Rangers and Yankees

Well the baseball season is well underway and Yuri and Victor are doing great. Our little slugger cheers and practices until he is old enough to play.
Yuri's team is called the Yankees and he mainly plays first base and he is at the top of the batting order. He is playing machine pitch which is where a machine is fed by the coach and guarantees the same placement for everyone. He was just as thrilled to get all his new baseball stuff as he was when soccer started. The excitement for us is to watch him light up when he knows it is time to go put on his baseball uniform and go to a game. They now require them to provide their own batting helmets and we found that he must have a bigger head then other 7-8 year old's because his helmet just looks enormous. He is a strong hitter and really "gets" the game so far.
Victor's team is the Royals and they are a hoot to watch! He is playing tee ball and gets a kick out of just being able to swing the bat and actually hit something (mostly the stand but occasionally the ball too) It is like watching the bad news bears but is very entertaining and he loves getting out there and running for the ball wherever it may land. I do have to admit that he is one of the more well behaved kids and the team. Something we are pretty happy and grateful about. His helmet just bounces up and down as he runs and he has perpetually has a smile on his face whether he hit the ball or not as well as if he got out or not. It's nice to see that he is a good sport and plays very nicely with the other kids.

Now as for Vanya, this one I believe will be our biggest challenge. Sweet, loving, outgoing, well coordinated and often times very humorous Vanya has some very sneaky and precocious actions and words. He is good at whatever sport he tries and commands an audience wherever he is as well. Travis got a kick out showing him how to hold a bat and was pretty shocked when he whacked the ball on about the first try and it went about 25 feet. He enjoys going to his brothers games and loves to cheer for them even when they aren't up to bat or even in the game. Of course he asks at each and every game when it is his teams turn. With him if he hasn't asked the same question 50 times then he hasn't decided to accept the answer the first 49 times. We aren't sure if he just doesn't understand what we said or if he is just waiting for us to get thoroughly worn out and give in. We were hoping by now that that would have subsided but as he has learned more word he simply talks more. He is a real joy most of the time and his hugs are truly genuine but the other side of that is that when he doesn't get his way it is fairly unbearable for all. So at our house "if Vanya ain't happy, ain't no one happy". We are still working on that. That little face is so expressive it really make it hard not to just crack up when he is being so totally serious about why he does not want to take a bath or why he should have another lollipop from the bank lady.

Since the baseball schedule is so odd it seems as though we are going some where or doing something almost every day and it is different every week. It is great to see all the kids progress throughout the season and for our guys they just enjoy being there and playing. Everyone has a hard time believing that less than a year ago they spoke no English and have never played an organized sport before. They really have come a long way and although there is quite a bit more work to do with all of them we are very proud of thier progress in sport and school and with their social skills. I wish we could learn things as fast as they do! I think God does that by design!
God is ever faithful to give us the strength and wisdom to take care of these guys and love them the best way we know how. Most of the time when I have run out of patience for the day, Rob has enough left to make sure no one has perished from being in time out. It works the other way as well so we are glad that it works that way because when we have both exhausted our energy and resources for the day at the same time it makes for a very difficult day for all. Thank you God for meeting us where we are and for giving us such wonderful gifts in the smiles and giggles of our boys!

Mama mama mama

Spring break

What a great time we had on our recent trip to Florida with the boys. Since it was spring break we decided they needed to have that experience of a long car ride to visit family. It actually went quite a bot better than we had expected and the boys did a pretty good job in the car. Yuri even lost another tooth! That makes number 4. Of course the DVD player was in hyper drive but was soooooooo nice. We all survived and are all still speaking to one another.

On the way down we stopped by to see Rob's brother, Jason and our nephew Marco. We all had a fun time on their 4 wheelers. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

After spending the night we made it all the way down to Sarasota to see Babushka and Ama (great grandmother who is 98). We were pleasantly surprised that there was plenty of room for all 7 of us in her 2 bedroom condo. She had done a magnificent job of putting things away. Probably because we told her that our little demolition crew would love to help her get rid of a few things. She showered the boys with lots of love and attention as well presents. A day didn't go by when she wasn't surprising them with something else "to keep". Good thing we had a car top carrier. She got them straw hats and stuffed animals and candy pops with a basketball game on top as well as lots of other things.And no, babushka did not get her black eye from the boys thank goodness. She just had an eye infection that hasn't healed all the way yet.

By far the most fun was at the pool and in the ocean. They all did such a good job of swimming and they built some sand castles and had fun collecting all kinds of shells.

It really didn't matter if they were broken or not, they just picked up everything they saw. We'll have to work on the selection process criteria another time. Until then our car will be waited down with their treasured seashells. We did a little shopping and also got to visit with family that we hadn't seen in a while. The boys got to meet their cousins Connor (5) and Ana Lauren (3) and of course they all made friends at the pool.

Friends that we had met in Ukraine, the Harris's, came from Ft Lauderdale to swim with us for the day with their daughter Sveta. That was really nice to visit with them since conversations on the phone are a little difficult at our house with the additional voices in the background. This way all the kids were having so much fun in the pool that we actually got to chat uninterrupted for a while. Woo hoo!

At the end of most days the boys were totally wiped out and on several occasion went straight to bed with very little dinner because they fell asleep at the table or asked to go bed instead. (Perhaps we will move to Florida!) After several relaxing and fun filled days we were back in the car headed to Clearwater to see our good friends the Rahns with their daughter Yana who were also in Florida visiting family.

We went to the beach and playground area there and had a great time and got a little more sun. We went to Crabby Bills seafood place for dinner and then headed North toward Atlanta.
We stopped somewhere along the highway about 4 hours north of Clearwater in the wee hours of the morning. We slept for a few hours and then took advantage of the free breakfast and then continued north to see our friends the Lambeths. We met them in Ukraine at Sonechko baby house in Zapporyzhzhia where they were adopting their daughter, Haley (formerly Nastia). What a great time we had with them. Vanya and Haley had a grand time together but I don't think either of them recognized each other because they were in different groups because Vanya is a year older. So they grew up across the hall from each other their whole lives and then got to see each other again in their new lives with a family. Pretty cool. The boys got to go fishing in their back yard and we went to a really fabulous pool/gym that had indoor slides and water spouts. They even had a family showering area. I had never seen one like that where the whole family could have a little room with a shower and changing room and then there was a locker area for all the stuff. It was really nice to visit with them as well after sharing such a long and interesting process with them. We spent the night with them in their newly remodeled basement and felt like royalty with our own bathroom and everything.

The next morning we had to head out early to make it up to see my cousin Collen (frequent comment writer while we were in Ukraine). The windy mountain road was not real fun and we had a little car sickness going but we made it in time for church. The boys did a great job when it was time for children's church they got up and went with all the other kids. Even Vanya went with the help of Colleens mother, Anita, who was selected by Vanya to escort him. Yea, he is pretty diplomatic and used his charm to ask her to go with him. He said, "OK, you go with me" as he put his hand on her lap and smiled. After church we were so blessed by the luncheon that Colleen,Anita, and our other cousin Penny had put together for us. The fried chicken and macaroni salad and broccoli salad and coleslaw and all the fixins were there. We even got treated to freshly baked cookie and ice cream. We got to use the youth room that had a pool table, air hockey table, and lots of room to play. Again, we felt like royalty, and were honored that our extended family had gone to all that effort and made things so nice for us as we were passing through. We hadn't gotten to see them in so many years. I think Colleen was in college and she is now a few years older than us. That was a real treat.
We then headed back toward home and made it all the way home by 1:30 that morning in time for Rob to sleep for 3 hours and then get ready for work. We squeaked every last hour out of that vacation. Of course we are still paying for it now.

Does the Jesus know the Easter bunny?

Pretty good question, huh? The boys had a wonderful Easter and are still trying to answer that question and it was pretty interesting to listen to them try to explain it to each other. "Well of course, Jesus knows everyone" "Nuh ugh, only Mama and Papa know the Easter bunny" "Well I haven't seen the Easter bunny so maybe no one knows him except superman" "Jesus is in charge of Superman too, you know". Precious conversation on the way to church that Sunday. Pretty easy to tell the comments went in order of age 19, 7,5,4. It was really nice to have Travis home from college to spend Easter with us and get to go to a few of the boys activities. They loved having their biggest brother there to watch them and play with. I think he might have enjoyed it a little as well.

Vanya was in a little Easter performance at church and was the hit of the show. Take a listen; Hollywood watch out! In case it isn't readily apparent, he was the E in Easter and his line was "Jesus died for Everyone!" He was flirting with the little girl next to him the rest of the time while he tried to sing with the other kids but still keeping his eye on mama right there in the front row smiling at her little man.

Easter this year was such a joy and the excitement on the boys faces as they waited at the top of the stairs to come hunt for their baskets (which they had no idea about) was priceless. They were excited that the Easter bunny had come but weren't quite sure what that meant for them except they were pretty sure it had something to do with candy. We had decorated eggs with Yana and Fran a couple of evenings before which was so much fun. They had colored Easter bunnies and at school and learned about the resurrection of Jesus at church and now it was time for the Easter bunny to finally come and for Jesus to rise from the dead. Trying to explain that one was pretty interesting as well. Then we all got dressed up for church and the boys really like getting all dressed up so it was fun. Then off to church we went where they got multiple compliments on their spiffy outfits which always brought big smiles to their faces as they were soooo proud of themselves. After church we went over to our friends house for Easter dinner and some R&R. Not so sure they called it that though with 3 very active little boys running around their house. They have 3 girls who are 22, 19, and 13 so boys are foreign to them and what a difference it is. Darryl got worn out throwing the ball, breaking up the wrestling on the trampoline and stopping the swings from going completely over the swing set. Christine and Rob and I had wonderful conversations with each other and her parents. Christine was so sweet and put together little goody bags with aggs adn candy in them for the byos and made a wonderful dinner which was nejoyed by all. After a very long day and loads of sugar we packed up 3 very cranky boys and headed home for the nighttime rituals. After that we were exhausted and went to bed as well. No sugarplums but content in the knowledge and love of the Lord that we were able to show our children today. The Lord is risen indeed, hallelujah !!!

Mama Mama Mama

Vanya turns 4!

What a day! For a little boy who has never had a birthday party before Vanya knew exactly how to act; KING FOR A DAY. He just loved being the center of attention and getting to dress up and wear papas bow tie. He got to look at himself in the mirror in his class and you could just see how proud of himself he was with his crown on. What a ham.
So here it is form the beginning: We woke him up in the morning and sang happy birthday and then papa brought him downstairs after the other boys and I had decorated and laid out his presents. He wasn't really sure what to think and even asked if the little bike was for him. After he knew that all of the presents were for him he was just thrilled. Of course his brothers decided to "help" him open his presents which ended up as him watching them open his presents. He was such a good sport about it and wanted just to play with whichever one was opened.
I must say he was the most adorable kid in the whole world after getting all spiffied (sp?) up for school with his bow tie. It almost brought tears to my eyes seeing what a blessing we have in him. He was so happy his brothers had each made him a card and were genuinely excited for him about his birthday.
Instead of having a party at the house with his friends (who are quite numerous) we decided just to do a party at his preschool class. He chose to have an Elmo party so we got all the trimmings and had a very interesting time. We were grateful that the teachers let us have his party there. Containment containment containment was the fare of the day with 10 preschoolers on extra doses of sugar and excitement. Vanya got to make a crown and the class had practiced singing happy birthday to him the day before so he was really thinking that it could be his birthday every day from then on. It was quite special because mama and papa and Travis came to his class to do his party. We also got to have Yuri and Veecha come from their classes to sing and have cake and ice cream. We did a balloon race which was really humorous because most of the kids didn't weigh enough to pop their balloons when they sat on them. Rob had to start using his keys to help. On top of that, they didn't really get the concept of running down to the other end of the play yard to sit on your balloon while the rest of the line waited. The puzzled looks were priceless. We got some bubbles for them to do and the teacher even had a bubble machine which was a big hit. The "put the sticker on the Elmo nose" was funny also because they all peaked to make sure they got the sticker on the right place. Each of the kids drew him a picture in the notebook I had gotten for him and the teachers each did one too. Good keepsake. All the kids sang happy birthday to him and he blew out his candles with no problem and even blew off some of the wax onto my fingers. We made little goody bags for all the kids (I guess that is what you do now) and after giving them cake and ice cream it was time for them to get on their bus.
We cleaned up and Vanya just loved having all the adults to himself and was in no hurry to leave. Papa and Travis left first and mama stayed a little longer to let him play and eat up the attention of his teachers for a few extra minutes. They are so good to him and just love him to death. I'm sure he is the most spoiled kid in the class. Actually I'm the most spoiled mama because he always gives me the biggest grins and hugs as he proudly announces "that's MY mama". I wish he could stay this little forever (well, let me rethink that).
After getting home and letting him play a little with his new toys and games we went to get the other boys from school as they attend the "good news club" on Tuesdays which is like Sunday school. After getting back home all the boys enjoyed playing Candy Land and racing the hotwheel cars on the new track. After that mama and papa took him out all by himself for a special birthday dinner at Mirabellas. It's a good Italian place since he requested a fare of spaghetti.

The best part of the day for mama was after we got home though. It was past his regular bedtime and after a long day of excitement he was sooo tired. We got his PJ's on and teeth brushed and he asked me to tell him a story. When I asked him what kind of story he said he wanted to hear a Jesus story! So I got to retell, in common language, the story of Easter to my little boy as he fell asleep in my arms on his very first birthday with us. What a day!

mama mama mama