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:)