Hopefully only one more week.....

Although it has been so much fun hanging out with the kids this past week, I am more than ready to get back to our lives in America with our new family :)  It is starting to get to me now and being sick for the past two days hasn't helped.  I have been couped up in the apartment most of the past two days, because with my cold, it is just too cold windy to go outside.  It is freezing here, feels like 30 something with the wind, it may be better if I were dressed for the weather, so today we are going to go look for Chris and I sock hats and maybe a scarf for me.  The kids already have all that stuff, so they are fine.

OK, now that I have sounded so drab..............let me talk about a few good things.  The kids are all doing GREAT!!!!!  They are all getting along very well and all seem to be very happy :)  Brayden is still opening up to us more every day.  We have moved the TV into our bedroom along with the kids too.  We have no heat except for one electric heater.  We are all piling in our room so we can stay warm.  Last night, we watched Pirates of the Carribean.  Brayden LOVED this movie, he layed in our bed with us and wanted to cuddle with us.  So, even though during the day, he acts so independent and "big", there is still a little boy inside who needs to be loved and held :)  Abby and Alyssa are still the best of friends.  They copy eachother with a lot of things they do.  I think I am going to put Abby in gymnastics when we get home because she is definately a little monkey :)  She loves to flip and climb pretty much anything.  It is bad at the same time though because she is ALWAYS getting hurt.  She jumps off of things that I would never think about jumping off of, she doesn't think twice about doing a back flip when she doesn't know how to do one.  Last night, se was on the bed and decided to jump to Papa while he was turned around.....................not good...................he didn't know she was coming and she fell and twisted her ankle.  It was very scary at first because we thought she broke it, but when she ended up moving it we were very relieved.  It never swelled up or turned blue, but I woke up about 5am to her sniffling.  Poor thing was laying there crying quietly becuse she was in pain.  Alyssa was awake too and said "Mommy, her foot hurts really bad"  I gave hersome tylenol and put her in the bed with us and she fell back asleep for a couple of hours.  She seems to be fine now thank goodness. 

We went to the beach yesterday with Irina.  It was so pretty there looking out at the big ships and seeing Russia on the horizon.  We didn't stay long because it was really cold there and I started to feel really horrible.  The kids found a few shells, skipped rocks, and Abby and Brayden enjoyed their time with Irina.  She is such a sweet lady with such a kind heart for kids.  We are going to see her once more before we leave for Simferopol (which will hopefully be Monday).  We may be in Simferopol until Tues or Wednesday at the latest for more paperwork.  Good news............. there is a McDonalds there!!!!  YEAH!!!!!  I can get a Fish O' Fillet ( It is by no means a Turkey, Basil & Pesto Frescata, but it will do)  And then we'll be on our way to Kyiv hopefully by Wednesday if not sooner.  I am hoping that we will be able to leave for America next weekend. 

After the beach, we went to the grocery store and then I went back to the apartment and rested and read a book for a few hours while Chris took the kids out for a walk. 

I am also proud of my kiddos because they do not seem to be picky eaters.  Alyssa has even started to eat more things now :)  Abby LOVES salad................YAY!!!!!!  Infact they are all eating salad.  Brayden and Abby both LOVE mayonaise.............they will dip anything in it and eati it alone it you let them.  I fixed speghetti last night and they all three cleaned thier plates.  I wonder if that is the first time they have had speghetti?

They are learning more English words everyday.  So far they both know by heart.........Hello, Hi, Good Morning, Good Night, Please, Thank you, Your Welcome, Excuse Me, I'm Sorry, Yucky, Yummy, Yes, No, Okay, Let's Go, Shoes, Pizza, Computer, Music, Juice, Fanta, Coca Cola, Macaroni, their ABC's., numbers 1-10.  That is all I can think of so far, but I am sure there are more.  Oh, and the prayer that we do before meals (a cute rhyming one that Alyssa learned at school) They know the hand motions and a few words in it. 

Better go now, we never had a chance to climb the mountian the other day, so we are going to try it today (although I am NOT up to it with this cold).