Scary Stuff

Just saw a quote that's gonna haunt me...

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much." ~Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

How humbling. I'm so glad God gives grace, strength and mercy. How could anyone ever handle even one day of this "Mothering" business otherwise?

Giant among us

Took Adam to the doc the other day; we'd thought he broke his pinkie finger. He tried out the neighbor girl's jump rope, and found himself sprawled on the pavement. Evidently, he just hyper-extended it, but they gave him a splint anyway.

As the doctor was reading the x-ray, he said that one day he'd be looking way up at Adam... He was looking at the growth plates in his hand. Said Adam could be 6'3"-6'4". As of right now, Adam is in the 90th percentile for height. Wow.

No wonder we're going broke trying to feed him! Scary!

Recap of the past month or so...

Yeah, been AWOL. Sorry.

Lots going on... Our school schedule got kicked up a notch or two after Christmas, so I've had much less computer time, (well, less time to be "composing" things, but still time to read here and there). I've been really having to spend some one-on-one time with Adam's reading time, and as the other two got jealous that Adam "got to read to Mama and they didn't" they have started that routine as well. Fine and dandy with me, but it takes more time. I have found though, that it has helped them all a lot with their vocabulary. Instead of must shrugging off a word they don't know, they have me to ask a quick, "What's that mean?" It's been good for them all.

I got a Dutch Blitz game for Christmas, and it has rapidly become a favorite of "us girls." Adam doesn't mind it, but will only rarely join us. He'd rather hang out with Papa. :O/ It has been really fun though, that the girls have caught on so quickly. It's kind of a tricky game, but they've really gotten hooked. Leks and I had a Grand Champion of the World Competition while the older two were out (more on that in a sec), and she actually stomped me. Hmph.

Adam and Liana are helping a neighbor lady clean their house (starting today). She has had chemo/radiation and doesn't have the strength to do it herself the way she likes, so on Saturday came to the door asking if she could hire Adam. I thought it wisest to add Liana to the mix also, (which Liana was tickled pink about!), so off they went today. They each brought home checks for $25, and you should have SEEN them running home. They ran home hand-in-hand with the HUGEST smiles on their faces! Priceless! I had to take pictures of them with their checks. First "real" job you know! Much Excitement over here today.

We've been wanting to do a birth family search for a long time, and have finally gone for it in the last month or so. The search was a success, though it wasn't all "happy news," but I suppose that is to be expected on such a search.

We did, however, get many pictures of their village, house, birthfamily, (including grandparents and extended family!!), a precious few baby pictures of Adam, plus a pet dog. We also got a photograph of the children's older half-brother, Anatole (Tolik), who is now 20 or so. He and Liana are spitting images of each other. The P.I. even took pictures of a stream/river where the children remember fishing and swimming. Priceless stuff, and the children have been pouring over the pictures comparing memories/stories. Aleksa doesn't remember a thing, though, and who knows how much of all this is really registering to her at all. (Leksa still draws pictures of me with her in my tummy...)

A big bonus of all the pictures is that we finally understand why the kids look so different from each other! Aleksa looks just like her birthmother, and the older two look like their dad's side of the family. It is so neat to see such strong resemblances between the kids and their birthfamily - I'm sure that will mean a lot to them in the future. Very happy we went for it. Our questions were answered, and then some, and it is really a relief for me and John to have a better understanding of their pre-Fisher lives. Actually, it feels like we've given them a part of their life back.

Y-O-U

Just overheard:

Liana: "Aleksa, ask Mama if we can go outside and ride our bikes..."

Aleksa: "Mama, can we go outside and ride our bikes?"

Me: "Yes!"

Aleksa: "Liana! Mama said, 'Y-O-U, Yes!'"

You know you're a homeschool student when....

When you accidentally step in the toilet while looking for St. Petersberg on the map.

Poor Liana.

We have a bunch of world maps in the kids' bathroom. (Hey, don't you get your best readin' done in there too?) So, anyway, we were reading one of our school books on Peter the Great, when we decided we wanted to check out the world map to understand the story better. Seemed like a good idea at the time. We do it all the time. We all got much too excited about it though.

Well, Liana did. She charged into the bathroom like a mad-woman, and leaped up "onto" the toilet, but oops, the lid was up, and instead she leaped "into" it.

I wonder if she'll ever forget where St. Petersberg is now? *tee-hee*

Matchmaker, Matchmaker...

Ok, so, well, ya know how I love Valentine's Day and all? Well, I found a blog where there is some Major Matchmaking trying to happen, and I just plain gotta pass it along to all o' you. 'Cause all o' you are really nice too, right? :O)

I don't know these people from Adam; don't know a thing about the guy except for what is said about him on this blog, and don't know the lady whose blog this is... So, if things don't work out, please don't come lookin' for me, but on the other hand, if things DO work out, ya gotta send me an invite to the weddin'! ;O)

http://choicecentral.blogspot.com/2007/02/valentine-advertisement-of-sorts.html

Happy Valentine's Day!

Had quite a Valentine Bash over here yesterday...

In the morning, the kids woke up to see their "one" Valentine heart on the floor. Strangely, nobody complained. They were excited to give US their Valentines. (What sweethearts!) John asked them to set the breakfast table; Adam to get the milk, Liana the cereal and Aleksa the bowls... Their Valentine treat bags were in the fridge, the dish cupboard and the cereal cupboards. At first nobody saw them! It was hilarious! John and I had to send them BACK to the fridge and cupboards... (Musta been too early!) It was a lot of fun!

Then after the mailman came, we sat around and opened the vast collection of Valentines we've been collecting for the last few weeks. It was fun to map where we got them, and to see all the hard work of all the other children. They also got photos, pencils, bookmarks, candy, etc., stuffed in the envelopes too. They were *SOOOOO* excited!

Unfortunately, after lunch I came down with a fever and chills for the rest of the day. Gonna hafta look in to buying some immune-system builders of some kind. Anyone have any sure-fire remedies out there?

Almost Valentines Day!

*contented sigh*

I LOVE Valentine's Day! I mean, Love, Love, Love it! John and I just had a little fun preparing for the big day tomorrow... I had put together some V-day gift bags for the kiddos, and John just hid them around the house... The kids told us they "knew" that we were going to spread candy on the floor in their rooms like we did last year (and I think the year before too). So, what a shock they'll have when they only see one lone little candy heart on the floor by their beds... *tee-hee*

We also get to finally rip open our Valentines from our homeschool group (and from some of their Ukie cousins... Thanks, Lisa, that was so sweet!)

Girl Talk

Have to share a mom moment...

Leksa and Liana are *right this minute* reading a Reader's Digest magazine we have laying around.

Leksa found an ad for Maxi Pads. She says to Liana, "Oh, I like these! They're those candies that you suck on, like a lolly pop."

Liana says, "No, that's not what they are. They're those things you rub on your teeth when you can't brush them in the morning."

Leksa says, "Oh, those are good too. Mama, when are you going to buy us those again?"

Me: "Uhh..."

Missing

Been missing for a while... We've had a miserable few weeks. Aleksa did indeed "share" her germies with the rest of us, and unfortunatly I got the double whammy of being the Mom with clean-up duty, and also being sick myself. Unfortunately, that prolonged my own get-well process and I was down for days longer than everyone else.

It's been super cold up here the last few weeks. Schools have been cancelled even. I wound up having to watch one of the public school kids we know for one of those days, so I cancelled our own "school" and let the kids enjoy their friend. They did wind up making a bunch of their Valentines though, but that's "fun" school, and they didn't mind it!

I admit that I'm loving the construction paper mess more than the kids are, and I've been jealous of their stickers and their sparkles. Next year, I'm joining in the fun too. Still formulating a plan for Valentine's Day for our own family... I've been tucking away treats and goodies in Valentine gift bags for the kiddos. I'll probably wind up hiding them this year and letting them search for 'em. I have another Signing Time dvd on the way in the mail; really hoping it makes it here on time to be one of their gifts. Adam just offered the other day to spend his savings on another Signing Time dvd; I took that as a cue to get another one ordered asap!

Speaking of Adam, he has been stinking us out lately. Got him some cologne for his birthday, and the house has reeked ever since! Trying to figure a good way of ensuring he only uses one squirt, but it is just SO irresistable for him not to add an extra few. You know how he loves water, soap and all things squirty and smelly!

Speaking of "Missing," we had a horrible parenting moment yesterday.

We piled in the car after church, and got half-way down the street before Liana said, "Papa, but what about Aleksa?"

"What about Aleksa, Liana?" we asked.

Liana calmly exclaimed, "She's not here!"

That's right. We left her at church. Of course she was keenly aware of our absence, and of course there was a witness that came up to the car and asked, "You didn't actually forGET her, did you? Because I told her you'd NEVER leave her..."

Um. Yep. We did... Don't know HOW, but we did.

This parenting thing sure keeps us humble!

She got me

Leksa is sick today. She got me. Nuff said.

Valentine Swap

Gotta share our exciting project we have going over here. Our homeschool curriculum has a discussion board where a bazillion other homeschool moms get together and can chat about stuff; whether it is the actual curriculum and implementation, or whether it is just life in general. I've learned a ton from these ladies. It's like having a thousand "moms" but you get to pick and choose what you want to listen to or not! ;O)

Well, anyway, one of these moms coordinates a yearly "Valentine Swap" for anyone who wants to participate. She collects names and addresses, and then puts them into lists to send us. The kids are making about 60 valentines for other homeschool kids all over the country, and even internationally! We've got our markable map out and are mapping who we're sending cards to, and we'll also map where we get them from. We'll collect the cards as they come and then on V-day we'll open them up. We're also going to graph what stamps are on our envelopes as they arrive.

I'm SOOOOO excited about it! This is the fifth year our homeschool "group" has been doing this, but this is the first year I've thought our crew were "ready" to tackle such a huge project. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays, so I'm in Red and Pink Heaven over here!

I've been thinking next year maybe I'll try to coordinate something with the kids' Ukrainian Cousins (ie, other families in our adoption group). They LOVE mail, and I know they'd love the chance to hear from other Ukie pals... Next year. Gotta remember that.

Knock-knock!

A few weeks ago, we started telling "knock, knock" jokes to the kids. They think they're a hoot. But. They don't get the concept. We thought we'd start with the simple "banana" knock-knock joke. You know, the one that ends, "orange ya glad I didn't say banana?" Well, they laugh and giggle at the joke, but they can't for the LIFE of them, tell the joke. Or ANY joke for that matter. They trip over the words, give away the ending, and well, they jiss can't do it! It's kinda pathetic. But they have a good ole time trying!

Last night Aleksa was trying to tell us the Banana joke. Here's what it sounded like:

Knock-knock!

Who's there?

Banana!

Banana who?

Knock-knock!

Who's there?

Banana!

(repeat)

Aren't ya glad I didn't say banana?

(and then she breaks out into giggles)

Missed the whole "orange-ya" thing, and also, didn't answer with "orange" instead of banana on the last time around. None of the three "get it" that the "Orange-ya" sounds like "aren't ya." We've tried explaining it over and over and over... But alas, they don't get it...

Ramblings

Adam still gets hung up on the word "do." He can figure out the usage if he *really* thinks about it, but he usually isn't patient enough to do so. We feel like the "'Do' Word Police" because we try to catch him and make him re-say it whenever he uses it the wrong way. Aside from that, however, his speech is becoming much clearer than it has ever been, and he has been able to express himself better than ever. If he takes his time, he doesn't even stutter anymore! But, if he's stressed, well, that's different. Along with pronunciation and stutter, he has been expressing himself with a deeper understanding of English. Like last night John asked the three kids what the word "depth" meant. Adam was the only one to have a clue, though instead of articulating a lengthy definition, he said something like, "Depths of the sea," which showed us that he was at least familiar with the word and usage.

He is finally being careful enough with his speech that his "L's" are nice and clear. Still struggles with his R's, but he can do it if he concentrates really hard. I'm planning on getting a few rolls of nickels at the bank on Saturday and give him one whenever he says "do" or his "r's" correctly. He's just so on the verge of "getting it" that I think this would really helping him a lot... or at leasts take some of the annoyance out of having to try!

We're still asking a ton of "questions" in our discipline/discussion times... We try to ask the kids as many questions as we can to get them to understand what they are doing wrong. Not that we don't just come out and say "Knock it off" here and there (we're human, afterall!), but usually we try to get the kids to counsel themselves into doing the right thing. I think John and I have asked every imaginable question known to mankind by now - (especially where Liana is concerned, *cough, cough*. But ya know, it's paying off... Another tool in our parenting box has been when we notice that Liana or Aleksa are getting too big for their britches and trying to boss eachother/Adam around, or otherwise trying to be in charge of things they shouldn't, I sigh and say something like, "Oh, it is sure exhausting doing the job of being an 8yo AND doing the job of a mama. That's even more work than I do! You must be sooooo tired by now. I guess you'd better go take a nap for a while." And then I send them to bed. I don't have to use that one very often, but it sure does the trick when I do! I have to be careful though, in how I say that, or it will provoke them to get mad... Not what I want to do. It has also taken a long time to be ABLE to use that one... It used to be that Leksa was scared to death to be in a room by herself at all. And Liana was soooooooooo scared of being rejected that we just plain couldn't send her "away" from us, as in being sent to a corner or to her room. She'd literally fall apart with anger, fear, etc. It would have been cruel to do that to them back then.

If we would send Adam to his room, we could be sure that something would be destroyed in there... That doesn't happen anymore. He still likes to dismantle things, but it isn't the same. For Christmas he got a lava lamp... John and I commented last night that if he'd had a lava lamp when he first came home, that lamp would have been broken apart and slime would have been smeared all over the place by the next morning. Adam laughed when we told him that, in a sort of "yeah, you're probably right" sort of a way. He's relaxing enough to ENJOY his stuff now, instead of destroying everything. He still functions better on little clutter in his room, and lately I've been really trying to pare down his "stuff" so it isn't quite so overwhelming for him. (With his help and approval, of course.) Just went through his closet yesterday, and I was shocked to see that there were clothes that are outgrown right now, that he had been wearing just weeks ago. So, out they went. He's got the nicest room in the house right now! Wish OUR room were as tidy and organized!

Ok, that's all the rambling I have time to do right now... Not easy to write these days while doing school and all the other stuff that needs to be done around here! Just had some thoughts running through my head that I wanted to get down somewhere before they got completely lost, so here ya go!

Update on Dad

Dad had a doctor appointment this week and it was a huge relief. Dad had thought that he was bleeding from the bowel because of that blood thinner, but the appointment confirmed that he was ok, with nothing to worry about. His heart rate continues to improve, and the problem does look like it was a medication he'd been taking for a tremor. No more med, so no more heart problem. Such a blessing to not be a mechanical problem!

Thank you everyone for praying!

Lastrochka

This afternoon, Adam excitedly pointed out the window that there was a "lastrochka" (pronounced LOSS-trochka) outside. "What on earth is a lastrochka?" I asked. He told me it was a kind of bird that they had in Ukraine. I went upstairs and retrieved the Russian/English dictionary, where I found that a "lastrochka" is the Russian word for a "swallow." How 'bout that.

There's Russian going on in that boy's head. Two years plus later, he can pull an obscure word like "swallow" out of his head. Cool!

I think it is interesting that when the kids have learned an English word for something, they "unplugged" and promptly forgot what the Russian word was. Words that they haven't learned the English equivalent for are still floating around in their heads and easily retrievable - even years later.

Lastrochka. What a reminder that the world we have given him is only part of the total puzzle of Adam's life. I hope somehow that he can hold on to as much of his culture, heritage, language, experiences, memories, etc. as he possibly can...

Adam's 12th Birthday

This weekend was so fun! We drove "back home" Friday night to stay over with John's parents. Saturday was their big Christmas Shin-Dig. Way fun to spend more than an afternoon with everyone. Got to see my Dad on Saturday too.

Sunday, however, was Adam's 12th Birthday! We went to our old church Sunday morning - Adam was *so* excited to be able to see his old friends. I let him open one of his gifts before church... "Men's Cologne." There's a particular girl "back home" that he "loves." (Well, actually, he loves her and her twin sister both...)

Between Sunday School and the morning service, the girls' mom came up to John to tell him that Adam came up to her and said, "Mrs. ---, I have cologne on!" He was awful excited about his new Man Stuff.

After church we took the whole family to Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids hadn't ever been there, and after the episode at the Burger King Play Area last month, I was excited to give him a giant Play Ground that he could enjoy without feeling his "tallness" too acutely. It was hard to wipe the smile off that boy's face! He and his papa and grandpa had alllll kinds of fun with the video games, etc. Adam got a paper crown and a balloon and cotton candy, and WOW, was he excited!

But for as excited as he and the girls were, they were also really, really, really good. We couldn't have gone here much before now without worrying about the kids getting too out of control wild, crazy, and just plain over-stimulated. But, we figured they were ready now, we were ready now ($$), and we know that Adam isn't getting any littler. Besides, I've waited a good long time to get to plan a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese! One of those "can't-wait-to-be-a-mom" fantasies to finally realize.

Liana went to stand at the foot of the stage where Chuck-E and friends were singing... I was watching her to see what she would do... The Old Liana would have been up there on that stage in about two seconds flat. Wanna know what she did? She calmly turned around, walked back to me, politely asked me if she could go up on the stage to see how the robots worked, and when I told her that wasn't a good idea and that nobody was supposed to go up there, she said, "Ok!" And then walked back to her spot by the stage to calmly continue watching. I. Couldn't. Believe. It. I had to give John a High-Five on how far she (and the other two) had come these last few years. Remember when Liana *had* to press the bar on the Emergency Exit door at the library? Or when she and the others wouldn't quit turning the lights on and off at the post office? Or when she pounded on the neighbor's house because This wasn't America? Yay, those days are over!

Sappy Holidays

Had to show off my new favorite picture in the whole world...

(Thanks Mom Fisher and Shanna! I LOVE it!)

Odds and Ends

Anyone ever heard of GeoPuzzles? We got the kids one for Christmas, and it has quickly become one of their favorite times of our school day. One puzzle piece per country (or close to it). We have the Europe one, but I'll have to see how many others are out there.

We've also been using a Signing Time sign language video to learn some Sign Language... They're geared for little ones, but our crew loves the one we have, and there is no doubt we'll be buying some others soon. Anyone out there know of some sign language videos for kids a little older than preschool/kindergarten?

Finally took down our Christmas tree last night. What. A. Mess. Glad to be done with that project for another year.

He's going Down

Oh boy.

In the last few days I've noticed that Adam's voice has sounded "honky."

Not sure if my seatbelt is buckled tight enough yet. Guess I'd better give it another tug...