Day 21 - Less Than a Week to Go

I promised the kids a surprise this morning when they woke up . . . at nearly 10am! (Did I mention we know how to wear some children out?!?) They had to pick up their rooms and make their beds, but I promised to tell them the secret after I was ready to go. The big surprise . . . SWIMMING!

Yep, swimming in the middle of January. Around here that is not your usual January activity and although MG has been wanting to swim weekly since the mercury began falling she was a bit panicked when I mentioned a pool. "Mom, it is cold outside." "Mom, you know it's the middle of January." And from Jonah, "Mom, are we going to swim in the creek?" I made them wait and ponder where we might be going and whether or not this would even be fun or merely an exercise in abuse. They continued to question, but obediently put on the summer's swimwear (Denys in his gym shorts and slippers) and we headed out the door. Thankfully Dad decided to go too; we hate for him to miss out on the fun.

Are you an Olympian?
No, but I did "swim" at a Holiday Inn Express.

We headed to our local Holiday Inn Express where the manager had graciously permitted us to swim, today only, without the purchase of the room. (Yes, I pulled the "Ukrainian Orphan" card again, but swimming was an activity we were strongly encouraged by NHFC to do while they children were here.) He asked that we come in between check-out and check-in; working out perfectly with my plan for the day. We arrived. Swam for an hour and half and came home for lunch.

Now, if we were smart and reasonable people the busyness of today would have ended there. An hour and a half is a enough swimming to wear out any kid. But, for some reason we decided we needed to go bowling again. And not only did we need to bowl, but we needed to take friends.

Our favorite dumpy bowling spot is closed on Tuesdays and after a quick Google search, Newnan offered the what appeared to be the most cost friendly option - though I did forget to print off the coupons. Off we rode Mom, Dad, Denys, J, MG, and AR, our friend Matthew, Cousin Jack and Grandmother. Yep, you're right, there is not a family vehicle made to carry a group that size. We commandeered a 15 passenger van and hit the road. Oh, you saw that correctly. My grandmother DID go with us and enjoyed herself and we were so thankful to have her.

There have been many, many times in these past two months we have seen God do some pretty incredible things, but I must confess, it's when He shows up in the common and simple places I am often most humbled and overwhelmed. Tonight, early Tuesday evening, all 8 of us bowled for $21. Yep, it was league night and we were there early, bowled our hearts out for an hour and it cost us no more than $21. Oh yes, dear friends, that is, indeed, a Mighty God in action in my life.

A well-behaved crew at the Olive Garden.

After bowling our boisterous crowd need to eat and Olive Garden sounded goo to us all. I was concerned that our 6 children would not remember their manners. Other than realizing we need to have, yet another, spaghetti pasta lesson, I was very proud of the way each one used their manners. A funny moment - Denys chose broccoli as his side dish. It was delivered to him steamed and he didn't seem to know what it was. With his fingers he ate every piece and seemed to like the flavor. It was a giggle moment for me as I debated whether to correct him or not. Eating steamed broccoli with your fingers is improper, but it is not disgusting and unappetizing to the rest of the party, so I just let it go.

Home again, home again. Jiggity jig. Everyone was dropped at their necessary locales and our kids had showers done in gold medal time. Teeth brushing was going well and Jason had to tell Denys they would leave early in the morning to head back to the dentist. Boo! He remembered what I had told him about repairing his fillings so he doesn't seem too worried about the procedure. Whew.

Prayer for his mouth tomorrow and that Dr. Monicha will be able to do all that needs to be accomplished quickly and without delay. Pray that he will tolerate the procedure well and recover without difficulty.

Your prayers for his continued improvement in communication are being answered. Slowly, but surely, he is opening up and using more English. We are working to memorize Philippians 1 and he repeats everything I say very clearly and, if he doesn't feel the need to be too silly, rather correctly.

Also begin praying for his return and especially for a little seven-year-old boy who will be left here to sleep in his room alone. I'm pretty sure he's going to be devastated.

~Meg

Day 16 - The Ups and Downs of Being Far From Home

Today began a bit roughly and ended rather that way too. But in the mean time we had a wonderful day and lots of fun and I believe it was a banner day for the entire visit.

We had to drag Denys out of bed this morning. And is the remarkably abnormal for him. He's usually up & playing video games before the rest of us get downstairs. Today he wandered into the kitchen and declined breakfast. Even with use of Google Translate I couldn't find anything he was interested in eating. So, a talk with the translator it was. I explained the problem to Sergiy - Denys is beginning to skip multiple meals and doesn't want to even sit with the family at the table. Sergiy spoke with him and he grunted a few responses. He told me Denys claimed to be fine and that he liked the food, he was just not very interested in eating. Sergiy also informed him that he must sit at the table at meal times whether he wanted to eat or not. Denys agreed to do so and that was the end of that.

Marshmallow Brownies ready
for the oven.

Several minutes later Jonah walked into the room and said, "Mom, I think Denys is homesick." (Have I introduced you to my prophet-child?) I thought this was rather insightful and figured I needed to drop my plans and get fully engaged in the kids today. So we began:

Brownie making was first on the agenda. We added marshmallows just for fun. And while they baked into an interesting texture they were delicious to the palate.

I fixed lunch while the brownies were baking and decided on Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. If the blue box can't fix his eating problem then nothing will! And that, my friends, was the genius move of the day. Three helpings later (and some chicken salad), Denys claimed he was full. Of course, all three still managed to find room for the fantastic brownies that were finally done.

Showing off their washer necklaces.

I put AR down for a nap and we finished our washer necklaces (see yesterday's post). They turned out super-cute in spite of the fact Dad laid something across MG's before it had dried. The kids loved them and wore them all day. In fact, I didn't check to make sure they were removed before baths.

Jason and I had also decided some family fun might be in order. Christmas had been so busy and things had stopped rather abruptly after the holiday. We needed an outing to get the grumps gone and smiles on everyone's faces. Bowling? Sure. Why not? So off we headed to Hiram and decided we are VERY thankful for the (genius) inventor of lane bumpers! Wahoo! I did manage 2 strikes, but got stomped pretty heartily by both Jason AND Denys - who happens to be a remarkable, though wild, bowler . . . especially with bumpers.

I have to confess that J and MG made the night. They cheered every time someone knocked down any pins. It was hysterical and frankly encouraged me. They didn't care they didn't get strikes. They were just thrilled that anyone was knocking down pins. It was a blessing and a memory I will cherish. I've included pictures of the kids making their bowling debuts. And I couldn't resist the one one of AR cheesing for the camera! It doesn't get any cuter than that!

Two games was certainly enough for this crowd and after a dinner at Zaxby's and a quick trip through Academy Sports (The Preacher's new favorite store), we headed for home. Now on the way home things began to get a little hairy. You see, I thought earlier today that I head Denys use the "MF" phrase. I attempted to address it mildly and didn't hear it again - until we were nearly home. And then he thought it was funny to say it over and over and over. Um, not funny. You see, I can handle it when he doesn't know what he's saying is wrong and we can have a chat and fix the problem. But tonight he was not interested in fixing the problem. He thought he was being funny. Yeah, so funny he nearly got yanked from the vehicle by two parents who were not about to let a goosey Ukrainian kiddo teach that vulgarity to their kids. Thankfully, he got the message. He and Dad still had a chat once we were home, but I'm hoping that little phrase is going the way of the other and we will not hear it again.

Tomorrow I'll post photos of his art work. He loves to copy illustrations from books and he is rather good. I'm glad we gave him a sketch book and colored pencils for Christmas. I'll close with a picture of the whole crew at the bowling alley. Now that is a cute bunch, if I do say so myself.

~Megan