We are spending the week together with staff and students from about ten cultures across the Russian-speaking world, plus our traditional group of Korean students! Ella and Tima are having a great time with the one other child-Sam McFadden. Their babysitter started bringing a book since the kids only want to play with their little animals and Snow White. Right now they are having a feast …some of the Jedi and dwarves are in the pile to be eaten by the tigers.
Danya is having a good time staying with our teammates in St. Petersburg. Trisha was so gracious to take him in for the week, though her husband is with us at the conference. And Danya’s definition of heaven is Nate and Nicks’ home! He’s playing Wii, Monopoly Deal, and Legos. Just like I have three kids of similar interests who are intensely playing with one another, Trisha says the three at her house are just as intense, though of course at a different developmental level!
It’s been great for me to watch Eric in action, leading the staff and students of Russia. I sat in on his vision casting meeting with the Korean students, and my own vision for Russia was renewed. And for the first time I experienced Korean style prayer at its most intense- with us in the center, hearing the many shouted prayers poured out with literal tears. And though I worried I would have no common ground with students (in my old age, having missed this conference for 5 years!) I have been blessed by the 45 students who live in cities without staff members, who are looking for mentors and friends. The atmosphere among our staff and students is very hopeful, as we all trust God together!
Tima and His Dolphin
Tima is crying himself to sleep, sucking his thumb, with his 'burpie' rolled up under his hand. Yes, a little regression is going on! The cause? He just realized that we gave away his dolphin, "Emma".
Last week after Christmas we celebrated Boxing Day with our own tradition of boxing up old toys. The boys have out grown a lot of their toys, and Ella's interests are diverging. So it was a fun year of giving away a lot! We pruned the stuffed-animals by about half. Meaning, we kept one dolphin and gave the other away. (I think they get played with once a month or less.) Tima didn't say anything at the time, but it turns out the boys can tell the dolphins apart, and Tima is now very sad.
(By the way, the dolphins were hard to give away, because we got them at the dolphin show in Odessa, when we were there with many good friends from Russia. Emma is named after a young friend who lives in Moscow!)
Last week after Christmas we celebrated Boxing Day with our own tradition of boxing up old toys. The boys have out grown a lot of their toys, and Ella's interests are diverging. So it was a fun year of giving away a lot! We pruned the stuffed-animals by about half. Meaning, we kept one dolphin and gave the other away. (I think they get played with once a month or less.) Tima didn't say anything at the time, but it turns out the boys can tell the dolphins apart, and Tima is now very sad.
(By the way, the dolphins were hard to give away, because we got them at the dolphin show in Odessa, when we were there with many good friends from Russia. Emma is named after a young friend who lives in Moscow!)
Beautiful Day!
After recovering from New Year's festivities, it seems most of Peter had the same impulse as I did to get outside and enjoy the snowy woods. It was so worth the cold (-15C and 90% humidity) to see piles of untouched snow and the almost-clear sky covered with pink clouds as the sun set in blazing orange (at 3:15). Why don't I do this every day?
I think I've mentioned before that I am amazed at the athleticism of Peterburgese. The wooded park has tractors plowing the paths! (There has been a lot of snow the last week or so--they say the most in 130 years. I haven't heard how much, but it seems to be around 18".) And the paths were full of people walking. The skiiers had to weave through them in places. I saw two men running, and dozens of kids trying out skiis, perhaps for the first time!
I think I've mentioned before that I am amazed at the athleticism of Peterburgese. The wooded park has tractors plowing the paths! (There has been a lot of snow the last week or so--they say the most in 130 years. I haven't heard how much, but it seems to be around 18".) And the paths were full of people walking. The skiiers had to weave through them in places. I saw two men running, and dozens of kids trying out skiis, perhaps for the first time!
C Новым Годом!
A rousing family train game, gingerbread house eating, Oklahoma-Stanford game live at 11pm, good friends and good times to ring in the new year!
It never occured to me to take pictures of the fireworks. They started later than usual--not much till 1am. And then most buildings had a display in their courtyards.
We went out to our courtyard then for champagne, mandarin oranges, and fireworks. Some of our kids loved it, some were pretty spooked by the (uncoordinated) rockets shooting up allaround and the coordinated loud big ones shot up just about 100m away. After half an hour, we came back home so Tima could go to bed! Danya and I watched more from our stairwell balcony. Nice to be on the 13th floor where we can see across miles of the city!
It never occured to me to take pictures of the fireworks. They started later than usual--not much till 1am. And then most buildings had a display in their courtyards.
We went out to our courtyard then for champagne, mandarin oranges, and fireworks. Some of our kids loved it, some were pretty spooked by the (uncoordinated) rockets shooting up allaround and the coordinated loud big ones shot up just about 100m away. After half an hour, we came back home so Tima could go to bed! Danya and I watched more from our stairwell balcony. Nice to be on the 13th floor where we can see across miles of the city!
The kids did sleep in a little this morning. Danya got up after 8:00, and Tima dn Ella after 9:00. Everyone's a little fussy! No surprise there, I guess!
Wishing you a joy-filled 2010!
Sunrise, Sunset
10:15am, (straight south is the right-side border of this photo)
A little late on the 'peak' of the arc, since this photo was at 2:00, and the peak should be at 1:00. Sun is just past south.
And the sun disappears behind the buildings at 3:47pm.
Since the sun is rarely visible, we took these when we could, the week before the solstice. I must say that it was a delightful week of sun and freezing temps. We hardly noticed the limited hours of daylight, since it was wonderful to actually see the sunlight, moon, and even stars!
Jump!
Worrying about our landlord's mattresses, we decided to get a gymnastics mat for Christmas. Combined with one of our favorite songs, it makes a Coe-music video. And you'll see a lot about our kids' relationships with each other as well!
Merry Christmas!
Celebrating Jesus' birth!
Afterward, Danya said, "I think I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life." The source? We think it was 10 straight games of Monopoly Deal with Nate. Danya said that Christmas Eve was the worst night of the year. "I just can't make myself go to sleep!"
Hopefully, more decorating to come this week. We get to celebrate for two weeks, since Russians' main holiday is new year's eve, and the Orthodox calendar places Christmas on Jan 7th. So there's a chance to finish up the gifts which didn't get done!
Notice the traditional bananas and oranges. And the non-traditional hammers!
Ella received a tea set. And we were surprised that the boys had as much fun with it as she did! Eric joined them for a tea party. (Ella poured 'coffee' for him.
On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with Chris and Trisha, Nate and Nick Huddleston. It was a wonderful, low-key dinner. As always, I'm amazed at my husband, who was in charge of the ham and the broccoli-chesse casserole (for which he made homemade cream of chicken soup!)
We enjoyed our last night of Advent, with all the candles lit. And sang Christmas carols, with the requests being, "Little Drummer Boy," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "something fun..." A tradition we started last year is reading through the What God Wants for Christmas book with its little nativity scene. (on the spot quiz: Which angel in the Bible has one broken wing?)Afterward, Danya said, "I think I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life." The source? We think it was 10 straight games of Monopoly Deal with Nate. Danya said that Christmas Eve was the worst night of the year. "I just can't make myself go to sleep!"
A few days ago, we decorated cookies. This year we haven't had as much time to make things in advance, but managed to make one batch of cookies! (Despite the mix-up of baking soda and powder, it all tasted good.) We also made sugar-snow candy, like in Little House in the Big Woods except ours was made with sugar-water instead of maple and molasses! Only one burn later, and several candy-coated spoons, we had some sniglets of hard candy that got stuck in everyone's teeth!
Hopefully, more decorating to come this week. We get to celebrate for two weeks, since Russians' main holiday is new year's eve, and the Orthodox calendar places Christmas on Jan 7th. So there's a chance to finish up the gifts which didn't get done!Мороз и Сольнце, день чудесный!
We've had two days of clear skies! To you Coloradans, it may not seem so unusual. But none of us can really remember the last time we saw the sun, let alone had a whole sunny day. A few days this past week, I saw sunlit clouds--evidence of a break somewhere in the grey covering us. And I was amazed at the beauty of the yellow, bright light which proved the continued existence of the sun.
Despite the lack of daylight hours, and the lack of sunshine even during those short hours, we are doing okay. The closer we get to the solstice, the more of an adventure it feels. It's really helpful to know that it will get better and better from now. (My attitude has improved since October, when my thought was, "Four more months until it's even this sunny?")
Eric and I sometimes speculate, would we trade the cloudy skies ande 10 degrees farther north for the much colder temps of Irkutsk? Yesterday, with the thermometer at -10C and sunshine, we decided that we much prefer the weather of Irkutsk. (In our opinion, -10 feels like -20 with the 90% humidity! And most of the winter, Irkutsk is around -20C.) Of course, Irkutsk is at -35 right now, I think! It's funny that we even talk about what we would prefer. If we chose our calling by the weather, we probably would never even think about Siberia!
Despite the lack of daylight hours, and the lack of sunshine even during those short hours, we are doing okay. The closer we get to the solstice, the more of an adventure it feels. It's really helpful to know that it will get better and better from now. (My attitude has improved since October, when my thought was, "Four more months until it's even this sunny?")
Eric and I sometimes speculate, would we trade the cloudy skies ande 10 degrees farther north for the much colder temps of Irkutsk? Yesterday, with the thermometer at -10C and sunshine, we decided that we much prefer the weather of Irkutsk. (In our opinion, -10 feels like -20 with the 90% humidity! And most of the winter, Irkutsk is around -20C.) Of course, Irkutsk is at -35 right now, I think! It's funny that we even talk about what we would prefer. If we chose our calling by the weather, we probably would never even think about Siberia!
Texan Blood
Not ag-ay-yan!
They-yer my oat-me-yeel.
He-yer my underwe-yer!
Is it genetic? The subtle influence of Papa Coe ? Or Nick, or six-year-old teammate who himself hasn't been in Texas a whole year of his life? Nobody knows, but Ella has a definite Texan accent when saying some words. It's very cute, especially the "Not ag-ay-yan!" when said with great drama about ordinary things like eating breakfast.
(translation:
Not again!
There's my oatmeal.
Here's my underwear.)
They-yer my oat-me-yeel.
He-yer my underwe-yer!
Is it genetic? The subtle influence of Papa Coe ? Or Nick, or six-year-old teammate who himself hasn't been in Texas a whole year of his life? Nobody knows, but Ella has a definite Texan accent when saying some words. It's very cute, especially the "Not ag-ay-yan!" when said with great drama about ordinary things like eating breakfast.
(translation:
Not again!
There's my oatmeal.
Here's my underwear.)
Tima's Terms
I unholded the toy and it fell.
[dropped]
Looking out the window on a snowy day, "Look, it's a breeze!"
[blizzard]
I remember that book! Tomorrow, when we were in Colorado, we read that!
[yesterday]
And then Obi-wan said, "I wanted to science that."
And Annikan stuck out his boot and said, "Science my boot!"
[study] This one was a mystery to me until Danya retold the same movie quote.
Of course, we also have the typical terms like "I catched; she swimmed; they go-ed." I've realized lately that I need to be correcting him more, since he doesn't seem to be naturally figuring them out. And he talks a lot.
Tima can spend the whole morning telling me stories. In the last few weeks, he's been pretending to be puppies. Each day, he chooses a new name and new characteristics for the new dog. We play the 'package game' to receive it. (The puppies are sent by relatives in the States, remarkably alive after being shipped for weeks.) And then Tima constantly corrects me, whenever I say his name:
"You mean Speedy?"
"Yes, Speedy, go get your clothes on."
Then there is a constant commentary about how each dog compares to the others. For example, how big he was when he was born, how tall he is now, how fast he can run, how high he can jump. And so on, to infinity, apparently! I've decided not to worry about all the 'imaginative' games in his homeschool curriculum.He plays that all day!
[dropped]
Looking out the window on a snowy day, "Look, it's a breeze!"
[blizzard]
I remember that book! Tomorrow, when we were in Colorado, we read that!
[yesterday]
And then Obi-wan said, "I wanted to science that."
And Annikan stuck out his boot and said, "Science my boot!"
[study] This one was a mystery to me until Danya retold the same movie quote.
Of course, we also have the typical terms like "I catched; she swimmed; they go-ed." I've realized lately that I need to be correcting him more, since he doesn't seem to be naturally figuring them out. And he talks a lot.
Tima can spend the whole morning telling me stories. In the last few weeks, he's been pretending to be puppies. Each day, he chooses a new name and new characteristics for the new dog. We play the 'package game' to receive it. (The puppies are sent by relatives in the States, remarkably alive after being shipped for weeks.) And then Tima constantly corrects me, whenever I say his name:
"You mean Speedy?"
"Yes, Speedy, go get your clothes on."
Then there is a constant commentary about how each dog compares to the others. For example, how big he was when he was born, how tall he is now, how fast he can run, how high he can jump. And so on, to infinity, apparently! I've decided not to worry about all the 'imaginative' games in his homeschool curriculum.He plays that all day!
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