The Eimers' Six:

Aren't they looking spiffy, all dressed up before Steve's sister's wedding this past weekend?!

...and isn't this picture worth a thousand words?

An Eastern European Orphan Graduation

As we celebrate graduation time here in the US, I wanted to draw attention to the precarious position of Eastern European Orphans as they graduate. This video is compiled of pictures I took in Moldova, Ukraine and other pictures that are public domain.

I will warn you: Some of the pictures are extremely harsh and this video is not appropriate for children.

I was asked why I chose some of the pictures I did. The reason is because this is the reality these children face. We are uncomfortable viewing the HELL these children will be living, but at least for us it only lasts 2 minutes on a video!



Steve

Kagda ya big?

The boys are growing so quickly! At times I think they are not much bigger, although their maturity advances are unquestionable.

DAILY Vitali asks me, "Mama, Kagda ya big?" (Mama, when will I be big?) this is usually his waking thought when he snuggles in my bed and his nightly wish when I tuck him into his.

This little (shh, don't tell him I called him Little!) guy is so full of the life just bursting out of him that he is indescribable! He just can't possibly fit in all the living he wants to do each day. He gives it his best shot, though! He talks
all
the
time ...

...and when he is not talking, I can see him thinking (as he recharges) about how to be like the 'big' people in the house. He is so funny! Vitali breaks my heart each day at nap time, which always seems to come as such a devastating shock to him. The saddest tears emerge as his tiny shoulders slump and he heads for bed--reminds me of Tigger when he had to keep his promise to Rabbit not to bounce. In fact, he often makes me think of good ol' Tigger!

But this morning there was great joy in his tiny heart when he came in to report to me the good news. ( I'll tell you in a minute...if you don't guess first!)

The last couple of nights, Ivy has been our light-turner-offer at bedtime. She only recently has become tall enough to do this without a chair. It took every s t r e t c h y bit of effort but she could do it!

Vita could also turn it on. (This is a new accomplishment since he's been here but not the great cause for rejoicing this morning) Each night, however, when Ivy would turn off the light he couldn't make that last fraction-of-an-inch difference necessary to turn the light OFF himself! He tried; Oh!-- how he tried!

So the big news this morning? You have probably guessed it: Yep, the little man was beaming as he hop-skipped into my room in the early light, "MAMA! Ya off !" ( Mama, I off!) It took me a minute of bleary, sleepy-eyed blinking and Ivy filled in the translation for me, "Tawee turned the Yight OFF!"

He has been so happy all day, resting on his laurels. Oh, what fun to be four years old...I mean, what a thrill!

melissa

Boys...

We never used to give passing aircraft a second look...

No one in our family used to be able to be persuaded to eat vegetables for the promise of big muscles...
...but then that was before we had any brothers in the house!
Life is good--no, it's better--having boys, too.

M.

Today's Topic: The $3.000 Fit

Now, doesn't he look like an angel in the dentist's chair? He was scared but bravely opened his mouth and let the hygienist look in. He grudgingly and only with a small amount of physical force sat still for the x-rays. He gladly opened his mouth for the dentist.
And this is what he got. See how proudly he holds it?! We were leaving the dentist's office and he saw the dentist down the hallway. Loudly he called out to him, "THAAANK YOOOU!" and waved vigorously.

Now, you know the middle of the story. Would you like to hear the rest? Keep reading...

So, all the boys will likely have tooth problems. This is what we expected; this is what we found.

Vitali's teeth look good, actually, but, who knows? Max, on the other hand has a couple of teeth that are just shells and the gums have grown right into the middle of the tooth. His dental appointment a month or two ago was no surprise: four crowns, four extractions and a filling. He's eight. Needless to say, he will have this much work done in the hospital. We have figured that the cost of this is about $3,000 after all the insurances and deductibles. OK. We expected that.

Just this week we took Misha in for a check up. He also has a tooth where, if you look, you can see the gums in the hole in the tooth. This tooth bothers him (Max claims his don't hurt) mostly when he eats.

You've seen the middle of the story. Moving on...

At first, the dentist was saying we might as well do his in the hospital too. He has eight teeth that need work, two of them crowns; the rest, small fillings. I asked if there were any way to do it in the office to save money. He said we could give it a try.

Our chance came the next morning where we were able to fit into a cancellation spot. The plan was to do the two crowns. Misha was doing great though actively complaining about the laughing gas. Then, the doctor numbed his mouth. He did not like that and said it hurt, though it was just the numbness he didn't like. Then came the drill-like thing that spins and sprays a mist of water and it was all downhill from there. In the end, Steve and I laid across his arms and legs and the dentist held his head in the crook of his arm like a foot ball and we all were sweating and trying to alternate between being firm but soothing though it all was to no avail!

When that crown was finished, of course we realized that we couldn't expect the doctor to work on him like that for 7 more teeth! So, we are going to have to have the rest done under sedation in the hospital. And it should be noted that he is very proud of his silver crown and still likes the dentist. He seems to know we were helping him--so he wasn't mad at all. Once he was done--he was fine.

Now. Why do I call that the $3,000 fit? Well, because he wasn't entirely scared. Yes, somewhat, but it was mostly his way of refusing to be uncomfortable. He didn't like the cold water or the buzzing, He didn't like the numbness and he didn't like the laughing gas mask which served only to calm him down enough to keep it on without fussing about it. Frustrating for us because it is a pattern with him.

The sight of a worm is enough to send him into hysterics as well as are puppies or chickens--including the baby ones. If he is nervous; he goes bananas! Aaaarrggghhh!

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything similar? He seems not to know how to process being uncomfortable with anything but to call it pain. The numbness of his cheek, if give him a friendly back scratching, being cold getting out of the tub, Hair clippings on his neck during a haircut...
He whines and writhes and cries out about these kinds of things. At the same time, he can fall and skin his knee, check for blood and not give it a second thought!

Anyway, I admit to being perplexed! Fortunately, while it is frustrating, it isn't something we deal with every day. And most the time we find his "freaking out" a bit humorous (although we don't let him know); that is, until it turns into $3,000! Eeek!

Even so, we love him to death! All of them. What blessings. Who'd have known that in our attempt to help three orphans that we would be so blessed in the process? It almost makes me feel selfish!

Melissa

Camping--well, sort of...

Look at those sweaty, happy boys! No shirts, plenty of dirt smudges and excited over their first time to sleep in a tent! Let me tell you they were so excited when I pulled this out!

Last weekend began a streak of beautiful weather here and Monday and Tuesday nights, I slept in the backyard in the big tent with the kids. Steve slept in the house since he had to work the next days. The nights were pretty chilly and the boys confessed to being cold, but eagerly declared they wanted to sleep there every night!

We found that we need a few more sleeping bags although since we were in the backyard it didn't matter so much. But this week at church a new friend brought us some things her son had outgrown and among those things was a Thomas the Tank Engine sleeping bag! Isn't God good?! You can bet that the boys were pretty thrilled about that!

This week is beginning as winter and ending as spring again. That is the nature of spring, isn't it? They say we might get snow on Monday but Friday is near eighty again! Maybe we'll get to take that sleeping bag for a spin this next weekend. And maybe this time, Mommy will sleep in the comfy bed and Dad can rough it with the kiddos!

And...

If you haven't read the post below this one, then please don't miss it! Last night, Steve shared something that helps illustrate where our hearts now. I hope you will let Steve's thoughts and the little story he shares be an inspiration and encouragement to you.

Blessed beyond belief,
Melissa

How Far the East is From the West

Over and over I am struck by how deep the parallelism of adoption and Christianity runs. One of the deep issues that many adopted children struggle with is "Will I be sent back?" Vitali recently was asking about when we were going to the Detsky Dom? Finally we got online and got the translation of "You are never, never, never going back to the Detsky Dom. Mama and Papa are your parents and they love you and you are going to live with them forever." Vitali just smiled the biggest ear to ear grin when he heard this.

Later Misha was with me and was talking about the orphanage so I typed in the same note. I wish you could have seen Misha running to announce to Max "Nee Kagda, Nee Kagda, Nee Kagda, edeetya Detsky dom" (We are never, never, never going back to the orphanage!) Since then he has asked to have me play the clip again "YEE SHOO Papa". He will come up and say "Nee Kagda, Nee Kagda, Nee Kagda edeetya Detsky Dom" He is not worried he just loves hearing that and then does a silly giggly grin.

I can't help but think of the passage from Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west He has removed our transgressions from us." It is by adoption that I never, never, never have to face the consequences of my sin. I can't remember a time when I ran around announcing "Nee KAgda, Nee Kagda, Nee Kagda!"

I so wish you could experience the adoption story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the same experiences we have had this last couple years. The "preparing a place", "the redemption price", "the leaving the secure sheep and going out to search for the lost sheep", "the rejoicing when one has been redeemed", "the yearning for the others who are lost" and now "knowing how far the East is from the West" are so much more real through this continuing journey.

Here is the video for Casting Crowns' song "East to West"



Steve

One of those days...the good kind

You know those days in early spring when you can hardly wait to be outside? The kind that are so pretty and fresh and the sun coming at it all from the east makes it even more appealing?

Yep, that is the kind of day we started with here this morning!

Once everyone had come back inside from waving goodbye to Daddy this morning, the play-clothes were hurriedly put on! And all the kids (except Hannah--I don't know what she was up to) bounced out the doors to play.

Apparently, Vitali couldn't find his shoes quickly enough and had to settle for his snow boots!
Max didn't even have time to adjust his helmet!
Ivy had time to change out of her nightgown but thought it would be better to add a veil instead and just look beautiful. She does, doesn't she?
She and Vitali rode their little bikes. They aren't allowed to go into the road so they ride down the driveway over and over again. Vita often sits at the bottom watching the big kids going by but here he is at the top about to begin his descent.

Misha saw me with my camera and kept posing for me. He learned to ride a two-wheeler when he saw Max and Hannah learning. He is so proud of being able to pedal! By the way, notice his bike? It was a hand-me-down from a friend of ours and is just his size. He doesn't seem to mind the butterflies at all! He does mind the helmet though! He doesn't like that much at all (not because it's purple) !
He likes to pose for me. They all do. Then they all say, "Pockazhee!" (show!) and look to see the picture on the back of the camera. Even Ivy always says "Pockazhee menya!" When I take her picture. She is so silly.
I love this one of Max:And this one too:

And he asked me to take this one of him with his big giant remote control truck from Grandma and Grandpa E. He loves that thing!

And I should mention that the kids all got bikes for their birthdays, some current and some advance-gifts! Also from Grandma and Grandpa E. Thanks, G'ma and G'pa! They use them every day! Every bike is out and needs to be hauled up the hill each evening. And the kids all take a few trips back and forth and it's done. Good kids!

Things are going so well here. I feel like we must be in for a 'storm' soon! Eeek! I hope not! The boys and girls get along so well and our only clue that the boys haven't always been here is their Russian! But the English is coming along and they each seem to take turns advancing and putting in the extra effort.

Melissa

Chiteeli!!! ( four !)

Here are some pictures of our littlest boy on the fourth anniversary of the day his little life in the big wide world began, although it was his first birthday with us! He is such a little joy despite being a big part of the many times we have flopped into bed at night exhausted!

I wish I could convey in this post the sheer thrill of the day for him! He practically turned himself inside out with excitement!
He surely was excited to have his birthday come! He could hardly wait!

The picture I should have taken of that day (darn hindsight!) was the one of him sitting at the table for a good 45 minutes straight where our normally constantly moving little boy kept a constant vigil over his cake! And, for those of you who know him, you'll be impressed that he managed not to touch the cake, either! (For those of you who don't know him personally, let's just say that so far restraint has not been one of his strong points! He tries; he really does try...)

Does he look happy to you?

Also, I thought you might enjoy hearing the different ways each of the boys refer to birthdays: Misha calls it a "Happy, Happy"
Max calls it a "Happy-to-you",
and Vitali, who even sang himself the song several times on his own birthday( I don't know where he learned it; I didn't try to teach him) says, "Cappy Bootday!"

M.

On the other hand...

Most people probably imagine life around our house as crazy. Truth is, for a while it was pretty nuts! But like most things in life, eventually routine settles in quite comfortably and a home with 6 kids, only half of whom are fluent in English, is no exception!

Earlier today, while I was making six sandwiches (3 egg salad, 3 tuna), I actually said out loud to the kids, "You guys, I am loving having a house with six kids in it!" And I meant it! Now, that does not mean that I love every minute.

For instance:

• I did not love it when I had to leave what I was doing several times this morning to fish matchbox cars from under the stove and refrigerator.

• I did not love rinsing the accident out of Ivy's fluffy princess clothes.

• I really did not love having to get after the little ones twice to stop talking and go to sleep at nap time. They are so cute and it is so pathetic when they get in trouble!
  

• I don't really find third grade language all that interesting.

• And just once a day it would be nice to use the bathroom without somebody rattling the door handle the whole time!

But, on the other hand:

• I do love that the boys had so much fun together racing their cars along the hardwood in the kitchen. I also am glad to report that all the dusty magnetic letters are out from under my fridge and stove!

• I also am glad that I had to clean out the princess dress before it got too dingy since Ivy wears it every day now.

• I love it that Ivy and Vitali giggle and play together so well.

• I am so happy for Hannah because after doing seemingly endless pages today, she reached the end of her whole language book on her own initiative!

• And the bathroom thing...well, I still don't like that all that much! But they won't do it forever. And someday I may wish...

.....ummm...naaah... not for that!

M.

Two of each...until tomorrow

(Two three-year-olds. No, he's not saying "two"; he's answering the question,
"Who wants a piece of candy?!")

Tomorrow, Vitali will be four years old. This will end the six-day-period we are in now where we have two eight-year-olds, two six-year-olds, and two three-year-olds!

Vitali is very excited to have a birthday tomorrow. He has made plans that have not shaken in the least: He wants to go in Steve's "Labota machina" (Baby-talk Russian for "Work car") to the store. He can hardly wait and has asked daily when they are going together!

He is also so excited to be no longer three but to be "chiteeli" (baby-talk Russian for "four") or often he tells me that he is now three but on his birthday he will be "noga" ( this means a lot); he says this while holding up all his fingers, opening his blue eyes to their maximum capacity and nodding his head for emphasis.

He is such a funny little guy!(Last day as a three-year-old!
Vitali is jumping for joy in Ivy's springy pink shoes)

Happy Birthday, 'Vita-my-Sweeta!'

Love,
Mama

Zook!*

The boys are still loving being outdoors. You may have noticed that the bulk of our photos are taken "khoolahd"(outside). From Max in his Batman mask to Vitali and his caterpillar. Spring is in the air! It is great for the boys as well as for me. Not only am I motivated to get my spring cleaning done, but with all the kids outside, no one is messing up my work! Not that the house doesn't somehow manage to maintain a constant "mess-factor"! Especially on rainy days.

Sweet Vitali.

Bahk Mahn! That's how they say it...

Vitali came up to me the other day and pointed out the back door. "Come eat Barbie!", he kept insisting. "Mama! Barbie come eat!"

Finally I figured it out: "come eat" meaning anything having to do with food, and "Barbie"being the English word he could remember coming closest to "Bird". Yup, the bird feeder needed filling. Obvious, isn't it?

See that bucket in the foreground of the picture? If you are from a big family you will probably recognize that as being a tub of peanut butter! Yes, they do sell them that big! Actually, that one now holds birdseed.

Vitali loves filling the feeder and then sweeping off the porch! Can you tell?

And here he is with the first caterpillar of the season.

Our sweet little Ivy has been feeling sick the last couple of days. ( Vitali is happy because he gets to sleep in the big boys' room while I sleep in with Ivy. Other than that, everyone else just takes it in stride. ) Being sick has made Ivy a little bit irritable. When I say little bit, that's what I mean. For the most part you'd never notice her. She is normally quiet but even quieter when she is sick.

All this to say that when she hollered over a "Bug!" (It is spring after all!) on the floor she was not only overreacting, the unusualness of her outburst grabbed the attention of those around her. Now, in a house made up largely of girls, bugs were trapped and carried outside to be set free. (Us girls don't like bug guts much.) But now that our house has a larger male presence, things will undoubtedly be different. Just as I was automatically glancing around for a piece of paper to urge the bug onto, Misha nonchalantly walked up, glanced at the bug and promptly stomped on it! Then he shrugged and walked off, not even thinking to look back. If he had, he would have noticed the horrified expression on his little sister's face!

I am loving the new "us"!

Melissa

*"zook" is apparently Russian for "bug"

Life is Always Entertaining!

Life is not always fun at our house but it is always funny!

Vitali is always getting himself in some kind of trouble. I like hot sauce, spicy foods, and hot horseradish. I don't know how many times Vitali has absolutely insisted on trying my hot sauce. I tell him in English and Russian he won't like it. I remind him he tried it yesterday but he persists and persists until I let him try it for the 20th time. Every time is the same.

Vitali: Ya Hachoo eta (I want that)
Me: N'coosina (it is not tasty)
Vitali: Ya Hachoo PLEASE (I want it PLEASE)
Me: Eta gariachi sauce, Tee n'hachoo (It is hot sauce, you don't want it!)
Vitali: Please
Me: n'coosina (not tasty)
(Repeat last two lines 5 times)
Me: Skol'ka (How much)
Vitali: NOGA (LOTS!)
Me: OK
Vitali: Spasiba (Thank You!)
(Vitali takes a big bite of whatever with hot sauce)
Me: Coosina? (Tasty?)
Vitali: Da (yes)
(1.23 second delay)
Vitali: WATERRRRRRR PLEASSSSSSSE

A minute later:
Me: Coosina? (Tasty)
Vitali: Da! (Yes)
Me: Yeeshoo? (more?)
Vitali: NYEEEET! Ne COOSINA (NOOOO! Its not TASTY!)

Repeat again the next night.

Vitali is also the one who sat on the URINAL at Home Depot the other day when he needed to use the toilet!

Vitali is often afraid of "Ba-bye" the Ukrainian version of the boogeyman. Tonight at church he was using the bathroom and there was a very dark room off the bathroom. Here is our conversation:

Vitali: Ba-bye tuda? (monster over there?)
Me: Ba-bye v'Ukraina; Ba-bye Ne v'America (monster is in Ukraine, Monster is not in America)
Vitali: Ba-bye n'suda? (monster is not right here?)
Me: Ba-bye ne suda. Suda America. (monster is not here. Right here is America.)
Vitali: (pointing at the dark room) Tuda America? (over there is that America?)
Me: Dah, Tuda America! (Yes, over there is America)

I also could not help but post this picture of Max.

These three are all boy but they do occasionally like to play with the girls' toys.
What is particularly funny is when Max gets grumpy and starts saying Eta Moi! (ITS MINE!)

The good thing, or bad thing, depending on who you talk to, is that the boys are just like me.

Lately they have gotten into saying "Ahhhhhhhhhh, nyet!" or "Ahhhhhhhhhh, da!" when you ask them something. It wasn't until Melissa reminded me that I do this fake pondering "Ahhhhhhhhh..." with them when they make an absurd request, that I figured out where they had gotten it.

All three boys are capable of making a mountain out of a mole hill, so I often say, soothingly, "ITS OOOOOKAY!" The boys now all say "ETA S'OOOOOKAY!" if another is over reacting.

Having a blast and ETA S'OOOOKAY here,

Steve

What we were all thinking here at 1:00pm today:

[Hannah]
A rainy day....What shall I do?

I think I will sew something pink. Starting with Annette's ripped princess dress-up dress.

[Ivy]
A wainy day....What shall I do?

I Know.

I will put on something bootiful and play with Vitali and our little doggies.

[Vitali]
A rainy day! I think I will go outside in my socks!

WAAAAAH! My socks are wet!

I think I will follow Mommy everywhere with my doggie
and see if I can shake off Ivy and that little dog of hers.


[Misha and Max]
A rainy day....Hmmm....What should we do?

I know!

Let's dress up in fairy wings and run like hooligans all around the house! Mom will LOVE that!

[Mom]
A rainy day...

30 minutes till nap time.
30 minutes till nap time.
30 minutes till nap time.
30 minutes till nap time.
30 minutes till nap time.
30 minutes till nap time.
30 minutes till nap time....

Happy March!

Here are a few new photos. I took the pictures of the kids yesterday, Leap day. So, even though the one picture is of our little Ivy, who was not adopted, she is jumping. And jumping is like leaping so....it fits, right? Besides, she makes a really cute little two-year-old pink ballerina, doesn't she?

Speaking of Ivy, I think I should mention that Max seems to especially enjoy her. In the same way that he kept sweetly watching Vitali when they first met in Ukraine, he watches her. She's little and therefore interesting to him. He loves babies and is very sweet to our little Iv', as we call her. He often sees me watching him watch her and smiles shyly when he catches my eye. Then he usually says "Ivy..." and grins. Sometimes if she is being especially cute, he calls her "Ivyska" (adding the"- ska" at the end makes it more like an affectionate nickname). I don't blame him. It's hard not to like Ivy.
Ivy and Vitali are just about exactly the same height. She's heavier, though, as a result of being a family-born baby. They both will have birthdays the end of this month. She will be three and he will be four. He is so skinny and babyish that I often forget that Ivy is really still the "baby" of the house.

Aren't they darling together?
This morning in my bed as he was dozing off again, (he always joins us at about 6:30 or so) Vitali asked several times for Ivy. Actually what he said was, "Mozhoo Ahvy" --I don't know where he got the southern accent--which, I think, meant that he wanted to go to her since he was half-heartedly trying to sit up. They sleep in the same bed and they're buddies. She has adopted about as many Russian words as he has English ones! The most prevalent being, "EE Meenye!" (and to me!)

Misha is always himself. He is that type. What you see is what you get. I like that and I don't like that. Sometimes I want him to pretend to be better behaved! But at the same time, when he makes progress, I know it is real progress and not just for show. So that's a good thing.

Now, I absolutely have to show you this next picture. We bought these shoes when we first arrived in America; before we even got to Tennessee! One day when they were only one month old, we looked at them and this is what we saw. (Max hadn't thought it worthy of mentioning, apparently!) Yes, that is daylight shining through the backs of that shoe!
How? You might ask. Let's just say that he thinks of them less as shoes and more as a set of convenient brakes when riding the big-wheel down the driveway!

Boys!

A bunch of stuff that I need to write down before I forget it:

Here are a few very random things I want to be sure and write down but I keep forgetting to so I will type them here and that way, you'll all get to read my notes. Lucky you!

A couple of days ago Max got into the car and instructed Annette, "Buckle up!"

He also seems to really like green (favorite color?). He points it out often and loves to wear it.

He loves the cow at Chick-fil-A. I mean LOVES it.

His Spider man baseball cap is another thing he likes a lot. He wears it every day.

His shoes. I have to post a picture of these! He has completely worn out the backs of them doing what I think must be his favorite pass-time: riding the big-wheel down the driveway at break-neck speed!

Another favorite pass- time? Playing CDs.

He spent the past three days carrying around and American flag with him everywhere.

Misha is saying "I love Mama ee Papa" in English more and more. Up until now he mostly only said this in Russian.

He spits when he talks. A lot.

He rolls every 'R' very noticeably. Even in English words.

He drives us crazy by shaking his head while pronouncing, "Ya ni Boodoo." before tasting anything for the first time. I don't know exactly what that means but the gist of it seems to be "I will not be doing that!" Fortunately after he tastes it (and likes it) he is not too proud to admit that it tastes good.

Vitali
Loves his Papa. Almost to excess, if that is possible. He loves me too, but in a more normal way.

He says a bunch of his words in baby talk. In Russian he says "Zozeezonya!" instead of 'dos vidania'. He says "Kanna" instead of 'Hannah' because of the Russian phonetics; in fact, he uses a 'k' sound to replace every 'h' sound.

At night I say, "What song shall I sing?" He understands this perfectly and always says, "A-B-C-D-E-F-Zhee- Zhee" Meaning the one that goes, "A,B,C, D, E, F, G, Jesus died for you and me..."

He throws very few tantrums now. Only one every several days or so.

He bounces when he walks.

He sings to himself when he's happy.

He likes to go outside but to poke his head back in the door every 5 minutes and say, "Mama?... Allo!...Paka!" then waving, go back out again.

Vitali loves soup. He usually has two or three bowls and generally makes no mess when he eats it. Generally.

All the boys...

...Love to get their hair done and then go and show Papa.

...Like to wake up waaaay too early!

...Yell, "Pre-yekhelleeeee!" (we've arrived) every time we get home from anywhere. Vitali actually says, "Peeyekellee!"

...like to wear footie pajamas

...Love to play outside

...LOVE their Babushkas and Deodushkas (Grandmas and Grandpas)

...Love talking on the phone.

...whine. But they are getting better about this. Thank goodness!

...like hotdogs. It is definitely their favorite food. Oh, yes and potatoes.

...Get excited over things we would think are mundane. Such as getting the mail of going to the grocery store or having hot dogs for dinner or going ANYWHERE in the car.

...are as excited to ride in the car as an American-born boy might be to get a daily ride in a Bulldozer

...are fascinated to watch me cook. For some reason the saying my dad used to say comes to mind, "If you want to help, don't help!" But I usually just swallow my words and remind myself that they have probably never watched anyone cook before. Misha is especially funny about this. The other day he saw me making cookies. He looked in the bowl and saw the butter. He tasted it. "Ya ni boodoo."

Of course.

Melissa

Link to video. Misha sings the ABC song!

The boys are doing so well at putting their best efforts towards learning to communicate! I am so proud of them!

I shot this video of Misha a couple of weeks ago at the lake. After only 10 days in America he had decided that he needed to master this ABC song! I think he has done quite well, Don't you?

playing by the lake

We went down to the lake tonight and took a new family picture. After that, the kids had a good time throwing rocks into the lake for a bit as well as climbing on the rocks around the edge. I hope you will enjoy some pictures of the evening:

Hannah.

Misha and Steve. The boys love their Papa.

Annie Grace
I can't believe she's almost six!

Maximus. The boys have rosy cheeks from playing outside all day long!

The whole clan.

Us. Melissa and Steve. Steve always looks concerned about something in his pictures.
If I remind him not to scowl, his eyebrows shoot up and he just ends up looking extremely surprised. :-) Even so, I like how this picture turned out.

Misha.

Ivy was sick yesterday. This evening she is better but still extra cuddly.
Nice for a mommy.

This one was almost as big as his head. The angle disguises that fact.
Vitali heaved this missile with all his might!
It landed about a foot and a half away from him.

What did you do today?

pictures

I'm kind of cheap. (ok, I can hear you snickering out there!) Anyway, last year we just could not make time for our usual Valentine's Day celebration. So, we celebrated the 15th instead. Know what? The kids really cleaned up! Everything was 75% off and so we were able to get some things that we normally would never have baought and only spent about $10!


This year we let Hannah decide, would it be ok to make Valentine's for us on the 15th again? She considered it carefully and opted in favor of extra candy.


Last night, on the 14th , we made Valentine's 'Whatevers'. I call them 'whatevers' because they were just whatever the kids decided to create! Vitali enjoyed smearing red glitter glue and paint on this construction paper heart for a long time. Then he held up his hands like this and asked for a napkin!
Today, we have beautiful weather. I am not sure what the temperature is because out thermometer blew away in a storm the other day but it is quite pleasant. (Not quite as pleasant as Hannah's shorts and short-sleeved shirt would suggest, however!) The kids have all enjoyed playing outside today and I hate to call anyone in for a nap, but then, I'd hate not to, too!


I like this picture of Max. It shows his sweet little spattering of freckles. I like freckles on boys. Steve has almost the same pattern across his nose.
Vitali has his mouth full (and I do mean full!) of bread. He is also wearing a baseball cap. He likes to look like his Papa.
There's Papa, getting ready to leave for a while. I thought he looked a little eager...
Hannah kept saying, "Mom, take a picture! Hurry up, Mom! Mom?!!" I didn't tell her that I already had...
The kids (except Annette, who isn't feeling well today) lined up like this and asked me to take a picture of them. No, they are not going swimming, that is armor. Oh yeah, now you see it, don't you?

Misha posed for this picture. He usually is known for liking to goof off for the camera but today he just wanted his picture to look nice, I guess. It does, doesn't it?

This picture really reminds me of my brother Warren when he was little.
Misha wanted me to take this one too, next to the 'machina' (car).

Riding in the car to them is as much of an adventure as an American kid riding on a bulldozer. They absolutely LOVE to go anywhere! They are actually a little awestruck that that is our car. OURS. wow. I guess it is pretty cool.

BTW, keep scrolling down, I have posted a surge of new stuff today!