Images of Colorado

Summer Stories

Ella enjoyed her first Rockies game. Mostly the cotton candy. We loved going with the Almontes and Messers and all our kids!

Tima's birthday! Our first ever 'rec-center' sponsored birthday, at the Erie climbing wall. He  invited the friends he'd made at sports camp, even his teenage coach who dropped by and brought great joy to all the boys!

Since Danya is going by D.J., Tima has wanted to be called T.J. all summer.  But his initials are T.B. (Yes, we did realize this when we named him, but decided to do it anyway.) I was delighted to find that all the construction cones in our current town are labeled with Tima's initials!

The neighborhood kids where we house-sat for a month play in the central park every evening. Good old-fashioned  Free Range Kids. It was hard to leave them, so we came back a week later to visit. So wonderful to become part of a community in a short time. And so hard to leave, again.

Cousins walking.

We had the blessing of three full days with the Huddleston boys  this week, while their parents are working at a conference in Denver.  They had a great time playing at home, but we did get out to have a little fun!

Danya attempted to steal home. And was tagged, and stepped on.

Danya's last at bat.

Danya, (oh, sorry, D.J., or was it just Dan?) completed his first American little league season. It was hard to play with a volunteer coach, on a team without much experience. And anti-climactic,  and sad,  to say good-bye and walk away. 

Christmas and Winter Solstice Events

I just can't resist the sunrise photos. We have been blessed with sunny or 'high cloud' days for more than a week now. I don't mind having less than six hours of daylight as long as it's SUNLIGHT!

A few poor quality images of our church's Christmas play. Danya (as Joseph) is tallest, Tima (as wise man) is next. Ella is the little lamb with ears.

Danya as Joseph and Monica as Mary.

Ella as the little lamb, and Aglaya as ?

Danya has learned to play "Joy to the World" on the piano. The kids had a good attempt of singing the first verse.

Our sunrise is right after 11am these days. And it's amazing!

Ella's Dance Recital

Today, Ella enjoyed dancing on the stage! Although she has missed almost all of the last month of practice, her teacher let her join in the 'concert'.  She even got to stand in the front, and her teacher said she did very well.

Here is a very amateur video of the first 30 seconds, from the back of the auditorium. Turn your volume low before you start--the audio quality is as bad as the video!

Ella is the child under the moon, wearing a pink hat and orange outfit:

Milestones

Ella had an exciting month.

She started kindergarten.


She learned to ride a bike.




And, she grew her first adult tooth.
 (We'll refrain from the over-exposed mouth shot. But note that sadly, this event was not preceded by first losing a baby tooth. It seems that there are orthodontics in her future.)


Our little one is growing up fast. We are very aware of being in the season of life when time flies. It helps that we haven't moved in more than three years... they start to blend together, when you live in the same country, city, and even apartment.

First Week of (Home) School!

Monday morning, Tima was feverish, vomiting and complaining that his feet 'didn't work right'. Not a great beginning.  I was so thankful to not have to deal with the big problem of a child missing the first day of 'real' school. Instead, he stayed home, slept, and even got a few subjects done in his better hours.

By Tuesday, Tima was feeling better, but Danya and Ella both developed fevers and sore throats. However, it didn't stop them from getting their work done. In fact, I think it was easier for me than when they are all healthy and full of energy!

By Thursday, Tima was back to 100% and Danya and Ella dragging with high fevers and voluminous tonsils. We even had an impromptu health/biochemistry lesson when we pulled out the rapid-strep kit! I let Tima do everything except actually swab Danya's throat. (He was begging to do that too, but I wasn't sure Danya would appreciated it.) To everyone's disappointment, the tests were negative. (The kit is 10 years old, so who knows if it's still accurate. The control line still works. But, with such a short duration of fever, I would have been a little surprised to see a positive result.)

Today, everyone is feeling better. We finished our schoolwork in record time. After lunch and playtime, they are doing their Friday chores. 

Overall, I've been surprised at how easy homeschooling is. There are a number of factors that help. 

1) We did summer school three days a week for the months that we were home, so the kids are already 3-5 weeks into most subjects. I think the staggered start helps a lot in the "What do I do here?" factor. 

2) We have always done English and history homeschool after the morning of Russian school. So now, we have 4 extra hours, and all we're adding is math, Bible study, and a little more history/geography and science.

3) Not everything has started yet. Baseball practice is supposed to be four days a week... and the boys are in separate groups! But so far, Tima's together with the older team, and we only went once due to everyone's sickness. That will put time pressure on our days, as we'll have to finish by lunch to make it to practice. Ella will start dance two days a week, and we will have Russian lessons (with homework) to add to our schedule. Of course, I'd love to add piano, swimming, theatre... well, I've realized my desires are a bit unrealistic!

4) It really is easier, when everyone has a fever! Today, I've dealt with a lot more of the kids pestering each other, bouncing tennis balls off the walls, and just driving me crazy.

And speaking of which, we have to get outside!

A view of our lives in [a type of] 3D

View Larger Map

I just found the 3D function on google maps for directions. So you can see how we'll drive to the coffee shop tomorrow on the way to our friendly ex-pat baseball gathering. The buildings are all flattened, but it's pretty weird to see our city reproduced. Now, if only our car can zoom along without traffic jams like the little blue dot on the map!

(I can't get the blue dot zooming along on the embedded map. If you want to pretend you're driving with us, try this link, and click on the 3D button on the left-side menu.

or this one? 

Colorado for June

We were blessed to have the energy, time and money to make an off-year trip to Colorado. It was the shortest trip we've done since having kids--exactly four weeks. The hardest thing was not seeing a lot of friends and family who we usually get to see in the States. But we were so grateful for the time we had with those we did get to spend time with! Our time was refreshing, and though we tried not to exhaust ourselves, our time was well-filled.

Our kids and two of their cousins, Adi and Mae, enjoyed a quick meal after we landed. It was the first time they had a table all to themselves.

Mady entertained our three kids for endless hours in the yard.

Mama Coe and Papa Coes' porch swing--the best place for sticky snacks like cotton candy.

Ella, Adi and Mae enjoyed biking and exploring around Dani and Dave's house.

Seeing Nate and Nick twice was a special highlight!

Our church in Boulder had a camping trip that led to a lot of fun adventures, including climbing out of old mine pits.

As a child, my dad vacationed with his family at Glenwood Springs. And most years of my childhood we went there as well. Now, we have so much fun taking our kids there when we are in Colorado. The best times are when my parents come, along with Dani and Dave and their three girls!

It was so fun to watch the kids develop over the two days they were in the pool. And for the first time, all the kids could touch the bottom in the shallow end (except the baby, of course!) A new day of parenting in the pool has dawned, as the boys spend most of there time in the diving well by themselves, and the girls no longer need constant carrying!

Eric had as much fun as the boys playing this game

Ella and Adi

My dad and Mae

My mom and Mae

The boys experienced not one, but two Rockies games--and both happened to be high-scoring, grand-slam games!

Ella showing her throwing form with cousin Mady

Cambridge with the Richardsons- late May

We basked in the glory of Cambridge, biking and walking with our 'tour guides' as we were immersed in the beauty and history.

After a wonderful church service, the kids played in the yard.... did you 

notice on what?

Lunch at a pub--Eric enjoyed his fish and chips... I was disappointed to not find the veggie plate with Stilton that I remember from my year in Devon.

The Richardsons treated us to some very delicious ice cream.

After too short of a time, it was time for us to move on. Inna and Anna bid us goodbye, for now.