The Longest Day of the Year

To me Christmas Eve is always the longest day of the year. I guess as an adult this can be a good thing because I always seem to get so much done. In the morning I went out and ran earrands for about 3 hours. Literally picking up last minute gifts and returning unneeded gifts to beat the rush. I got so much accomplished. I have already wrapped all the gifts we have so I don't have to stay up late tonight. John's family is coming over for dinner tonight and my family will be coming over tomorrow. It was too hard having so many people over at the same time for Thanksgiving.

The kids are so excited. They keep looking at the presents under the tree and rearranging them. They have spent a lot of time trying to guess what might be in them, but no paper has been mysteriously ripped on any packages. They have also been enjoying watching Christmas DVD's, such as Frosty, Charlie Brown, Rudolph, or 'Roonolph' as Michael says. This year they actually understand the stories and can explain what is going on.

Michael enjoyed playing with the Little People Nativity set and Wisemen set. This was a great way for them to learn about Jesus' birth.

Our Christmas turkey

The kids say out in the sunroom while the adults sat in the kitchen. At least this year it was warm and we actually had the windows open in the sunroom for some of the day. Again this year I didn't get pictures of the adults eating, just an empty table at the end of dinner, maybe next year.

After the meal the kids opened one gift. The girls opened Barbie clothes and Michael opened a 'Cars' memory game.

After the presents were opened the kids had to set out cookies and milk for Santa and an apple for Rudolph. Then they hurried to bed so Santa could come. Kristina had been tracking Santa some on the computer.

Once the kids were in bed the adults got to play a few games of Mad Gab before getting the presents out and setting everything up.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Mom x3

Michael is sick

Last Wednesday Michael had been complaining of a sore throat, so I took him to the doctor. She told me it was a virus and gave me nothing.


By Saturday he was so stuffed up he could barely breathe. I took him to see the Nurse Practitioner, ( I'm beginnng to think they may know more than doctors :), she said he had a sinus infection and ordered an antibiotic. I took the script to K-mart to get it filled and was able to walk around a look at toys while waiting. Michael was trying to tell me all the toys he wanted and he wanted me to buy more, even though I told him I was done buying. He remembered back to last year when I would hide presents under my coat in the cart so he couldn't see them. He said, "Oh, could we do that?" It almost made me cry. Those days are gone forever :(

Sunday Michael still wasn't feeling up to par so he and John stayed home from church. Of course this was the day we were supposed to help out in his Sunday School class. So I was in there helping to make the Baby Jesus and Michael wasn't. At least I was able to make him one.

After church we made Christmas cookies. The kids were all so excited. We made Spritz cookies, green chrismas trees and pink bells. They love helping me in the kitchen and I must say the cookies were very good.









Monday and Tuesday I worked and John was off to stay home with the kids.

We are getting very excited about Christmas since the kids know what is going on this time. They keep rearranging presents under the tree and changing the stuffed animals on the steps..

Mom x3

Kristina's Christmas concert and Hazel is sick

Last Friday Michael came home with his Gingerbread house. He was so proud of it. He had been asking for days, when he was going to make it, since the supplies had to be in early. Unfortunatly he only ate a little bit because by the time he came back to eat it, it was stale.

Over the weekend John noticed Hazel seemed to be sleeping more and I noticed when she would get up she was limping. I thought she was just tired, so I didn't take her to the vet on Saturday, since I had so much Christmas shopping to do. By Monday morning she was barely walking around so John, on his day off, took her to the vet. He really does love her, he just doesn't like what she does to the furniture. All they did was draw blood, they had no idea what the problem was.

By Tuesday morning she was barely eating or drinking and she hadn't used her litter box in 36 hrs. I took some pictures of her thinking they would be the last ones.

I cried all the way to work. It's amazing how attached you can become to a ball of fur. The vet finally called and said the labs were normal and they didn't know what the problem was. They suggested bringing her in to get an antibiotic shot incase there was some sort of infection. So John took her in on his lunch break, he was being so nice to her. By dinner time she was walking around a little bit more and even came to drink some water. We were all so happy. It wasn't until Thursday evening that she made her way back up to our bed to sleep with us, though. So she had stayed downstairs for 5 days, being too weak to walk.

Tuesday night was Kristina's school concert, "December 'round the World". It was amazing they only mentioned Christmas one time, but were able to mention many other holidays which are celebrated, many different times. She was so excited about the concert she had been practicing for weeks to get the words. She really enjoys chorus.

While we were at the school we were able to see the Luba's picture were she was nominated for the PTA respect award. She was very proud of having her picture on the board.

Mom x3

Relaxing

Friday we were all able to relax and try to get the house back to normal. The kids were content to play with their new 'toys'. Everything that needed to be assembled has been assembled. New videos were watched which included 'Hannah Montana 3-D', 'The Little Mermaid II', and 'Scooby-Doo.' At least I didn't have to return anything. For a very short period of time I thought about going out to find some great 'sales', but I couldn't think of anything I actually needed.

Saturday was another day for relaxing. Shortly after lunch John's sister and neice, Kathy and Kendall came over just to visit. Nathaniel was over too. The weather was great and we were able sit outside in the back yard while the kids just ran around. For dinner John, Nathaniel, Kendall and I went to Abuelo's which is a new Mexican restaurant, great atmosphere. Great nachos too! Kathy stayed home to baby-sit. When we got home we watched one of my favorite movies, 'Can't buy me Love.' with Patrick Dempsey aka Derek Shepard from Grey's Anatomy. It really is a great movie.

Mom x3

Pictures

Saturday, I took the kids in to have their school pictures done at JCPenny. This way I knew they would look good in the picture and have their hair brushed. I also wanted one of the three of them. They loved having their pictures taken.

Sunday after church, my sister came over and took pictures for out annual Christmas picture. Looking back at last year, the kids have changed so much.

Mom x3

Putting up the tree

We finally got the tree up late Friday night when the kids were in bed. We well save the ornaments, or army men, as Michael says it, for the kids to do.

Saturday we got the 10+ rubbermaid bins out of the attic so we could put up all the decorations and lights in the window. The children were so excited. They spent so much time arranging and rearranging stuffed animals on the steps and around the house.

The kids have their nativity set,

and I have mine.

and of course the all important Mistletoe.



It took most of Saturday and Sunday after church to get everything up and then all of the containers back up into the attic. It seems like a lot of work for such a short time, but it is worth it.

This year is so much more exciting because the kids know about Christmas. Last year they had no idea what we were talking about, they just enjoyed putting up everything. This time the anticipation is so much greater. This makes it so much more exciting for John and me also.

Mom x3

Post Thanksgiving

The Friday after Thanksgiving we got up early to go to the mall. Not to go shopping, but to have pictures taken of all six of the cousins. This weekend was the first time all of them were together. Most of the pics turned out very good. We stopped at McDonalds for a very late breakfast.

Before we went home John and I were able to do a little bit of shopping, each of us getting new cell phones, the LG Voyager. I must say they are awesome, call them an early Christmas present. Actually we have already gotten our BIG family Christmas gift, but the kids don't know yet. Thely will be so excited. Shhhhhhh, it's a secret!

We finally got home around 2 PM. Kathy, Kyle, Kris, and Kendall came over one last time before going back to their respective homes.

For dinner, my family came over and we had leftovers. Now they are pretty much gone, so no turkey sandwiches. After dinner we watched 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles', hey we had to it was Thanksgiving weekend. Tomorrow we will get down all of the Christmas decorations. I have already switched out all of the dishes.

Mom x3

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was finally here! Last year I had turned on the Macy's Day Parade for the kids, but they didn't understand what it was. They have since seen parades and enjoyed watching it while they made some Thanksgiving day cards. They really like to make cards.





John helped me get the turkey in the oven by 8:30. Then we did a major cleaning around the house. A total of 17 people were coming for the meal at 1 PM. Later I made mashed potatoes and put some rolls in at the last minute.

we had a total of 6 pies

7 people sat in the kitchen

10 people sat in the sunroom

After the meal we were able to sit around and relax before starting on dessert. We have so much to be thankful for this year. Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself to realize we actually have three children. At other times, I can't imagine what it was like before them. The kids have come along so far. Now they understand what Thanksgiving means, (as much as a child can). I think they are all truely thankful they are no longer in Ukraine. I'm positive if we took them back to see what it is like, they wouldn't want to stay.

Later after the kids went to bed we watched Iron Man. The guys likes it I guess, but I thought it was a little too much.

Mom x3

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

The past few weeks we have been anticipating Thanksgiving. This year the kids understand more of what it means. Michael can tell the story of the Pilgrims and Indians. Last year they couldn't even understand what I was trying to tell them. They play with their "Lil People" Thanksgiving set and Mayflower set. In Michaels class they had a feast and Michael was an Indian, he was so proud of his costume.


Last Saturday John braved the cold weather and went with the guys to the UVA game. It was 37 degrees at kick-off. I was so glad I was at home with the kids. I was able to take Luba and Michael to have their pictures taken. (Kristina's will be done in a few weeks.)

We had been trying to decide where to eat Thanksgiving. Then we realized the kids would rather be at their own house so they could play after the meal. We will be having my family and John's family over, a total of 17 people. At least everyone will be helping out by bringing some food.

Michael has been talking about Thanksgiving all week. This morning he walked in our bedroom. (When he stands by the side of the bed he is right at my eye level when I'm lying down.) When I opened my eyes and smiled at him he said, "Mom, tomorrow is Thanksgiving!" I said, "What does that mean?" He said, "It means you are thankful." I said, "Michael, what are you thankful for?" He said, "I'm thankful for my family." It brought tears to my eyes. Here was a 5 year old boy who knows he is thankful he has a family. Many kids wouldn't even think about not having a family, but he knows what it is like to not have one. Having been put in an orphanage at 2 years old, he wouldn't remember anything about his previous family, which is probably a good thing.

School was only a half day today. Once the kids got home I started making an Apple Crisp. Luba and Michael helped me cut and peel the apples, while Kristina took picture. They enjoyed eating literally all the peels.


Mom x3