You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Somebody (me) thought it would be a really great idea if Santa brought nerf guns and ammo for all the kids for Christmas. After all, what says 'family fun' more than a good ol' gun fight??

Tonight as I stood at the sink doing dishes, I was nailed in the eyeball by a nerf 'bullet' by my four year old. Seriously, what are the odds???? Did I mention that my eye was open and that she wasn't aiming at anything, but that she accidentally pulled the trigger FROM FIFTEEN FEET AWAY?! How does that happen?? Anyhow, I am recovering nicely and I can still see. Phew. But really, it hurt!

As for the family fun that I mentioned? Oh how I wish I could post pictures. Our hard drive desperately needs to be replaced and until then, I can't upload any pictures onto my computer. Well, I take that back. I can, but it takes more than two full days during which time I have no access to my computer. sigh. It'll be getting fixed soon.

Back to the family fun. Tonight the family room had been seriously rearranged. As in the chair was in front of the front door, the love seat was moved into the middle of the room, both being used as bases from which one could somewhat safely reload their guns. We had two teams. Huz and the littles against BoyOne and One. I was the photographer. Rules included being able to use any ammo that had been shot (we have actually labeled all the ammo with everyone's names to prevent, as much as possible, ammo unfairness), faces being off limits and climbing on furniture acceptable. There was lots of Mission Impossible moves (jumping over couches and banisters, rolling across the ground, two handed gun shooting, etc.), laughing, and loudness.

Good times:)

I need to add how proud I am of Huz for INSTIGATING this. Usually he comes close to a nervous breakdown when he gets home from work and we're having the world cup in the family room. Super impressed Huz!! Super impressed.

I would also like to make note that BoyTwo has had actual possession of his gun for less than ten minutes since receiving it Christmas morning due to his obsession with purposely shooting people in the face...

Deck the Halls

I can't remember if I had been running errands or cleaning a bathroom, but either way I distinctly remember walking into the family room and feeling like I was watching a Chevy Chase movie.

Fake tree had been brought upstairs from the basement and was being decorated. The branches had not been spread or 'fluffed'. Two of the four sections of lights on the tree didn't even work. It was evident that the kids did not think we had enough decorations because they were pulling things out of cupboards and drawers. Anything they could find that would stay on the tree was going on the tree.

ornaments.

candy.

baby rattles.

shower curtain rings, shaped like ducks.

earrings.

old candles.

hair accessories.

HELP!!!!!

In a crazy whirlwind they moved to their next project: wrapping a hideous hodge podge of non-matching Christmas lights around the banister and up the stairs. They then draped the lights, banner style, from post to post. There were five strands of lights. Two were 'twinkling' lights. The other three were solid lights. Out of the two twinkling strands, only 1 1/2 worked. Out of the three solid strands only 1/2 worked out of two.

I sat on the couch and put my head in my hands and bent over, head and hands in lap.

I heard Huz say to the kids that they needed to wait to finish decorating while he tried to exchange some of the light bulbs. The boys thought that if they yelled enough or hit the lights enough or tried every. single. electrical outlet that certainly all the lights would magically start working.

My head came up.

"No," I said, "it's either got to be all trashy or not at all. It's got to be clear that we let the kids do this. It can't at all look like we were involved in this Christmas disaster!"

I did NOT want anyone thinking we had somehow tried and failed miserably!

Bah Humbug, I know.

The next day I pulled myself together and purchased enough working lights (all solid) to cover the banister and railings. The kids rewrapped the stairs, and Huz fixed one of the two non-working strands on the tree. We left the ornaments as is and guess what?! The kids think it's the most beautiful thing in the world.

So even though we look a little (or a lot) Griswaldish, the kids will remember our house as being the most beautifully lit with the most fantastically adorned tree. And that's what it's all about right? RIGHT??? :)

The Dreaded Lesson

Thanks for all the encouragement for my little lesson. Here's an update.

Friday I got a call from the pianist. The soloist lady had called her to complain about the song I asked her to sing!! Can you believe?? If it is really, truly that big of a deal to her, she should have just told me a flat out no, which I eventually decided she did in a round about way. So the very diplomatic pianist suggested a different song and told me that the soloist had told her that she would sing whatever she, the pianist, chose. Fine. I actually really like the other song a lot. I just had to REDO my lesson to fit it in. Whatever. I put on my big girl panties and did it.

And then in the middle of a Christmas party Saturday night, I get a phone call (which I did not answer) from the pianist. I already knew what she was going to say. Do you know what she said? Bet you can guess.

Yep.

That's right.

Soloist didn't like that song either. Later, after the party, I called the pianist back. She told me that she had asked the soloist to just pick a song. That seemed to appease the soloist who had said, hear this,

'It's not like people are going to be able to follow along with the lesson anyhow.'

Being in the fragile state that I am, I was slightly offended. Is she implying that my lessons are difficult to follow? Is she implying that I don't present well? At this time I sent a text to my friend who is in charge of conducting the meeting and told her that I was not going to be there, to just sing Christmas songs the whole time.

But then I remembered that I had put on my big girl panties and redid the lesson yet again to incorporate the song.

It was about 10:30 p.m. when I finished.

This morning when I got to church bright and early to put programs together and set up, I realized I had left my music at home. (For one song I was going to play a recording.) Huz raced home to get it for me. And then took the time to move gingerbread houses and let the dog out before he came back. When I tried to pull the song up, it had been deleted off my ipad. GRRRR. No problemo. I'll just down load it again. Except we couldn't get any internet connection!! So, I read the words. Lame. Oh well, what do you do. Everyone was soooo nice and made a point to tell me how wonderful my lesson had been which leads me to believe that it wasn't really that wonderful. Because let's face it, it wasn't. And when people go out of their way to make you feel good about something that you know was absolutely mediocre, you know they are just trying to be nice. On a bright note, we found out that the internet connection at our building does not work so now we can have it fixed...

BoyOne has been asking me for a hair cut for about two weeks. I finally had some time last night after finishing my lesson so we headed into the bathroom. I had him describe to me the cut he wanted. He asked for the area on the top of his head (imagine the area that the little Jewish hat, the kippah, would cover) to be cut to about 3/4 inch with the remaining hair on his head to be left long.

Sorry Charlie. No can do. Two reasons. 1) He would freak when he saw how ridiculous he looked, 2) He would look ridiculous.

I told him that this wasn't a popular look in America and suggested a couple other cuts. He insisted that his friends had their hair cut like this. I knew he was full of crappola, so I told him to tell me the names of these friends with this haircut so I could visualize what he was describing. He had no names to give me. I told him I could not do that haircut because I wasn't sure how to. I was trying to be nice. I should have just told him he'd look like a dork, or just done the haircut and LET him look like a dork. But, I said what I did and he. was. pissed.

He didn't talk to me again until tonight at about 8. All because I would not cut his hair. Holy act like a baby!!! He was all sulky and wouldn't eat. Too bad, so sad for him. We went ahead and ate without him. I am not going to play his dumb little games. He is such a grump when he wants to be. Why would anyone choose that way of life? I just do not understand. GAH!! It is so annoying. Just remembering how annoying it is is making me feel annoyed.

To end the weekend, we helped several kids finish the following projects: a report, scenery for a play, and science vocabulary definitions and drawings.

I have a friend who has ten kids. Nine of them are still at home.

HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU DO IT????

She is my hero.

BoyTwo is in a five point harness car seat. It's actually been really wonderful knowing that he will be staying in his seatbelt and not climbing around, opening doors and goofing off while I drive. Phew. We're all a little safer now.

BoyOne had a first about a week ago. He used a hand mixer for the first time. He loved it. So far all of my kids love to bake and cook like I do. Except BoyTwo, who I have not given the opportunity to for safety reasons. By the way, he still touches the stove e.v.e.r.y single time it's on. And yes, he knows it is on because it is bright red with a pan on it. And yes, every time he yells 'OUCH!' He doesn't learn by experience. I know a couple of things that this could be caused by. We'll have to wait to see if it's just him being Stitch, or if it is an impairment.

venting

FYI: This post will be removed soon-ish. Just in case someone I go to church with happens to read this blog, which at this time, not a soul even knows about :)

So. I. am. stressed. As in I have hives and had a migraine the past two days. It's not one thing in particular, but I think just a combination of a few things. 1) BoyTwo, 2) all the rest of my kids, 3) I teach a lesson in church. And not just any lesson. THE Christmas lesson.

Let's talk about 3. I don't generally fret about giving talks or lessons. Every once in a while something will cause me to become a little, shall we say, freaked out. As I look back, the times I can recall feeling like this are all the result of the same problem. Too much information to cover. That makes me panic because I tend to assume that the leader who has assigned me these multiple topics has something swimming around in their minds and I feel the pressure of having to deliver this magical lesson they are envisioning.

I have been praying and studying for this lesson for over a month. You'd think I could pull it together, but no. Well, I've got a plan, but I'm not feeling it or loving it. Whatever. One of the key components to this lesson was to have 'lots of singing' and to include some people who do not generally have the opportunity to be included. I originally thought this a fine idea as I try to always incorporate that into whatever I am doing. I am supposed to be covering a five page talk (that doesn't include the footnotes), the actual Christmas story, and lots of singing. In thirty-five minutes.

So, two Sundays ago the pianist (who is a. mazing.) approached me saying that she had asked so and so if she would be willing to do a solo. I have heard this woman sing before and she has a lovely voice. She happened to walk up while pianist and I were talking. She agreed to sing and asked what we would like her to sing. Because I was kind of caught on the spot and had yet to really zero in on my lesson, I told her I'd need to look over what I had prepared and let her know what song, if that was okay. She said that was fine, but then suggested singing 'Away in a Manger.' I immediately knew that this song was not going to work with the lesson I had been assigned (nothing personal to the song, just didn't go with everything else), so I said something like, 'well, let me get home and look what I have outlined and I'll give you a call. If you are set on that song, of course we would love for you to sing it, but if you are willing, there might be another that we could use.' She said sure.

But she didn't really mean it.

I called and talked with her today and asked if she'd be willing to sing 'O Holy Night.' Here are the two things that have spurred on this entire post. First, she kept referring to me as 'dear.' I felt so patronized. Don't talk to me like I'm four instead of thirty-four and don't know what I'm doing. grrrrr. Second, and really I should just laugh at this, but because I'm stressed it just isn't as funny as it should be, she said,

"Really? (try to hear the sarcasm) I guess I could, but that's just such a boring song."

really???? Melodically speaking, the voice range of 'O Holy Night' is much more impressive than her original suggestion of 'Away in a Manger.' 'O Holy Night' is also an international Christmas hymn. I'm sure they both are, but come on. Singing 'asleep, asleep' over and over isn't exactly enthralling. Also, both are beloved Christmas songs.

I ignored the comment of the song being boring and just thanked her for being willing to share her talent with us. Then she asked again if I was sure that this was the song I wanted her to sing. You know the tone, 'well, if you're sure,' that you use with your kids when they are about to go outside in the 10 degree weather without a coat on. I told her that yes, this was the song and thanked her again.

I'm sure that it's the straw that is breaking the camel's back as BoyTwo had yet another stellar day at school today and there's like, oh, a million bazillion things to be done.

Sometimes you just need to vent.

p.s. why, oh why, can't I tell a short story??? It's just not in me...

Up The Ante

First a funny from Friday. At lunch I'm kind of popular. Everybody wants to sit by me and have me open their milk. It makes me feel special. The kids also ask me lots and lots of questions because I guess when you are the tallest one at the table, you know the most. So, this little buddy of mine asked me,

"So, how'd he (referring to BoyTwo) come out of you NOT English anyway?"

hahahaha.

Now for today. Heavy Sigh.

Friday, I, Billy Madison... I mean Stephanie, graduated from first grade. I was told that I no longer have to attend every. single. blasted. day! (there was much hugging and jumping for joy) Not that the kid is perfect, because let's be honest, he's not. However, he has made some notable strides (notice I didn't say huge) and the threat of a lawsuit from a certain parent has subsided. So, yeah. My days are free. Ish.

But then I totally jinxed life saying that BoyTwo hadn't been to the principal's office in four days and now, it looks like I'm being ungraduated. Here's the text I sent to Huz after picking the kids up from school today.

me: "BoyTwo had a bad day today"

Huz: "How was it bad"

me: "Wouldn't do his work, knocking down chairs, throwing pencils, yelling, all this same stuff w/ his aides and then he got in a fight and was sent to the principals office."

me again: "So, pretty bad"

Huz: "Yeah, I should say"

When BoyTwo climbed into the car he told me, "Mom! Today good job schoola!"

really? REALLY?

And then, because whatever I am thinking usually comes out my mouth unfiltered,

"really? REALLY? Mr. Principal good job, BoyTwo?"

him: "Maybe little bit (holding his fingers about a centimeter apart) no good. It's okay mom!"

It is not okay.

And then I came up with a game plan. He is totally cool with hanging out in the principal's office practicing his penmanship for hours on end. He doesn't love it, but it is totally doable for him. Evidently, it's time to change things up.

So, I dropped off the girlies, gave them a five gallon of ice cream to indulge on and told them to play on the computer and the wii and to most of all have fun and stay alive (their little jaws were on the floor. 'really mom?' 'is this a trick?' 'can we have a lot of ice cream?' 'do we have to set the timer for the screen time?' yes, I'm a freak.) and I drove little Mr. It's Okay Mom back to schoola.

I knocked all the chairs off the desks, threw all the pencils on the ground, and then he got to pick them all up. (don't panic, this wasn't done in a rage, just matter of fact. AND I made sure he was out of the way so he didn't get smooshed by a chair) Then, I had him clorox wipe all the desks and cabinets. Followed by the doors, pencil sharpener and the coat closet area because he was actually having fun wiping the desks off so I had to make sure he was getting tired of it. We wrapped up the evening by penning five apology letters. One to his teacher, two aides, class, and family. When we left at 6:45 p.m., we were the last ones there, along with the maintenance crew.

We'll see if this works. I hope it does because I really REALLY have better things to do than clean the school!! Or go to school, for that matter. Yes, I signed up for this, but I also have a pile of laundry the size of Texas that needs to be tackled.

As we got into the car to drive home, the song playing on the radio was Chumbawamba's "I Get Knocked Down."

"I get knocked down but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down..."

The big question is who the song is referring to. Me or him?:)

Interesting aside, when I was twelve I went on a ski trip with a friend of mine, her dad and about ten older boys, her brother being one of them. One evening, they allowed us to play games with them. We played poker, which up until that night (because I was/am very naive) I thought literally meant a game in which you poke people. Anyhow, the boys patiently explained the rules. We began to play. Then, someone announced,

"Ante up."

Only it sounded like Annie up. And I stopped the game and demanded to know why we had to Annie up. Why couldn't we Jim up or Bob up? And that was one of many times I have had the chance to ponder the concept of THINKING before I speak.

Little Tidbits

Saturday morning when I woke up, there were five extra bodies in bed with us. Five!!! Our bed is not huge, only a queen, but somehow they all managed to wedge their way in. When BoyOne sat up and saw that nearly the entire family was in bed together, he smiled big and said, "Family!" So awesome.

BoyTwo pees sideways at the toilet. Way to increase the level of difficulty, buddy.

BoyTwo still, much to our poor noses dismay, continues to throw his toilet paper in the garbage. (this is what is done in their country)

Both boys say, "Shuppy door" instead of "shut the door."

BoyTwo has enjoyed dressing up... in One's old pink leopard print dance costume. ?!

When the missionary who had taught BoyOne bore his testimony at church, he said that he thought BoyOne's baptism had been very nice. Then he added, "horosho," which is "good," in Russian. BoyOne proceeded to give him a shout out of "horosho" back, right in the middle of the meeting.

BoyTwo still leans on the wrong foot when skiing, causing himself to fall over. Repeatedly.

When I attended 8th grade English last week with BoyOne to help ensure his participation, he was chosen to read aloud. At the end of his turn, he called on me.

BoyTwo asked me when he was going to grow boobs.

"Now Onny and Bonny and Wonny and Dance and Maka and Baka and Ninna and Finna."

Translation: Now Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. On Comet, on Cupid, on Donder and Blitzen. By Four.

BoyOne calls Huz's grandmother Babushka 93 because that is her age and he can't remember her name.

When BoyTwo prays, he says, "Dear Hebbenly Fahbber."

BoyTwo made it four whole days without being sent to the principal's office. This was a goal for him and therefore a big achievement. The principal did have to make a personal visit to BoyTwo in his classroom one day so as to not disrupt the chain of excellence we were nearing, but we decided to forgive it. At the end of the fourth day, on the way out the door, BoyTwo just could not handle himself anymore and whacked a boy with his backpack. He immediately looked over at me and said, "mom, just a little hit. Principal no schoola!" Because he knew that the principal was not in his office, but out helping herd kids onto buses. Little stinker.

And for a first. Today, for the first time ever, BoyOne whispered. Can you believe it?! The boys do not have much self awareness and we have been trying to teach them how to whisper. Until now, they have been unable to hear the difference when they speak. Today during church, BoyOne asked me a question in a whisper though. I almost shouted for joy!! Not only because the one volume at which they speak is LOUD, but because this signifies a huge step for him in his development. Very exciting!!

The Outsiders Essay

For his English class, BoyOne had to write a paper on the book The Outsiders. (I know this should be underlined, but I don't know how to do this on blogger.) Anyhow, this is the third paper he has had to write. While still time consuming, this time around was much better! We had to tweak the assignment a little, given that he is reading the book, but not comprehending it. His assignment was this:

"Many of the children at your internat thought that life in America was very easy. Now that you live in America, do you agree with this? Why or why not? What are some things that are easier in America? What are some things that are more difficult in America?"

We are still working on coming up with his own ideas and expressing his thoughts and opinions. His writing assignments have to be posed as questions or else he does not know how to think about it. It also has to be directly about him. He is unable at this time to make comparisons or to relate obscure things to his own life. Thankfully, once I cornered him at the computer, this assignment took very little prodding. I am so proud of him for doing this!! There was still lots of complaining, but it was the type of complaining that is to be expected. Not the "I hate you and I'm going to make this as hard for you as it is for me" type of complaining. There weren't even any tears. We have seen so much progress. He also is beginning to understand the writing process. We have a form for him to follow. Here is what it says:

"1) the first paragraph tells what the entire article (the word essay doesn't translate by the way) will discuss

2) every article should have three ideas that it talks about. You will mention these three ideas in the first paragraph.

3) the second, third, and fourth paragraphs will be about the three ideas. each paragraph will discuss one idea. You will include supporting facts about your idea.

4) The final paragraph will end your article. You will say again what your main topic is. You will give the reasons that support this idea."

Here is what he wrote:

"In my boarding school kids say in America life is very easy, just sitting around and eating and sitting and playing on the computer. I think in America there are difficult things as well as in Ukraine.

"For example, in America my mom makes me help with laundry, do homework, and sometimes I say this is difficult. In Ukraine, a good mother, but in America, mother is better analysis and pays more attention to us, and Dad also. In America well, very easy to find.

"Also this I noticed in America, not all people are skinny. There are a lot of plump. This is because in America, many foods to eat and plenty of places in the house to save it. In Ukraine, smaller kitchen than in America. In Ukraine, many products are not stored the way we know and as easily.

"English language is very difficult and Russian, too. Also, I cannot learn English quickly, but I am trying to.

"Before I came to America I thought that my life would be very easy. It is different than Ukraine. Some things are much easier. Some things are still difficult. But I have the best and most beautiful mom in the whole world. Her name is Stephanie.

"When I came to America I thought that my life is very easy in America but some things just easier and some harder. I cannot first determine where it is difficult and where it is easier. America is better. And the BEST FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"@ I LOVE AMERICA@$"

When we were discussing ideas for his paper (brainstorming-new concept 12,382,983,479,238), I jokingly suggested that he mention how awesome I am. When I saw that he had included this, I laughed and told him he should not put this in his paper, but he said he wanted it in there. How's that for sweet:)

I think he did pretty great, don't you?!

How This Is All Possible

Last Saturday BoyOne was baptized. It was a great day. So many of his friends and family came to support him. This was important to him and made a big impact, as I don't think that he's ever known that kind of love before. Thanks to all of you for supporting him in the different ways that you do. We love and appreciate you so much.

The morning was great/crazy trying to get everyone out the door. BoyOne had gone camping with his scout group the night before and made it home in time to shower and get ready. He was bugged that I made him shower before being baptized. I guess he thought a dunk in the water would do the job. haha.

To start the program, we had our translator give the opening prayer in Russian. We really wanted BoyOne to understand what was being said and to feel the Spirit. We felt that this would help with both of those things and we were right. Our translator is awesome and we are infinitely grateful to him for the time he has taken to come and be with our crazy family while BoyOne was taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ. His influence and example to BoyOne is priceless. He sat by BoyOne the rest of the time to translate everything that was said.

Two of BoyOne's closest friends spoke during the program part of the baptism. These fourteen year old boys have made an enormous positive impact on our son and we are so grateful for them. They prepared their talks themselves and delivered them so well. Now I know at least one reason why we were supposed to move here.

At One and Two's baptisms, the girls all sang a song together and thus a tradition was born. So, at this baptism, the girls were prepared to sing this song once again. We sing this particular song all. the. time. It's a favorite for on the way to church or school, before bed and while doing hair. They know the words in their sleep. When it was time for the song, the girls came from all parts of the chapel we were in, they were each sitting with different friends or family members. One, Two, and Three were up front and waiting for Four. When she finally came up to the front, she came running down the isle, barefoot, hair streaming behind her. She climbed up on the stool that was in front of the microphone, grabbed onto the handle, and caught her breath, which meant we all got to hear her heavy breathing. It was funny. We also were able to hear Three try to shush her. During the song, the older three somehow managed to forget the words to this song, but Four pressed on. Classic.

We baptize by immersion and when Huz baptized him, BoyOne's knee popped up out of the water, so he was baptized again. BoyTwo thought this a fabulous event and gave a shout out to Huz. "Three, Papi!! Three!!" Afterwards, while still in the water, Huz hugged BoyOne, who then tried to splash water on him and get him wet. haha again.

Originally we had planned for Huz's father to give the closing prayer, however, BoyOne surprised us all by wanting to give the prayer himself. I'm sure it was a difficult thing for him to do, there were so many people in attendance and he is fairly new to the whole prayer thing anyhow. His prayer was beautiful though, and heartfelt. We are so proud of him. As I said in the post prior, he continues to surprise us.

The baptism was followed by a late lunch back at our house which, according to BoyOne, was "a big good job." Again, he's never had so many people care so much about him and his personal welfare. Ever. Plus, he likes food.

He finished his day by snowboarding with his friends. And watching a scary movie.

"Today big good job."

Speaking of scary things, both boys have been very 'scary' lately. That's what they call being scared. They believe in ghosts and witchcraft and zombies and tell us all the time about their Ukraine experiences involving these things. Generally speaking, Ukrainians tend to be a superstitious people, so you can imagine the attention these things are given. It's both saddening and maddening to hear these stories.

Speaking of stories, we have been hearing so many from both boys about their pasts. My natural instinct as both a human being and their mother is to want to be able to say something or do something to try to make things better or to make them go away, but the reality is that these things happened and it is a very real, raw part of their lives. A part that I wish we could just delete or make go away. As I think about these things and try to figure out what I can do to make it all better, I know that I cannot do anything. That's a little discouraging knowing you can't just fix something. It's also a little scary not knowing how these things will affect the rest of their lives. As I ponder, I realize that I DO know the answer to making all of this better. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I had the opportunity to bear my testimony in church the day after the baptism. I hadn't planned on doing so, but as I sat there, I was overwhelmed with the knowledge that the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, can remedy the broken things in this world. Not only can He help, He wants to help, it is the sole reason He came to earth. To look at where we are right now, versus oh, say, mid-September, is nothing short of a miracle. Go back and read. You'll agree. The entire process of getting the boys here, having them here, and watching how their temporal and spiritual lives have changed and continue to change is miraculous. And it is not anything that we have done. The only way that any of this was made possible is through a very loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They are the reason we chose to adopt. They are the reason we were able to adopt. They are the reason we were able to get through the adoption, the reason that it actually and finally happened. Because of Them, the boys are grateful for snowmen, mandarin oranges and being safe while they sleep. Because of Them they have a reason to believe that they have worth as human beings. They make it all possible. Not for one second do I believe any of this could have happened without Them. Not for one second.

And if all of that wasn't enough to convince you, BoyOne, of his own accord, chose to share his testimony in church also. He did so in his native tongue. Although the words he spoke were only partially understood by me and one other woman in the congregation, the Spirit that was present was felt and understood by all. Him standing there, testifying of Jesus Christ, having a family, feeling the Spirit, and then sharing it, that my friends, is the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dressed Up

Today BoyOne wore his infamous grey jeans to school today, as he does every. single. other. day.

What makes this day different, however, is that he wore his white church shirt and a tie also.

?!?!

This from a child who, at one time, refused to wear church clothes to church? Now, willingly and of his own accord, is choosing to wear them to school?

Shto?!

We're really not sure why he wanted to dress up like this today, but he assured us it was

"a big good job."

Way to keep us guessing, buddy.

What Do You Do...

...when your seven year old is really a two year old in all senses except for his actual birthdate???

What happens when he missed out on some key developmental parts of his babyhood and toddlerhood?

What if he was taken care of by his older brother, who by the way did a fabulous job, but that resulted in him picking up on and participating in behaviors far above his appropriate age level?

What am I supposed to do when he thinks he is seventeen, all other indicators say that he is two, and he is really seven???

When we hosted, it was evident that BoyTwo was far younger than his six years. During the three weeks we had them, Huz and I estimated him to be about three years old, same as Four. Only a year later he is seven and we are finding out that he is really only two.

As Four would say, "What the...?!"

After the hosting time, I took it upon myself to find out what I could about this weird age phenomenon and discovered it to be quite common in children who have for some reason or another suffered trauma that prevented them from going through their 'normal' stages of life. The 'answer' to helping kids overcome this is to let them experience the stages they have missed.

For different people that means different things. I know some people who have regressed their child back to an infantile stage where they bottle feed their child, feed them baby food, sleep them in a crib, allow them to be diapered, and transport them everywhere (as you would an infant). Other people have not gone back quite that far or extreme and keep their child's world very small. They are the only caretakers. Period. I would say this is the toddler stage. They do everything for their child. Everything. Even things the child is able to do himself or herself. Others yet allow their child to regress to childlike behaviors below their given age, accept it and encourage the child to explore a stage that they are revisiting, until the child naturally moves on to the next stage.

Crazy as it sounds, many people attest to this method of recreating a child's missed stages of growth. Don't judge anyone for doing this until you've been there yourself. And not just as a sideline witness:)

In September, upon arriving home, BoyTwo seemed to settle in to the anticipated behaviors of testing limits, fearing loss, demanding serious attention, and all the others that I felt I was mentally prepared for. Then he threw me a loop on about the third or so day when he was unable to dress himself. The most bizarre thing about this for me is that he dressed himself just fine the year previous during hosting. I highly doubt that an orphanage full of children has people that dress the children for themselves. I had spent two full weeks with him in Ukraine where he dressed himself just fine.

What in the crap was going on????

Fast forward to now. He is seven going on two. He has integrated into school quite well, despite his occasional incidents. Which, by the way, seem more to be age appropriate inappropriateness. How's that for confusing?? His poor behavior is what you would expect from a child his age, is what I mean. At home, where we initially felt like we had the most progress, he is quickly spiraling down to a younger age.

This is tricky for me. I'm going to be totally honest here. I don't really like babies. I can do the baby thing just fine and I'm actually really good with babies and kids. I just don't really like it. So the first problem is me. I don't like having to have a baby/toddler again. Especially one who is the size of a seven year old (okay, okay, maybe the size of a five or six year old. he's small) and as destructive as five seven year olds!! The other problem is that the method we have used up to now of allowing him to 'naturally' revisit missed stages seems to have worked initially, but now I'm not sure what is going on.

He went from seven to four to two and is still two. As I type this, I'm beginning to see more clearly. That's the beauty of writing things down, or talking something over with a friend. You can work your way through something. Sometimes. I guess I should feel happy that he feels safe and secure enough to revisit his early childhood in order to progress. I guess I should be glad that he's going through this right now instead of when he is fifteen or something. I guess I should feel blessed that I get to have him as a two year old since I missed those early years of his life.

But I don't.

I feel frustrated that a child who was once able to dress himself now requires the attention of a ten month old. I am bugged that I have to treat him like a two year old all the time, especially when sometimes he still thinks he is seventeen. Most of all I am disappointed with myself for feeling these things, although I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I just wish that I was more prepared for a toddler. I am also having self conflict as to how to find a balance in having a seven year old that thinks he is seventeen, who at one time did things that an inappropriate seventeen year old might do, who is two in nearly every aspect of his life.

The families who have gone to the extremes in regressing their child's age, from what I can tell, have done this primarily to help the child. I would like to put BoyTwo in a crib in my room for selfish reasons! It would be far easier for me to treat him completely as though he is two, rather than to have him be two, then seven, then two, then four, then two, then ten, then two, then one and so on. All in the course of an hour.

GAH!!

Don't worry. I'm not freaking out. Nor am I feeling at my wits end. I have been praying about this and mulling things over in my mind (constantly:)). I think part of what needs to happen is for me to readjust my expectations for life right now. I've already done this a couple of times since bringing the boys home and I'd be lying if I said it would be easy.

One thing I didn't bargain for is the sadness I feel that BoyTwo is so much younger. As I said before, I was ready for a three or four year old. Although there is only a year or two difference in those expectations versus where he is now, that is a world of difference in cognitive ability among other things. Part of me wonders if he will ever be age appropriate. Part of me grieves that he cannot participate in things that other kids his age do. The rest of me is gearing up to handle this better. To be a better 'therapeutic parent' as parents who have children with trauma are called.

In the mean time, pass the chocolate.

They Said...

BoyOne refers to everything and everyone as one of two things. A good job or a no good job. If he is really impressed, he will say big good job or no big good job. It is so. cute!!

BoyOne: "Mom! This is a big good job!" about Thanksgiving dinner.

BoyOne: "BoyOne no big good job." after school when he got in trouble.

BoyTwo: "Oh my goodness!" while watching the movie Super 8 that Huz assured me was okay for kids to see. NOT!! At least not our kids:) They were all scared (the girls) and scary (this is how the boys say scared). We were all crowded on our couches together holding hands and sitting on laps. It ended up okay... As in the movie was fine, the cuddling on the couch was great and nobody that didn't belong in our bed ended up there!!

BoyTwo: "Mom! Let's go!!!!" when he sees a deer out the window. We have deer in our yard every. single. day. Often multiple times a day. This phrase is used a lot!

One: "spacoinoinochee" a text that I received from her the other night from her friend's phone. (yes, her 11 year old friend has a cell phone!!!)

Four: "I want to sit by BoyOne!!" in the car, all the time. She has him tied around her little finger.

Our new favorite family phrase is, you guessed it,

"Big good job!"

BoyOne also says "It's okay," a lot. Only it sounds kind of like this, "isss ookee." That is his friends' favorite phrase.

BoyOne has decided to be baptized this coming Saturday, December 3, at 1:00 p.m. He enjoys reading the scriptures and praying. It is a beautiful thing to see him developing a relationship with Heavenly Father and with his Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a blessing to be able to teach these boys about prophets and scriptures and prayer and the atonement. It makes me more aware of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in my own personal life as I take the time to talk about Them to the kids and look for teaching opportunities.We are so excited for BoyOne to have this opportunity and are continually amazed at the blessings these boys bring into our family. We invite those of you who would like to join us for his baptism to do so. We would be honored to have you there. Call or email me and I'll give you addresses and directions.

bullet points

* BoyTwo spent the past four days in the principal's office. eye roll, sigh, upward glance to heaven...

*BoyOne only had two incidences at school. Really, he does quite well most of the time. It does seem that both boys have bad days on the same days. Although I try to track them so that I can figure out what triggers their 'bad day' I have yet to figure it out. Maybe they plan it??

*Four asked me the other day to please pick her nose for her. Apparently she had some 'glass' poking her (very dry boogers??)

*We were still sick at our house last week. I thought we were through with it all, false alarm. Friday, I tried to send them all to school again, but by 2 I had been called to pick up three different kids. Being the smart mom that I am, I checked out the fourth kid when I picked up the third sick one so that I didn't have to make a fourth trip to the school for the day.

*BoyTwo and Four have been caught picking their noses and eating it. Ugh. Makes me want to barf. BoyTwo has also taken to wiping his boogers on the walls (which I guess is at least more age appropriate than the forty year old man that used to rent our home who wiped his boogers on the walls). Gross!! Upon discussing this with both children separately, they both told me how much they love to eat their boogers. Gross! Stop it!!!

*We are dealing with some chauvinistic behavior with the boys lately. Much more with the younger one than the older one. BoyOne has good logic, as the orphanage director told us, and that really comes in handy. He 'gets' things much more quickly than his brother. He's also older and has had a family before. Anyhow, it's super annoying more than anything. Fortunately Huz is a rock star and is the best example for them. BoyOne now willingly does what some might consider to be 'girl' jobs. That's huge.

*BoyTwo is going through the automatic no stage. Maybe it could also be called the two year old stage. Here is an example of a conversation we just had with him yesterday.

me: "BoyTwo, do you want Santa Claus to come bring you a present?"

now lest you think that language may still be a barrier, it is, sometimes. The above question was 100% understood.

BoyTwo: "NO!"

two seconds later

BoyTwo: "Mami? Santa Claus bring BoyTwo a present?"

*Thanksgiving was great!! I got to host and it was so much fun and I'm not even being sarcastic. I love to cook! It was so great to have Huz's family here and the weather was good and the dogs all got along and my sister even came up! The company was fabulous, even though the 28 pound turkey took TEN HOURS to cook, instead of the suggested 7. Way to throw me off schedule, bird.

*While we waited for people to arrive for dinner yesterday, I had time to cut BoyOne, Four and Three's hair. Check.

*Funny thing my youngest nephew said yesterday after having played and watched much ping pong, "I bet the best person at ping pong is Jesus Christ. Or maybe Santa." hahaha

*Today we took the family skiing. We live right by a ski resort. Three of them actually. Last year we had passes and it was really fun, so this year, we did it again. We buy our passes during the summer and it saves us 50%. Sweeeeeeet. The boys have never been skiing before. BoyOne opted to snowboard this year, as did One. Two and BoyTwo wanted to, but we told them no. Two is really good at skiing and we wanted her to have another year to practice jumps and just hone in on those skills. Next year we'll let her try. BoyTwo? Well, his large motor skills are largely lacking and his balance is awful, so the idea of trying to help him on a snowboard just didn't appeal to either of us, so he gets to ski. Good choice. Only one run is open at the resort. Huz took BoyOne and One over earlier so that they could get started. Back at home, we had to wait for BoyTwo to find his gloves that he left outside last night, have a time out for throwing things, put his snow clothes back on. (He took them off because he didn't want to wear them.) When we finally got there, we discovered BoyTwo had left his gloves at home. Sooooo, Huz went back home, with BoyTwo, to get them. I took the three youngest girls to get started. It only took Two a minute to remember how to be crazy fast and then she was off. Three and Four clung to me as though they had no feeling in their legs. At the bottom of the hill, they closed the chair lift due to strong winds. Bummer. Yes, that's right, I did not make it down one single run. But, we forged on, carrying our skiis about a third of the way up the run. At the top of the hill Three and Four decided they had to use the bathroom, which involved going down stairs in ski boots, taking off all layers of clothing in order to use the bathroom, putting everything back on and going back up the stairs. We went back outside and found Huz, BoyTwo, and our cousin and BoyOne, One and Two. Huz took the two little girls, I took BoyTwo and the bigs were all off. Three 'remembered' how to ski about 1/4 the way down the hill, which was a beautiful thing. The lift never reopened and by 3:15 the resort had announced it was closing due to the wind. Four slowly remembered how to ski, One was able to come down the hill with only one smallish crash, Two and Three were awesome, BoyOne was going off small jumps AND landing them, if you can believe that!! BoyTwo did about as good as an ostrich on skiis. We can't wait for more snow to fall and the wind to go away!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

p.s. about two weeks ago, Four gave me a picture she had drawn. It was of me and Huz on our wedding day. There were fire works and I was pregnant (?!). Just now she said to me, "Mom, this is so embarrassing! Can you get that picture down for me? I forgot to draw my arms!" It was really funny. promise.

That's What I Get

This morning I woke up to an email from the Junior High informing me that my 'child is getting a failing grade in the following class'.

Guess that's what I get for bragging...

p.s. does this mean I really can't pass 8th grade?!

Here's What's Happening

Hello!! So, this year it seems that the deer are down lower than they usually are for this time of year. We have them all over our yard and neighborhoods. They are always in the roads. This usually doesn't happen until January when they are being forced down here to find food. We always have deer, but not like this. Anyhow, anytime people come up to visit my last words to them are to watch out for deer. Wouldn't you know, Friday night on his way home, Huz and One hit a deer. Or actually, the deer hit them. It was really weird. The person driving behind Huz stopped to see if they were okay and he said it looked like the deer had tried to jump over the car. We're not sure what part of his body caught the driver's side mirror, but it is shattered and the whole piece will have to be replaced. There was also a bunch of deer hair caught in the window. Nothing else happened to the car though, and both Huz and One were okay. The other driver said that the deer landed on the ground and jumped right up and ran off. Wild.

During our blessing over dinner, Four prayed that Huz and One would be protected and safe while they drove home. Half an hour later, I received the call from Huz saying that they had just hit the deer, but that they and the deer were okay. It was a really cool experience to be able to pull the kids who were home together and explain to them what had happened and point out the very obvious result and blessing of prayer. Now, every time Huz comes home from work, BoyTwo runs out to him and asks if he hit a deer.

The boys' English is coming along fabulously. I had heard from other moms that after a couple months the language will just really take off and boy, they weren't kidding! BoyOne is better at conversational English. BoyTwo is learning the names of more things. I actually think that is probably how it was in Ukraine, though. BoyOne is the one who did most of the talking and had a life prior to the internat that he remembers. BoyTwo has had little opportunity to have conversations with others, at least decent conversations.

The boys are doing remarkably well. There are definitely still rough days, but they are much fewer and far between (like only two or three times a week instead of two or three times a day). I would say the most difficult thing right now for BoyOne is academics. Tonight we worked on a paper that he was supposed to write for English on the Freedom of Speech. The rest of the class was supposed to write 400 words. He wrote 62. And sixty of those had to be prompted:)

'I, myself, am from Ukraine and speak Russian. In Ukraine a lot of people had gathered and they protested the president's law. I think that it's not too bad when people can protest or speak about the president. People may be scared because they can be evicted from their homes. Can they create a new rule that will not hurt the people?'

The last couple days we were in Kyiv, there was a protest going on about the imprisonment of the former Prime Minister, so that's what he's kind of talking about. We were able to see people lined up in tents for protests and police hauling people away.

The most difficult part of BoyTwo's life has been 'socializing' him. He is definitely much younger than I had imagined. When we hosted him, I got a good taste of his personality, but I thought he was more like a three or four year old. (He is 7) Turns out he is really more like a one and a half or two year old in most things and I'm not going to lie. That has been a challenge. There have been times, many, where I have considered pulling him out of school and putting him into preschool. But then I realize that he would be kicked out of preschool. And really, he is doing quite well in school. His behavior has come so far. And he loves school. We have been holding private recesses for him where he and two or three other children from his class go out to 'recess' with his ELL aide to practice. So far, he has learned to play frisbee and helicopter with the jumprope and tag. My initial thought when the teacher told me helicopter was 'seriously?! You gave him something he could use as a weapon?!' But he does really well. As long as he's the one 'piloting' the 'helicopter.' haha. During lunch, I attend with him and we practice what he has learned during his practice recesses. That is when we practice sharing and taking turns. Picture trying to teach your two year old how to share or take turns. At that age they are still engaged in parallel play and if they could speak, they would ask you what the crap you are making them do. Well, he isn't two and he can speak and he is mostly interested in parallel play. We did have a break through last week though! He had been practicing playing tag for about a week. During lunch, he ran clear far away from the kids and I had to guide him back to where they were playing (he hadn't noticed he was playing alone). Times like that I sometimes just let him be on his own, but this time I herded him back to the little group. I'm glad that I did. As I watched him run in circles with them, tagging each other, I could see his big brown eyes all lit up with happiness! The smile on his face was priceless. He was having fun!!!! Seriously, a miracle had taken place. The light bulb went on. At least for tag.

I love hearing the boys pray. BoyOne prays in Russian. He speaks so fast that I can only catch about a fourth of what he is saying, but it's all good. BoyTwo prays on his own in English and it is darling. BoyOne is loving reading the scriptures and I am so glad! A few nights ago, he had homework to do, but asked if he could read the scriptures instead. I told him yes. That night he fell asleep reading the words of God. How cool is that?! I love to hear him retell the stories that he has read. I love that he is enjoying them and pray that he will continue to recognize the truth that he reads, that he will begin/continue to learn from the stories that he is enjoying. We have been able to have many conversations about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and I love how interested in them he is. BoyOne has expressed a desire to be baptized!! He has been asking every day for over a week now, so we want to respect his desire but not jump the gun... This is something that we want to be sure that he understands and is ready for so we will spend some more time talking and studying before we do this, but I think it will happen sometime in the next few weeks. Imagine that. A child who only two months ago told us he doubted there was a God and had no desire to learn of Him or worship. No wonder there was such adversity in getting him here.

And now, for a bragging moment:

BoyOne made the honor roll this past term. That's right folks! He got a 3.5 GPA and his picture in our local paper. Go figure!

(I'm so glad to know that I could still pass the 8th grade... j/k:))

Awesome

I've been a little under the weather... along with most of the rest of my house. Well, what do you do. Pull out the clorox wipes and stay in bed all day watching t.v./sleeping. I'm just so so so grateful that my kids are old enough that when I'm sick too, we can all just hunker down together. It's a beautiful thing.

The other morning, the day started off well. Really well. It wasn't as freezing as it has been, all the kids were off to school and it was just Four and me, playing Chutes and Ladders. I was looking forward to a lovely morning of playing with my littlest. I didn't need to be at the school until lunch time (a small miracle). I wasn't feeling well, but wasn't feeling horrible either.

When you play a game with Four, you really just sit there and keep her company. She likes to spin for you, move your guy for you, cheer for you, etc. As I lay on the floor next to her, watching her play 'our' game, I happened to look out the window to our back deck. I could see our dog, Lady, standing up. All I could really see of her was her back, but that was enough. The hairs on her back were standing up and she was not moving.

Lady doesn't get like this often, I mean goodness, we have all sorts of wild animals roaming through our yard all the time. We joke, sort of, that if someone were to break in, she'd make a new best friend. I sat up to see what she was staring at. I could hardly believe my eyeballs. There, in my backyard, grazing on my mostly dormant grass, was a cow. And not the female moose kind which we've had before. A farm cow.

SHTO?????

(That's Russian for what?!)

And if that wasn't weird enough, he proceeded to get stuck on our swing set. No kidding. He tried to walk through the swings and kind of harnessed himself on one.

I wasn't sure what to do. Did this warrant a 911 call? Not really, but kind of. I mean, there's a cow in my backyard on my swing set!!!! Right now I'm sure you are thinking that I live in the middle of nowhere and how weird is it really that I have a cow in my backyard. Just to set the record straight, it's really weird.

Anyhow, I bypass 911 and instead call my neighbors who have lived up here for a very long time. They're the next best thing to 911.

me: "Shawn, this is Stephanie. How ya doin'?"

him: "Good. How are you?"

me: "Good. Except there's a cow in my backyard and I'm not really sure what to do about it."

him: silence for a few seconds. "A cow?"

me: "yes. Like a farm cow, not a moose cow."

him: "Wow. Is he just walking around?"

me: "Actually, he's stuck on my swing set."

Probably one of the more weird calls he's had in a while...

Shawn knew of a couple farmers that would run their cows sort of around here in the past. He called one of them for me, but it wasn't this farmer's cow. He suggested we call another man because, get this, 'from the number on the tag, I'd say it belongs to _______, and he's been missing a cow for awhile."

And that's when you know you live in a small town. When the local farmers know each other's animals by the number on their tag and when somebody's been 'missing a cow for awhile,' like it's a sock or something.

Anyhow, the cow eventually got off the swing, managed to not break the swing, I called the local sheriff who came out but couldn't do anything about the cow because by now the cow was on someone else's private property and that someone was not home so the sheriff couldn't go on his property (good thing this wasn't life or death). I called the second farmer who wasn't home but I left him a voice mail, and the cow eventually wandered off, but not until after he used my neighbor's front yard for his business.

I should/could end there, but the day just continued in awesomeness, heavy on the awe. I ended up getting called into both schools for various 'situations,' then two other kids called to come home sick. On the way to dance (it was my day to drive carpool), I forgot to pack a snack for the kids-don't ask, just accept that this is what we do, so I stopped at the grocery store in town and ran in to grab some granola bars. When I got back to the parking lot, the kids had locked the door to the suburban and wouldn't let me in.

And then I realized that I was at the wrong suburban. Oops. Seriously, though, my car is the same light tan color of just about every other suburban or tahoe around. Anyone could've made that mistake. maybe...

That night I made German pancakes for dinner. I was thinking: quick. easy. my kids all love pancakes and this way I don't have to make them individually, which was a HUGE bonus as I was now officially sick. Well, turns out the little preciouses only like the ROUND kind. Sheesh.

And then, to top it all off, that night Huz says I should've lassoed the cow and kept it. I know he was mostly kidding, but it made think I should have at least tried. Sure was a pretty cow...

Miss Two

Two at my sister's wedding a little over a year ago.

This is Two on her third birthday. Isn't she just darling?! I miss her little-ness.

Here's the beauty queen again. I love to look at her big brown eyes. Huz and I have kind of smallish eyes. His are hazel, mine are green. One has blue eyes. When Two was born, she was itty bitty with these big, huge, beautiful brown eyes. Our (6 yr old) neighbor said that she had 'pop out eyes.'

This is a favorite of mine. If you notice her shirt, it says, 'I do all my own stunts." And she did. Still does. She was afraid of all the wrong things and way too brave for others. Example, scared to lay on the floor, would climb up on the top of our swing set. In the bottom corner of this picture is our milk box. It has inside three empty milk jugs. Well, empty of milk. Two had just finished filling them with snails. Forty-something of them. Yummmm. For some reason my girls all love snails...

Three and a half in this picture.

Here she is dressed as 'Fancy Mancy' as she called her. Two used to dress up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Her favorite outfit was always some sort of leotard. She called them ballets. Every morning I would help her dress and within ten seconds she had changed herself into a ballet. I remember the day she came out of her room in her regular clothes. I asked her where her ballet was. She told me she didn't wear ballets anymore. And that was one of my saddest days. I didn't realize that overnight, literally, she would quit dressing up. I was devastated. A million pictures of her dressed up would not have been enough.

We celebrated this wonderful girl's birthday recently and I can hardly believe that eight years have passed. I love this kid. She is the one who is keenly aware of others needs and feelings. She notices when I need help and is quick to offer. When she was in kindergarten, the class was doing rotations and at one rotation they were playing a game where the first person to say the letter on the flash card got to hold the card. The person with the most cards at the end won. Two was not in the lead. In fact, she only had a couple cards. But she noticed that another little girl in the group didn't have any and asked the teacher if she could give the girl one of her cards so that the girl wouldn't be sad.

This girl can run like the wind. She is fast!! When she was two she was running really fast at Huz's parent's house and ran into their fence and got a concussion. That was one of the scariest days of my parenting. Her head was so swollen. I hadn't seen anything like that for a really long time. People that saw her in the ER stayed to find out if she was going to be okay. Thankfully she was.

Two is a lot like me. We LOOOOOOVE our sweets. She didn't speak for a long time. We tried signing with her. Every day we'd watch the 'Signing Time' movies. Over and over and over and over. All. Day. Long. We would sign everything to her. Finally, one miraculous day we had a break through. She was sitting on the couch watching Rachel when she slowly began to raise her finger to her cheek. One and I waited with baited breath to see what she would do. Very carefully she rubbed her index finger into her cheek, completely expressionless, to tell us that she wanted candy. That's right folks. Her first word was candy.

When she was two, I woke up in the middle of the night to a sound in the kitchen. I woke up Huz, telling him that someone had broken into our house. I was super freaked out. He, not so much, but to appease me went to investigate. He called me into the kitchen to see the 'burglar.' It was Two. She had climbed onto the kitchen counter and was rummaging through the cupboards looking for some candy that she had seen. Mind you, it was three a.m.

Two loved her binky. A lot. We weaned her off of it when she was 1. She wasn't done, though and continued to steal binkies from anyone who had one. It didn't matter who it was or where we were. She was stealth. Her sister, Three, also loved binkies. Three's was also taken away when she turned one. They used to conspire together to steal Four's binkies. They had secret hiding places for them. There were many a time I would be looking for a binky for Four only to find none. I could always ask Three where they were because she was too young to be dishonest. She would promptly take me to the latest hiding spot, much to Two's dismay, where there would be a stash of six or so binkies. When Two was five and Three was four they were sitting together and I heard Two say, "Hey! Three!! Do this!!" I went to see what it was they were doing and they had discovered sucking their thumbs. Still a challenge today. Both of these darlings have SPD, so it's going to be a difficult habit to break someday.

I remember the time I had splurged and bought myself some MAC make up. Two was potty training at the time and she came running to me saying she had done it!! I asked her what she had done and she told me she had flushed the toilet and that 'it' had gone down. I asked her if she had gone poop or potty and she looked at me funny and led me into the bathroom. Pointing to my empty makeup container she proudly exclaimed, again,

'I did it, Mommy!! And they went all gone!'

She had just flushed my MAC down the toilet. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I laughed and it has been my motto ever since.

Another hobby of Two's, in her younger years, was to sneak the carton of ice cream out of the freezer and hide someplace and eat it. Sooooo many times I would go to have myself a big bowl of comfort at the end of a long day, only to find a baby spoon in the empty carton. One night Huz and I decided to have ice cream and the carton was actually missing from the freezer. We knew who had taken it and decided that we would bust her. I had the camera and Huz threw open her bedroom door. We both said, 'Aha!' Only she wasn't in her bed. A few minutes later, we found her UNDER her bed, half way through a half gallon. A girl after my own heart.

Two is kind, considerate, faithful, trusting, trustworthy, beautiful, smart, talented, hard working, patient, strong (she's had a six pack since she was one), loves to be tickled, loves to wrestle, loves to climb, and has integrity. I am so, so, so grateful that I get to be her mother. I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Love you, my brown eyed girl!!

Weekend Report

Lucky us, we had a long weekend. No school Thursday or Friday-and we made the most of it.

I'll start with Tuesday, even though it's not even close to the weekend:) One had to have a tooth pulled. It had been abscessed for awhile. I had hoped that it would have fallen out by now, but after being on antibiotics a couple of times for it and it not even being loose, we decided to just yank it. I also had a couple cavities filled. We brought BoyOne with us. I wanted him to see both of us at the dentist and watch what the dentist did and that we were okay with it. I knew that I could count on the two of us to not freak out! He hypervenitlated once, while I was getting a shot. It was kind of funny. Here I was, laying on the chair with my mouth wide open receiving an injection and we were all worried about BoyOne passing out. Fortunately he did not. I held his hand and he kept asking if I was okay. I was more than happy to reassure him, as was One when it was her turn. I'd say overall it was a good experience. I'm hoping he will feel less anxiety over the dentist eventually.

Wednesday. Wednesday is our crazy day. Three of the four girls have dance, two up here near (sort of ) our home, the other an hour away near where we used to live. BoyTwo also had his third dentist appointment to finish off the last of his root canals. He did great during the appointment, even fell asleep. haha. BoyOne actually seemed to do better at this appointment. He did not hyperventilate once!! On the way to the appointment I was talking to Huz on my cell phone. We ended the call as we always do, 'love you, bye!' BoyOne asked if I had been talking to Papi. I said that I had. He then said that he knew I had been talking to him because we always tell each other 'love you, bye.' I was struck by the magnitude of his simple observation. Here he is in a home with a family, a mom and a dad who express their love to each other and to their children. I had a glimpse of the security that a stable and loving relationship between a family can provide. It's something that I take for granted, but that he has noticed in his time here. It made me so grateful all over again to have the boys here with us, finally, making our family feel more whole.

Thursday, I took the opportunity of having a 'captive' audience (pretty sure they would say a captured audience) and we cleaned the house together. Everybody did their assigned jobs, some of us needed more guidance and instruction that others (BoyTwo and Three). In the end, we got it done and it looked so great for the three seconds it lasted:)

Friday, we were able to get discounted tickets to Lagoon (an amusement park) and we spent the day there. We arrived a little after noon and stayed until after ten. We all had such a great time. The kids are all old enough now that I can actually stay the whole time. We go to Lagoon once a year. When the girls were little, I would take the littlest ones home for lunch and a nap, feed them dinner and go back. Huz would stay with the older ones. The oldest five are all tall enough to go on most of the rides. Huz can't do spinning rides and they are my FAVORITE!! It really relaxes me. I don't like roller coasters. I feel like my brain is being jostled around in my skull and I get headaches. Huz can do the roller coasters. So, it works out really, really well.

So far, all of the kids have enjoyed all the rides. One won't try going on Wicked, which is a roller coaster, and Three, Four and BoyTwo are too short. Huz takes BoyOne and Two on Wicked while the rest of us go on a spinning ride nearby.

This year marks the first year that I haven't had to pack a diaper bag.

It was like a Christmas miracle.

Saturday we went to the baptism of four of the boys' friends from Matviivka. I think that while BoyOne has resisted contact with his friends up to this point, he really enjoyed being with them. It amazes me to see the incredible progress these kids have made in so many different areas. It really encourages me. I think that it is hard to see change if you look at each day. When you step back and look at the big picture, it's easier to see how far the boys have come. If I were to journal everything that takes place each day, it would be a crazy report of highs and lows, the chart would be all over the place. If I look at a week at a time, I can honestly say that it has been good. Anyhow, it was great to watch these kids interact with each other and it was great for me to be able to interact with their parents:) Good times.

Sunday was a regular Sunday. Church (which is getting much easier and accepted by the boys) and dinner at our house. We did have a family meeting where I reinstated daily jobs (we've had quite the vacation since bringing the boys home) and we talked about the importance of working together as a team. We outlined for the boys, and reminded the girls, what our family values are and what they encompass. I like to have these little meetings several times a year to evaluate where we are as a family unit, and give each of us time to think about how we are doing personally. We also wrote and signed a "Family Agreement" to affirm our commitment to each other as a family, and to ourselves.

"My relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life. The next most important relationship is with my family. My education comes next, followed by my other friendships and extracurricular activities. My actions will demonstrate my commitment to this. At times it may be necessary to eliminate participation in extracurricular activities and limit time spent with friends so as to provide adequate time for the more important things in my life."

I know that it is easy for me to get wrapped up in the various things I am involved in and then one day, wham!! I realize that I have let the more important things in my life take the back seat. I find that I have to 'self-check' a lot, or else my life becomes unbalanced. If I don't self-check I eventually realize that I've let things slip, but only when life has become truly difficult. I'd much rather reevaluate how I'm doing on a regular base than realize things are out of whack when I crash and burn.

Yesterday, Monday, BoyOne had his final soccer game for the fall season. He scored the first goal for his team by heading it in. It was such a powerful hit that hours later, he still had a headache from it, but was so so so happy! He will play on an indoor team this winter, then during the spring months his team will play outdoor again.

Tonight we had a translator come to our home. He is a returned missionary who served in Russia. He got home in June, so the language is very fresh for him and he enjoyed talking with the boys. It was nice to be able to know for sure that the boys needs are being met and that they are happy. We asked BoyOne if he knew that we loved him. He kind of shrugged his shoulders. We took the opportunity to tell him that we love them both so much and are so glad that they are a part of our family. We told them that when we say 'I love you' it's not to be nice or because we feel like we have to, but because we truly mean it. I went on to tell him that for years we had prayed to be able to find the children that God wanted us to adopt, that we knew God had led us to find them. I told him that we had so many problems with documents during the adoption that the only way we were able to complete the adoption was through the blessing of God. I told him that we feel that BoyOne and BoyTwo are a blessing to us, a gift from God.

We also had the missionaries from our church over to our house. They talked with BoyOne about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and about prayer being the way we communicate with God. They explained that God blesses us and loves us. Then while I finished preparing dinner, the boys played pool. After we ate, the missionaries left and we did homework. After the littles were all in bed, BoyOne and One and Two were a little wound up. It took a little extra effort to get them to go to sleep... When we went upstairs to tuck everyone in for the night, we found BoyOne asleep on the floor at the top of our stairs:) Every one of our children has done this (gotten off their bed and fallen asleep in the hall), even BoyTwo. Up to this point BoyOne was the only one who had not yet done so. I am so glad that he did. I took pictures to document it just as I have done for the others. If we ever get our computer fixed, I'll upload the photos:)