UVA Basketball Game 12/30/07

We decided the children needed the experience of a UVA basketball game. Even I have never been to a basketball game and it has been years since John has been to one. Everyone was very excited to be going to see Virginia again. They wanted to know if we were going to be able to eat sandwiches outside again. We tried to explain it would be cold and we would eat inside before the game. They were just happy to know they would be eating out.

It is amazing they seem to be able to look a building a know it is a restaurant, even Michael would rather go into Applebee's and eat instead to eating at Subway. And really we rarely eat out and they sure weren't eating out in the orphanage.

We first ate hotdogs and pizza before the game started. They also had popcorn just before we went to sit down. The game was good, although Luba and Michael were more interested in cards they had been given instead of watching the game. Kristina was more into the game and cheered when UVA made a basket. She was very excited when they won the game.

On the way home we stopped at Red Robin to eat dinner. Luba is definately the slowest eater of the three. She seems to want to savor every bite, but she is so very easily distracted. Everyone was done eating and when she realized John was paying the bill she said, "What about dessert?" I was shocked, I didn't even know she knew that word. We have never gotten dessert eating out, although they do have ice cream 3-4 nights a week. I think we are keeping Edy's in business. Kristina just said, "Luba, you not finished, it time to go!" So Luba stuffed as many 'french spies' into her mouth that she could and we left.

Cindy :-)

Family Pictures

Today all the kids spent most of their time playing with different toys and watching new DVD's. They did take the time to set up all their toys so pictures could be taken. For dinner we went back over to my parents house for leftover turkey sandwiches followed by cherry pie! After we ate we were able to all sit down and take some family photos.

Christmas Day!

We finally got to bed this morning at about 1:30 AM. Boy were we tired and we knew we probably wouldn't be able to sleep in. We felt like we were almost more excited than the children.

At about 7:40 this morning I woke up because I could hear Michael talking. He was calling Luba, trying to wake her up saying there were presents downstairs. Then he walked into our room around to John's side of the bed and was starting to get into bed with us. I asked him if Santa came and he said, "Yes!" I asked what he brought and Michael said, "Presents!" I asked him what he was going to do and he said he was going to sleep and he crawled in be next to John. I asked, "Don't you want to open the presents?" He said, "Oh, can I wake up Kristina and Luba?" Then he went racing out of the room to wake them up. Everyone was so excited! They couldn't believe Santa had actually come. They just kept saying WOW! over and over again. First they got their stockings down and were very excited about all the candy. Then they started opening presents. We had to try to slow them down so they could see what everyone was getting. They items they liked

the most were the 'cell phones' and the girls liked the High School Musical Dolls. Michael's favorite item was a 'Cars' racetrack. They all had a short period of time to play with their toys and them we went over to my parents house at about 11:30.


Before we opened presents we sat down and had a big breakfast with eggs, hash browns, saugage, bacon, coffee cake, and juice. None of the children even tried to open any presents. I guess they were just very hungry. When we finally did start opening presents everyone had to go one at time. They children found it so hard to wait. They were all so anxious to open gifts by this time. I don't think they could believe all the presents they were getting. After we finished opening the presents we took a long walk around the neighborhood.

We didn't get home until after 9PM. This was such a wonderful Christmas. God has truely blessed us.

Christmas Eve

The longest day of the year is finally here! Literally I felt I was working in the kitchen and time was not going buy. My whole family was coming over for dinner so we were cooking the turkey. I even had to go to three stores to make last minute purchases, (actually I love shopping on Christmas Eve), and I was gone less than 1 1/2 hours.

All day the kids wanted to know when everyone was coming over to eat because they knew after they ate it would soon be time for bed and Santa Claus was coming. (Luba says Santa Clock.) They enjoyed coloring and watching TV and not having to go to school.

Everyone arrived at about 4 PM. The kids were all excited to be eating out in the sunroom since there wasn't enought room for them in the kitchen, (we had 11 people total). They really enjoy the mashed potatoes. Even though they like chicken, they still aren't too sure about turkey. They decided they liked ice cream over pie. After we are we sat around and talked for a while. We also looked on the computer to see the Santa tracker so the kids could know where Santa was. They were excited to know he had been to Ukraine because he didn't always go there.

Before they went to bed they set out milk and cookies for Santa. Luba wanted to make sure there was also an apple for Santa's reindeer. They kids were all told they couldn't go downstairs until Mama and Papa were up and we weren't getting up until 7:30. We were surprised they had no trouble going to sleep. We don't think they understand what Christmas will be like.

With a huge smile in my heart,

Cindy

Week before Christmas

This was the last week before Christmas. John and I can't wait! Michael and I have gone shopping almost everyday. He is very good about closing his eyes when I tell him to. I have to put my jacket in the cart and put any items I'm buying under the jacket. A few times I caught him trying to lean way over, almost knocking over the cart to try to see what was under the jacket. If I realized he saw something it was put back on the shelf. So any time he saw me looking at anything that could possibly be for him he would say, "Close eyes?" hoping the item might be put in the basket. He is constantly saying he needs more presents. All the children seem a bit worried though, since there are no presents with their names on them under the tree.

Monday, my sister Allison, had surgery and we went in to see her on Tuesday before she went home. I think Michael was a little worried he was having surgery again. He keeps saying, "Mama, no ow in the hospital, but at home OW!" Being in the hospital made me realize I do miss working a little. I just loved nursing!

Tuesday evening I went into school to have a meeting with the ESL (English as a second Language) teacher. Both Kristina and Luba are doing very well. In fact they have determined Luba would do better saying in the classroom and learning instead of being pulled out of the class for short periods of time and few times a week. Kristina still writes all the time in Russian in a notebook. We are encouraging it since it would be great if she could maintain both Russian and English. Kristina is able to read smaller books in English.

Thursday I went to the funeral of a former Sunday School teacher. It was sad knowing she was gone, but joyous knowing she was now in heaven. That evening we were able to go to dinner with friends, who were down for the funeral. We hadn't seen them in a few years. They also have a son named Michael who just turned 3. Our Michael was so excited to have someone near his age.

Saturday Kristina had a birthday party to go to. This was the first time she would be going to a party. She seemed excited, but a little nervous. We all drove her, since we were going on to Allison's house. Luba and Michael couldn't understand why they couldn't go too. We arrived back at the party to pick her up five minutes after 4PM, (party ended at 4), and she was about to use the mother's cell phone to call to see where we were, even though no one else had been picked up. They all have such a fear that they will be left somewhere and no one will be coming back to pick them up since this happened to them in the past.

Thanks for your prayers,

JCKLM

Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is getting closer and everyone is so excited. Luba made a ginger bread house at school. She keeps talking about Santa Claus coming and what she wants for Christmas, though she tends to want the same things Kristina wants. I have done a lot of shopping at different stores. Michael knows he has to close his eyes when I tell him to, then I put any items under my coat in the cart. Twice I caught him pretending to sleep, but he was really trying to peek around to see what was in the cart. When I realized what he had seen I pulled the item out of the cart and put it back on the shelf. He got so upset, but I told him he couldn't look. He has even seen me return items for Kristina and Luba which he saw in the back of the truck. So he knows he can't try to see what is being bought or he may not get the items. We have a count down to Santa sitting on the counter and everyday Kristina looks to see how many days are left till Christmas. Luba is always looking on the calender hanging on the wall to see where Christmas is. They have no idea what to expect at Christmas which is so exciting.

JCKLM

Some time to ourselves

Friday was John's work party at Sterling's. My parents came over to watch the kids. They kids were even excited to have Babuska and D'aduska come over for the evening. We had the kids take baths before we left so they were all ready to go to bed. When we were driving away, we felt like 'Woo Hoo.' This was the first time we had been out, by ourselves, since the begining of June, in Kyiv. We did miss the kids, but it was nice to be able to eat a meal and just relax, without having to make sure everyone was eating.

Saturday I was able to use a gift certificate which I had gotten last Christmas for a massage and pedicure. John took the kids shopping while I was relaxing. This was the first time I was able to go anywhere by myself. When I told the lady giving me the massage that we had adopted she wanted to know all about the children. Just telling her stories about our time in Ukraine was bringing tears to my eyes. We were talking about how exciting Christmas was going to be and that was bringing tears to my eyes too.

Even though we were able to spend time by ourselves we did realize how much richer our lives are with Kristina, Luba, and Michael.

Sunday I noticed another first. While we were standing up singing in church, Kristina was actually sounding out the words on the screen and singing! I don't think she fully understands what the words are, but she is able to sound out bigger words.

Thanks for your prayers,
John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael

Girls eat next door

Today when the girls got off the bus they wanted to go next door and play with Mitzi. They had never gone over to someone elses house, kids had always come here to play. I told them they had to do their homework first. They were so excited to go to someone elses house. I told them they had to be good and they had to stay inside. Michael was a little upset he couldn't go, but it would be too much to send all three kids over.

After I made dinner, I called next door, but the girls wanted to stay and eat dinner there. Since this was a first I thought it would be ok. Well, dinner was just John, Michael, and me. It seemed so quiet. I can't imagine if we had only come home with one child. It was almost sad to just have one child sitting at the table.

Sunday School party and orphan play

Sunday was had our annual Sunday School Christmas party. All the kids enjoyed eating pizza at church although they are so used to Tombstone every Friday night, that they don't seem to like other pizza's as well. They were also able to make their own Christmas ornaments, which they were so excited to hang up on the tree. They are all very creative and love to do crafts and draw.















Sunday evening we went to the Virgina Beach Community Chapel to watch the orphans do the play 'They Shoemaker.' Many of the songs were in Russian and it brought tears to my eyes to watch the girls sing along. When Luba first realized the songs were in Russian she gasped and broke out a big smile. Afterwards Kristina was able to sit down with her friends and talk for about an hour. She was excited because they were people she knew and she hadn't been able to talk in Russian in a long time. The other girls all wanted to know about her home and school and how America is. I think it was a little hard on Kristina because she realized they had to go back to Ukraine and she had a family. She did write long letters to all her friends back at the orphanage.


Thanks for your prayers,

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael

Putting up the Christmas decorations

Friday we put up the Christmas decorations, everyone was so excited. Michael kept talking about how big the tree was. Kristina and Luba liked arranging the stuffed animals on the stairs. The girls also set up a nativity set by the fireplace. They all like to just sit in the living room and look at the Christmas tree. I would love to know what they are thinking at times everything is all so new to them and they never had anything like this in Ukraine. Kristina says they had a Christmas, but they just got a bunch of toys at the orphanage nothing that was their own. Even when asked what they want for Christmas they all say a play cell phone and the girls what a Barbie. That is all they ask for, they have no idea what to ask for. They don't know they have many different choices. They will be so surprised when they come down on Christmas morning.

Saturday, John went with some friends to the UVA game, we decided it would be to cold to take all the kids. We at home watched the game on TV with Kathy and Kendall. Unfortuanately we lost, :-( but we had a very good season and will go to a bowl game. In the evening we drove over to Founder's Inn with Kathy and Kendall to see all the Christmas lights turned on. The kids hadn't seen any Christmas lights up to that point. When all the lights turned on they all just said, 'WOW!' Afterward we went inside and they got to see Santa. Even Kristina was excited to tell Santa what she wanted.

Sunday we drove up to the Williamsburg Community Chapel because there was going to be a group of orphans from Ukraine, four of whom were in Kristina's orphanage, at the church. We thought they were going to do a play, but found out the play was going to be the following week. Kristina did get a chance to talk to a few of the girls and passed on a note to be taken back to her friends.

Since we were already in Williamsburg we went the the Yankee Candle Shoppe so the kids could see all the Christmas decorations. They just kept saying WOW! They loved looking around at all the toys and smelling all the different candles. They even got to sit on Santa's lap again.

Thanks for your prayers,

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael

Thanksgiving

Boy, do we have so much to be thankful for this year! We have tried to explain Thanksgiving to the kids, but they don't really understand. They just know they don't have to go to school for four days. They have learned about the Pilgrims at school and they even have a Lil People Thanksgiving set they play with all the time. They know we are going to have turkey because they have seen it in the freezer and they keep talking about how big it is. When I took the turkey out they all had to watch me prepare it.

Later they really enjoyed watching the Macy's parade. They were naming all the balloons the recognized and trying to do some of the dances they saw.

Everyone was eating at our house this year which was a total of 15 people, including my parents, Allison and Brian, John's parents, Cliff, Kathy, Kris, and Kendall. We had to have seven people sit in the sunroom, (which was just carpeted by me last week)! The kids enjoyed trying many different foods. They couldn't believe how much food we had. They really enjoyed the cherry pie my mom made.

After all the food was cleaned up we watched 'Ratatouille'. While the kids watched 'The Polar Express.' Unfortunately since I was busy with food I didn't take any pictures till the very end when Michael was helping my mom make whip cream. :-(

Seeing Santa for the first time

Monday Michael and I went shopping at the mall. On the way over I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He said a car, house, and an airplane. Of course he said he wanted them to all be small so he could play with them. Since the children watch a lot of the Disney Channel or DVD's they haven't seen commercials to tell them what they should want. They have no idea what exists that they could even ask for, which may be a good thing. I told Michael if we saw Santa Claus he could go talk to him and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. He just looked at me not believing that he would actually see Santa. They have all seen the Polar Express and other DVD's which have Santa, but I think he just thought he was someone on TV.

When we got to the center of the mall, I reminded him if he saw Santa he would have to tell him what he wanted. He just said, 'OK, Mom.' Then I turned him around so he could see that Santa was sitting about ten feet away. The look on his face was priceless, it brought tears to my eyes. (In fact I'm crying just writing this now. This part of Christmas is really all about the children.) His eyes got so big and his jaw just dropped, then he went to a huge smile and ran up to Santa's lap, he is not shy at all. It's a good thing there wasn't a line. He was trying to tell Santa, in Russian, that he wanted a car, house, and an airplane and Santa was just staring at him. I walked over and told him he was adopted this summer from Ukraine and speaks Russian and some English. Santa just smiled.

Later when we went upstairs to the food court we had to sit where we could see Santa, so he could wave to Santa every few minutes. Ater we ate he had to go back and see Santa again because he had forgotten to say he wanted a bird and a church. I'm not sure where he came up with these ideas.

Santa gave him a little teddy bear with a Santa hat which he showed Kristina and Luba once he got home. They both didn't believe he had seen Santa even when I said he had. Kristina doesn't believe just like her thoughts on the tooth fairy. Luba, though, really does want to believe.

Cindy

Church Child Dedication & Luba loses a tooth

We dedicated all three children to the Lord in church on Sunday, Nov 18th. I don't think the children understood what was going on. They just knew the paster was going to pray for them. We had to go up on stage because communion was happening later in the service. Kristina became very teary eyed, she said later she was scared being in front of all those people.

These are the pictures which were up on the screen during the dedication.

Afterwards we went to eat with both sets of grandparents. While we were eating Luba lost her second tooth since she has been here. The first one she lost a few weeks ago in school, but it fell out of her pocket before she got home. Kristina had lost a tooth a few weeks ago also and had been keeping it on her dresser. The tooth fairy was never mentioned, because, how do you explain that?

That night when the girls were getting ready for bed Luba was trying to tell us she had to put her tooth under her pillow. Then we tried to explain the tooth fairy would come and leave her money. She was all excited, but Kristina kept saying, 'No mom it's you.' Luba though believed.

In the morning Luba was all excited when she found one dollar her pillow! Kristina though didn't believe, but you could tell she wanted a dollar also. That night Kristina put her tooth under her pillow without tell anyone. It happened to be noticed when I was looking for her pj's. The next morning Kristina was all excited when she had a dollar also, she really does want to believe.