Haircut

Yaro walked into the kitchen one night when I was cutting Aiden's hair.  He looked so pleasantly surprised!  It took him all of about 30 seconds to decide that he needed a haircut, and wanted it short enough that he could wear it like Cristiano Ronaldo (professional soccer player).  It took me two tries, but I got it short enough.
My kids act like I am torturing them when I cut their hair.  It's not that I am rough, or do a bad job, they just don't like having their hair cut.  We have actually had to pay Aiden to get a haircut before.  Actually, Grandma June was the one willing to fork over the dough.  So, the fact that Yaro was excited to get his haircut surprised us.

Girl's Camp

The theme this year was
Happily Ever After, so we were beautiful all week. Wendy Velasquez and  I had a blast together.

I spent a week at Girl's Camp.  This is the 4th year in a row that I have gone, and I hope to continue going for many more years to come.  I always have a blast with the girls, and the other women who attend.  I must confess that I am not a picture taker.  Some women like to document every moment of their lives, but either I am too lazy, or I just don't care enough.  In this digital age, I just hope that people will share their photos with me.  I'm better now that I have a phone with me everywhere I go, but again, I get lazy.

Just hanging Out at Home

Yaro was in heaven with the video games.  By the end of the time he was with us, we started telling him that he's an addict.

Occasionally he would pause long enough to look at us.

Aiden spent some time coming all of the extra fur  out of Gunther's coat.  He made a nice little toupee for him in case he starts to go bald.  

We tried to keep everyone busy, but the kids ended up spending a fair amount of time at home by themselves while the adults were at work.  We didn't ever hear of any fights or bad behavior, but none of them accomplished anything productive.  Brennan and Sophie spent time hanging out in their rooms.  Sophie has been doing that all summer.  We think she might be turning into a troll.

Aiden's Fingernails

While at EFY (Especially For Youth...a week long church camp for kids ages 14-18) Aiden was fortunate enough to have a girl paint his fingernails.  He didn't remove the paint for a week, and even gave a talk in church the Sunday after he got home.  He received a few strange looks, but he's Aiden.

He asked that she paint a kitty on his thumb.  She did a good job.

The kids stayed in dorms, and took their own bedding.  Our selection of twin-sized sheets has dwindled down to almost nothing but threadbare Scooby Doo, or Winnie the Pooh.  I took Aiden with me to the store to buy a new set.  He selected a lovely zebra pattern.  I understand that the other boys in his dorm were quite impressed.  Aiden can get away with things that other teenage boys can't.  He is such a fun kid.  The boys from our ward that went with him said that he had fun (Aiden doesn't volunteer information of this type, so I always have to ask his friends), but was at times a bit anti-social.  Some of us need more alone time than others.

Aiden also requested that I send him photos of Gunther everyday.  We all know that he loves him best in the family, so I complied.  I love Gunther too.  In fact, we haven't met a person yet that dislikes him.  He possesses some sort of strange magnetism.

The Zoo

(Originally written around July 13.  Just not finished then. :)
We have had another good week with Yaroslav.  He has had to fend for himself a little this week with our crazy work schedules.  He seems to have figured out how to find the cereal and milk for breakfast, and Sophie helped him get a pb and honey sandwich one day.  Hopefully he's feeling empowered and not neglected.

Yesterday we took the kids to the zoo and then to Belton Lake.  Aiden is at EFY, and since he wasn't interested in going to the zoo, we went without him.  

We had a lot of fun just playing in the water. (Apparently I didn't take any photos at the lake.)   I think that Yaro was worn out though, because all he's wanted to do today is lay around on the couch.  He has discovered Netflix which is both a good and bad thing.  It's nice to know that he can entertain himself (parental controls keep him from the bad stuff), but I think that he would be happy to be a couch potato if we let him.

Lance made him watch an "English as a second language" dvd this afternoon.  I'm not sure that he was very happy with him, but the grouchy look on his face made us laugh.

The kids found some stylish hats in the gift shop.  

Sophie is a reptile freak!  She loves them all especially lizards and turtles/tortoises.  Snakes...not so much, but she will admit that they feel very smooth and they are pretty.

Brennan and Sophie just horsing around.  I know that was really bad, but I just can't help myself sometimes.

At this point we were all getting a little zooed out.

We started playing UNO with him a few nights ago, and now he thinks that every night is UNO night.  It's been a good way for him to learn his colors and practice his numbers in English.

First Week with Yaroslav in Our Home

 I've decided to just be the photo Queen on this blog.  A picture says 1,000 words right?  We took Yaroslav and Brennan shopping on Monday.  There had to be some reward for enduring 3 hours of church his first day in our home.  He was a good sport, and tried to smile at all of the people attempting to talk to him at church.
It was really fun to watch him choose a few things for himself.  Shopping or choosing is not something that he gets to do much of.  It was a new experience for him, and very gratifying for us.  We take a lot for granted.  We have discovered that he likes the color red.

 Lance took the Brennan, Yaroslav and Sophie to the lake one day while I was at work, and Aiden was at a friend's house.

 Yaroslav is a great swimmer!  We were warned that the kids often say that they can swim when they really can't.  We were glad to find out that he really can.

 I took a photo of Yaroslav's passport just in case he needed some identification.  What a cute little boy!

 Aiden can look in opposite directions at the same time.  It's creepy.

 Hanging out at our community pool on the 4th of July.  We later went to a friend's house to watch the fireworks.  Yaroslav is very happy and relaxed at our house, but very shy in a large group setting.  Hopefully he will grow accustomed to that.  Spending time with friends is what summer is all about.

 He loves the pets!  He has figured out how to play with Daisy, much to her delight, and who can resist Gunther?  There are very few people who can come into our home and ignore this cat.

 We bought soccer cleats for both boys the day we went shopping.  Brennan was really excited, and Yaroslav was 10x that.  They aren't red, but close enough.  Notice the shorts and socks he picked out.  Brennan is usually happy to wear whatever.  I love that about Brennan!  He is just so easy to get along with, and a friend to everyone.  Yaroslav is an amazing soccer player.  Brennan can hold his own, but he has already learned a few tricks from Yaroslav.  It's been really fun to watch them play.  We have tried to go to the park to let them play almost every night.  The last couple of nights have been rainy, so I'm sure that they are both itching to get on the field again.

 We made sugar cookies Sunday night.  Brennan has been spending a little too much time watching "Hey Arnold".  He has it on his mind.  I must say, that I am very impressed with his cookie making skills.

On Saturday night we were at a friends house again.  Yaroslav was rather withdrawn until he found a table tennis opponent.  We discovered another one of his many talents.  This must be a favorite pasttime during the long Ukrainian winters.

We have had a great first week.  I have been so impressed with the behavior of our own children.  They have been so kind and helpful.  Aiden is very attentive, and quick to help Yaroslav.  Brennan has loved playing soccer with him, and has been quick to include him in whatever activity is going on.  Sophie has been good to make sure that I am grateful to have these choice spirits in my family.

Meeting Yaroslav in Atlanta

The kids from the Ukraine flew into NYC on the 29th, and stayed the night at a church in New Jersey.  From there, they were split up, and flown to an airport somewhat closer to their final destination.  For us, that happened to be Atlanta.  After going around and around trying to decide if we should make a vacation of it, and all drive to Atlanta, or if I should go, or if Lance should, we finally determined that I should go.  Lance was starting a new job, and I really didn't want to go by myself with the kids, so it was settled.  Lucky for me...one of my best friends (Kristie Jensen Seawell) from high school lives in one of the suburbs of Atlanta.
It worked out perfect.  I had been so stressed with work, church responsibilities, and the idea of introducing an unknown child into our family, that I needed a break.  I flew into Atlanta on Thursday morning, and didn't pick up Yaroslav until Saturday afternoon.  I really had a lot of fun with Kristie and her family.  Thursday happened to be her husband, David's, birthday.  I'm not sure if I was a party crasher, or if they were happy to have me there, but I had a great time.  They took me to Stone Mountain, which is very cool, as you can see from the photos.

You can see that we tried to be good posers, but it's hard to be serious with Kristie.  She's just too much fun!  They hold a laser light show there after it gets dark.  It was very well done, and I'm glad I got to see it.
We spent some time living in the 80's, and laughing about anything and everything.  We love the fact that the neon hair bows are coming back in style.

We look just "fetching" don't we?!
Among other things, we spent about two hours at the Dentist's office.  That had to have been the highlight of my stay with them.  Okay, so maybe not, but it wasn't a bad thing.  I just happened to be there when the whole family went to the dentist.  Unfortunately, I missed out on the most exciting moment at the dental office when David, and their son Nathaniel got in a wrestling match, and almost broke the toy box.  I really should have waited a few more minutes before stepping out to call Lance.
Being there a couple of days before meeting Yaroslav gave me the opportunity to relax, and be distracted so that I wasn't feeling overly anxious.

On Saturday afternoon, Kristie took me to the airport to meet the kids' plane.  It was really exciting and a little scary for all of us. A family from San Antonio asked me to bring the child that they are hosting back with me.  His name is Anatolii, and he happens to be the same age as Yaroslav.  I think that it was good that the two of them were together.  It probably helped them feel a little better about getting on, yet another plane, with a stranger.  I almost wrote "a strange lady", but I didn't want anyone to expound on that topic.

 The posters that I made to welcome them to America.  I'm sure they couldn't read them, but it's the thought that counts, right?

 Seeing Yaroslav for the first time.  The photo is a bit blurry because I think I was shaking.  For these kids, it was still the middle of the night.  They were exhausted.  The chaperon told me that I was taking some good boys, that were very polite, and would do what I asked.  She also mentioned that Yaroslav is very shy.

 Yaroslav and Anatolii together.  That is one of the chaperons in the background behind Yaroslav.

 We sent some clothes to New Jersey so that he would have something clean to wear after such a long flight.   For some reason it was fun to see him wearing something that we had given him.  One of the program facilitators said that he was really happy when he was given the package from us. Most of these kids don't even come with a backpack.  Yaroslav didn't have anything with him.

  Here they are on the plane on the way to Texas.  It took all of 5 minutes for them to fall asleep.  It was a relief for me considering that we had two hours to kill in the airport before our plane left.  I was worn out from trying to communicate with/entertain them.
We arrived in Austin at 8 pm.  We took Yaroslav home, let him take a shower, and thought that maybe he would be ready for bed.  Instead, he played Mario Kart with the kids.  Video games...the universal language of kids.