First 6 weeks

Well, it has now been six weeks since we've been back. The children are adapting very well. Hazel not so well, she spends most of her time hiding or hissing at the kids.

They love their bedrooms. Kristina and Luba have Barbie's and stuffed animals aranged around the room. We are constantly having to tell them to pick up clothes off the floor. Michael has a rug which has roads on it and he plays with his cars. They also have multiple toys in the room over the garage and coloring books. Our back porch, which is now a sunroom with A/C is the 'Play Doh' room. They love creating different items.

They also like to play outside. All three got new bikes, thanks to our Sunday School Class, and they love riding them. None of them had ever been on a bike before. Kristina learned to ride a two wheeler in about 10 minutes. We also have a swing set in the back yard with three swings so no one is left out.

All three had their intial Doctor's visit. Each one received multiple shots and had eight tubes of blood drawn. Needless to say they weren't very excited. We have the follow up visit next week. So far they seem to be very healthy, Michael may have some allergies, though. We think Kristina had chicken pox the day after we got home, but it wasn't a very bad case. Also, Kristina will start laser treatments to her face next week. They will be once a month for a total of 15-20 treatments. The doctor seemed very positive about the outcome. Both girls have also been to the Dentist and they did very well. Although there were some tears from Luba, but they she said it didn't hurt.

We have gone to the Norfolk Zoo, there the kids just stared at all the animals. One day a few days before we went Michael had been climbing all over the place and John called him a monkey. When we saw the monkeys he pointed at them and they to himself and smiled saying it was him. We have also gone to the Aquarium. The kids enjoyed the fish, but most of all they loved pushing different buttons on different displays. At the ocean they enjoyed standing in ankle deep water as the waves came in. Of course they ended up soaked from the waist down. They have been swimming in a pool a few times with a life jacket, they aren't ready for the ocean yet.

They love running errands. I can put them in the car and go to multiple different stores and they won't complain, at least I don't think they are complaining. They don't realize they can complain. The first few times I took my mom to have a second pair of eyes, but that was almost more difficult because if she walked around the corner I never knew if the children were with me or with her. If it is just me the girls stay by the cart and Michael rides in the cart. Of course, they want everything they see and the first few trips we had to buy them almost everything they were picking up. But, if you say NO, they will put the item down and forget about it by the next aisle. We have to realize that every different store is a new experience. The first time we went into Home Depot they just laughed and laughed at the toilets. They are still amazed at all the fruit at Wal-Mart. They do not recognize candybars in the bag or cookies unless there are pictures on the package, so I can walk down those aisles and they have no idea what they are passing.

They are able to eat most of the foods we cook. We found that usually by the third or fourth try they liked it. If one says it is good the others assume it is good. They love pizza. John and I would always have a Tombstone Pizza for dinner on Friday's, now we are cooking two! They aren't really big on sweets yet, but they love ice cream cones.

School started this past Tuesday. They are going to the local public school which has a great ESL program. Luba who is starting Kindergarten, look terrified walking in the door. Kristina, who is starting third grade, was excited. Both of their teachers have said they seem to be doing very well. They even started riding the bus yesterday, which they were so excited about. Michael will be at home for a year and start Kindergarten next year.

First day of school.

We are starting to hear some English. 'Don't do that!', 'Are you ok?', 'Wash your hands and brush your teeth', are popular.

Thanks for all your prayers, we can really feel God's leading though the whole process.

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael