So far the holidays are going very well. The boys had their Christmas concert on Thursday night 12/17. It was interesting to see that Tim behaved much like Matt did last year (more interested in everything around him than singing) and Matt paid a lot more attention and sang. Both Grandma's were there and the boys put on a nice concert. Saturday I celebrated my birthday by watching all the TV I wanted! Then my boys took me out to dinner at my favorite resturaunt. It was an awesome day!
The boys have already been sledding and love playing on the snow pile in our court. Hopefully that will get a little bigger the next couple of days. Today is their last day of school until 1/4/10.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
What a Difference a Year Makes!
Last year at this time I was scared to take the boys to the park. If they decided they didn't want to come home, I was stuck. I certainly couldn't chase them through the tunnels (even if I didn't have Lola with me - which I usually did). Fortunately Brian and I got the whole "discipline" thing down. The boys would go for weeks without goint to the park because they didn't listen to me. Now - I say "It's time to go" and all they say is "One more thing?" I say yes and then we leave. I also don't have little girls coming up to me saying "Matt pushed Me!" The boys are so well behaved!
We finally went on our first vacation. We have family that goes up to a lake in Minnisota every year and we decided to join them this year. What a nice week. By the end the boys understood how to handle a fishing pole. Matt spent hours hanging off the end of the pier scooping up fish with the fishing net! I got to kick back and read a book.
Right now Brian's laying the foundation for our backyard pool. We learned a few things last year and will hopefully get a "level" pool this year. This summer we're keeping the boys busy during the mornings but we'll have afternoons open for fun stuff. Monday and Wednesday evenings Matt's doing baseball and on Wednesday nights (after Matt) Tim has soccer. The boys are learning to ride a bike and we got them a scooter.
We finally went on our first vacation. We have family that goes up to a lake in Minnisota every year and we decided to join them this year. What a nice week. By the end the boys understood how to handle a fishing pole. Matt spent hours hanging off the end of the pier scooping up fish with the fishing net! I got to kick back and read a book.
Right now Brian's laying the foundation for our backyard pool. We learned a few things last year and will hopefully get a "level" pool this year. This summer we're keeping the boys busy during the mornings but we'll have afternoons open for fun stuff. Monday and Wednesday evenings Matt's doing baseball and on Wednesday nights (after Matt) Tim has soccer. The boys are learning to ride a bike and we got them a scooter.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Settling in as a Homemaker
Life has really changed for us. I'm cooking daily and even baking sometimes (from scratch). The boys are loving school and I enjoy seeing them grow. Matt's doing wonderful with his english and is even writing words. He knows the letters and their sounds and spells by sounding out the word. For Valentine's day he wanted to give a card to our neighbor, Jean. He spelled it "JEN".
Tim has almost given up his Russian. He still uses a word or two every so often, but he's learning. He's even been writing his name. He's counting to 14 without help. He knows most of his letters. Our biggest problem is getting him to TRY things. He prefers to just say "I can't do it" because that's the easiest way to get things done. We keep encouraging him to try. We tell him it's OK if he can't do something but he needs to try first. Sometimes he surprises himself.
Christmas was SO much fun this year. The boys were amazing! Christmas morning Matt woke us up and told us we HAD to go downstairs and see if Santa had come. He was so excited when he saw all the gifts. He sorted them into piles (his, Tim's, Mom & Pop). Then the boys took turns opening. After each gift they would pick up the paper and put it in the garbage.
Tim has almost given up his Russian. He still uses a word or two every so often, but he's learning. He's even been writing his name. He's counting to 14 without help. He knows most of his letters. Our biggest problem is getting him to TRY things. He prefers to just say "I can't do it" because that's the easiest way to get things done. We keep encouraging him to try. We tell him it's OK if he can't do something but he needs to try first. Sometimes he surprises himself.
Christmas was SO much fun this year. The boys were amazing! Christmas morning Matt woke us up and told us we HAD to go downstairs and see if Santa had come. He was so excited when he saw all the gifts. He sorted them into piles (his, Tim's, Mom & Pop). Then the boys took turns opening. After each gift they would pick up the paper and put it in the garbage.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Our First Christmas
I can't believe Christmas is only two days away! We got the Tree put up and decorated AND put up the outside lights all the day after Thanksgiving. That would be a first for us. There's a lot of things I wanted to do but didn't get to them, but we got the important things done. Brian bought and wrapped some gifts a couple of weeks ago because we're trying to introduce the boys gradually to all this "Christmas" stuff. The haven't unwrapped anything yet!!!
Matt and I have been fighting a cold for the past couple of weeks and now that we're feeling better, Brian and Tim are starting to sound bad.
Speeking of Tim, he's obsessed with Santa. Everytime he see's a Santa he yells out. We took the boys ice skating at the Pettit Center and Santa was there. Tim tried to monopolize his time. I tried to explain to Tim the he has to share Santa with the other kids. He didn't get that.
Matt and I have been fighting a cold for the past couple of weeks and now that we're feeling better, Brian and Tim are starting to sound bad.
Speeking of Tim, he's obsessed with Santa. Everytime he see's a Santa he yells out. We took the boys ice skating at the Pettit Center and Santa was there. Tim tried to monopolize his time. I tried to explain to Tim the he has to share Santa with the other kids. He didn't get that.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Colors
Every so often the boys really surprise me. I cleaned out their bedroom yesterday afternoon, packed away summer clothes and sorted through all the winter stuff we had. I filled their drawers with stuff that was “new” to them. I was really excited out my “cleanup” job but what surprised me was how excited they were when they saw all the new stuff! They were screaming and yelling “Papa, come here, come here!” They were running from room to room opening their drawers and showing Papa all the new stuff they had.
We’ve been SO blessed with clothes from friends. Their drawers are stuffed full and I had two bags of stuff we didn’t need.
Matt’s been at school for two weeks now and Tim had his first week. They both LOVE it.
We've all getting more comfortable with each other and sometimes the boys will talk Russian and we won't even realize it. It's weird, but sometimes I feel like I can read their minds. Matt is going through two weeks of "colors". Each day starting last Monday his class concentrates on a color. Last week Thursday was green. Wednesday night we were looking for a green toy that he could bring in for Show & Tell and he looked at me said "Mom, small green toy!" and somehow I know he was talking about the toy he got in his Burger King lunch last Sunday. I responded with "I think it's in the car" and he said "YES!". We just saw it earlier that day because I cleaned out my car.
We’ve been SO blessed with clothes from friends. Their drawers are stuffed full and I had two bags of stuff we didn’t need.
Matt’s been at school for two weeks now and Tim had his first week. They both LOVE it.
We've all getting more comfortable with each other and sometimes the boys will talk Russian and we won't even realize it. It's weird, but sometimes I feel like I can read their minds. Matt is going through two weeks of "colors". Each day starting last Monday his class concentrates on a color. Last week Thursday was green. Wednesday night we were looking for a green toy that he could bring in for Show & Tell and he looked at me said "Mom, small green toy!" and somehow I know he was talking about the toy he got in his Burger King lunch last Sunday. I responded with "I think it's in the car" and he said "YES!". We just saw it earlier that day because I cleaned out my car.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Back to School
I can't believe it but the boys are going to school this year. Matt is going to all day kindergarten and started on Tuesday. Tim is signed up for Kindergarten Readiness and will start next week Tuesday. They're at two different schools but the start times are staggered so dropping them off won't be a problem.
What an awesome summer. Things started out a bit rough but we settled into a routine, got to know each other and everyone adjusted really well. We've been amazed at how Matt's picked up the english. I expected a word here and there but one day he just popped out with "Oh my Gosh!". It blew me away. After that the phrases kept coming.
Look at That
Just Wait
Come here please
I just love listening to the boys talk. Tim still speaks mostly Russian but we're hoping the Kindergarten Readiness will help him with that.
Below is a story from early June written by Brian:
============================================
The funniest part of today was getting them into the house with fishing poles held sideways and every other direction … they couldn’t get in the door.
So, Lola is sitting there watching this confusion and I tell the boys Come On … So, Lola “Comes On” …and so do the boys. I turn to Lola and say STOP … and the boys stop too. The dog and the boys don’t speak English, but they all understand “Come On” and “Stop” …
I was looking at a train collision at the doorstep as they all met confused.
What an awesome summer. Things started out a bit rough but we settled into a routine, got to know each other and everyone adjusted really well. We've been amazed at how Matt's picked up the english. I expected a word here and there but one day he just popped out with "Oh my Gosh!". It blew me away. After that the phrases kept coming.
Look at That
Just Wait
Come here please
I just love listening to the boys talk. Tim still speaks mostly Russian but we're hoping the Kindergarten Readiness will help him with that.
Below is a story from early June written by Brian:
============================================
The funniest part of today was getting them into the house with fishing poles held sideways and every other direction … they couldn’t get in the door.
So, Lola is sitting there watching this confusion and I tell the boys Come On … So, Lola “Comes On” …and so do the boys. I turn to Lola and say STOP … and the boys stop too. The dog and the boys don’t speak English, but they all understand “Come On” and “Stop” …
I was looking at a train collision at the doorstep as they all met confused.
Monday, April 28, 2008
First few days home
It's been a few days and I think the jet lag is finally behind us. We're all settling into somewhat of a schedule. The first couple days were a bit rough. Fri and Sat mornings the boys woke up at 3am. We tried to put them down for a nap and we had a really hard time waking them up. Saturday night they surprised us by putting themselves to bed at 7pm. We were worried but they slept until 5:30. Yeah! We got enough sleep for once.
Today we took the boys to Chuck E Cheese's. They loved it! At first we lost them in the tunnels but they knew what they were doing. After that we went and bought them some new tennies. I wanted them to have shoes with velcro rather than laces. That will be a lot easier for ALL of us.
Today we took the boys to Chuck E Cheese's. They loved it! At first we lost them in the tunnels but they knew what they were doing. After that we went and bought them some new tennies. I wanted them to have shoes with velcro rather than laces. That will be a lot easier for ALL of us.
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