Danya is Nine!

Since I forgot to color the frosting, he dripped colors on it himself and swirled to make a very interesting pattern.

The day before his birthday, six classmates joined us to ice skate at Megamall: Pasha, Sasha, Sonya, Erik, Elya, Ksyusha,

Yes, he actually turned nine two weeks ago. But just received his gift! He's been counting the days, then the hours until the long-sought Boba Fett ship arrived. And though it was more complicated than any LEGO set he's ever done, in a few hours it was put together.

So, thank you Grandma and Grandpa, for joining with us to get him an unexpectedly amazing gift! And all the more so, having anticipated it for two weeks.

Tima Shines for Women's Day

Ella is Four!

We can't believe that Ella is four years old!

The celebration started with a call from Grandma and Grandpa (staying up late!) Then birthday pancakes, presents. Danya and Tima were very excited for Ella's birthday because they had begged to be taken to the toy store to buy Ella a gift with their own money. They chose a stuffed snow leopard, which truly was what Ella wanted more than anything! She also got a Toy Story Lego kit - her very first 'own' legos,  complete with her beloved Jessie and BullsEye.

I took her to the store to buy last minute party supplies, and it was so fun to let her choose which plastic plates, which napkins, etc. She just loved every minute. After insisting that she wouldn't nap beccause she was so excited for her party, she fell asleep within five minutes. (Which suprised me, as she hardly ever falls asleep during nap time anymore!)

Amazingly, all the friends we invited were healthy and able to brave to -25C temps. We had our three adult teammates (who Ella loves deeply) and two families who each have three kids. Thanks to Eric's inexhaustible creative energy, I enjoyed dinner with the women while he did games and more with the kids. We even got to see all the kids act out a Frog and Toad story! (Can I just say that I think Eric is the most amazing father in the world? And I won't even mention what kind of  amazing husband he is!)

All told, it was a wonderful time with our friends, and the kids had a very fun party with their friends. I wish it would work out to mix preschool (Russian-speakers) with staff friends (English-speakers) but the truth was, 16 people in 630 square feet was just enough! I am so grateful for our little girl, and also for the blessing of good friends!

Enjoying the cold outside, and mom's camera inside.

"Mama, I don't like the sun!"

(And when I told her that I did, she reminded me that it gave me a headache the day before. True, but...

 It's rumored that we've had 630cm of snow this winter. That's over seven feet! But we did have some melting in the middle. It's delightful, though!

After a few weeks hovering around 0C (32F) we are now at 0F (-18C). I am so grateful to live where people aren't afraid of the cold ! And to have learned from our years in Irkutsk how to dress for the cold! And yet, here in St. Pete, there are actually people out running in this cold weather! Of course, there were hundreds skiing, but running!!! (And the truth is, I'm also grateful that this is the coldest part of the winter, unlike Irkutsk, where the coldest was -35C or even colder.

Inside, we've enjoyed a lot of music, and I've let the kids take pictures with my camera. Some of the results are below:

The kids all liked this hockey stick picture. Something in it that appeals to their artistic side...?



Area Staff Conference

A week-long party with over a thousand coworkers who serve in 20 countries of Eastern Europe and Russia. We gathered on the Adriatic coast of Slovenia to worship, pray, learn, share and simply be together. It was a very encouraging time for me, and an incredible time for our kids.

We were too busy to take pictures, but managed a few on the last day when the kids performed their songs. 'Childcare' was actually a conference for the children, put on by 23 volunteers from Bakersfield, CA, who raised money for their own journey (and tubbies full of crafts, ethnic food and American treats)! Our kids had a great time, learned a lot, and were only disappointed that they couldn't stay with their new friends and teachers forever.

See more cute photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=265347&id=593736915&l=94e2625d71

 

A New Year's Beginning...

Our first family cultural experience-- the Nutcracker Ballet.

My grandmother's Christmas gift money was partially spent on tickets for a children's ballet performance at the Oktyaberskiy theater. It was very well done, with many old teenagers or adults participating.

We all loved it, though agreed we wouldn't complain if it was shorter. I was very glad to join Ella for a nap in the car while the boys went to McDonalds (this was at 3:30!) After watching The Sound of Music for New Year's Eve, and seeing the Nutcracker, we're all feeling cultured and musical!

The boys and I are all motivated to push through some English homeschool during their Russian school vacation. It is wonderful to have two weeks off, but amazing how little homeschool we are getting done! It is always challenging here to be ready for western Christmas on December 25th. Though we were happy it was a Saturday, we were surprised that Danya had school Monday through Wednesday after that! But now we are enjoying a long vacation, while our friends in America have to already start back to school. Today (January 7th) is Eastern Orthodox Christmas, but it's hardly celebrated, so this year we're basically ignoring it.

While we do school, Ella likes to play with 'the little squares' in the 'muffin thing'. Some days she gets carried away with other objects.

The tears were that I said we had to clean them up. Can you see this is the middle of the kitchen? I actually cooked lunch around them, but said that for dinnertime we'd have to put them away. Oh, the tragedy.

A few sunny moments on some days remind us how beautiful that big ball of nuclear explosion can be. Overall, I don't even notice the sun's absence this time of year. The hardest time for me is October-November when we can feel the drain of daylight hours, and all is dark and gloomy with rain. As soon as the snow stays, it becomes beautiful! Now, we are in the hopeful months!

Pre/School Performances

Our little snowflake! Thanks to our teammates Lena and Natasha, she had a stellar snowflake dress and crown for her preschool New Year's performance. (It was held on the 23rd, which is wonderfully early, and made it feel like Christmas.) Russians celebrate New Year's with the same traditions we use for secular Christmas celebrations, with a few exceptions (see below)!

The little snowflakes and rabbits in Ella's class dance around Grandfather Frost and his Snowmaiden. The kids dance, sing, say their rhymes and play games with him before receiving the gifts.

Tima's group at preschool were elves (boys) and 'beads' (girls). This dance was Tima's favorite part. Though he talked about not performing, he ended up taking courage and doing it. He had a lot of fun!

More worship of the Tree, games, and ...

Notice anyone strange in the photo above? Part of the games was the appearance of Baba Yaga, the witch of Russian fairy tales. Ella, watching from the audience, was quite scared! I kept explaining to her it was just a teacher in a costume, though she was a great actress. After the kids sang a lullaby, Baby Yaga fell asleep and they were able to steal the key she had locked Grandfather Frost up with...

So all worked out in the end, and Eric and I also learned more about Russian holiday traditions!

Danya was fortunate to have the 25th off of school, since it was Saturday. He performed in an English carnival with the kids in his school who are learning English. While the translation of the traditional Russian fairy tales was pretty sketchy, the kids did a great job of delivering the lines they were taught. Danya is one of the roosters- in an orange hat below.

Danya will have three more days of school, and a soccer tournament! next week, and then have 11 days off for winter vacation.

The Season of Waiting...

a package from the States which made it on time resulted in gifts under the tree!

Cookie decorating-- our teammates Lena and Natasha helped create some beautiful, tasty treats!

Every evening we light the advent wreath, sing some Christmas hymns, color a picture and read from the Bible.

(As if it's ever this calm and contemplative!)

Early December Days

Skiing home from preschool. (Note to self, it's actually slower than walking... not to be recommended on days when the high is 0 degrees F!)

I am so grateful that we live so close to great cross-country skiing. Yes, that's our building in the background. And the kids are all very excited about skiing. Ella has cheap plastic mini-skiis, and the boys have decent skiis. I was impressed with how well the boys can get themselves back up...the only thing they coudln't do was get their skiis back on when the detached. Well, Danya also fell in a pit and coudln't climb back out himself!

We have been getting tons of snow--I'd guess averaging 4" a day for the last weeks. But it has also been bitterly cold, with highs as low as 0 degrees F, with 99 % humidity and strong winds. Many days my fingers have gotten painfully cold, which is not helped by the cheap skiis whose many straps have to be threaded through the clips each time they need adjusting or fall off (which is often!) I've learned to bring a pair of wool gloves for the strapping-on part of the outing. Thankfully, this weekend we had one warmer day with a high around 30F. A little too close to melting/raining temps, but I wasn't complaining!

But I've so enjoyed having all the kids old enough to enjoy sledding and skiing. I still haven't gotten on my own skiis yet--I decided it would be an exercise in frustration to try when I'm with the kids.

Inside, we have more than enough to do each day, just trying to finish homework and homeschool, take periodic baths, and celebrate the season of waiting for Jesus. Our little Pumpkin Pie makes us all cozier. I must say when I come home tired, I long to just sit and hold her myself!

November topics

We are so thankful! (And grateful to the Beyars, for the tree idea.) Danya painted the tree on old IKEA bookshelf-package paper. And we used to useless leaves I can't help but gather each fall. Each evening, we wrote what we were thankful for on a leaf, and glued it to the tree. Some of my favorites:
Snow
Great Grandma's successful surgery
Karate Kid
Pizza
This leaf
[drawing of exercise equipment at preschool gym]
God answered my prayer.
(The prayer was for another chance to use the exercise equipment! Three gym classes in a row, Tima was delighted to try it all out.)

After first big snow, we played for over an hour at Danya's school. Although the cell-phone picture doesn't have a wide field, you can see groups of kids all over the place, each rolling up huge snow balls. It was a fun time with friends and the blessing of snow.

Daddy's home--and here's a package! The kids were shocked to see what was inside.

"Is it real?" asked Ella.

"Will it live in this box," asked Tima.

"A hamster!" cried Danya

Welcome home, Pumpkin Pie! This is our new guinea pig. She came to us on Thanksgiving, and the kids are delighted to have their first pet. She is still pretty skittish, but likes being held. It's fun to feed her--she eats a lot of hay, oat grass and carrot peels. The kids are pretty skittish still, too. They don't like how sharp her claws are, and are scared of squeezing her too hard, or of letting her go. Ella mostly loves to run screaming away, crying, "Mama, it's an emergency!" --which doesn't help anyone calm down!