2 Years 1 Month Home!

Ok, 2 Years, 1 Month. *deep breath*

Adam. Doing great with school. Is always the first one done, and with a super attitude. "Pleasure to have in class." Helpful, kind, etc., just as always.

He's been playing in the water again. This boy sure likes his water! lol! This last month he's trashed not only his church shoes, but also his play shoes because of running through giant mud puddles. Adam needs to remember to take those shoesies OFF! lol! Ok, the mud puddles are rather normal for a boy to play in. He's also been playing in the shower though. The other day the water was running in the bathtub *forever*, and I had assumed he was going to take a bath instead of a shower. Ok, no biggie. Until I heard the shower start to run too. And it ran, and ran, and ran. I had to wake up John to go investigate. All that time the water had been running, Adam had been playing a game. "Let's see if I can take a shower only on the BACK side of myself without getting the FRONT side of myself wet." Who knows why he had needed water in the tub for that, but evidently that was part of the fun. So, after all that time in the water, he STILL needed to go back in to get himself clean!

This month we've had the chance to visit two different homes for family gatherings. Lotsa food laying around, etc. He's a food stalker. Even though there was food *everywhere* he still had to find candy that was tucked away. The first home was my brother's, and I didn't blink because the candy dish was set out on the diningroom table and it was "expected" that the kids would have some. But the second place we went, Adam scoped through the kitchen and other parts of the house looking for candy. He found gum and asked for it, but I happened to catch him stuffing suckers in his pocket that had been "put away" and not out for public consumption. He doesn't get to stuff his pockets with candy here at home, and while he pretty much left the actual FOOD alone and didn't gorge himself, etc., the candy was a different story. That was snuck. I suppose I should be relieved that he's no longer sneaking "regular" food and eating too much of that. He knows he can get "food, food" at home, so didn't worry about that. But candy we're not so big on over here, so he was in line for a second icecream cone, handfuls of m&m's, sneaking suckers, etc. I'm certainly not going to START being big on candy at home just so he'll leave the neighbor's alone. I had really thought this wasn't "that big of a deal" to him any more until this last visit with family. Obviously it still is. Whenever he finds treats from others, they are instantly better providers than we are and they've won him with one little piece of gum. Unfortunately at the same time, we've slipped a few pegs. It's hard.

We also found an electronic "noise-making" piece of a toy in his pocket on the way out. He doesn't have a lot of noise-making toys. (A baby lives at this house, so there were bajillions there). So, he not only broke it, but he extracted the part he liked and stole it.

Kinda reminds me of the dolls the girls had when they first came home. They had voice-boxes inside of them so that when you squeezed them, they said, "Mama! Papa!" Adam stole those too, and one of them he took with us to a concert and OF COURSE the thing had to malfunction and not stop saying, "Mama! Papa!" during the quietest part of the concert. I wound up sitting on it trying to shut it up. (Anyone remember that story?)

Well, anyway, it's been a one step forward, two steps back kind of a month for him. Those hands are impulsive, and they get him in trouble. Unfortunately, they often get him in Big trouble.

Liana is reading better and better all the time. She is weeks ahead in our curriculum for reading. She's in Week 26, for her readers. She has to read out loud though, as do the other two. Silent reading turns into a day-dreaming session where she/they think about what everyone else is doing, what the pictures look like, etc. She's been reading to the little neighbor girl that often comes over during the week. She LOVES playing mom, you know! She used to read to Leks, but now that she's reading on her own, Leks doesn't have patience for it and wants to read on her own. I've been meaning to go shopping for a children's cookbook for Liana. She's been really showing an interest in cooking/baking, and I *KNOW* she's get a giant kick out of having her own recipe book, especially now that she's reading so well. I used to have a Betty Crocker recipe book for kids; I don't know if they sell it anymore, but I'd sure love to get my hands on one like it! (Anyone know what I'm talking about that might know the answer to that?)

Liana just got her hair cut. It's a short bob now, and I LOVE it, even though it aged her a few years. I've been wanting her to let me lop it off that short for a long time now, and when she finally said, "OK," I got the scissors out the same day before she could change her mind.

Aleksa has just been herself. I honestly can't think of anything "new" this month for her, except she got a haircut like her sister's. Not sure if I like hers as well as I like her Liana's, but she likes it though, and that's what counts. We've been working really hard at teaching her diligence. She tends to take the easy way out of things. Like instead of putting a pile of books back on the bookshelf, she'll just flop them on the floor next to it. The daily routine has helped her a lot... I've been trying to think up other ways to teach her that it is important to take care of her stuff, and the house in general, but well, she's six. ;O) Those things just ain't important yet! Speaking of the word "ain't!" I have an Aleksa story... We were reading "Ginger Pye" the other day and she stopped me and said, "Mama, what does 'ain't' mean?" I told her it meant "isn't." She laughed and said that was a funny word. I was amazed that she didn't know it! (And I secretly was very relieved that she didn't know it what it was; I must be speaking right at least some of the time!) *whew*

Speaking of books; we have a new all-time favorite around here. We finished "Red Sails to Capri" a few weeks ago. Absolutely the best read-aloud we've ever done. Plus, I got to practice an Italian accent. It was so good that even John sat in for it, and when we finally finished the last page, John and I made a mad dash for the computer to do a Google search about what the big mystery was at the end. Talk about COOL. Capri is now on my list of places to visit before I die. We all are dying to go there after reading that book. If anyone out there likes to read to their 6-12yo kids, this is one to snag from the library.

Other than the above, the month has been busy and fun. Fall is definitely here, and it's starting to be the type of weather that makes me Love to be in the kitchen. From now til the end of the year, I love to be baking and cooking. Summertime isn't my favorite time to be in the kitchen, but I do love a cool autumn day with bread or pie in the oven or a hot soup on the stove. Fun days ahead!

Pic from July

I don't think I posted this. Getting really lazy on this blog thing... Sorry! Anyway, this is our crew on Metcha Day, July 29th, at a Ukrainian deli.

Tomorrow marks Month 25. I've been debating whether or not to continue doing "Month Home" updates... It seems like "Year 2" was such a nice round number, that saying "25 Months Home" or higher seems odd. I'd feel a little self-conscious posting something like "62 Months Home." Still, there do seem to be changes even this far into the game, so I'm really torn. Those of you still checking in after all these months though, are probably the ones that might be interested, so I dunno. The "Month" updates have been good times for me to organize my thoughts about the progress of each kid, and get to keep myself "on top" of their accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, etc. I guess I have another day to think about it!

Stocking Up

Went to the grocery store for five things... Saw a few "sale" signs, and wound up with several cases of diced tomates and canned veggies, mushrooms, kidney beans, etc. The shopping cart was rather hard to push by the time we left...

After we got home, and I had to rearrange the entry closet to hold all the excess canned goods and invent myself a pantry. Got to thinking about my dad... He's a stocker-upper Big Time. If he sees one thing he likes, he has to have at least five of them. I sighed and said to Liana, "Liana, Mama is getting to be more like Grandpa all the time."

She sighed right back and said, "I know."

I wondered if she understood why I said that. I didn't know if she was aware of how much Pa likes to stock up... So, I asked her why she thought I was getting to be more like him.

She sadly shrugged and said, "You're getting old."

I guess I did find another grey hair today... *sigh*

Busy Month

These last few weeks have been So busy! We've had company galore, school starting up full-swing, been babysitting the neighbor girl more, and plus all these peaches, and now pears. (I canned 25 lbs of pears yesterday after school.) Tonight we're having friends from back home stay overnight. This is the second time we've had overnight company this month (by the end of Sept. it will be three times). We also had company for dinner one night, made a trip to my dad's for a Cooking Day, took a big trip to my brother's house for a family shindig Monday, and Tuesday we brought a dinner over for a family who just had a baby last week. We've actually been really enjoying all the visits very much... It's nice to feel so connected here... and that our connections to friends and family back home, have not been "completely" broken.

But, I have to say, I'm tired! lol! John had mercy on me and did some grocery shopping for me late last night so I didn't have to. I was soooo relieved not to have to go! :O)

I've also noticed just recently that the comments on this blog have not all been emailed to me like they're supposed to be. I have no idea why I'm getting some and not others, but I'm very sorry for not responding to some of them... How Rude! I'll try to be more careful to check them here instead of relying on the emails.

Growing Family

Had a big family get-together yesterday at my brother and sister-in-law's house. It was sooo much fun to see everyone. Someone snapped a picture of my family plus my dad, and I thought I'd share it since it shows how tall my son is getting! Well, I suppose it shows how tall they're ALL getting, but you know what I mean!

Peaches and package

What a busy week. Anyone out there do any canning? I never had before this week, and *whew* am I exhausted! I have a friend who hooked me up with 50 lbs. of Michigan peaches. Yum-my! But! The thing about 50 lbs of peaches is that they just sit there and start to rot unless you eat 'em, or can 'em. Well, I can't eat that many, so I had to learn how to can.

I tried a batch on my own, and they sorta flopped, so I asked a lady from church to give me some pointers and she offered to come over. I then found out that this lady is a home economist. She went to school at the U of M for it, and has had a newspaper column, done radio talk shows, etc. Ok, can I just say, I sorta freaked! lol! I'm no Martha Stewart, and yet I invited one over?!!! She's a sweetheart of a lady, and I shouldn't have been stressed out by her coming, but I have to say, my house is Spic and SPAN right now. I even cleaned my fridge and oven out! (That's pretty "whoa" around here...) ;O)

Well, anyhow, my peaches are Canned... and I have a week to learn (this time via books at the library!) how to can pears. I had 25 lbs of those delivered here yesterday. Oy.

By the way, the Ukraine package is off safe and sound. I ran out of steam for going off and mailing it when we couldn't do it "on the day" it was supposed to. (Holly, yes, I did get your package - and the postcard! Thank you so much!) (If there are any other families who adopted from Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky too, please email me... I found a cheap way of getting donations there!)

Year Two!

Well, obviously I was a no-show on the post I was going to put up on the 17th. It was kind of a bummer of a day. Adam was sick, so we hung around the house, but we all drove to KFC and brought it home to eat. (My kids are huge chicken-eaters.) Other than that, it was ho-hum. No fireworks or bells and whistles... Oh well.

We didn't have as much stuff as last year for our package to Ukraine, but it's still a nice couple of boxes. When I get the final count of the shoes/undies from the box at my dad's house, (we'll get that Saturday when we do a "Cooking Day" over there again.) I'll post the total of how much of what we wound up with. I so want to thank all of you who wanted to help with this project. It really feels good to give, doesn't it?

Going through the undies and shoes for "The Kids," has brought back a lot of orphanage memories for our crew. I wish I had a video camera going the day we packed up the box of the suff we have so far. It was fun to hear, "oh, those kids will love these! Look how nice and white they are! Oh I bet so-and-so will have these!" But I also heard things like, "Mama, there was a sad boy that had to lay in bed with only his undies and no blanket. He rocked back and forth like this. He did that because nobody loved him. I did that too sometimes...."

And that is why we send yearly packages. To ease the distress, even ever so slightly of these sad little souls. I just wish there were something more I could rig up for them. Like parents for all!

Speaking of! Things are starting to flow again in Ukraine, and they have apparently lifted the ban on Americans adopting. September appointments are being handed down right now! I'm so relieved for those "stuck" little kids. Get them OUTTA there!

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Ok, enough of that... Year Two... So many changes...

Adam: Boy has he grown! This child is going to be taller than me Any Second. Not kidding. In a few weeks, he'll be taller than me. Ok, I'm only 5'1 or 2 or so, but he's only 11 years old, and two years ago, he was only up to the middle of my chest!

This summer we have had lots of highs and lows, but he's really a bajillion times more attached to me than he was last year this time. We started school this Monday (another reason for my delayed post!), and he finished all his work before lunch. Unheard of a year ago. He's basically a really great kid. His speech has made enormous progress too, and he is beginning to say his r's correctly. We've worked hard on those, and on his "l's." He has a long way to go, but he can say them, and can correctly say them when we make him repeat himself. It's just harder, and he usually prefers the easy route. ;O) His speech is overall, much, much better than a year ago, and actually, while he still struggles to express himself when he is stressed/excited, he actually is doing GREAT. I took a video of him a month ago or so, and wow, I just couldn't believe how good his grammar, etc. was. I was a proud mama! (AM a proud mama!) ;O) He has a hard time with prepositions though. That's the case with most new language-learners though, so that's nothing alarming. It's occassionally amusing though! For example, after working really hard the other day, he declared, "Mama, I'm all pooped up." After I was done giggling hysterically, I had to explain that English is funny about its prepositions. That little word "up" cannot be interchanged with "out." Especially in this instance.

Adam still struggles with math something Fierce. He does it great one day, and the next day it is Gone. I can remember way back when I was teaching him to count by two's that when he had that down, I had to reteach him how to count by one's. Oy. Frustrating for everyone. However, we have gotten him up to being able to figure out the problems with math blocks pretty consistantly. He can get the problems all right doing them that way (he's got the theory down, in other words), but memorizing just kills him. And, unfortunately, there's just a Ton of memorizing in math. He's getting a double dose of math now. I do it with him in the morning, and John works with him at night. Plus we have a math computer game, a "flashmaster" hand-held math-facts quizzer and a cd with the math facts repeated in song. Paper and pencil just doesn't work for this guy.

He still doesn't like a lot of toys around, and more often than not, if he is given a small toy, he'll give it to his sisters just to be rid of it. Stuff is still stressful to him. He's much better with big stuff; he loves his tent, blankets, bike, stuffed animals, computer games, etc. He just got a remote-control car that he loves. His flashlight is one of his most important toys. He pulled off the mattress from his loft, put it on the floor, put blankets up all around his bed as a curtain, and then set his tent up by his matress. He now has a multi-room fort that he sleeps in. Perfect for a boy his age! But little toys, he can't stand. Well, don't get me wrong. He likes them for the first hour he has them. But, when it's time to be done playing with it, he doesn't want anything to do with it. He wants to get rid of it. Doesn't want it in his room. That's just Adam. He did go on a short lego kick, but after we moved he's kept them put away and doesn't want them out. I have three boxes of "stuff" from our move that I have been keeping in his room, and he hasn't touched them. The Adam that stepped off the plane 2 years ago would have had those boxes ripped open, contents strewn across the floor and boxes shredded by Night Two of them being in his room.

Also, Adam bounces. He doesn't walk. He gallops, skips, bounces, and usually shrieks or squeaks while he's doing so. If I'm sitting on the couch and call him over to sit by me, he'll come hopping over and Crash down so close to me he's usually on half of my leg and has spilled whatever it is I'm holding. Nothing delicate or graceful about that boy! lol!

He's also the King of Impulsiveness. John and I have joked that his hands have minds of their own. It's like his mind is detached from them. I can look him in the eye (as I did last night; this is a true story from yesterday), and say, "Adam, the freezer was left open, you kids need to stay out of the freezer." Then, I left the room, turned around and peeked back in the kitchen. Adam *had* to open the freezer. Basically, if a thought goes through his mind, it comes out his hands. He's been in Tons of hot water over the past few years over that. Hence all the broken things at the Fisher house. Another example... One of his aunts gave him a pen with a little whirling fan on the end of it a few weeks ago. He kept shoving it in peoples' faces thinking it was funny. I have No Idea how many times we told him to stop that, and that people don't like people shoving things in their faces, etc. As soon as John or I walked away, off went the brain, and his hands turned on the fan again and shoved it into the next person's face. We finally took it away. He has very little impulse control... I have to say, it gets old. But ya know what? He's my kid. He's got some strange quirks, and acts many years younger than he is, but he's ours, and he's who was meant to be in our family. He's the most tenderhearted boy you'd ever meet. Loves his sisters and little kids to Pieces. His giggle melts my heart. He has been through so much in his life... yet his sunny personality has protected him from complete destruction. He thinks the best in people, and loves people the way they are. He very seldom talks bad about people. He instantly loves everyone he meets. I wish I were more like that! I know people who ought to wear a sign that says, "Caution, I bite!" because, well, they do! They bite others with their words every chance they get. But Adam isn't like that. He's a much bigger person than a whole lot of people I know.

Uff, this is getting long. And I haven't even blabbered on about Liana and Leks yet! You'll all go blurry-eyed before you finish reading this! (I know I'm already starting to!) ;O)

Liana is going to make a fabulous adult. She thinks she is one already, and this being a little kid stuff really cramps her style quite a bit. ;O) Seriously though, she sure does like to act grown-up! She got some make-up from her cousin for a birthday present, and this girl's countenance has been an odd shade of periwinkle ever since. She even snuck some fuscia lipstick on at church last week. And of course Mama had to notice it in the church parking lot on the way OUT... ;O) She's doing great with her school work, and I'd say she's a run-of-the-mill 8yo in all her subjects. Unbelieveable that this girl didn't know a word of English just two years ago. You'd never know! (Well, except her accent! She enunciates her letters more than "normal." Like she says the word "little" with the "t" sound in there instead of how an average American in this neck of the woods would say it: "liddle.") I guess because she basically learned to read at the same time that she learned to speak, she says things more the way they are written. Not sure on that, but I guess it makes sense. She will occasionally get a word wrong here or there also. Like the other day I caught her calling the palm of her hand her "paw" of her hand. Other than that, she doesn't really have any other "hang-ups" leftoever from "being adopted." She's about as well-adjusted as any other 8yo American girl I've met... but actually, in a lot of ways, she's BETTER adjusted! (That's just her mama's two-cents though!) She's strong, strong, strong willed, but she is very tender-hearted when she is confronted with having done something wrong. She's also super loving and affectionate. It comes easier with her friends than her siblings sometimes, but really, for the most part they all get along famously. She and Aleksa are best friends as well as sisters, but uff, her little sister had better not steal her bubblegum! ;O) Gets along great with me and John... lots of hugs, kisses, snuggles, etc. Like Adam, though, she can't walk across the room. She Must cartwheel. I mean Must. Her "skirt" thing she was going through recently had to be stopped... she didn't care that she had a skirt on when she cartwheeled. The whole family was sick of seeing pink panties. ;O) So, until I can find her some bloomers, or until she outgrows her cartwheel addiction, he's banned from skirts for now. (Which is a bummer for me because I just made about 10 of them for the girls!) And since Leks likes to match her sister... she hasn't been wearing them as much either.

Aleksa. The little stinker has grown up on me this month. She went and had a birthday, which was horrible enough, but within just a few weeks, she also lost her two upper teeth. (One of them just last night!) She is now a Big Girl. *WWWWAAAAAAAHHHH* Mama is not likin' that at all, let me just say. But, anyway, Leks can't say her "s's" now. They're "th's." Thee hath no teeth, tho thee can't thay her th'th right. ;O) I've not been able to resist teasing her a bit, and thankfully her sunny disposition takes it in stride, and she has laughed at herself too, understanding that she'll get her S's back when she gets some new teeth. ;O)

Leks has grown up probably the most this year. She's very much a big girl. Reads, rides her bike, is very social, etc. Her fears have subsided and she's allowed herself to enjoy being a little girl. She doesn't let herself freak out about dogs (a major fear before), or about heights or being upside down. She has really learned to think rationally this year, instead of letting her feelings/fears rule her. Of the three though, she's the biggest people-pleaser. She likes to make everyone happy. Which means she's acceptionally "good" most of the time, and "sweet" with those outside the family. We have to really watch her to find out what she's *really* thinking, because she flies way under the radar.

Cute Leksa story from tonight. I was tucking her in and she asked if she could hop up and get some water. I told her she could, but she said, "Could you please stay here and wait for me? I want to talk you in some more." Here and all this time, I thought I was talking HER in! Ever since she came home from Ukraine she's said it's called "talking you in" when you say goodnight at bedtime. I expected that one to fly away long ago, but I guess it just makes too much sense to change that one. Oh, and she invented butterfly hugs. It only follows that if butterflies kiss, then they should hug too. You have to gently pat/tap each other's back when you hug for that one.

In other words, Year Two has been awesome. The waves just seem a whole lot smaller now that we all know each other and love each other and trust each other... I don't particularly like the fact that they're growing up so fast, but that's just a daily reminder for me to seize the day and to remember that the joy is in the journey, not the destination.

Two Years Home!!!!!!!!!!!

Two Whole Whoppin' Years Home today!

I'm a little disappointed though, because Adam is a sick puppy today. He's feeling like a Mac Truck hit him. Sore throat, runny nose, achey body. He's been sacked out on the couch drinking tea.

I have to say, though, I look forward to times the kids are under the weather. It's a great opportunity to bond. I imagine every mom extra-enjoys doting on her sick kids even though she's sad their sick. It's just nice to be needed, and nice to have such vulnerable kiddos. It's also good for the kids to let their guards down and let themselves "need" their moms a little over-time for a day or two. Great bonding times for everyone.

Still, so much for my big celebration plans, *sigh*, but I guess they'll have to wait until our Star Patient is feeling better. I'll try to get some pics posted later on with a better 2 Year Home update....

Laundry Depression

I meant to post after Leks' birthday. But I just couldn't. It was hard on this old mama. I cried the night before Liana's birthday, but I sobbed and threw myself an all-out pitty party the night before Aleksa's. I guess I felt the grief of both girls' birthdays at the same time. Two in one week is ROUGH. John had to do some extra counseling for the girls - they were pretty wide-eyed watching me have a nervous breakdown in front of them. I told Adam he was my only good kid that week. He thought that was funny.

Anyway, that wasn't the only thing bothering me. My washing machine has been broken until today. It has been dead for almost three weeks. Since we're renting (groaning here), the maintenance fellows can take their times, you see. So, we've been roughin' it here. I've been having the kids wash out their own clothes each night, so theirs hasn't piled up too badly. Mine and John's on the other hand, has been horrible.

Now, I don't know how most people feel about laundry piling up, but I HATE it. I mean, Really. I've seen lots of people do all their washing and throw the clothes in piles for a few days before they get around to folding and putting them away. I can't handle that. As soon as I hear the buzzer of the dryer, I pull out the clothes, smoothe out the wrinkles, fold them up and put them away. I Never (except where someone is terribly sick or there's an emergency), just throw the fresh-out-of-the-dryer clothes in a basket to be dealt with later. I can just "feel" the wrinkles settling into my quickly cooling clothes. Can't stand it. I hafta go take care of them. Maybe it's because I hate ironing? Who knows.

And when there are too many clothes in the dirty clothes basket, it really starts to bother me. It sorta makes me feel like my whole house is out of control if I know I have laundry to do. But on the other hand, you can usually tell the state of my mental health by checking how much laundry I have that I have left to do. You can't tell by what isn't put away, because as I said, it is *always* put away, but if I'm not feeling good emotionally, my dirty laundry tells on me. So, I guess I don't know which comes first. Are my blues caused by the laundry, or is the laundry caused by the blues? Well, in this case it was the blues caused by the laundry. I know. I'm weird. But I also know that all of you all have your own little quirks too, so there! ;O) (But if any of you have a similar tendency, I'd love to hear from you so I can tell others that I'm not alone in the world!)

Anyway, the piles and mountains of laundry around here have been really bothering me. Makin' me grumpy, and out of control like, and it has just plain thrown off my routine. *hmph* I've gotten a better respect for those poor pioneer women who had to go on down by the river with their lye soap and their wash boards. How did they Ever get anything else done!??! The broken washer coupled with all the kids getting way too old on me last week has really thrown me for a loop. The washer is fixed now though, and I'm sooooooooooo looking forward to empty baskets again! And no more kid birthdays until January. Whew.

Been getting more packages for the Ukraine package. I got a package of undies today from someone in ENGLAND. Wow! That makes three countries so far! England, Canada and the US. This has been sooooo fun for us! The kids are getting excited! I could kick myself though - we went "back home" this weekend to visit and I had been stashing some shoes/undies in my dad's basement, and I FORGOT them when we left. GROAN. Not sure exactly what to do about that. We're headed back again on the 26th, so I guess we'll be sending two sets of boxes. Oh well!

Pinata Party

Tonight we had the neighborhood over for the girls' birthdays. Hate to combine their special days, but ya know, two giant shin-digs in the same week is a bit much...

So, we had a "Princess" pinata out in the yard with eight kids, plus three moms and a dad stayed to watch. One of the older girls (she's 10 or 11) knocked it down, and John had to drop kick the thing a few times to get all the candy out.

Now all the kids are flying all around the yard and neighborhood with their loot bags and I'm pretending to be uploading the pictures onto the computer. I can tell the kids have been home a while... I still have pictures on my camera from June! I'll get around to it one of these days...

World Travellin' Leksa Lu

Gotta quick share what my still-five-but-almost-six year old just came in the house telling me....

"Mom, I just had a long journey. I wanted to go to Persia to get a Magic Carpet ride, but I went too far and went to India. Then I rode my motorcycle to Tibet and drove around in the mountains a while."

Mama sat there blinking her eyes at how much thought had to have gone into that itinerary.

I guess I won't be pulling that world map off the kitchen table, or cutting down on the library runs any time soon! It was fun to see the stories and the map become real enough for her to invent her own adventure! COOL!

Our New Eight Year Old!

Liana's birthday was yesterday. We have an 8 year old now!

Which is happy for her, but sad for me. I hate my kids' birthdays. Isn't that selfish and horrible-sounding?! I don't like them turning a year older! I want time to stop. On Saturday night as the kids were settling down before bedtime, I actually started crying right there in front of everybody.

Liana loved it.

She felt like an adult or something since the reason I gave her for crying was that she was growing up. She assured me that she'd bring me her children to play with and rock, and that she'd always love me and take care of me when I'm old. Oy. Somehow that really scares me to think that she'd be the one to take care of me in my old age... she'd feed me half of my soup and then get distracted by something more fun and I'd waste away to nothing! lol! She doesn't sit still very long in other words! She's come a long way, and *can* sit still if she *wants* to, but it has to be for a *very* good reason!

Speaking of sitting. Here's another Liana story. (Liana, if you are an adult reading this, I HOPE YOU'VE OUTGROWN THIS BY NOW...) There was a fellowship dinner after church yesterday, and Liana and I were sitting across from each other and who was sitting next to me but Sean. The Sean. I made a few comments about my chair and Sean offered to switch his chair with mine. Sweet of him, but I declined the offer. Liana told me, (casting a batted eye toward Sean), "I'll switch spots with you, Mom! I'd love to sit next to Sean!

You shoulda seen how fast Sean finished his meal and got outta there.

Later I let Liana hand out her treat bags for her friends. I had written everyone's name on them, and I happened to catch Liana rummaging through her sack of treat bags trying to keep up with Sean saying, "Sean, I have one for you too! I'm not chasing you, Sean, I really do have treats for you! Come back here!"

BWAAAAH! LOL!

Metcha Day Anniversary

It's been a busy few days. My birthday was Friday. (34!) John had the day off from work because his company was sponsoring a picnic at the zoo! So! I got to go to the zoo for my birthday! It was a hot day, but everyone had a good time, and I got to do a little shopping on the way home. Plus, John drove us past where he works. Horrible commute, and I wouldn't do it for all the money in the wide world. I h.a.t.e. city driving. Hate it. So, it's a good thing he's him and I'm me! :O)

Anyway, the next day was the 2 year anniversary of the day we met the kids. That really hit me. The anniversary of the day we MET the kids seems more "whoa" to me than the anniversary of the day we brought them home. It means, "Before this, these kids were not in our lives." Unreal to me that it has only been two years. It's nothing! It's a blink! And yet, to our family, they have been the Only years we've had together. Two Enormous years. Every month has been different... a different dynamic, a different feel, a different "texture" to our family. Thankfully the texture has been Smoother lately! ;O)

We celebrated the event by finding a teeny little Ukrainian deli about 30 minutes away. It had all of two tables for us to choose from, but there were a few aisles of Ukrainian foods that we could browse and shop. We found some Ukrainian Juice which we about jumped out of our skins with excitement to find. None of our favorite "Banana" but they did have "banana-pineapple" which is reminiscient enough of the Real Deal to send us back down Memory Lane pretty heavily.

We also found little circle ring-shaped cookies that the kids call "bubliky" (someone know the real name, or know if this is correct?) The kids were thrilled to have found those, and couldn't contain their excitement. The ladies behind the counter raised their eyebrows a few times at us! ;O) They also spoke Russian, which the kids enjoyed, but they got really over-stimulated by all of the above. Liana was especially over-done, but we all enjoyed a good meal of borscht, bliny (I think that's what it's called...), and a few other things. Including some beer for Adam. That was an accident. We don't read Ukrainian you know. ;O) He took one taste of his bottle (we all chose our own bottled beverage out of a cooler), and said, "Yuck! Beer!" Oops. The lady behind the counter said it was non-alcoholic though, so we felt a *little* better, but still!

Hopscotch

It's been our routine lately for us all to go outside and hang out in the afternoons if it isn't too hot out.

Yesterday we were out in the driveway playing Hopscotch. Adam wasn't so sure about playing it until I had to do a quick Google search to recall all the rules. It said that Hopscotch was played by Roman soldiers to help them train in nimbleness in their footwork. He changed his tune then, after he heard it was originally for soldiers training for battle! I was really glad about that, as it is reallllllly good for his balance. He is a TON more balanced and nimble than when he first came home. He couldn't stand on one foot for longer than about three seconds, and I'm not exaggerating. When the PT tested him, he could barely do it at all, and Flunked the test big time, testing at about the 3yo level on that particular skill. It was horrible. With the exercises and stretches we've been having him do, however, he has improved tremendously. He showed off the other night how long he could stand on one foot, and John and I about fell over ourselves... He's doing things now that I never thought he would.

Anyway, back to the hopscotch game. Liana was trying to drop her rock on the number 4 and just couldn't do it. I gave her several tries, but even when she couldn't do it, she insisted on having more tries. Aleksa was sitting on my lap watching, and I was beginning to chuckle at Liana's determination. I said something like, "One more try, huh, Liana?" And then I began to add, "Oh yeah, I forgot..." when Aleksa turned around to me and finished my sentence for me, "She's a stubborn Ukrainian, Mama." I often tell the kids they are "Stubborn Ukrainians" when the persevere so hard about things. My dad always tells me I'm a "Stubborn Norwegian" so I guess it's a carry-over from him. I thought it was funny though, that Leks was so matter-of-fact about it.

By the way, Aleksa won. Liana lost interst after not being able to get her rock where she wanted it, and Adam couldn't quite get his rock where he wanted it either. Leks loved it though, and continued playing it by herself long after the other two scrambled off to find something more exciting to do.

I am Contraband!

Got an email from a friend today. She's teaching some Ed classes in China for a few weeks this summer, and is there right now. She wrote to tell me that evidently there must be something horrible about my blog that the Chinese government doesn't like... She has tried to access it without success since she arrived.

She said she also tried to do a Google search on Tiennemen Square and nothing would pop up for her. Everything was "Page Not Found."

I find that fascinating.

So tonight, I'm thanking God for the freedoms I have to learn, read, think, say and do (pretty much) what I want in this country. I so easily forget that there are those who don't have that luxury...

Clean Garage

Leksa was playing, and Liana was sweeping the garage when up the driveway comes a police officer. I was sitting just inside the garage, so he drove alllll the way up the driveway (which is rather long) to talk to me. He wanted to know if I'd seen a white van with anyone in it who have been knocking on peoples' doors. Nope. I hadn't seen it.

As he was getting ready to pull away, he noticed Liana and the broom. He says to her, "Well, you keep on cleaning young lady!" Liana looks up at him bewildered and saucer-eyed. I quickly nodded and said, "Yeah, Liana, the policeman said so!" and then I gave him a double thumbs up behind her back. Then he added, "And I'll be back tomorrow to check out your work!" He laughed all the way back down the driveway...

I've never had a better swept garage....

"Liana Loves Sean"

This week at church we're having VBS... So tonight during craft time, evidently Liana wrote on her project, "Liana loves Sean." Sean is an "older" boy of about 12... very smart, handsome, etc. Well, she didn't just write it. She said it to him and everyone at the table. And she batted her eyelashes. And pretty much scared the poor boy To Death. He got so embarassed his ears got red!

So, on the way home, I asked her if she maybe embarassed him a bit, and asked her how it made her look herself. (I had been told the whole story from her teacher...) She hadn't considered that. The more she thought about it, the more mortified she got. I mean Mortified. I could see the humiliation wash over her face. She crinkled her face and kept saying, "Oh, this makes my guts run out." (Evidently, her English isn't quite perfect yet! John and I laugh at how many expressions she uses wrongly with the word "guts.") She continued kicking herself and feeling mortified all the way through bedtime. I think this was the first time I've seen her feeling anywhere like this. She's my big almost 8-yr-old, and it is beginning to show!

I tried to make her feel better by telling her that when I was her age, I probably would have had a crush on Sean too, and that she had picked a good one to like, etc. And I told her I liked other boys too at her age. She asked me what my parents told her about it. I had to tell her that I was too shy to even talk to the boys I liked, so my parents didn't have to say a thing. That didn't make her feel any better. lol!

I told John later that I really liked this new Liana we're beginning to see. The old one wouldn't have cared one hoot if Sean was embarrassed or not, as long as she was having a good ole time. It's definitely a new leaf she's turning... I like it!

23 Months Home

Wow, just one more month and we'll have made it to Two Whole Years Home. I just plain can't believe it.

We've been having smooth sailing until a few days ago. Some trust issues have come up with Adam that we probably would have expected to have happened a year ago, but not THIS year. I guess two steps forward three steps back? I guess with our kiddos, the stuff they've dealt with in their short lives will just pop up from time to time and remind us that they do indeed carry baggage of sorts.

That said, however, I'd say that our Adam has made gigantic strides this month/summer with almost everything. The relationship I have with him has never been better. He has made some good friends here in the neighborhood, though his "best" friends are still lots younger than he. They are about 8 years old, and that is about how old he is emotionally and intellectually. It's just unfortunate that he is packaged in a tall 11 1/2 yo body. It would make all our lives a lot easier, I'm sure!

John was just telling me yesterday that Adam was reading a see-through plastic sign from behind, and could read the sign even though it was backwards. That's big, big, big for him. He's been doing great with his reading. Math is still an absolute killer for him, but if we let him use his math blocks/rods, he can figure out the answers... wrote memory is a killer for him. It goes excruciatingly slow for him.

With Liana turning 8 in just a few weeks, that makes my oldest two seem more like twins in a lot of ways. And actually, with Aleksa making such progress with her reading, etc., it almost feels like triplets. Not *quite*, but almost. In another year it just very well may! But, I expect that Adam will cruise ahead a bit in this year too, so who knows.

Liana is doing really well too. That Super Strong Will of hers is losing its grip on her a bit, and I have seen her really yield that will several times recently. It will probably always be a part of her personality, but I know she is actually "working on it" now. She reflexively sassed our pastor's wife the other day and since I was *right* there to witness it, I took her in the bathroom for a chit-chat. We were in there all of about three seconds and she was genuinely sorry. Her conscience had started to bother her before my line of questioning started in. (We always try to start our "lectures" with a bunch of questions. Gets them to think, and their hearts are reached more effectively.) So, yay, our bathroom visit was only a few minutes long, and she marched HERSELF (as in, without me telling her to), over to Mrs. B. and apologized, and later colored her a picture to further demonstrate her remorse. YAY Liana!!! I know kids born and raised here in the USA who would NEVER, EVER have humbled themselves like that. Very proud Mama. :O)

Leks is Leks. Flying under the radar as usual, but has been caught a few times more often lately. She'll ask me if she can do something, and of course, being a good mom, I say "no way" to some of her requests. Well, she'll sometimes *very quietly* do it anyway. She figures if I'm busy I won't notice or something. So, I've had to pay extra attention to her lately. With her developing intellect has come extra skill at getting away with things.

She's been really maturing lately. Instead of being afraid of every little thing as she was a year or more ago (I would need to go back and re-read my updates), she is actually more mature than a lot of other kids I've been meeting her age. She's social, smart, articulate, creative. (A little too creative though... she drew me a picture the other day of a mama and child... and the mama had all her parts... *cough, cough* I didn't know what it was, and when I asked her, she said that part was for her to go to the bathroom. Alrighty then...) She's also TALL. She's in the 75th percentile for height, and when we brought her home from Ukraine, she wasn't even on the chart for height. Liana is still a few inches taller than she is,s but I have a feeling Leks will cruise past her in a few years.

It's been a good summer. Lately we've hit some bumps, but ya know, no family is perfect. I wouldn't trade mine for anything!

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Oh Bro-THER. You shoulda seen my kids at breakfast...

The girls usually sit on one side of the table, and Adam on the other. This morning Adam asked Liana, "Please, won't you sit on my side with me today? You always sit with Aleksa!"

Liana sighed, turned to Aleksa and said, "Aleksa, I'll miss you, but I should sit with Adam today." And she gave her sister a big hug. Leks told her she'd miss her too. And it wasn't a "quick" hug. It was an I'm-probably-not-going-to-see-you-for-a-year kind of a hug.

It's so hard being separated like that.

LOL

Bunny Trails

Woke up a little later today. Heard the shower running downstairs (Adam) and knew my day had started without me. Groan. I need to start going to bed earlier.

Just wanted to recap my day so far since I've chuckled more than once at how many bunny trails I've been on today. My "summer schedule" isn't working out so great for Mama. The kids love it, but I'm feeling a little discombubbled. (Is that a word?)

Anyway, we did accomplish our morning routine - it just got done later and breakfast started a little later than usual. But it's summer, right? ;O) After we ate, the kids did their summer math/reading routine. That took all of about an hour. Tops. They also have a little writing they need to do.

After that, we had our read-aloud time. We're re-reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" since Aleksa said she didn't remember it when we read it the first time. For SHAME, we all said. It's still the older kids' all-time favorite. So, I decided that would be on the summer reading list. Anyway, when you read that book, you MUST, I repeat, MUST have a candybar. We bought each kid a giant Symphany bar of their own to last throughout the book. So, yesterday was the first day of reading, and I made the mistake of saying that they could keep it in their room and sneak a bite here and there if they wanted to, but that the book was 30 chapters long, and the candy had to last that long. Well, oops. Leksa ate almost the whole thing before I caught on. I took it away from her when she had three little segments left. Oy. Anyway, today Mama confiscated the chocolate after our reading was done. We need some more lessons in Self Control evidently!

After that, it was getting awful hot, so I had the kids help me put together some mixes for some future baking. I've been putting the dry ingredients of often-made baked goods into big ziploc bags so when it is time to bake, I don't have to mess with flour and sugar, etc. I've made up mixes for pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, tortillas (I've been making my own; YUMMY), granola, bread sticks, and today we did mixes for sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and bunch of batches of bread for the bread machine. Feels good to have all that work already done. The kids each hold out a ziploc bag while I measure and dump. So we have three batches of each of these goodies squirreled away. Some of 'em we have 6 each. I need more flour!

After my mix-making extravaganza, I was noticing the sticky feet thing from the gross stuff on the floor. Flour and sugar on the bottom of my feet sorta gross me out. ;O) So, I had the kids take out all the chairs from the kitchen, and I swept and wanted to mop. Oops, I looked at the time, and couldn't believe it was after our regular lunch time. Great. So, I drop the mop idea (for now), and make lunch. I called in the kids to eat, and instead of dragging in all the chairs, we ate our lunches UNDER the table on the floor. Cool. I got to be functional and a "cool mom" all at the same time. The kids thought it was great that Mama was getting so psycho.

While under the table, I noticed that the plastic see-through table cloth on the table (I've mentioned it before), is getting grungy. It needs to be taken off and cleaned. I also notice that both of my girls are wearing skirts. Again. They're both on a big-time skirt kick. They won't wear play pants anymore lately. Which means they have all of about three skirts to choose from. They don't care if they don't match anything else they have or if they are dirty, they like 'em, and say they are more princess-like. Not to mention cooler. (It's been super-hot lately). Great. I wonder how much fabric I have in my stash to make them a few other play skirts. I don't want the neighbors talking... So, I tell the girls that after lunch we should go up to my room and check the fabric stash. Adam asks what he can do. I tell him he could pop in a dvd to watch while us girls are scoping the fabric. Cool.

So, after lunch, we march upstairs. I have forgotten about mopping. Oops. We find a few things, and Adam and the girls all enjoy a Christmas dvd that I wouldn't usually let them watch except at Christmas. Aftwerwards, we all go downstairs, and I notice that I have kitchen chairs all over the livingroom. Oh, Shelly, you're such a scatter-brain today. So, I finish mopping. I'm currently letting the floor dry while the kids are outside playing. After I'm done typing, I'll get the chairs back under the table, make sure to wash down the table cloth better, and then start supper. John will be home in an hour and a half. Still need to water the tomatoes, return an email and dry some laundry.

Even though it was a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants day," I'm not sure I would have changed a thing. I loved every minute.