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.

Babuska's new kitty

Bubuska is Grandma for those of you who don't remember.

All the kids were very sad that Bubuska didn't have a kitty anymore. I think I was the saddest though. So yesterday we decided to go to the SPCA to see what we could find. Of couse they all wanted another cat or more than one. I tried to explain Papa would not be happy if we got another kitty. Kristina especially liked one which kept rubbing on her cage and meowing, (it was in heat). They each picked out the one Babuska should have. I told them only Babuska would be able to decide which one she wanted and she probably wasn't ready for another kitty yet. Michael enjoyed watching a pair of rats run around in a cage and managed to stick his finger in and get bitten.

Then we went over to Babuska's to pick her up to take her back to the SPCA. She 'visited' with a few different cats trying to decide if she should adopt one of them. Then a girl came up to her and wanted her to see her cat which she had to turn into the SPCA. The cat was a cute Maine Coon about three years old and she wanted her to go to a good home. Well Babuska decided to take her. All the kids were so excited that she had found a kitty. She decided to name the cat Emerald, (Emmy) for short because of her green eyes.

Washington DC, Nov 5

Monday we got up early and drove into DC. Kristina likes to watch a show on the Disney Channel which takes place in the White House. So they already knew that 'Mr. President lived there. I really don't think they understand he is the President of the USA. They did keep thinking they were going to see people from the TV show. We then walked to the WW II Memorial, it was such a beautiful day. Unfortunately while we were there we got the sad news that Penny had died, (Babuska's kitty). She had developed congestive heart failure very fast. It was very sad. :-( We only spent less than two hours in DC before heading home. Some day we will come when we can spend more time.

Pennsylvania, Nov 3-4

They children are out of school Nov 5-6 for teacher work days so we decided to take advantage and go on a mini vacation.

Saturday we had the car packed by 3AM and got the kids up and in the truck by 3:15 and we were off for Pennsylvania. We had hoped the children would sleep for most of the trip, but they were awake for the first hour. They were so amazed at all the streeet lights and the fact that there were very few vehicles on the expressway. They were finally asleep by the time we got to Williamsburg. They were able to sleep until about 6 when John stopped to get coffee, unfortunately they didn't fall back to sleep. They amused themselves playing tag, and rock, paper, sissors. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Martinsville, WVA to eat breakfast. The rest of the trip they enjoyed looking at the mountains and valleys. They really liked to leaves in different shades of orange and red. They kept saying it was beautiful. Beautiful in their new word, eveything they like is beautiful, even Papa in a suit. We tried to explain handsome, but it didn't work.

We arrived at Concordia at about 1 PM. They were glad to be done driving. They kept saying Pennsylvania was far away. The children enjoyed trying to play ping pong while the adults were able to sit and talk. We were also able to take a nice walk around the lake outside before going to the hotel. We all ate dinner together at the Old Country Buffet, (13 total). The kids enjoy picking out what they want to eat. When left to their own choice they tend to come back with vegetables from the salad bar. They do also really love the soft serve ice cream. After eating we were all very tired so we went straight to the hotel. All five off us were in the same hotel room. Michael was excited to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor.








Sunday, we were able to sleep in a little and then go down for the hotel's breakfast buffet. They really like to eat eggs! We were able to have the kids play in the play area at the mall before we met all the relatives again to eat lunch. After lunch we went back for some short visits before starting to head home. We enjoyed seeing Robert and Dorcas' trip to Alaska. At the Walborns place the kids all had to pretend they were singing with a microphone. We had to leave
by 5 PM and drove all the way to Hagarstown. Again they slept in the car for a short period.










Thanks for all your prayers,

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael

Halloween

The week started with the fall festival at church. They enjoyed eating chicken and playing on multiple different rides including a slide and a place for just jumping up and down. They also had fun riding the train around. The weather was just great. They really liked the 'ride' in which they wore a harness and had to run as far as they could before the bunge cord pulled them back.

On Tuesday we carved pumpkins. When the girls realized they had to put their hands inside the pumpkin to get the seeds out they decided they didn't like it as much. Michael kept saying, 'Mom, I like it this.' We kept the seeds to bake and eat later. They were all so proud of their own pumpkins.

Wednesday when they woke up they couldn't understand why they had to go to school since it was Halloween. We explained it was just a day not a holiday. When they came home they did their homework as fast as they could so they could get dress to to 'Trick or Treating'. Everybody came along including Papa, Mama, Mama parents and Allison and Brian. All of them caught on very fast about what was going on. They couldn't believe they could walk up to a house and be given candy. They got so much candy they will probably be eating it until next year!

Thanks for your prayers,

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael

Dentist for Kristina and Luba

This past week was slow compared to the past weeks. There were not as many appointments and just a few errands to run. Tuesday Kristina and Luba went to the Dentist to have a few teeth sealed. We have spent a lot of time trying to explain the upcoming holiday season and halloween. Everytime they see a pumpkin or whitches the just yell, 'Halloween!!' They don't understand what will happen on Halloween. They know they have costumes and that they will be walking around the neighborhood.

Vistor's and Michael's surgery

This past Monday, 10/15, Avie came to visit us bringing along with Oksana and her daughter Alyona. They are from Sevestopol, Ukraine and are in the US so Alyona can have surgery. We wanted to children to meet them because they speak Russian and very little English. It was very interesting because Kristina was able to converse with them, but Luba just kept saying, 'I don't know what you are saying.' They said she seems to have forgotten much of her Russian, and it has only been three months! This seems amazing to me, but also a little sad. She does know a lot of English words, but still is using many hand motions. We really hope Kristina will remember her Russian.

Wednesday, 10/17, was the big day for Michael! He seemed so excited to have the surgery, but he has no idea the pain he may be in afterwards. Hopefully, he will recover fast and be feeling back to normal by later next week. He is doing well so far and is still refusing to wear any pants to bed and he manages to stay on his back! He is walking slowly and very gingerly.

Thanks for your prayers,

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, Michael

Second UVA game 10/13/07

The kids were so excited today because we are going to another UVA football game. This time the weather should be much better than last time, not nearly as hot. We are bringing long sleeve shirts along just in case. They all love to go and eat sandwiches and chips outside. We didn't have to get up as early this time since the game was a 3:30 instead of noon like the last one.

UVA won the game 17-16! They are doing well so far this year and it's nice to have the kids see a win. Kristina keeps watching the scoreboard to see who's winning. After the game we are a McDonalds before driving home. Since we were much later than the last game they slept most of the way home and we didn't have to stop at all.

Thanks for your prayers,

John, Cindy, Kristina, Luba, and Michael