Pictures...

Happy Holiday Season!!

We just our first enlarged Thanksgiving in traditional style. We cooked a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salad and all the fixin's. Over the long weekend we introduced the kids (mainly Dasha because she was more interested than Michael at first) to the art of Italian cookie making. Friday we spent several hours making double batches of cherry cookies and chocolate balls. Dasha was a trooper and worked til the completion (including frosting several hundred tiny little balls!). Saturday we tackled rosettes. Michael got in on the act and I think the kids really enjoyed being a part of the holiday tradition. There were many cookies sampled, but our freezer is filling quickly with cookies to eat as it gets closer to Christmas.

Christmas shopping is well under way. I need to pull everything out and make a list of what I have and what I need to get. Dasha and Nicholas have December birthdays so I have to keep that in mind as well.

We've had many, many ups and downs in the last several months. I have to say this is probably one of the hardest things we've been asked to do (by the Lord), but I constantly see His hand of protection upon us. Just when I think I can't take any more, relief comes. Praise God!!!!

May you all have a blessed holiday season!! Remember, JESUS is the reason for the season!!! Amen!

A Trip To The Dentist

Today we went for dentist appointments. We have waited three months for this and knew it was probably going to be like opening another can of worms. Dasha went first. The hygentist emerged with the report of 13 cavaties!!! I honestly didn't expect nearly that many. Three or four maybe, but not 13!! Michael went next. His report wasn't quite as bad. He has "only" 8 cavaties, however his are deeper than Dasha's. We also have to take Michael back in two weeks to finish his cleaning because his gums were inflamed and they want them to settle down before they complete everything. I walked out with a deck of appointment cards! There will be multiple visits to get all these things taken care of.

All in all things are going well. We are really starting to "gel" as a family. The kids are struggling academically, but that is really not a big surprise to us. I'm sure the curriculum in Ukraine is not the same as it is here in America. It would be silly to assume otherwise. We are currently trying to evaluate exactly what they DO know and what they DON'T know. From there we can move forward. Primo has spent countless hours working with the kids on math. Every night after dinner the dining room becomes a classroom!

I don't know if anyone is still reading this, but I decided to blog just to see if anyone is paying attention!! Not only that, it is our way of remembering the experience too!!

VBS & Drivers Ed.

This was a really busy week! Primo Jr. had drivers ed. every day from 8:30-2:30. Primo dropped him off in the morning and I picked him up in the afternoon. He had his final today and only missed one question, so now he is eligible to do the driving portion. He should be scheduled for his driving time in the next several weeks. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing!

I taught kindergarten Vacation Bible School again this year. I had a great class! I didn't know any of them prior to this week (there are kids from many other churches that attend), but by the end of the week we were all well aquainted. I will miss them! Nicholas was in a class for 3 year olds. It was an exhausting week for him.

Dasha and Michael attended the VBS for the kids from Belarus. They were reluctant the first day, but I think they ended up doing okay. Michael has made friends with one of the older boys and spent Wednesday afternoon swimming with him and his host family. Today he went home with David (a boy that was adopted from the same orphanage as Dasha) to swim and play. He's having a great time! What a change from where he was a few short months ago!!

I hadn't written in awhile, but now you know what we've been up to. Next week should be much less hectic...I hope!!!

Ice Cream Sundaes and Wedding Dresses

The rest of last week ended up being really good. Friday we had invited guests for dinner and I was making lasagna. Dasha and Michael jumped right in and we had a great time in the kitchen together! It was "one of those moments". The Bouchard's joined us for dinner and then the Maddox family brought dessert...ice cream sundaes with every topping imaginable! We had fun creating our own special treats. It was so fun just to sit and fellowship...thank God for good friends!

Saturday was a "lazy day". We stayed home all day and late in the afternoon I finally allowed Dasha to do something she's been asking for....try on my wedding dress! Let me tell ya'll, I hadn't looked at that dress in 18 years. When I unzipped the bag and took the slip out I was overwhelmed by the reality of it all....I USED TO BE SKINNY!!! ;) The dress fit Dasha like it was made for her! So Primo said I had the body of a 14 year old when we got married...I'm not sure how I should take that!! Anyway, Dasha is going to make a beautiful bride (in about 20 years)!

Today we were invited to a friends house for lunch (pizza) and a movie. All four kids went with me. They enjoyed the movies while Rochelle and I caught up on life. (Well, Nic was running around, but I assume you would already know that!) Since the kids love to watch movies, they were in their element. When it came time to leave Dasha was involved in a movie and said she was going to stay there to finish it! Rochelle, being the kind person she is, allowed the kids to bring home FIVE movies to watch! What a blessing!

Because the kids are older they have to take an oath before they can become US citizens. Guess where they have to go to take this oath? CHARLOTTE!! Again! We received our appointment today for July 27th.

Primo will be off for the rest of the week for 4th of July. IBM was generous and gave them a couple extra days. Hopefully we will have some fun family time!

And she's off...!

We're happy to report that Dasha has mastered bike riding! Michael worked with her and now she's lovin' it! And, I have a scratch on my van that will always remind us of the learning process. :( She got rolling on Monday and it was literally 98 degrees out, but she didn't seem to care. She just wanted to ride. Her face was the color of a tomato and her shirt was soaked with sweat. It looks like we're going to have to buy another bike!

The kids are attending a program at church this week. It's called Health Through the Bible and is put on by the Russian ministry for the Chernobyl kids. Each night they focus on a different aspect of health and nutrition...tonight is dentistry!! Last night they learned to wash their hands properly and even had a black light to show where they missed. Monday was about proper nutrition. We are blessed to have a Russian ministry right at our church.

That's the mid-week update on what we've had going on....

Brighter Days

This week was much better than last week. We definitely had some bumps in the road, but nothing earth shattering. We completed the registration and course selection process for Dasha to start at Wakefield High School in August. We haven't decided yet where to place Michael.

The kids had two more English lessons this week. Neither are terribly motivated to spend free time doing their homework. Dasha does well when she tries. Michael is very reluctant. We purchased the Rosetta Stone English software for home schoolers. We are hoping that they will think it's more fun since it's on the computer. There are workbooks, answer sheets and speaking activities. I've heard good things about this program so we thought we'd give it a try. It is so very hard to communicate even the littlest thoughts to the kids so I often just "let it go".

We went to a couple second hand stores this week and got some clothing items. Since Dasha is so small she can wear just about anything and it will look cute. Surprisingly enough, Michael seems to go for the wild, Hawaiian type prints. Works for me!

Dasha's having her first sleepover tonight with Lena Huston. Rhondi and her kids came over to swim and for pizza today. Lena is spending the night here. I remember how much I enjoyed that as a kid.

That's the week in review!