out. So, Adam told it to not be afraid again, and again it flickered on. He giggled so hard!! That happened a few more times too. It's so much fun to watch the rain with little kids!!!

Turkeys and Pickle Juice

I don't know what I was smoking yesterday (and I don't smoke!), but I forgot to mention a few highlights...

Our kids LOVE pickles. I mean LOVE. We bought a giant jar of pickles a few weeks ago and they polished off the last one yesterday. So, as I headed to the sink to dump the Pickle Juice, the kids asked what I was doing. When I told them I was dumping the juice they screamed "NOOOOO!" They insisted I pour them each a glassful. Ok, can you say "gross?" Only Aleksa said she didn't like it after gulping down a few swigs. The other two asked for more and begged me to save the leftovers. (Didn't happen. Mama was too grossed out.)

Another thing that happened was that John was trying to give Liana and Aleksa something or other, and he didn't know which to give to whom so he put them both behind his back and he said to Aleksa, "Which hand?" Aleksa then sweetly raised her own hand waaaaay up high. John grinned ear to ear and gave her the what-cha-ma-hooey without correcting her misunderstanding. It was cute. Mighta had to be there, but I sure chuckled.

And another Aleksa incident that was cute enough to comment on. The kids were playing outside and they kept running in and out and they kept forgetting to shut the door behind them. Aleksa forgot too and so I yelled down from the kitchen, "Shut the door!" Aleksa obediently came in, walked around to the other side of the door, pushed it shut, and then without a word stared at the door like, "uh-oh, I'm on the wrong side. I'm supposed to be outside, not in..." I giggled and said, "Aleksa, you can go outside, just pull the door, don't push it." "Ok, Mama!" she said, and cheerfully went outside to play. Oops!

I taped Adam counting/talking today. I wanted to record some of the last of his Ukrainian. It really made me sad. I asked him what he did today, and he struggled *hard* to answer in English, and then when I told him to answer in Ukrainian, he also struggled hard to answer, and when he did, he was replacing words with English here and there. It is really becoming evident that they are having trouble talking. Especially Adam. The girls seem to be handling it a bit more gracefully (I think girls have a better knack with languages in the first place, and their age is on their side bigtime besides.)

The highlight of the day happened this evening though. My brother had mentioned that he'd like another one of my felt turkeys like the ones I made last year as a fundraiser. So, I pulled out the sewing machine tonight and got busy. The kids were sooo excited! They Loved watching that silly turkey come to life, and I was all reminiscing about last year's Turkey Making Expedition. What a pain it was! (Not nearly as bad as the pies though) But how worth it! I can't wait until they can understand when we tell them of all the things we did to save money to go to Ukraine and get them. I remember sooo well last year sitting at the sewing machine wondering what our kids were like, and having no idea how long we'd have to wait to get them, and thinking that the waiting was the killer. I wondered what we'd spend our days doing, and wondered how old and what genders, our "two kids" would be. (That was long before we entertained the thought of three kids!) (You'd never have convinced me last year that we would actually come home with THREE kids this year!) Anyway, it was sure fun to remember all that we went through to bring home these kids. Looooong labor, that's for sure! Notaries, documents, re-doing documents, re-notarizing, social workers, petitioning two governments, red tape GALORE, learning another language (or trying to!), reading, reading, reading, reading, and then on top of it, having to come up with the money to pull it all off. Unbelievable labor. Good thing our family is "complete." I don't want to ever have to do that again! *shiver*

Aleksa's Puzzle
Mama Liana (note Lego on the floor!) :O)
Pickle Juice! (Not the greatest picture, but I laughed when I saw it, so I had to share...)
Tree-Climber!

We're hearing lots of English around here lately. This morning at breakfast, Aleksa said, "Ya fast budu banana eat." (I'm going to eat my banana fast.") Half English, half Russian/Ukrainian all over the place. Yesterday I forgot to mention that I put in a Russian children's cd and Aleksa's eyes got big. She went over and stared at the speakers transfixed until the cd ended. They understood it all, but they are not speaking it fluently anymore. They are doing lots more hand gestures as they speak, sound effects, and replacing the English words in their sentences. I've mentioned before that Liana is using the word "maybe" like crazy. When Aleksa asked for some water, Liana said, "English, Aleksa, English!"

Today when we visited the family with nine children, Adam got upset or overly excited, or I-don't-know-what-because-I-wasn't-in-the-room, he grabbed one of the boys on the arm and clawed him leaving nasty fingernail marks. I was not a happy camper. Too much excitement I think. Everyone was showing him everything (and they have a GAZILLION toys), plus the boys were excitedly talking to him, etc. Maybe the language frustration got to him too. Whatever it was, it came out on poor Joey's arm. Never had to handle a situation like that. Hard to handle such times while you're at someone else's house.

Regardless, I enjoyed seeing how her homeschool works and looking through her curriculum. Learned some great stuff today. (If you are on the fence with homeschooling, send for a free catalog from Sonlight and check out their stuff. Neat, neat, neat set-up. Love it.)

Anyway, that's about all for tonight. I think that once we hit Month Three I'll only post once a week or so unless something really comes up. These posts are getting kinda dry and toasty now that the kids are settling in...

More 'Leksa stories

Great day! The kids were really good-natured for most of the day. Adam and Liana "got into it" a few times today, but I'm sure that's pretty typical for a couple of siblings.

Anyway, an Aleksa story! Tonight she was completely exhausted at bedtime. I put her pjs on and brushed her teeth, and when we were done with that, I reached down to pick her up and she said, "Ni tak, tak baby." (Not like this, like a baby!) She cradled a pretend baby in her arms. Melt my heart! While John was tucking her in, he told her it was time to sleep and she said, "talkin'!" She wanted to chat a few moments longer with her Papachka. She could hardly keep her eyes open. Out in a flash.

This morning while the other two were "doing school," I encouraged Aleksa to haul out some puzzles. She usually prefers the puzzles with the pictures under the pieces and the nobs to hold. I asked her to put together a puzzle of one big picture and no pic underneath. She hasn't successfully been able to do those kind before, and avoids them, so I wanted her to try again and see what would happen. I did it with her a few times reminding her to look for what goes at the top, etc., and she did it! She was so proud of herself! She wanted to do it over and over again, and then she asked me to take her picture. It was too cute. Poor little sweetie is so far behind her little American friends. I know 1-2 yr-olds that could do that puzzle, but I keep having to remind myself how my little girl has been living the last few years. Then I'm amazed at how much progress she HAS made so far. Kids are amazing creatures. Just so resiliant and strong. Unbelievable little people.

Adam is doing really well at dot-to-dots. I love those for teaching number sequencing and counting. He loves to do them, but they are difficult for him at times, so when he gets them right, he is really proud. We've come a long way with our numbers.

Liana and Aleksa have occasionally started using a strange "baby-talk" thing. They don't understand each other's "new language" or anything, but it is strange that they are doing so. John wondered if it was because their Ukrainian is starting to fade on them, and they feel the need to babble in something they don't have to bother coding. Not sure.

Handfuls

The kids were basically good today, but they were all three at "top form" and were a handful. Aleksa got into lots of trouble today, which is really unusual for her. For example, she smacked Liana in the face. Hasn't done anything like that for ages. She also bit John in the neck, though she didn't do it out of anger or frustration (she was just excited). (Still got a talking-to about it though... can't be doing that.)

Liana was the Ultimate Little Mama today. She's quite a tattle-tale (any remedies for that one?), and has quite a bossy-streak. I'm sooo thankful she has a much-older brother to keep her toned down at least a bit. Liana as an oldest child would give her too much "power." I have to remind her several times a day recently that she isn't the mama and she shouldn't be telling her brother and sister what to do all the time. Only helps for about 12 seconds.

Early this morning we woke up to Aleksa crying on the baby monitor. If she has to go potty at night, she'll cry instead of get up. (Orphanage behavior... they weren't allowed to go potty at night at the orphanage. They were told that crocodiles will eat them if they get out of bed. That and Baba Yaga will come get them.) (Aleksa is terrified of Baba Yaga.) Anyway, I went and helped her to the potty and then snuggled in and finished my nights' sleep with her. She was extra cuddly and I could have stayed in bed all day sleeping like that!

I'm exhausted. Gotta go to bed now before I fall asleep here!

Today I'm going to write about what happened last first. Tucking-in time was interesting tonight. Liana has a Barbie sticker on her wall. The Barbie is African-American. Tonight she told me that the doll looked like her. I said, "Nuh-uh!" and she told me that they both had brown eyes and both had brown hair so they look the same! Well, alrighty then! I'm glad she doesn't have the same attitudes to people of a different ethnicity like Adam did when he first came home. He apparently had been taught that anyone not fair-complected stunk. We had a few embarrassing moments when he first arrived. He hasn't said anything for a while, and we're hoping that attitude can be easily taught out of him.

Liana needed to have her clothes all layed out for her again. (This is becoming quite the ritual.) She said, "Mama! Shoes, socks, underwear and put-your-clothes-on right here!" And then she pointed to where I needed to put them. (Sharon, I can hear you laughing at me about that one... When I was little I used to have to have Mom put my vitamin "right here" on the table, and my toast had to be "right there" and my juice "right here." Serves me right getting another Me to raise!) I asked her if she liked this shirt or that, and she kept saying "maybe" under her breath and putting her pointer finger to her lips like she's got to weigh all the pros and cons before she commits. Cracks me up to hear her use "thinking words" like "maybe."

Tonight at church the older two got to sing their Patch Club song for the congregation. They mouthed the words they didn't know, and sung out the words they did. They actually did pretty well, I must say, and Mama was in tears in the back row she was so proud of her Ukie kiddos. I've been waiting a long, long, long, long time to see "my kids" sing up there. So many times in the last few years I've wondered what "my kids" would look like with their sailor hat and bright red sash. So cool to have that mystery solved.

Then, just after the kids were done singing and settled in next to John and me, Aleksa started SCREAMING about having to go to the potty. She had *just* used the potty a few minutes before the service started, but apparently she had been lazy. I was thankful I hadn't worn any heels, because I cruised us both out of there lickedy-split.

I got to talk on the phone today with another homeschool mom in the area who uses/d Sonlight curriculum. She has nine kids and homeschools them all. All of them adopted too! We're getting together this week so I can pick her brain some more about this curriculum. She told me she thought it would be really good for our kids, so I'm really hoping "this is it." She also said she is about to order "Math-u-see" for her boys, as she has heard great things about it too and it was recommended to her. I'm so tickled that "someone else" out there is plowing the path for me. I'm not a very good trailblazer.

While I was talking to this lady, John had been playing outside with the kids. He came inside and said, "Shelly, go look at Adam!" So, I poked my nose out the door and saw my perfectly healthy and in-one-piece son climbing high into our maple tree. Great, and I can't even give a good scream since I'm on the phone. I'm pretty sure that's against the law, right? City ordinance against tree-climbing or something? Aaaaaagggghhh!!!

Grandma asked me to take some pics of the kids today in their church clothes, so here are a few that we took today. Enjoy!

Three Kids
Tickle

This morning I sorted through Adam's drawers thinking I was just going to pull out his shorts. I started looking more closely and noticed that he had actually outgrown most of his clothes already. Oy. I had to actually pull half of everything he had. He was really proud of his growth spurt, and though he hated to see a few of his favorite shirts go, he changed his tune when I mentioned we could send them to his friends back in Ukraine. Then he actually started to put clothes that he CURRENTLY wears into the "to go" pile. He kept saying that they'd like that one, or this one, or they wouldn't like that one, etc. He was very proud of being able to help his old friends out.

After the startling realization that our son has so few clothes, I piled him in the car and went off to find him a few more things. John watched the girls. Adam and I had a great time. I think this was the first time I have taken just Adam anywhere. I feel kinda bad about that. He needs more one-on-one time from each of us. Though it happens more often with John, that mother-son thing needs to be cultivated more too.

We went to my aunt's cabin this afternoon. It was freezing cold out, but we had a great time. They had a nice fire going outside, so that helped. Aleksa got her finger slammed in the door, so that was a bummer. She didn't break it, but boy did it smart. Instant bruise. She finally stopped crying when someone gave her a bandaid and a pumpkin-shaped cut-out cookie.

Adam had a great time chasing around a great big dog. Too bad we don't live out in the country; he'd love a big dog, and John would too. (We'd have to get two dogs though, because I love smaller dogs!)

Oh, John told me I had to add this story from suppertime. Liana decided she didn't want to finish her own supper, but wanted Adam's instead. I said, "Liana, you need to eat your own food." After she said, "nuh-uh," I then added, "Well, then tough boogers, you can't have Adam's." She then said, "WHAT? BOOGERS? Ya ni budu (I'm not going to) eat it boogers!"

That just reminded me of a story I should have added to the Circus post. When we were walking into the building, there was a lady outside the door smoking. As we passed her, Liana said to her, (LOUDLY), "FOOOOOOOOO!!!" Talk about wanting to make a quick exit (or entrance as was our case!)

Hay Ride!

We had another homeschool group activity today. We had a hayride in the country. Great time of year to do that here. We live in an area with lots of bluffs and valleys, and the color-change is gorgeous around here. Everywhere we looked was breathtaking, even with a chilly bite in the air and the looming threat of some rain.

He started off shy, but Adam warmed up to the other boys his age pretty quickly. I'm loving the chance to talk to other homeschool moms about how things work for them, curriculums, resources, etc., so even if the kids don't have fun, (hasn't happened yet!), I'm really enjoying these activities.

When we got home, I got to make hot chocolate for the kids for the first time. Great day to do that! I make Mexican hot chocolate, and they loved this yummy treat. (If you want to make it at home, just add a little cinnamon and vanilla, and you'll never have your hot chocolate any other way!) (Stir in a candy cane at Christmas time, and you'll LOVE it, but then it isn't necessarily Mexican!)

Liana has been calling Adam "Add-Com." It isn't an affectionate term, either. She calls him that when she's mad at him. Aleksa, on the other hand, has been calling Adam, "Adam-chik," which is a very affectionate n.n. I guess she's too young for a real sibling rivalry with him. They get along pretty well most of the time.

Today has exhausted me. My vote is for an early bedtime. John is playing with the girls while Adam is in the shower right now. His showers are usually about an hour long. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but that boy takes forEVER to get himself clean. That just reminded me... I noticed while giving the girls a bath the other night that Adam's "blue" body soap is now "green." He mixed some baby shampoo in with the body soap. I suppose he thought it was more convenient to mix the shampoo and the soap together so he doesn't have to reach for more than one bottle? *shrugs*

Liana's Blankets, Adam's Growth Spurt, and Aleksa's Sewing

Nothing terribly earth-shattering today. I guess that's good! I'm getting more and more boring with my posts, aren't I!?

I was looking through some of our Ukraine pictures again recently, and found one of Adam and his caregiver that I took within the first five minutes of meeting him. I can't believe how much this kid has changed! He has literally aged three years in two months time! See for yourself! Adam and Caregiver

Last night I finally nailed down why Liana doesn't like to sleep under her covers. She hasn't wanted to climb under the covers since we got home from Ukraine. She prefers to have throw blankets piled on her to keep her warm. I guess I'm finally getting to know her well enough to "guess," and when I asked her if I was right she started giggling and said I was right. Our little perfectionist doesn't like her blankets all messed up. The way she does it now, she only has to fold a few smaller blankets, but her "nice" blanket stays nice. Ay, ay, ay.

I got some cardboard sewing thingies for Aleksa to play with while the other two are doing school. She LOVED them. She sat and sewed for an hour or so. Apparently she made it look really fun, because the other two were itching to give it a try after they were done with their work. I'm going to have to get some wooden beads to string. Right up Aleksa's alley. (And probably the other two's alley also!)

Sorry! I told you today's entry was a sleeper!

More Shots!

Today I took all three kids in for another set of shots. They loved that. Not! Actually, though, when I told the kids we were going to the doctor to get some shots, Liana strangly said, "Yay!!!" and jumped up and down and clapped. Weird kid. Adam fake-cried and pouted, and Aleksa blinked and wondered what Mama was talking about. When we walked into the clinic though, it hit her like a ton of bricks and she started crying. A pitiful woe-is-me cry. They were good though, and didn't go postal on me or anything. Adam got quite angry and started crying and pouting and complaining as soon as it was his turn for The Shots. He sure doesn't like them! (Who does though, right?) (Ok, except Liana!) Aleksa wouldn't let me take her coat off, so the nurses had me pull down her pants instead and they gave them to her in her thighs. She screamed, but only until it was done. Then she shut off the tears pretty fast. Liana bravely rolled up her sleeves, smiled at the nurses, and didn't even flinch or whimper. She's the toughie in the family. She'd make a good marine if she wasn't so tiny!

Speaking of tiny, I can't believe how the kids are growing. I know I've mentioned Adam before, but my sil pointed out to me that Aleksa is also growing, and the reason we know that is because she and her son used to be the same height, and now she is clearly taller than he is. Liana is actually even getting a tummy on her, though I haven't noticed any big change in height. My babies are growing up! No!!!!!!!

After the trip to the doc, we stopped at Walmart for some school supplies. I got them each new scissors so they don't have to use mine all the time. They couldn't wait to get home, and when they did, within a half hour, my kitchen looked like a papershredder when haywire. There were little tiny pieces of paper all over the floor, the table, etc. (I usually make them wait until we actually have a project that we are doing before I allow them access to the scissors... but I had to let them break them in, right?)

I got a catalogue that I ordered online (for free!) from Sonlight curriculums. I hadn't heard of them before, but I had noticed a lot of people saying great things about them on different homeschool Yahoo groups. If anyone knows anything about it, I'd love to hear your input! From what I saw in the catalogue, it really sounds like my cup of tea.

Oh, Liana has a cold sore now! :O( The poor girl can't stand the itch and it has spread a little. I'm relieved though, that at least I didn't give it to her! (I get those too). I would feel bad for the rest of my/her life if I had been the one to give it to her. Since Aleksa also gets them, I'm really wondering if Adam will too. Who knows!

Circus!

We got to take 'em to the circus today!! Yay!!! John's dad got some free tickets from his work, so we were able to take the entire family for the cost of just one adult ticket. No problem! So, the grandparents, cousin Glenn, and we all got to go.

They kept asking all day long if it was time to go to the "circle" yet. Liana especially kept her eye on the clock most of the day. At one point she held up four fingers and said, "Four minute, circle." (She meant, "At four o'clock, we're going to the circus!")

I had forgotten that they played the National Anthem at the circus, and it caught me off-guard. I got all emotional (as usual) when it played. This time the flag just really means a lot more to me now that we have three new Americans standing under it. Oh, how I hope they love their new country as much as we do! Anyway, I got all choked up and had to really shake it off. That's another reason I'm so happy to have adopted internationally... To give a child/ren the chance to be citizens of OUR country.

Anyway, that was another first. It has been so much fun to see their reactions to all the "firsts" that they have experienced these last two months. They say that adopting an "older child" means that you won't get all the "cool firsts" that you would adopting a younger child. Whatever! We just get to jump right into the FUN stuff, and then enjoy THOSE firsts! (I sure haven't cried a tear over not having to change that "first diaper!") If we'd adopted an infant, by the time they were 9, they would be bored silly with all the things that they think are the cat's meow right now. I think it is so cool how God gives us what we never planned and makes it so completely perfect for you. I sure never played house as a child and pretended I adopted a 9,6 and 4 year old! I was "supposed" to have them in my tummy. I'm sooo, so very happy that it didn't work that way. If even one of my miscarriaged babies had lived, there is no doubt that we never ever would have adopted, and certainly not a sibling group of three. And then what would have become of Adam, Liana and Aleksa? Yup, good thing God knows best!

Beanbags, Massages and Jingle Bells

This morning I let the kids in on a secret we've been keeping from them... We're going to the circus tomorrow!!! They were sooo excited! I sewed them some beanbags to practice juggling like the clowns will juggle and we talked about the things we will see there. They couldn't wait to show John when he came home! Aleksa especially loved them. I suppose they are just fun to hold and scrunch in your hands, but she sure prized them all day.

Tonight John and I got a treat. The girls wanted to give us massages! (Oh, twist our arms, right?) Our sofa is L-shaped, so we each layed on our bellies facing each other so we could chat while the kids walked on, squeezed, and tickled our backs. We asked each other if this is what we had imagined life would be like once we had kids. Nope! We decided we should train them to waive peacock feathers on us and serve us grapes. It was cool because we could say all kinds of things and the girls had no idea what we were talking about. (Sometimes that language barrier comes in handy, though we are starting to have to speak in code; "Number 1 Child got into trouble today with Number 2.")

After supper John read Adam a book that was pretty long. In fact, it took an entire hour to read. (He should be thankful he wasn't reading it to Liana... he'd still be reading it with all the questions she asks!) lol! Anyway, it still amazes me how much Adam soaks up books. He sits statue-still and will be completely engrossed in the book/s as long as you care to keep reading. I wish I knew how much he is actually registering, but probably quite a bit by now. Another family mentioned recently that their 11-yr-old has been home for two months and is speaking English only now, though he often struggles for vocab. That amazes me because ours just ain't there yet! Maybe the fact that he was adopted as a single and not a sibling group? Probably helped. but it is making me antsy for the day we all speak the same language around here. That will be pretty convenient; especially when company comes!

One of the books we have has some Christmas decorations in the illustrations. When they saw it, they started singing *something* to the tune of Jingle Bells. I sang it to them, and after that, I had to sing it over and over and over again. They loved it. Tonight when I tucked Aleksa in, she asked me to sing it to her probably 20 times or more.

Liana was definitely the little Mama today. She and Aleksa played house all afternoon and she had to boss her "baby" around telling her when she could go to the bathroom, when to eat, what to do, etc. It amazes me that Aleksa puts up with it, but she doesn't seem to mind at all.

Exhausted. Going to bed now!

Two Months Home!

Wow, two months! Month Two has been a big one. Lots of changes for the better, lots of progress, but also lots of areas we still need to work on.

Adam has made lots of progress in so many ways. I had him fill in a chart with all the numbers up to 100 the other day, and if he points to the numbers, he can say them all (with some help). He's not as disaster-oriented anymore either. Aside from the ink-in-the-squirtgun incident at the beginning of this second month, we've had no real catastrophes anymore. He can still be very much a handful when he's wound up though. We found out tonight that Wednesday night he came up to a man after church and punched him. Oy. I sure wish we had know about that one right away. I guess he thought he was playing, but regardless, it was Not Cool.

On the other hand, Adam can sit and do his schoolwork like he definitely could not do during the first month. Everything was too fun, too interesting, too exciting to want to sit still with a pencil and paper for more than five minutes. He takes pride in his work now. We are definitely enjoying seeing his strengths start to shine. Like I mentioned before, we really need to come up with ways to have him really use his love of the spotlight in a positive direction. I can see him in plays, or doing a puppet or magic show really easily. He loves an audience.

John was just telling me tonight that he thought it was pretty neat that he had told one of the kids to do something, and as he walked away, he knew there was no doubt that they were going to do it. Great feeling. That would have never crossed our minds last month! We would have had to check back to make sure. The same thing happened yesterday at McDonalds. When it was time to come out of the Playland thingie, we just said, "Time to go!" and they all came out happily and quickly, and there was never any question in my mind or John's that they wouldn't just immediately obey. Still lots to iron out with all three, but by and large, they have made incredible progress and the wrinkles are shaking out rather well. We just really have to watch their sugar before and while we are taking them anywhere! (That makes a big difference!)

Liana also loves an audience, but in a different way. She is our music-lover. Just tonight she put on a concert for the family on the piano. Of course, she doesn't play the thing, but she pretended up a storm! She told us where we each had to stand around the piano bench (we had assigned spots!), etc. She's also a little Mama to anyone who will let her be. Aleksa gets bossed around all day long, and she tries to also be Adam's mom too. (And ours as well! If she does something for us and we don't come up with a "thank you" soon enough, she will say, "Thank you, Liana!" as if to scold us for not being good. *sigh*) She helps with any and all tasks that she notices me doing. She's pretty much gotta have the full scoop on everything. If we read a book, she has about four questions per page. Kinda drives me crazy at times because she can make a book last 10 times longer than it might otherwise, but she's constantly needing to learn stuff. Smart cookie. She counts to 30 and can say the alphabet song all the way through the "now I know my a-b-c's" part. She knows lots of songs, and learns things just by hearing it once or twice. Out of the blue today she said, "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday..." and then we filled her in on the rest of the week. I've only started saying the days of the week to them a few days ago. I've mentioned it before, but along with the bossiness comes a stubborn streak. You'd never guess it if you were just meeting her. She comes off as the "shy one" of the three. She just fakes it well! lol! She's come a long, long, long way in these two months. I can hardly believe this is the same little girl that we met in July. So timid of us, so unsure of our love for her, so worried that we weren't going to come back for her. And now she's telling us where to stand during her piano concerts! Wow.

Aleksa. If it weren't for two very alarming things that we saw her do today, I'd say she was doing really great. She's still going up to strangers and asking to be picked up. Twice today she did that. Once to a man that even I barely know. I'm sure it has to help that I'm with her all the time, but we have a long way to go in the "learning who mom is" department. She's the hardest one to figure out where her mental capabilities are - she is undoubtedly waaaaay behind most American 4-yr-olds, that much is obvious, but we'll just have to see. She melts my heart most of the time with her simple ways. Like tonight we got out of the car, and she looked up at the sky and said, "Ne ma litto star!" ("There's no little star!") It was overcast tonight, and sure enough, there wasn't a single star up there. So, she didn't want to sing her song.

She has made lots of progress with not being so insistant on being carried everywhere, and not so scared of new things. She came home not wanting to be put down for any reason whatsoever, and now she's jumping into the balls at McDonalds all by herself. Lots of progress there. She doesn't throw tantrums, doesn't get into the mischief the others get into, etc. She's basically a really great kid. She plays quietly by herself, she'll sit and sing and read to herself for as long as we let her, or as long as her brother and sister don't feel like playing with her.

Anyway, this has been a great month! I hope Month Three goes as smoothly!
It has been really neat to see who God has put in our family. Though they are biological siblings, they are each completely different from the other. And each one is absolutely PERFECT for our family.

Perfect Day

This was the kind of day that I sat day-dreaming about while we were "waiting to be parents." The kids were perfectly behaved (well, for the most part!), and we did all kinds of fun stuff!

We had a late breakfast and then we went to the Children's Museum here in town. The Fisher grandparents came too. There was sooo much for the kids to do, see, touch, investigate, play with, etc. They loved it and so did we! There was even a climbing wall, which John got to do. (Adam sorta chickened). Liana put on a puppet show for Grandma and Papa, and she also got to plunk away at an electric piano/organ. Aleksa got to sit inside a hollowed out television and pretend that she was a movie star, and Adam had a great time with the human-size maze. All kinds of fun!

Then we went to McDonalds for lunch. I didn't leave home without the camera this time though!!! :O) Though the first time Aleksa was at McDonalds she didn't want to go into the Playland alone, and needed Papa to carry her when she did, this time, she marched right in all by herself and had fun playing in the balls. She still wasn't brave enough for the other climbing stuff, but we were really excited that she was so outgoing today.

After that we came home for some "down-time." But a couple hours later we went shopping for some winter coats for the kids and I found some nice wooden puzzles for pretty cheap.

Tonight we all snuggled up with a video, and then off to bed. Aleksa nearly fell asleep in my arms, and Adam was especially snuggly when I tucked him in. Liana was her huggedy-kissedy-self as usual, and everyone went right to sleep.

Oh! And Adam still even knows he's 9 years old! All's well at the Fisher house! Nice way to round out Month 2 of being home. Pretty much, it was a perfect day.


Playing at the museum
TV Stars
Aleksa and Grandpa
Liana
Liana's Puppet Show
Adam at McDonalds
Aleksa at McDonalds

Counting!

Adam can finally tell us without thinking too hard that he is 9 years old. For some reason the number nine has been a major mental block for him. The block crumbled today, however, and he has no problem with it all of a sudden. (Much rejoicing here!) He has to be the only 9-yr-old I've ever met that didn't know how old he was. When we met him he told us he was seven. He had been seven when they arrived in the orphanage and never "had a birthday" after that. So, he assumed he must have still been seven. (I might be wrong, it might have been 8 that he thought he was. I know I mentioned it in one of my Ukraine blogs). Anyway, now that he's speaking some English, the number 9 just has been a terribly hard number to say. Not that he can't pronounce it, he just couldn't look at a nine and say, "NINE." If we said, "Hey, Adam, draw me the number 9," he could do that, but to do it the other way, no way. Whenever we'd ask him what the 9 was, he'd say, "11" or "8" or whatever else was the first thing in his head. Well, anyway, today I got out the kitchen timer, (found it! It was missing for a while), set it for ten minutes, and then when it went off I asked him how old he was. Over and over and over again once every ten minutes for about an hour and a half. It worked. (It wasn't like I was hammering the kid. I just turned off the timer and said, "Hey, Adam, how old are you?" and then he'd answer me. If he got it wrong I'd just correct him and then reset the timer. Worked pretty slick; stressfree and kind of fun. He can do it without thinking now! He has also fully mastered his 13, 14, 15, 16. (That 13 was a killer since his "th's" often come out like "f's" making 13 into 14 and then messing him up to say 15 after 13.) I've talked to other Ukie adopters and a couple of them say their kids had trouble with that too.

I've been looking online for some dot-to-dots for the numbers 1-10 for Liana. She still has trouble with 7-10. Would you believe they are hard to find? I only found one site! They have some pretty awesome sites for dot-to-dots, but most have numbers 1-20+. Frustrating, especially since she LOVES those. She can count to thirty easy as pie, but she still needs work recognizing them.

I've been researching some math curriculums and found one that comes highly recommended by another homeschool mom I know, plus a lot of people on some of the homeschool yahoo groups. It is called Math U See and it has 3D manipulatives for their curriculum. Not all paper and pencil stuff. I guess the major thrust of it is that the kids really understand the "why's" of the math instead of just memorizing things "because." As much as I struggled with math myself, I think this might be the way to go with the kids. John still needs to check it out though first.

Oh, another major thing happened today. I broke down and put the kids' toys in their rooms. There were a few squabbles over whose toys were whose, but other than that, it went ok. I really need that cupboard for their school stuff. I've been dragging all their school stuff - crayons, pencils, books, workbooks, notebooks, etc., etc., from our bedroom to the kitchen every morning and that has gotten rather old. It's nice to have it all in one spot now. We'll just have to see how they do with the toys in their rooms and play it by ear. I also kept a few special toys and puzzles in the cupboard for Aleksa to play with especially while we're doing school. We really need to invest in some good puzzles (she loves puzzles!), and other educational toys for her. Someone told me to check Ebay. Hopefully we'll find some good deals. It really stinks that we came home from Ukraine so late in the "rummage sale" season. Educational toys can make you go bankrupt if you pay full price for them all! We'll see!

Balance?

Starting to feel a little stressed. I've already mentioned that I'm feeling a little bad about not being able to do for my dad what I was able to do for so long... (errands, housework, taking him to his dr. appointments, etc.), but today, a friend of mine called from Colorado. It was great to chat with her, but with three kids that are up past their bedtime, well it was hard to really connect again. Also, I caught my niece on MSN Messenger chat today, and barely had a chance to find out how anything was going before another Kid Emergency. Yeah, I LOVE my job description right now. Love it, love it, love it, but I feel like I'm also shut off from the rest of the people in my life. I don't want to be like one of those annoying women who gets a new boyfriend and then drops their friends like hot potatoes. Know what I mean? I'm just trying *really* hard to carve out some sort of routine and balance everything. Not working the greatest right now, but I'm really trying to figure it all out. While I was talking to my friend tonight, she said, "Shelly, you went from 0 kids to 3 kids plus you're homeschooling them plus you don't all speak the same language. Could you make it any more difficult for yourself right now?" I suppose it probably looks next-to-impossible for everyone on the outside looking in. But that's the least of my worries. The kid stuff isn't work to me. What's work is balancing all the other parts of my life so that nothing and nobody is being neglected. Very delicate balance. I know it is possible, but oy is it tough right now!

As far as kid news tonight:

I asked Adam what "J" words he could think of and his immediate response (complete with pantomime) was, "Jackie Chan!" (Apparently they let them watch some tv back at the orphanage!) Since the kids are speaking more and more English as the days go on, I've started to label things. There are signs on everything. Toilet, wall, sink, piano, etc. telling what everything is. Hopefully it will help. Not exactly sure what it will do, but I've been told it is good for them to see the words. *shrugs* It was a fun project anyway. The kids loved sticking signs on everything and telling me what things were. (They did AWESOME at that. There were very few things that they didn't know.)

Also, while I made supper tonight, the kids and John went outside to play. Aleksa was the last one out the door and while she was getting her shoes on, I came over and helped her and then gave her a big hug. (Just couldn't resist the opportunity, plus I had an overwhelming, "wow, I'm this little girl's MOM" moment. She said, "Mama ti placala?" (Mama, are you crying?) I told her "a little bit" and she asked me if she should stay inside with me so I wouldn't cry. I assured her that she should go play and that Mama was just being a silly mama. She stayed and helped me make supper. Such a sweetie.

Shopping and Aleksa's Potty Emergencies

I'm completly exhausted today. We've been on the go busy all day long. We all took John to work this morning and then after that we hit the books doing school. One of the vocab words in the curriculum is "mitten" so for reading time I hauled out the book "The Mitten" which is a Ukrainian folk tale. They finally let on to me that they actually know that story in Ukrainian, so I hauled out the camera again and had Adam tell it to me. He was really struggling for words here and there and occasionally it seemed like he was even inventing words.

We went grocery shopping this afternoon. This was the first time I've taken them grocery shopping by myself. No problem. They were perfect angels. In fact, there was a mom with two little boys that was shopping about at the same pace we were, so we were always in the same aisle with them (it seemed.) The two boys were being *reallllly* naughty. At one point, Adam and Liana stopped and just stared at them in awe that their mom let them get away with their behavior. They kept saying, "Naughty boy! Mama said, 'stop!'; boy naughty." I took the opportunity to praise them for their good behavior and to remind them of how you act in the grocery store. They were sure to tell John all about it tonight. Still no begging at the grocery store. They are very ready to "help" though. If I tell them we need three gallons of milk, the milk is in the cart before I can scratch it off the list. Another thing that really struck me was that when the kids weren't holding onto the cart on each side (as usual), then Adam was holding Liana's hand and she was holding the cart. You sure don't see most American 9-yr-olds holding their sister's hand in public! (I'm sure not going to tell him that!)

On the way home from the store/getting John from work, Aleksa announced that she had to go potty. We were in the middle of the highway, and there was no way to stop, so we told her she had to wait. (We were only a few minutes from home anyway). She started screaming and then Adam got mad at us for being mean. He calmed down when I pointed out that there were no toilets around, and then asked him where the toilet was. He quietly consoled his crying sister for the next few minutes 'til we got home. She made it! But barely! Adam is going to make a really great dad some day. He's a real nurturer. (Don't get me wrong, he can fight with his sisters really well too, but by and large they get along great.)

Speaking of potty... Tonight at church just as the service was about to start, Aleksa announced that she had to "Pissit." I instantly swept her up and she said it again just as we passed a man on his way to his pew. He said, "Oh, you want pizza?" (I really hope that he actually thought that's what she said!) That's one word that I won't be sad to see go! Oy! (It's POTTY, Aleksa! Potty!!

Personality Updates

Adam is cruising in his school work. The lights are starting to really turn on with a bunch of things at once, and he's plowing through things that were hard to him even just a few days ago. Today I got the video camera out and he LOVED "showing off" for the camera and tried extra hard to do his best. I'll have to file that idea in the back of my head. He instantly became a TON more interested in what we were doing, and also lots more interested in doing a good job. Kept him thinking sharp.

For an art project today, I had the kids lay down on roll-paper and traced their bodies. They loved coloring themselves and hanging "their pictures" up in their rooms. That also went hand in hand with their lessons - they've been mastering their vocab for their body parts in the last few days' lessons.

Adam has been reallllllly chilled out as far as getting into things. I haven't had to hide EVERYTHING from him lately, and there have been no more causes for the carpet-shampooer to come out in the last few weeks. He's doing great all the way around. He's very much a perfectionist with his schoolwork and toys. Everything has to be just so. (Unless he's frustrated, and then nothing matters). He loves being the oldest and being the most physically able to do things. He loves that he can cruise past his sister in his schoolwork (I do too!), and loves being the center of attention. He's a real showman. I'm going to have to find some magic tricks he can learn. That's right up his alley. I can sooo see him sitting the whole family down and having us watch his "show." I'm going to have to think up some other ways to capitalize on that part of his personality, especially for when he gets the hang of the whole English thing.

I've had a few recommendations as far as resources/videos for alphabet/letter sounds. If anyone else has any good ideas for ways to get the letters/sounds into Adam's head as painlessly as possible, I'd be very grateful for the suggestions...

Tonight putting the kids to bed Liana had a cow about something or other and wouldn't tell me what. All I knew was that she was mad at me about something. Talk about a personality switch. Well, not really. She's our snuggle-girl who is the most affectionate, but she has that meloncholy personality that gets her feelings hurt easily, gets upset rather easily, gets mad easily. *sigh*. In other words, we have our work cut out in teaching her how to not let those feelings control her. It wound up that a shirt that I laid out for Aleksa to wear tomorrow looked a lot like one that she has, so she thought it was hers and decided to get mad at me about it. It all ended well, but oy, she's a hard cookie sometimes. She's our easiest to parent and hardest to parent all bound into one little girl. She's also our smartest. If you say something, she'll remember it for the rest of time. That kind of a kid. Perfectionist to the Nth degree. (She was the one who insisted on her clothes being laid out tonight in the first place, if that helps complete the picture).

She's also pretty ambidextrous. I've caught her using her right hand to eat and write, though she usually favors her left. Very good artist too. When she colors a picture, all the colors match. She's got a great eye.

Aleksa is our little blondie as I've mentioned before. Today the older two were talking about something or other at the breakfast table, and then Aleksa piped up something completely off-topic and revealing that she had no idea what the other two were saying. Adam did the little "crazy" gesture with his finger and ear and when he did so, Aleksa's face fell a hundred miles. She sunk her head and started to cry. I haven't seen her actually get her feelings hurt before (I don't think!), so I scooped her up and held her until she felt better. I even wound up feeding her the rest of her breakfast. She needed some Mama tlc, and I was happy to have the opportunity to snuggle my little sweetie pie. Nothing like a tiny little girl with hurt feelings, (and clutching her Twinko Bear), to melt a mama's heart.

Long past my bedtime. Night!

Columbus Day

Columbus Day has been a big thing to me for the past several years. A cousin told me a while back about her family's tradition of picking apples and making pies on that day, and ever since I've done the same. (Well, I don't actually pick them, I just buy them at an apple stand across the river.)

Anyway, I've been dreaming about sharing my pie tradition with "my kids" for a long time, and it was SOOOO cool to pile the kids in the car to actually do it! *Happy Shelly* I've never pealed ten cups of apples and not had a scrap of apple peals or cores leftover to toss before. They gobbled down every bit of them. It weirded me out a bit, but it sure made clean-up easy!

I was trying to figure a way that apple pies and Columbus Day could go hand and hand, and I figure that apple pie is "America's favorite dessert" and since Columbus "discovered" America, (ok, please hold off on the emails on that one; I know that's up for debate!), I figure I can get away with it.

I just wish they were understanding a bit more English so I could explain all of that to them better. They just figure it was a nice fall day and Mama got hungry for pie.

They also got a care package from their aunt and uncle and kept *very* busy all afternoon with their loot. One of the things was an adorable teddybear that you wind up and it plays "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Aleksa's eyes got really big when she heard it and then she screamed, "Twinko, Twinko, Mama!" She has hardly parted with it since. (I got all teary hearing it play "her song." It was too sweet!)

Anyway, that's the day's highlights! I made sure to get this typed up early since I have no doubt that I'm going to crash as soon as possible tonight. John is watching, er, playing with the kids. Another one of the presents from today was an ERECTOR SET. John was sure giddy about there being an actual motor in the kit! Happy, happy Papa.


Apple Day
Apple Day
Apple Day
Erector Set
Aleksa's Bear
Adam's Jeep

Too tired to post

Sorry, y'all, I'm exhausted. I posted a comment to a comment for yesterday's post, but I need to go night-night now...

Da zaftra! ('til tomorrow!)

Shelly

Babies

This morning I actually took off without the kids for the first time since we've been home (except for the shower the church ladies gave me). Usually it has been me + at least one of them, but today they all stayed home with John. I went shopping for some school things, plus some winter clothes for the kids. There are so many cute things out there for little girls!!!! I had a hard, hard time being practical today! ;O) There is a shop in town that sells "gently used" childrens' clothing; it's wonderful. They also sell toys, books and videos. I found a video of Peter Rabbit, and all three kids LOVED it. I was surprised how faithful the "movie" was to the book, and the video is styled after the pictures in the (Beatrix Potter) book. I also found a really cool hard-cover book full of science experiments. John already "conducted" one with the kids tonight. He's going to have fun with it even if the kids don't! ;O)

It felt soooo good walking through the door once I got home from my "outing." They all came screaming into the room and gave me excited hugs and kisses. (Especially from Liana. Her favorite word is "snuggle" if that tells you anything about her pesonality!) Anyway, it sure felt good to be so missed! It's just amazing how cool little kids all over the place can be. I'm completely exhausted most of the time, and there is a constant array of Kid Stuff on the floor, and boy, if I don't keep right on top of it all, I'm pretty sure the house would fall in on us.

Their English is just exploding all over the place. We're hearing soooo much English in the house these days! Today at supper, I finished my plate before the kids did, and Aleksa said to me, "Eat it, Mama, fast! Ti good girl!" and then she reached over and kissed me on both cheeks. It was tooooo cute. Then she happened to look behind her and noticed that the front door was open. She said, "Door open, Mama. Shut the door." I knew it was open and I thought the sunshine was nice, so I didn't jump up and shut it. She was persistant, however, and it was a good thing she was because the screen door was also wide open. (Adam. How'd ya guess?)

Adam is getting a TUMMY on him! He has just shot up since we came home. He's no longer "little." He's taller, chunkier, and looks more his age now. Liana is also filling out really well, though I haven't really noticed her getting taller. Maybe she has and I just haven't realized it though. No change with Aleksa. She's still chunky. If anything she looks a bit worse than when she came home... Her haircut hasn't done much for her! (How are we ever going to get a family picture done before Christmas!!??)

We've been learning more and more about the kids' Ukrainian family at bedtime. That time of the day just seems to open them up more. We're pretty certain that they lived on a farm. We've heard stories of animals, planting corn, etc. Also something about Adam having a pet turkey, but I'm not sure if we understood them right about that. Liana told me all about making butter tonight. She told me how you take the milk and then pantomimed the churning process. I so hope she and Adam hold on to all of those memories, especially for Aleksa's sake, since she will not remember anything about Ukraine other than the orphanage. Last night Adam and Liana told us what their Ukrainian parents looked like. Apparently their father had lots o' muscles, and was blonde, and their mother had dark hair and she was also very strong.

Liana also has been asking me about babies in tummies. Auntie Cara has a baby in her tummy, so she's been curious. She told me that one day she wants a baby in her tummy too. I told her she could pray for one, but if God doesn't give her a baby in her tummy that she could go to Ukraine to an orphanage and adopt a child there. She said she didn't want a big kid, she wanted a little baby. (Their orphanage was for older kids, so she doesn't realize there are "other" orphanages in Ukraine). I told her that I was happy with my "babies" from Ukraine even if they weren't tiny, but she still wasn't sold. Hopefully it will dawn on her later on that "hey, it's a good thing Mama and Papa weren't stuck on the tiny baby idea themselves." She has also asked me twice today about there being babies in MY tummy. I just keep saying, "YOU'RE my baby!" She has also described a c-section quite thoroughly. She described the cutting-open-the-tummy and sewing-up, etc. and that she wasn't going to cry when they sewed her tummy up after they get the baby out. Then she told me that babies drink milk from their mommies. We're in for some interesting talks (*gulp*) once she starts really speaking English.

Speaking of babies, as I kissed Adam goodnight, I said, "Good night baby." He grimaced and told me he was a big boy. I raised my arm as high as I could reach and told him that even when he was THAT tall, that he was still going to be my baby, and then I pretended to rock a "baby" that enormous. He sure giggled! (He doesn't know I WASN'T JOKING.) ;O) I try to reassure him of the "you're my son forever" idea at least once a day. It has sure helped ease a lot of his worries and settled him down.

Concert!

Lots to talk about today. The kids got to go play games, etc. with some other homeschoolers today. There was another boy there almost exactly Adam's age, and they seemed to really hit it off. I hope to have lots of chances to cultivate a friendship there. It was also good for me to get ideas from the other moms, and I can't wait to put a lot of those ideas into practice. Can't wait for school on Monday!!!

We also hit a giant rummage sale at a community center today. I picked up an armload of clothes for the girls (didn't see anything for Adam, poor kid.) There was a lady that was working there that gave some free things to the kids, and they were soooo excited! I also bought some fancy scarves (almost chiffon-ish) for the girls to play with. I wasn't sure how they'd use them, but I was pretty sure they'd like them, and I was right. They played with them all afternoon.

This evening, John and I took the kids to a wood-wind/brass band concert that our friend (a music prof at the university) conducted. John's sister and family were there, as were John's sister's mother-in-law and sister-in-law. (They'd be my in-law's inlaw's... Outlaws maybe?) ANYWAY... The concert was awesome! The second to the last song, Phil scanned the audience and asked if "Glenn" was here. (That's John's sister's two-yr-old boy). He was, and so Phil had him come up on stage and conduct the music. Glenn LOVES music and is constantly "directing" it when he hears it. He especially loves getting a music stand plopped in front of him. Little Glenn stole the show. He proudly stood there waving his little arms to the beat of the music while Phil directed too. Glenn kept peeking over his shoulder grinning, and each time he did so, the audience chuckled. He did awesome. And the whole family (minus the Fisher grandparents) were there to see his debut. Unfortunately none of us brought a camera. *sigh* (I might have "a" picture of Glenn pretend-conducting at church that maybe I'll post).

Anyway, our kids were WONDERFUL. They sat very still and were perfect little angels. Until! (There's always an "until," isn't there?) Apparently Adam had been playing canibal to the girls' dollies back at home and had taken the voicebox out of one and stuck it in his pocket. If you squeeze it, it says, "Mama! Papa!" So, midway through the concert, we heard it go off. And it wouldn't quit. It malfunctioned so that it didn't matter if it was squeezed or not, it just kept going off. Talk about MORTIFIED. John finally sat on the thing and it must have run out of juice. (We were blocked in and both of us had kids on our laps, so we couldn't just get up.) I'm assuming that the voicebox is in the garbage can right now. It is cute inside a dolly, but NOT in the middle of a concerthall. Yikes.

Inspite of the occassional "Sid-from-Toy-Story" tendencies of our son, the kids have just been awesome lately. The dust is finally settling. There would have been NO WAY I would have taken the kids anywhere like a concert a month ago, but tonight there was no question that they would behave, and we knew we could trust them to sit quietly. They were curious but quiet and sat really still. Couldn't have asked for a better crew of kiddos! It's just amazing that these same little kids were scratching for food wearing the same shirt for weeks at a time and running wild just 8 weeks ago. Completely different creatures now. I wish I could pick their little brains a little more as to what they were thinking of everything, but we know they loved it.

I just thought of something I don't want to forget... Liana has been calling me Mominka and sometimes shortening it to Mom. *sigh*. She also occasionally calls me "Mommy" and once today called me, "Mommy Honey." Cracked me up. I guess I do call them "Liana Honey," and "Adam Honey," and "Aleksa Honey," so I shouldn't have been surprised. It just struck me as hilarious.

Exhausted. Time for bed!


(Ok, I know this isn't a picture of "my" kid, but he is our nephew, and boy were we proud tonight!)

Glenn: The Little Conductor

Schooling

John and I have been talking over our schooling situation. We've talked in person to the ESL teacher at the elementary school as well as a few other teachers twice now, as well as having phone conversations with them. We've toured the school, talked to the principal, etc. We've talked to the ESL coordinator at the University, international students at the U, plus we've talked to lots of other adoptive families as to what they have done.

The school district has basically told us that if we want to get some ESL help that we have to put the kids in with some other ESL students (who happen to be kindergarteners), since the ESL teacher isn't allowed to do extra work for a not-enrolled-in-the-district family. We have the option of partial enrollment, but we would be required to put them in school a quarter of the day and transition asap to full days. Then we could get the ESL help. Not crazy about that idea at all. I asked about classroom size, and they have FULL classrooms. Adam's would-be-teacher has 26 students already, including an autistic child and gifted/talented students. How on earth is she going to have the time to help my kid? I asked her what she would do with Adam to help him catch up and one of her ideas was to read to him individually since it "immerses him in the language." Ok, so she *might* have time to read him ONE book a day between 8:45 and 3:45 in between trying to juggle her time with the rest of the class. We read to the kids a minimum of an hour a day! She also said that she'd have him color so that his fine-motor skills would develop. Oy. Definitely need a school building for that! Also, she said that her classroom is like one big family. That sorta bugs me. WE are their family! Talk about confusing the poor kids to death. "Great, I have two families? Is this my new family? What's this all about?"

There really isn't the smaller-classroomed private school option for us for a number of reasons. There isn't one within "normal" driving distance for us, and besides the cost is a major issue with John's layoff underway. (As is the case if we wanted to hire a private tutor.) Many families in our church homeschool, and there is already a group organized to do special activities and projects, so that's great that the support is there.

We definitely see a lot of pros to school - the facilities, the "stuff" etc., but there is sooo much riding on this decision. We have a curriculum that we're using right now for ESL at home, and this company also has actual k-12 curriculum too, which is self-paced, so we will likely keep them home and let them continue to bond with us, us to them, and continue to try to cover three grades as quickly as he's able. I'm scared to death to continue to homeschool, but I think that it's a healthy fear that will keep me digging for more ideas, more resources, more connections, etc. I've already joined several Yahoo groups having to do with homeschooling, just to get an idea of what is out there.

Plus, we've only been their parents for 7 1/2 weeks. WE want to raise our kids; we don't want to school district to. As for the "what-about-peer-socialization-of-your-kids?" question. Well, the way we see it, our kids have had nothing BUT peer-socialization for the past two years. The kids at the orphanage only had each other and from some of the horror stories our kids are starting to tell us, the "caregivers" were "not," so they barely had even them. We have seen what kids raising kids does, and frankly, we don't want any more of that for ours. Our kids are still learning what family is all about. Granted, they've settled in remarkably well, but does that mean we should rock the boat? Not sure I'm willing to take that risk. Stakes are too high.

After my post the other day asking for ways to preserve the children's Ukrainian heritage, John's aunt sent me the following links that some of you out there might enjoy. I haven't had a chance to comb through them, but they look fabulous!

Ukrainian recipes
Pysanky
Pysanky

Also, Lisa Sicilian, (a sweetie that I've never met!), was sweet enough to send me a nice and long email with lots of goodies in it. I asked her if I could cut and paste it here, and agreed. THANK YOU SO MUCH LISA!!!


Shelly,

I spoke with my Mom and she was too funny- she told me I HAD to tell you
that these customs might be particular to the region of Ukraine our family
is from. "We" come from Ivano Frankiwsk and Ternopil in Western Ukraine and
just like any country, Ukraine's different regions all have their own
customs, recipes, etc. But I'll share with you our traditions and hopefully
there will be something in there that you can incorporate into your own
celebrations.

As I'm sure you know, Ukrainians are extremely big on hospitality. Ukrainian
women pride themselves on being able to feed an army and turning virtually
nothing into something delicious. To make a guest feel welcome in your home
is the benchmark of success in a Ukrainian housewife's life. When especially
honored guests are received into the home, they are greeted by the woman of
the house with bread, salt and wine. Bread- the staff of life and all that
represents, salt to savor life's riches and wine which symbolizes
fruitfulness and well being. The bread is usually a specially baked babka
and the items are arranged on a tray with a beautifully embroidered cloth on
it. This is also done at any "big" life milestones. Weddings, Christenings,
Birthdays, etc. We did this at my wedding (way back in 1995) and everyone
just thought it was the coolest thing- but I'll do more on that kind of
thing later in this rambling message. Besides, you've got a long, long way
to go before you're the hosts of any weddings!!

Christmas Eve is the "bigger" day. Old School Ukrainians will fast the
entire day and then partake of the meatless feast set out. Usually the meal
consists of 12 different dishes. The first one is a NASTY concoction of
wheat, honey and poppy seeds- but we won't even go there- yeeeeech! Fish is
usually served as well as Borscht and Pierogi.
I don't know if you have any pets in your home, but animals hold a special
place of honor in the Christmas Eve observance. It was felt that not only
did the animals serve us during the year (plowing fields, giving milk,
etc..) but they were more importantly responsible for keeping the Baby Jesus
warm in the manger!! Straw is also placed under the dining room table to
signify the humble birth of Christ. In the villages, the animals are given
fresh hay and even fed whatever is prepared for the family to eat as a
special "thank you" to them! I think it's really cute, and so we feed our
dog Sophia special treats on that night. When I was a little girl, my
Babchi's big concession was to let the family's "outside" cat inside to
sleep in the nice warm house- BUT just for ONE night!! A candle is also
placed in the window so that anyone who is without a family or home on
Christmas Eve will know that they are welcome- an extra place is set at the
table just for this purpose also. I know here in America some Ukrainians and
some Polish that take it a step further and turn on EVERY single light
inside and outside of the house- as well as putting candles in every window
of the home. Traditionally, the feasting did not start until the youngest
member of the family spotted the first star in the sky. Usually, no one can
wait that long to eat!!! All of this eating is capped of with Mass at
midnight and then we greet each other with the saying "Christ is Born". I'll
try to get you the phonetic spelling of all the sayings I'm going to give
you, but I'll need to consult with some of my native Ukrainian speakers. So,
in my family we did these things on Christmas Eve (except for church at
midnight- we could never make it!) Then on Christmas Day we did our big
family dinner with meat this time after church and opening gifts.

On New Year's Day it's traditional to "wash" yourself with money!! The way
we did this was to take coins in our hands and rub them in our hands under
running water. This was done to ensure good fortune and prosperity for the
coming year. Then my Babchi would make a sort of fried-donut type of treat
called Pampushka- but you know, Krispy Kreme's would work just as good!!

Easter- like I said earlier, the big thing is taking a big basket of yummies
to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. Ukrainian women get a little
competitive to see who's basket and Babka are decorated the most
beautifully. The baskets are usually decorated with flowers and greenery-
I'm sure you figured out during your trip to UA that plants and flowers are
a huge part of the culture. Anyway, the traditional foods symbolize
different things. Babka is bread that I covered earlier, as well as salt.
Hard boiled eggs symbolize rebirth, renewal and life. Horseradish is to
symbolize the bitterness we've got to take along with everything else. The
meats- ham, kielbasi and cheese (usually pot or farmer's cheese- I'm not
sure what it might be called out by you- I'm from New Jersey) these are all
in there because usually you've been abstaining from these things during
Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent and certainly since the Thursday before
Good Friday!! Mom even puts the butter we put on the Babka in the basket.
This is all covered with another beautifully embroidered cloth that's only
used for this one purpose. (again, more peeking at your neighbor to see
who's is more elaborate) Pysanky can also be added inside of the basket for
more decoration. During the ceremony, candles are lit and held by everyone
while the priest blesses the food. In my little Ukrainian corner of the
world this was done in the church's basement and let me tell you- you put on
5 pounds just breathing in all that good food, then it was upstairs for
confession and to kiss the wounds of Christ. Now I'm pretty sure you're not
Ukrainian Byzantine or Orthodox, but I just figured I'd throw these tid-bits
in. What they would do is put out this life size picture of Christ after he
was taken down off the Cross. This was put at the base of the altar. You
then "walked" on you knees- down the entire length of the aisle and
proceeded to kiss each of Christ's wounds. Needless to say, this was A LOT
easier when you were younger, the old knees just ain't what they used to
be!! Also, on Easter Sunday we greet each other with the phrase "Christ is
Risen" Again, I'll get you the phonetic spelling because that definitely
might be something to teach the kids because I see how very involved you are
with your church and giving them a Christian upbringing. Which leads me to
the other disclaimer Mom insisted I give you. As part of the Ukrainian
Diaspora it was such an essential part of who they were to be able to
practice their Christianity- something they faced the prospect of death for
if they were caught during the communist regime. These observances I've told
you about are things that were brought here 60 years ago and may no longer
(sadly) be the norm in ANY part of Ukraine right now. They are part of a
Ukraine that really no longer exists because this was all before everything
became Russified. Of course, we like to think then that everything is
therefore, somehow "purer" and "more" Ukrainian. I try to tell my Mom that's
not necessarily the case because without even trying I'm sure these customs
have become Americanized on some level- but you'll never win an argument
with a Ukrainian Mother!!

Okay, now that you probably need a nap from reading this novel, I'll just
finish up with a sweet wedding tradition and how we incorporated it into our
blended family. For weddings, Babkas are baked, but then decorated with the
most intricate flowers, birds, braids, etc that you have ever seen- and all
made out of the same dough as the Babka. The flowers and birds of course
symbolize fertility etc. But some of the things are just precious. Sooo, we
had my Ukrainian cousin who came in just for my wedding make over 250 of
these little miniature birds and that's what we attached to our seating
cards. That way when we did the Bread, Salt and Wine ceremony I mentioned
earlier, they all had a little "piece" of something to share along with us.
We were up until 4 a.m. doing those little birds and then NO ONE wanted to
eat them because they were so cute. Also, during our ceremony we stood on a
specially embroidered cloth that signified our standing together through
everything during life. I received two of these because my Teta (aunt) in
Ukraine wasn't sure which style I'd like more. They are extremely precious
to me because they came from Ukraine. My brother and my best friend both
used the same cloth Matt and I did for their weddings.

Whew- I need to come up for air, but as you can tell I'm a little passionate
about my culture. The thing is, even my non-Ukrainian spouse, his family and
our friends enjoy participating in our culture. It's one designed to include
everyone and celebrate what's most important in life- our family, life and
love!

Again, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share with you. I will get
you those recipes.

Most Sincerely,

Lisa Sicilian

More pics!

John put all the kids on his back tonight and played horsie down the hall to put the kids to bed. I was too late to catch that on my camera, but I did catch a few cute ones regardless. I added a few of Aleksa's shirt from the other day. If I had been a good Mama I would have fixed it for her, but since we weren't going anywhere, I just left it and took pictures of it instead. (It was just too cute to fix!) (Note the stains on the sleeve and face... That's our Aleksa!)


The Fisher Boys
Playing with Papa
Super Adam
Our Pink Lady
Aleksa at Bedtime
Aleksa's shirt
Aleksa's shirt and face

Adam's struggles

I spent all morning and most of the afternoon getting some number-recognition down with the kids. Adam especially, since it seems most critical that he "get it." He has a major mental block right now with recognizing the numbers 9 and 11 for some reason. He can say them just fine as he is counting, but he just can't recognize them in print. What he can do one day, he can't do the next it seems. We got out the watercolors and painted the numbers today, we made a Memory card game, we practiced writing the numbers over and over again saying the name of the number as he wrote it, etc., etc. He still has trouble. I even had him SCREAM the numbers as loud as he could a few times. While he thought it was fun, he still couldn't remember those two numbers five seconds later. He did the same thing the other day with "12" and "8" but he gets those every time now, and quite easily... (but I'm hoping those numbers don't zap out of his brain like 9 and 11 have today). John told me to just lay off the numbers altogether for a few days. Adam has some serious brain mush going on right now with losing his language and trying to make sense of another. Soon he won't be able to express himself in EITHER language, which will make things extra frustrating. John reminded me that most kids get to learn to count by hearing it for several years before they are required to recognize the numbers and write them down. Oh yeah. Duh, Shelly.

We went to the grandparents' house again tonight to visit with the great-grandparents some more before they leave town. Boy was the house LOUD. All four grandchildren plus two babies that they were babysitting. Oy. Talk about frayed nerves!

I feel bad that Adam is going through this "baby" stage at such a large size. I've mentioned the "2-yr-old" behavior that all of our kids have had to experiment with. Well, in crowds, Adam still winds up, and especially if people are willing to even remotely look like they are going to play. He gets in peoples' faces and butting in their conversations, starts playing rough, starts chattering nonsense, etc. The little girls get away with all of that much easier with their "cute-ness" and small size, but a 9-yr-old boy looks like he should know better. Not sure exactly what to do about that. It will be so much easier when he fully understands us when we try to explain WHY it isn't good to do this stuff. He just wants to play and have fun, but he's awful rude sometimes. Like I said, it will be a lot easier to deal with once we no longer have the language barrier in the way. (They are using lots of English now though. Grandma understood them lots and lots tonight.)

He has been *REALLY* good at home lately though. He'll sit still for hours at a time to read if we would do so. (I LOVE that he loves to read!) He also helps out in the kitchen cleaning up, making meals, etc. He's a really, REALLY great kid. Very tenderhearted, affectionate, takes care of his sisters, etc. He still gives me kisses after his meals and rinses his plate, just as he did when he first came home. It's just when he's around the rest of the world that he acts up. *sigh* (This will pass, Shelly. This will pass, Shelly. This will pass, Shelly. This will pass, Shelly).

I was doing some reading on one of the adoption boards I frequent, and one of the hot topics is tantrums. We have really lucked out with our kids in that they do not throw tantrums on us. I've read about kids throwing themselves onto the floor in the middle of stores, etc., but our kids have never once done anything close to that. I've also read about kids who rock themselves to self-comfort/stimulate etc. Ours don't at all. All of our food issues are completely gone too. The kids are typical little kids who like this but not that, etc. The girls aren't as picky as I thought they were going to be, and Adam has not hidden food or begged for more and more and more food except for things he really loves (ice cream would be a prime example). Pretty much, we are BLESSED. God has really gone above and beyond for us in these little guys, and we are so thankful! Yes, they have their issues, and Adam doesn't know a 9 from an 11, but when he gives me a squeeze and says, "my mama," nothing else matters all that much.


The kids taught me one of their nursery rhymes today in Ukrainian. It is soooo cute! The translation is something like this:

Cola, Cola, Nicolai (Cola is a n.n. for Nicolai)
Sits and home and doesn't go out
Then the girls came in,
Kissed him, and left.

(Yes, I know, it loses something with the translation!) You definitely have to hear it get to hear how cute it is, but I'm so tickled that I picked it up. Hopefully I'll practice it enough to keep reinforcing it with them so they don't forget it.

Speaking of songs, every time we go outside at dark Aleksa points up and says "star." Meaning we have to sing "Twinkle, twinkle" to her. She loves it, and it makes me all teary that one day she'll quit asking for it, and will actually get all the words right. Oh to have a remote control button on your life and be able to pause and rewind all you want. These are some of the happiest days of my life. I feel like the worlds luckiest person having our three little Ukie kiddos, but I know that our time together is short. :O(


Thanks so much for all the emails with links to Ukrainian recipes, traditions, etc.! I'll have to condense all the info I got sent to me and stick it up here somehow for others to enjoy. I sure can't wait to make some of these traditions "ours!" THANK YOU!!!!

Great-grandparents in town

This morning bright and early John called his boss and mentioned a project that is "due" at the end of the week that obviously he won't be able to work on since he's layed off. That twisted his boss' arm I guess, because John got to go in today, as he will for the rest of the week! Yay!

In the car this evening the sun was really bright, so John mentioned that the kids might want to shut their eyes because of it. Liana piped up, "Ya ni shut your eyes." (I not shut your eyes). Reminds me of her "put-your-socks-on" thing. She also calls/ed her hairbrush a "brush-your-hair" and a toothbrush a "brush-your-teeth" and today I heard her call her pants her "put-your-pants-on." She says all of the above occasionally, but not usually anymore. It's starting to click. Aleksa actually started using an 's for possession today. She said something was "Adam's."

John's grandparents are in town this week, so it was fun introducing our new brood to them this evening. Liana was shy and didn't really want to interact with them much (hard to explain to the grandparents that this really is a GOOD thing.) Aleksa, true to form, gave out her hugs and smiles just as charmingly as ever. (Grandparents loved it, but it still makes me cringe that she still does this so indiscriminantly). Adam was shy at first (yay!), and then warmed up as the evening progressed. (yay!)

Great-grandma made beautiful quilts for the kids, and they were SO excited to get home to put them on their beds. I'm hoping to persuade them to let me alternate weeks with their Seuss quilts and their "great-grandma" quilts since I love them all and I'm not ready to see the Seuss quilts shelved quite yet.

Ukrainian Customs; Attn: LISA!

Lisa S., I'm responding to your post up here so you make sure to see it, and so that if others have any ideas, they can respond too.

It's sooooo neat that your mom remembers going through Ellis Island! Our original flight itinerary was to fly into NY, and I was really excited about the kids seeing the Statue of Liberty as their first sight of the US, but we wound up flying into Minneapolis. Kinda loses something landing in Minnesota!! (But, in hindsight, I'm so thankful we didn't have to go looking for a connecting flight with our scared-to-death little kids. We flew from Amsterdam straight to Mpls.)

Anyway! I was wondering in what ways your family preserved their Ukrainian traditions/culture once here in the States. Like what did you do at Christmas time, or on other special days? Were there any "gotta-have-it" foods on the table for holidays?

I absolutely love that kind of thing, and I want to go as "all-out" as I can while also celebrating things "the American way." I want them to have the best of both worlds, and my ultimate goal is that if they ever go back to Ukraine the common foods/traditions will be at least be somewhat familiar to them. I'm already planning on having the kids make pipe-cleaner spiders for the Christmas tree, and I'm looking up recipes for borscht and babka, but I'd love to hear how your Ukrainian/American family keeps their culture alive.

Sorry to ramble, but I had to ask... Thank you so much for the comments! You're always so supportive and encouraging!

Shelly

Cuties!

Last night I layed out the girls' clothes for church in the morning. This morning *bright and early*, there was a knock on our bedroom door, and when I woke up and opened the door, our two adorable little girls were standing there all dressed and clutching their bibles all ready to go. It was TOOOOOOOO cute. I gave them big hugs and told them how good they were and how pretty, etc. I wish I had a picture of it. They are both beautiful girls, but boy, they look rough with their botched haircut and their road-rash nose.

Anyway, I threw on a robe and went out to the livingroom and read to them a little while before it was "really" time to get ready. Peter Rabbit... they love it. Liana can almost tell the story in English now, minus the complete sentences. "Lopsy, Mopsy, Popsytail and Petow wabbit. Mama 'bye-bye!' Petow bad boy. Mama said "no, no." Gwe-gwego (Mr. McGregor) bad. Gwe-gwego said, "Stop!" Petow, water, sick! Mama tea." It's too cute.

Tonight I told Adam to go get into his pj's and when he came out the popcorn would be ready. The girls were playing in their room and didn't know about the "popcorn plan" yet. Adam scrambled to his room and was out in a flash. Then I said, "Adam, go tell the girls to get their pajamas on and then come and eat some popcorn." So, Adam excitedly ran down to their room, burst in the door, shouted, "Pajamas! Eat popcorn!" And that was it. It surprised me that he didn't fill in the blanks in Russian, but he didn't, and apparently there was no need to. The girls were also in their jammies in no time flat ready for their treat.

Looking forward to Christmas

We got groceries today (much needed... the cupboard was getting pretty bare!) The kids have been doing SOOOOOO great in stores! They each hold the cart all the way through the store, and never beg, throw fits, etc. They are just happy to be there and are excited to see the cart fill up with food that they know will eventually go into their tummies. They LOVE grocery shopping.

Then we went to a home-improvement store to get a few household fix-it things. They actually are starting to put up Christmas stuff, so I had a BLAST showing the kids the decorations. They had trees up and lit and lots of other Christmas do-dads all over the place. They had scenes that lit up with music and moveable parts. One of them was smaller, more like a music-box-like thingie, and it had Santa's sleigh flying over the sky. I overheard Adam tell Liana (very authoritatively) that it was an "angel." Um, Nuh-uh. Never heard Santa confused for an angel before. It was soooo fun to see the kids' excitement over all the pretty things. I can hardly wait until Christmas. It will definitely be a modest one with John's layoff, but I think even just the decorations will make our first Christmas together very, very memorable and fun, and decorations I have a BUNCH of! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!!! And the kids should be speaking lots of English by then!! Yay!!!

It is going to be bittersweet though. Christmas was my mom's absolute favorite time of the year, and with this being our kids' first Christmas home, well, it just kind of stinks that Mom never got to meet our kids, and never got to crochet them their Christmas bears like she did for the rest of the grandchildren, etc., etc. I just really miss her. She and Aleksa are SOOOOO much alike. (btw, Shar, you have no idea how much I thought of Mom yesterday when Aleksa was frosting those cookies, so your comment on the pictures freaked me out!) Mom didn't much care of the mess she made as long as she was having fun and so was everyone else. Sugar-sticky-slime never would have bothered her, just as it never phased Aleksa. Mom never noticed the butter on her fingers or the spaghetti sauce on her dress, and neither does Aleksa. They both have/had a simple way about them that make/made them so endearing and funny. Both blondies to the max (and Mom's hair was not blonde, so if you could get my drift.... ) Even some of their facial expressions are the same. They're both even built somewhat the same. Of course, I didn't think any of that when I first met Aleksa, but the more I've gotten to know her, the more she reminds me of Mom. (I hope I don't sound disrespectful of her... I loved her to pieces, but boy, did she have her quirks. Not sure how she raised such a brood of perfectionists! She always wondered that too!)

John is layed off again for next week. Not sure what the future is going to hold for us. Glad it isn't my job to worry about it.