| |
| Thursday, January 31, 2008 |
| Misconceptions |
Tuesdays are half price movie nights at the dollar theater here in town. Therefore, we can take our family of 8 to the movies for $4.00!! This is like renting a movie at home, but to the kids it is much "cooler" because we get to go to the theater. This past Tuesday we took the kids to see "The Game Plan". We were completely pleased with this movie. Z is now even calling it her favorite movie ever.
Anyway, another thing we rarely get to do is go out to eat with the Crew. I had a bonus that I was given at Christmas that I saved for such a time as this. We have a new Mexican restaurant in town that is supposed to be excellent. It is a chain and I've been to one before and it was very good. We decided to check it out.
Upon entering the restaurant we got several looks, including from the employee taking our name and how many needed to be seated. There were only 5 or 6 people waiting in the lobby. She looked at us and told us it would be a 25-30 minute wait. It was already about 7:15 at night and it was a school night. I told her thank you, but that we couldn't wait that long.
As we were exiting, I commented that I didn't understand the long wait time since there was hardly anyone there. D said she told me a long wait time hoping we would leave because of all of the kids.
We went down the road to another Mexican place who promptly seated all 8 of us. In fact, they seated us next to a table with 10 adults...10 drinking adults...10 very loud disturbing adults...you get the picture. After about ten minutes, E leaned over to me and said, "Mom, they really aren't acting very well and they are really annoying." We took the opportunity to teach a life lesson about drinking. However, I found it quite interesting that we were possibly turned down from one restaurant because of a misconception they had about the number of kids we had and the problems that might result from it. Then at the next restaurant, there were grown adults acting like children and it was acceptable.
What the first restaurant didn't know was that a good number of times that we have gone out to eat with our Crew, we have been complimented on how well-behaved they are. We have had waiters, waitresses, and other patrons stop and comment on how some people can't keep their one of two children from crawling under tables, making messes on the table, or throwing fits. I found it interesting that my just turned 10 year old daughter was noticing the childlike behavior of the people around us and talking about how "annoying" it was when we were just put out because of the misconception that our children would act that way. The whole thing was enlightening.
BTW, Mexican restaurants are one of the best places for large families to eat. We ordered two sets of fajitas, drank water, and even shared a dessert for $30.18. Not bad for 8 people at a nice restaurant. |
posted by 6blessings @ 6:36 AM  |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, January 29, 2008 |
| Another dose of J |
Check out those 7 year old muscles! J had another gymnastic meet last weekend. He did really well. For those of you who don't know, he does all six events- vault, parallel bars, high bar, floor, pommel horse, and rings. There were 48 seven year olds. They divided them into two groups. J placed 6th on floor and high bar, 10th on parallel bars, and 12th all-around. This was pretty good for only his second meet. Okay, now for a little J humor: Number 1: The night before the meet, he was at practice. His teammates were telling jokes. One of them told the "What's black and white and red all over?" joke. When they were finished, J said, "Okay, I've got one. I made it up myself. What's green and green and green and black and white? Give up... it's 3 pickles wrestling with a skunk." Number 2: Before the competition, I had packed his bag with all of his things he would need, the heaviest of which was a water bottle. During the competition, I noticed he was having a hard time lugging his bag around. It seemed super heavy and hard to carry. I commented that I wondered what he had put in there. After the competition, I inquired. "Oh, mom, I brought my dictionary with me in case I had time to read." This is unusual for many reasons. First of all, not very many people enjoy reading the dictionary, especially 7 year olds. Also, he had lugged his huge hard-backed Children's Dictionary through the entire meet. This is no small book. In reality, I don't think he had much reading time, but he was prepared anyway. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 11:34 AM |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, January 23, 2008 |
| DOUBLE DIGITS!!! |
Today is DOUBLE DIGITS for E and Z! 10 years old! What else could that mean for a girl around our house, but ear piercing?!
E was the first to go. She made some funny contortions with her face, but did great! LEFT EAR  RIGHT EAR  Z almost backed out, but the lady was quick to get the left ear done...  ... OW! That hurt! "Mom, I don't want to do the other one." Me: "You can't walk out of here with just one earring." RIGHT EAR (in tears, poor baby/ the price we pay for beauty)
 Every girls' birthday wish: NEW SHOES
E's were too big. I'll have to make a return.  Z already had hers on. She balanced so I could get a picture.  Best friends, closest pals, sacred secret keepers: My Beautiful 10 Year Old Twins!  Don't the ears look cute? Happy 10th E and Z!!! |
| posted by 6blessings @ 7:33 AM |
|
|
|
| Monday, January 21, 2008 |
| A Year and a Half at Home |
Yesterday marked a year and a half since we landed on American soil with our Russian sons.
I've had a lot of news to report on the other kiddos, but haven't done a bwin update in a while, so here it is.
First, here's a picture of the bwins in our hotel room on the day we took them from the orphanage (July 14, 2006). The shirts are 2T and the shorts are 18mo.  This picture was taken in our Moscow apartment when they discovered the CD player. They were fascinated and listened to it forever and begged to listen more. It was the first thing that they stopped long enough to sit for since we got them. They both love music, but L has a special draw to it. He loves to listen and to sing. He's always singing something, although not very many of the words are correct.  This picture was taken this Christmas when they were given FP3 players by MeMa and PaPa. They are the kid-tough MP3 players made by Fisher-Price. I thought this really showed how much they've grown from the pic above.  The boys have wrestled this fall/winter season and have done well. They have won a few medals, but above all, have learned some much needed self discipline. They enjoy days out with dad, their wrestling coach. Every time I hear Steven Curtis Chapman's "All I Really Want for Christmas", I cry. It's about a little boy who is an orphan and just wants a home. One of the lines says, "But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with, Maybe they could teach me how to get along." This has come true in our family.  This picture was taken at our trip to the pumpkin patch in early November. 
This picture says it all.
A family. This was taken on Christmas Eve 2007 when they got their new jammies. 
A lot of progress has been made over the last year and a half, but there is always more work to be done.
Here's a few other updates:
Weight in Russia: L (25 pounds), El (25 1/2 pounds)
Weight now: L (30 pounds), El (31 pounds)
Size clothing in Russia: 2T shirts, 12 month shorts
Size now: 4T length, still need super adjustable waists or strong elastic
Language: They communicate extremely well, but still get sentence structure mixed up. They also tend to use wrong verb forms (much like a 3 or 4 year old). We are continually working on their vocabulary expansion. They have learned to point and say "that" or "this" to so many things, but don't actually know what they are.
School: We have homeschooled Kindergarten this year and progress has been slow, but it has been there. They know all of the letter names and most of the sounds. They have quite a bit of trouble with u, w, and y sounds. El can sound out almost any short vowel, three letter word. L struggles a little more in this area, but can get it depending on the day. They have also just started learning silent e on the end of a word and long vowel sounds. They can recognize all of the numbers through 10 and the number words through 10. They can do one digit addition and subtraction problems (usually with their fingers, but at least they have the concept).
The true challenge in school has been in the area of discipline and frustration levels. They require great amounts of review. For example, they know how to write their names, but if they don't practice it every once in a while, they don't remember how to do it. We do a lot of drills and repetition. We have to review how to do everything after we've had any break, even a weekend.
Every day, we have several outbursts. At the beginning of the year, we had a lot of screaming, yelling, crying, throwing fits. It really made it hard to learn anything. What I started doing a few months ago has really helped. The minute they start fussing or whining or whimpering, they are sent to sit on their bed until they can come back and work with a good attitude. They usually run off screaming, but have to make their own decision to calm down and work. They come back and usually apply themselves much better.
They can definitely learn, it just seems as if they don't always retain things well. We can do a page of addition problems, turn the page, and they don't know how to do the next page of addition problems even though it is exactly the same. It has truly been a different year of teaching than I've ever had before.
Discipline: A year and a half ago we were spending half our day in time-in with the boys trying to keep them from tearing everything up. They still go to time-out on occasion and we still have a lying incident once or twice per week, but all in all things are much better on this front. They still get incredibly angry when they have to be disciplined. It is a fierce anger, but they are learning to control it better.
They still require tight boundaries. It seems if I let up and give them a little more freedom, I mean a little, they take a bunch and run. They don't know how to manage it well yet. They're gradually getting better, but it is always a test and see situation.
Memories: Over the past year and a half, we've heard several stories of their past. They are trying to sort everything out. The other day, they asked E when Mama and Papa picked her up from the orphanage. E went on to explain that she came out of my tummy, not from an orphanage. She told him he came from his Russian Mama's tummy. L said, "Yea, she told us she would come back and get us one day, but she never came." Little things like this pop out from time to time. Memories will be sparked by a word someone says, a song they hear, something they see on TV.
Letters from gma are becoming less, but are still happening. In the last letter, she mentioned the boys' father. We have no paternal info on them, so this, of course, spurred our interest. We wrote back asking for some more info, but haven't received anything back.
Attachment: I think the boys have attached really well. They still sometimes get overly touchy and suffocate people, much like they did at first. However, they seem to usually have a good balance. They absolutely love their siblings, grandparents, and cousins.
All in all, it seems like they've been here a lot longer than a year and a half. I feel that they've progressed well considering their first five years. They are six and a half years old. In some things they seem right on target, but in many ways they are more like four year olds. Sometimes this is hard for me. However, I feel that they are doing really well. The last year and a half has definitely been an adjustment in many ways for our family, but I can't imagine life without the bwins. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 7:34 AM |
|
|
|
| Thursday, January 17, 2008 |
| Spelling Bee |
Z and J at the spelling bee. The numbers were their spelling order. 
The spelling bee was yesterday and went well. The kids did a great job. You could tell they were really nervous. Z was the only girl out of 12 kids who qualified until a last minute little girl showed up. I thought that was quite interesting. She ended up going out on the word ACCUSE. She got nervous and said ACCUS.....S. When they said she was out she looked bewildered. She thought she had said an E on the end. She quitely spelled other's words while they continued, words like AERIAL and AISLE. I think she was disappointed, but we were proud of her. J went out on the word ACCESS. He said ACCES. He had one to few S's and Z had one two many.
Both kids did great and were cheered up to hear that as a reward for being a spelling bee finalist, they get to go out for pizza next Friday during school as a treat. They thought that was pretty cool! Way to go J and Z! |
| posted by 6blessings @ 5:04 AM |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, January 15, 2008 |
| First Semester Down |
The first semester is over for the kids and they are into the second one. They brought grade cards home the other day and I thought I'd do a little momma braggin' again.
J's 1st semester averages(2nd grade): 96, 98, 100, 99, 100 (He was very upset that there were only two 100s. )
E's 1st semester averages(4th grade): 87, 96, 91, 91, 93, 93 (This is very good for E.)
Z's 1st semester averages(4th grade): 97, 97, 95, 95, 96, 97
H's 1st semester averages(8th grade): 96, 97, 98, 94
Overall, school has been good for the kids. I miss them, but it has been a real challenge to school the two little guys this year. It was the right thing for everyone to send the others to school. They have learned many life lessons that will help in the future and I have had time to work with the bwins more intensely. Just in case you wonder, all of the kids say they like school, except for E on occasion. However, all of them can't wait for homeschooling again next year. They're already asking about it.
**Bonus: The school spelling bee is tomorrow. There are 12 children participating out of around 390 kids. Two of the twelve are from our Crew. I'll let you know how it goes.
**Double Bonus: A paper that came home in J's folder (all grammar as he wrote it).
My Favorite Parts of Christmas:
I love Jesus's birthday.
I love decorating my house.
I love making a Santa letter.
I love watching my family open presents.
Last but not lest I love getting to visit my Grandma and Grandpa. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 8:29 AM |
|
|
|
| Monday, January 07, 2008 |
| The Tides of Life |
Life is an endless cycle of gaining and losing, firsts and lasts. We learn to deal with loss and we learn to celebrate with gain. We revel in the firsts and cherish the lasts. Two years ago, we had all of the "lasts" as a family of six while we were anticipating the boys. Then last year we went through a series of "firsts" with them- first Christmas, first Easter, first bike, first birthday party, etc. Now this year we are back to "lasts" again, and along with the lasts come the goodbyes.
This fall, we began realizing and marking many "lasts"- the last time to dress up for Halloween, the last birthday with family members, the last Thanksgiving and Christmas with our family, etc. When we lost the big tree in the ice storm, we said a goodbye to our home as we knew it, a special memory. Then D's grandpa passed away and another goodbye came our way. Our last Christmas with our families was special despite all of the illnesses we had and are continuing to have. But with the passing of Christmas comes the beginning of getting rid of "stuff" for us.
We are not moving with the military or any business that would be sending employers overseas. We are a part of a group, but there are no moving expenses because we raise all of our own support. Therefore, when we board the plane next summer, we will have almost nothing to claim as ours other than what is in our suitcases. Yes, we will store some memorabilia, pictures, etc. We may even store some basic supplies for when we make trips back for visits. However, most everything we own will be sold in a garage sale or given away. There's no shipping of furniture, etc. We will not own a vehicle.
I am not a "stuff" person anyway so this concept has never really bothered me much. We won't have much space when we get there anyway. We are "hoping" on a 1000 square foot apartment for the 8 of us. We've even been told we would have a western toilet. Woo Hoo!!There won't be much room for much else besides beds, clothes, schoolbooks, and basic necessities. We don't need any of our "stuff".
A few weeks before Christmas, our pastor preached a sermon on how traditions bind the children to the family. They bring security and a sense of belonging. After that sermon, we decided that we would pack up our most special Christmas items and send a very small box over so we would have familiar things with us next year. Each child picked two of their favorite small ornaments. We are going to wrap them in our stockings and send them over. We have also included a book we always read on Christmas Eve.
Other than that, all of our Christmas "stuff" will be going. My mother is taking a few items and we asked our small group to come "after Christmas shop for FREE" at our house. We found a good home for our 7 1/2 foot Prescott Pine prelit tree. Next year we're hoping for a table top tree. Really, I am thrilled to give away all of Christmas things. I would rather them go to people we love than just be sold in a garage sale for a quarter. However, my heart does ache, not for the "things", but for the memories. I don't know how to explain it, but I guess I'm just going through a little loss. I'm sure a little fear of the unknown, fear of the future is there. However, I think it is mostly a kind of saying goodbye to the way things were.
I know Who holds the future and I am totally confident in His plan. I know that next year will be an incredible one filled with exciting new adventures and marvelous opportunities, especially at Christmas. But for right now, I'm quietly and inwardly weeping over the loss. The tree, grandpa, and Christmas are only the beginning of the goodbyes and the losses. Our next 7 months will be filled with them. I know that dealing with loss and saying goodbyes are just part of the tides of life. However, I look forward to next year when the cycle of "firsts" begins again. I know that God will use the next few months of the shedding of everything we've ever known to draw me closer to Him and prepare me. The one thing that helps is to remind myself that my goodbyes and my losses are nothing in comparison to God's sacrifice of His Son on the cross or Christ's sacrifice of His very life. He did so much more for me than I could ever do for Him. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 7:23 PM |
|
|
|
| Friday, January 04, 2008 |
| We need a doctor in the family! |
Well, the sixth child, Z, finally got the stomach virus on New Year's Eve. It caught up with me at about 3 a.m. this morning. I tell you what, this is one fierce bug. I warned D that we were now at 7 out of 8 of us receiving the stomach flu. He's the only one left. Hopefully, we don't go for 100 percent in this arena.
Also, H was out with her youth group on New Years Eve and fell into a drain ditch, fracturing the growth plate in her ankle. She is in a big boot and on crutches for six weeks.
E had her MRI arthrogram done on her shoulder. We were supposed to have the results back today. However, I just called the doctor and the nurse said that he was wanting to show them to a second doctor to get another opinion before sharing the results with us. In other words, we have to wait through the weekend and won't know anything until Monday.
I am sooooo ready to be rid of these health problems. They seem to just be coming at us left and right. However, I refuse to get discouraged and look forward to a great next week. Hope everyone has a super weekend! |
| posted by 6blessings @ 1:26 PM |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, January 02, 2008 |
| Spelling Champs |
Okay, the holidays are over and now I'm going to play a little catch-up.
The first item of business is a mama's bragging rights. About mid-December, J's teacher sent home a note saying that he was one of the second grade spelling bee contestants from his class. In his school there are 6 second grade classes with about 22 kids per class, around 132 kids total. Each class chose its top 6 spellers to compete in the second grade spelling bee. The top four second graders overall moved on to the school-wide spelling bee. J did so well, and as usual, was very exact and professional in his spellings. He finished fifth. Therefore, he is an alternate if one of the top four can't do it. The picture above is him at the second grade bee. His teeth were so loose they were about to fall out.
Two days before Christmas break, Z got in the car and announced that out of her grade of approximately 130 kids, she made the top four and would be in the school-wide Spelling Bee. Both J and Z brought home a booklet full of words to study. The big spell-off is on January 16th. We have done a little studying, but with everyone being so sick, we haven't done as much as I would have like to have done over the break. (Z got the stomach virus on New Year's Eve. Six out of six. We like to do everything 100%! :-0 )
Anyway, I wanted to make sure that I posted about this great accomplishment. As you can tell, I'm really proud of them both! |
| posted by 6blessings @ 5:37 AM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
