Olympic Torch Relay (Day 50) - Krasnoyarsk

I won't even mention how long its been...

With the Olympics in Russia this year, I've been thinking about our adoption of Andrei.  We were told by our coordinator that because Andrei had Asian features and dark skin that the chances of a Russian couple ever adopting him was slim to none.  In fact, 30% of the children in Russian orphanages have Asian features, and foreigners are their only hope of finding a family.  And now that Russia has removed Americans from that equation with its ban of Americans adopting Russian children, I just think of the 100s of kids that "look like Andrei" who will spend their days in these overcrowded understaffed orphanages.  We were told that the babies stay in the hospitals until there is a made available space in the orphanages to move them over--space provided by a child being adopted.  With Americans unable to adopt, and the fact that America accounted for a thousand of those children being adopted in 2011, I cannot imagine what a backlog of overcrowding conditions that must amass as a result.  I sincerely pray that the other welcomed countries will step up their adoption efforts and fill the void.  We have a happy, unbelievably smart little boy that was provided for us through this Russian system. So many kids like Andrei will remain lost in that dismal existence. Please keep these children in your prayers! I also can't help but think about all the Russian coordinators, drivers, translators that have been without a job (not to mention agencies in the US).

On a more positive note...We have completed our last post placement report! Yeah! We were refunded our $1000 deposit for submitting all four reports on time. That's a nice reward! With regards to adoption, we keep the adoption talk going in our house.  Andrei knows that he is from Russia.  He will tell that to you if you ask him.  He knows that we got on a plane and picked him up in Russia and he knows he cried all the way home to the US on the plane.  With my sister-in-law recently being pregnant, the girls were asking about their births.  Andrei knows that he was not in my tummy but another mom's tummy and "she took me to the hospital."  I'm sure it's a bit surreal for his little mind to firmly grasp, and I need to get going on that Lifebook this year for him.  A Lifebook is a book for him and his emotions, his experiences of his life basically before we became a family. It's very personal to him--not our experiences or emotions, but his.  From what I've read, it is instrumental in helping adoptive kids understand their adoption. 

We also enlisted the help of a lawyer and attended court to apply for his Texas birth certificate in December.  Having a Texas birth certificate will make life so much easier.  There's nothing like having the only original Russian birth certificate in your possession and knowing that if you lose it, you get to hop on a plane to Moscow or Krasnoyarsk and get another one.  So many states simply have a form for you to fill out and give to the district clerk and for the low, low price of $40 you get a state birth certificate.  Texas does not  have a simple form for you to fill out; I suppose you could represent yourself in court, but after days and days of research of trying to figure out what forms and how to fill them out, I gave up.  We hired legal representation.  So, we're done with all the "adoption" stuff with the exception of getting Andrei a US Passport.  We'll do that at some point in the future.  That will require a bit of a nail biter because you have to send in to our extremely efficient US government the only original copies of the stuff the US Embassy gave you and said, "Don't ever lose these papers".  Yikes!

Here is a video of the Olympic Torch in Krasnoyarsk, the city where we picked up Andrei! It looks as cold as it was when we were there.  Doug and I were going, "Hey, I remember that!"


Andrei is now four! In a few days we will celebrate his 3 year Gotcha Day.  The girls are already planning a little party with cake to celebrate.  He's so bright.  We thought he might be color blind because for a year everything was the color green.  One day he woke up and said, "Mom, that's red.  That's blue." Literally overnight he learned the color wheel! He knows his ABCs, can count to ten, and can now jump with both feet off the floor. He loves guns, trucks, and the Disney Cars--and in any given order on any given day.  He loves playing in the dirt and helping Dad.  "We boys!" he is always telling me.  He is every bit the child I thought he would be when we first talked about adoption so many years ago.  He's become my buddy during the day, and I'm already not looking forward to him going to school. (2 years down the road but still....)

Snowstorm Rocky, a Birthday, and Wine

Come on, I know you're trying to decide whether to click on Boy George or not...Go ahead and do it...Get it over with...

It's been a crazy, busy last 10 days.  Our little man turned three!  I flew to San Antonio to visit my sister.  We've entertained the 2nd worst blizzard snowstorm (Rocky) in our Panhandle history--or US history (I make that statement of 2nd hand knowledge told to me by my husband...)--the most dumped in a 12 hour period or something like that--So I've been told anyway. I'm not sure how much we got--17-18" inches?? maybe more??  (You know you're in the big time when the Weather Channel talks about you! LOL  I had no idea that they named winter storms now...)

We're currently on our 2nd snow day of cancelled school.  We have good 4 foot drifts in our yard thanks to the 50 mph winds during the snow dumping of 2013.  Thankfully we only lost our electricity for about an hour.  It was the first time our girls have been through the despair of not having Thomas Edison's invention at their beckon call. 
"Oh Momma! It's a great day to watch movies all day."  Sorry, can't do that.  "How about some hot chocolate?"  How about some cold chocolate?  "Can we play our DS's?" Not if they are not already charged... It was a sobering reality for them. 

This morning the three little ones and the one big one are venturing out to make a snowman family.  We have enough to build the Duggars.

My weekend in San Antonio was met with wonderful 70-75 degree weather.  We hit the vineyards for some wine tasting on Friday.  Contrary to what you may be thinking, it was very, very educational. Really.  I found out that port is nasty--no matter who makes it.  I verified what I had already known--that I don't like red wine.  I stayed in the white sweet wines.  Reisling is very very tasty.  I can also see why one might require the service of a limo after visiting south Texas's wine country. Had we ventured to a third winery, we might have needed a limo ourselves. My sister tells me it's the #2 wine country in the USA.  We ate at the Pink Pig and then ventured into Fredricksburg for some over priced shopping. 

All was well until my sister forced me to listen to her Culture Club CD on the way home.   Kristin has always been a European music band junkie.  She was a card carrying member of Duran Duran (who knows..she might secretly still be one...).  Listening to Boy George took me back to my freshman year in high school.  Unfortunately, I still remembered the words and probably sang out of tune to Karma Chameleon on the way home.  She says she draws the line at Elton John, but I figure if she likes Wham! she's got to be a closet Elton fan as well.  (Please click on the above video for stirring 80s music flashblack for all you 40 year olds!)

Here are some pictures of Andrei's birthday party and our snow storm. 

Yes, parts of our yard are bare of snow.





Wanting to have nothing to do wit blowing out his candles.

Enjoying his cake!

Fast summer update

Back from the dead temporarily at least...maybe once fall arrives, I'll become inspired. 

Kennedi turned 6 in July.  Annsley spends hours (literally) reading books every day--something that her father does not understand or can relate to. 

And Andrei was using the toilet water this morning to brush his teeth.  Lovely. 

In other news, we are moving.  To a little bitty town.  So little that mail is not delivered to your house we have learned.  We have to get a PO Box.  I have already decided that I shall train Annsley to go in and get our mail.  I just hope we don't get a box on the top row where she can't reach it.  That would mean a rethinking of my brilliant "stay in the car with the little hooligans" plan while big sister acts as Moma's gopher.  We drove by the grocery store the other day.  Annsley takes one look at it and says, "Now Mom, if we have serious grocery shopping to do, we will drive to Big A, right?" She's obviously concerned about the neighborhood Thriftway offering only two types of cereal. 

We close on our new house in two weeks. There were only 12 houses for sale total in this little town (and from what I understand that number is unheard of.)  It seems that almost everyone who lives there loves it and never leaves.  As a result, very few houses are for sale, and while there are some very nice homes, the ones which were available while we were on the look were grandma and grandpa's house that the older children were selling--houses that were still in a 1960 time warp from the people who loved living there and never left.  We are blessed in the fact that we were able to purchase this house as it only has wall to wall mauve carpeting (literally--every square inch of the house--kitchen included) and blue Waverly wall paper.  I'm thinking that my 1990s couches will go absolutely beautifully with it.  And the oven doesn't look like something out of an I Dream of Jeannie rerun. All cosmetic which can be changed easily.  And the best part--all my children will have separate rooms.  I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about that!!!!

Everyone we have talked to has only great things to say about the town, and we are ready to see what all the "hub-bub" is about! For me personally, I'm excited about getting back to a small town--where my kids can walk around at night, and I don't have to hear traffic in my backyard.  Whoo Hoo!

Happy Birthday, Annsley!

My baby girl turned 8.  GULP! Here are a few pictures from her family party.  A softball/baseball game was started.  It was pretty funny watching a bunch of 60 something grandparents trying not to kill themselves! Thank you all for participating and making it a fun afternoon!

 And in case you might be wondering what in the world the pink "object" is, well, it's a pinata want-to-be.  Annsley HAD to have a Pink Poodle Pinata.  I was not going to spend $20 dollars on something that would be whacked away in 5 minutes.  So, I went to You Tube and learned how to make our own.  Doug just rolled his eyes when I told him what Annsley and I were about to do.  (Remember, he was a part of the Mother's Day Pinata fun.) 

I wouldn't recommend it.  I know, it looks like a pig. We didn't have enough toilet paper cardboard rolls, so we had to make 4 legs out of just two.  We just call him Stubby, the fat poodle with mange.  I got hot wrapping the crepe paper around and around, so I made the executive decision to use highly visible duct tape to hold it all together. The $20 might have been worth it...

No rude comments, please!

She doesnt' know how bad it really looks.  Thank you for 8 year old bliss!

Look Who's Two!!

Our little Russian blessing turned two Sunday!! We had his birthday party on Saturday, and in honor of our Siberian Birthday Boy, snow fell the morning of his party. Since we had gotten the girls their own "highchair" cake for their first birthdays, I was leaning towards doing the same for Andrei.  A one year old maybe...maybe....eats a few bites or licks his fingers.  I have been able to watch Andrei with cake before, and that boy can put it away.  He's like his momma.  Birthday Cake or bust!  So, picturing Andrei devouring the ENTIRE little cake, me not thinking that is the best thing for his little body, listening to him scream when I take it away after he eats half of it, and then having to endure all the grandmas sympathizing with my screaming toddler, I opted for cupcakes instead.  As I predicted, he scarfed it down in nothing flat. 

2 Year Old Barnyard Bash! Thank You Fisher Price Farm Set for your support in this endeavor!



My attempt at Gum Paste animals...In case you can't decipher my little critters, you're looking at a pig who forgot the sunscreen, a cow in need of a stair stepper, and a slightly gene damaged sheep.



After 1001 pictures, give it a rest!!

Trying to light his own candles.

And yes, he did blow them out all on his own!!

Not bad.  Not bad at all...

60 seconds later, it's all gone!

The Party Goers

Gift Aftermath!

Kennedi's 5th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!! We are now Lite Brite richer, and one Fisher Price camera richer. We have enough beads to open our own jewelry store, and between her and Annsley's haul of clothing items, we can open up our own road side boutique. It was quite amazing...as it usually is since our children are blessed with 4 sets of grandparents--and they all have this "thang" of making sure all siblings have something as well.  It must be a grandparent thing because all of our parents do it, and I know they didn't call some super secret grandparent meeting years ago...

The year Hello Kitty entered our lives...I didn't even know she was a force to be reckoned with until this month...

Kennedi enjoying her cake!

Andrei enjoying his sister's cake!

Oh Cousin Fischer--the things I could teach you!

Andrei playing hide and seek with a gift bag and my laziness of not going back to rotate the picture for you.