Here is another video of Clark and Noah playing with the air conditioning unit - yelling into the back of it. There’s some sickness and throwing up going on around here so I don’t feel like writing much. Just hoping my toast stays down.
Guess I write quickly some funny things the boys said before they forever escape my memory. I was trying to sort through all their clothes and having them try things on to see if they fit. Since they were all half naked they started comparing belly-buttons. They decided that Brent’s was pretty deep and so Brent must have thought, if mine is this deep and I’m only seven . . . he proceeded to ask me, “How deep is daddy’s bellybutton? It must be miles. What would happen if you put a marble in it?”
Tonight Tucker came in from riding bikes and playing hard with Brent, sat at the table with an exhausted sigh, “I’m all worned out.” :)
I have no time to be on the computer and my camera ran out of room so I need to take pictures off before I can take more. I miss everybody. I wish every time I thought of you all I could send you my thoughts or we could “chat” through brain waves - maybe in another few years that will be possible. :D
It is “so nice” to have our stuff. That’s a lame way to put it but it is really nice. I love stuff!! :) I still have mountains of clothes I’m trying to wade through. We have a big washing machine to keep up with the laundry so piles keep getting moved around. Cassie folds and I try to find a spot for them. Then there is all the school stuff . . . I love going through all the books I have and I love planning what to do, I just wish I could do it in, say, maybe an hour or so. ha ha. I need a week by myself. But I have a good feeling of settledness here that was missing in the States. We are here!! Still amazing to me. So preparing for “school” has a different and better feel than it did previously, but it’s still a little overwhelming.
Russian is hard. Making your tongue do different things to make new sounds is hard. Making my brain think so much when there is already lots of other stuff to think about is hard.
Still experiencing lots of emotions . . . mostly good but still lots of adjusting. It seems like the older you get the more God gives you to handle? Hmm . . . it seems I am in a contemplative mood but the dishes need doing, kids need haircuts and bed, russian is calling, unpacking is waiting, and time w/ my wonderful hubby to be had . . . off I go. “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see HIm now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:9
I used the word “still” 5 times in this post. Here is a sweet little clip of Clark feeding Noah his left-over oatmeal.
Brent’s 7th birthday today!! Yikes, all my kids are getting big too quickly. He is such a funny character! He has this sense of humor that makes it seem like he is not joking until he says, “just kidding.” Like this morning, I asked him what he wanted for his birthday breakfast. “Oatmeal,” he responds. Huh? He despises oatmeal. That’s our breakfast Mondays and Thursdays. “Just kidding,” he says. :D He picked cereal, eggs, and Cassie’s homemade buns. That boy LOVES his breakfast.
A few days ago as we were going through boxes looking for some clothes for him to wear, I pulled out a pair of pants and asked him if they fit him. Almost, he said. Yes, I replied, I think they will. Almost, he said again. They do, I said back. “When I turn 7 they will,” says Brent. “Tomorrow?” I questioned incredulously. “They’ll fit you tomorrow?” Brent response was: “Yes, because I’ll grow an inch on my birthday.” Well, this morning he was a little disappointed and came downstairs and told me, “I recognize didn’t grow an inch.” Maybe he needs a pinch?
Another funny thing about him is his obsession with having his socks just right. He can’t stand them to be crispy, or bumpy, or have the seams messed up. I was asking him why. “Because I have gentle feet,” he said. My hockey player has gentle feet? He informed me another day that he has a gentle nose too. He laughed and said, “I have gentle feet and a gentle nose.” so silly.
Bronwyn and Marie took advantage of the beautiful day we had by having an outdoor tea party. I thought they looked like they came out of the movie, Anne of Green Gables. They were pretending they were princesses.
Heron, do you recognize the sweater Clark is wearing? Ivan’s clothes are perfect for him this winter! Thanks.
Here is a little video of Noah. It is dark so you can’t see anything, but he was beside me on the bed late one night and was talking away. (It was the day he had all those nasty falls.) I managed to get a little clip of it.
Poor Noah has had a rough day today. First he fell off a chair straight onto the hard tile floor. Next he fell down the stairs. Before dinner i thought it would be nice to go for a quick walk, so I put him in the stroller (didn’t buckle it) and we went down the stairs. On the last one it tipped forward too much and he hit the pavement. Five minutes later Rodgie was pushing him while on his roller blades and got going too fast on a downward slope. Noah once again was ejected from his stroller. He now sports a big goose-egg on his head but other than that seems no more worse for wear. Poor guy. Thankfully, no more stiches. he is beside me on the bed right now, talking the hind leg off a donkey and laughing at himself.
Monday started off raining, of course. It hasn’t stopped. Soon after I awoke, the kids came to tell me that it was leaking in their room, and sure enough, around the door to the outside, it was soggy and warped and dripping. I noticed other spots as well. It didn’t take long for me to start thinking anxious thoughts. Cassie and I have been talking about that lately and how God’s Word specifically tells us to be anxious for nothing. The next thing we discovered was that our water was filled with dirt - like actual dirt. Also, Daniel was working on a temporary heating thingy to heat up our water and he came upstairs unable to get it working and said he didn’t think we would have hot water. I agreed - I didn’t think we would have it either, ever, as long as we lived in Ukraine. No big deal I said. Who wants hot water when it’s dirty anyway? The good news was that the container was in Kiev and supposed to come that day. Bruce went off to get his truck but he couldn’t call me cause nobody’s cell phones were working. Just the right day for service to go down. The container didn’t come that day and it was the perfect ending to the day. funny thing is i’d still rather be here than back in america. the Lord’s grace is amazing.
Tuesday dawned cloudy but not raining. Bruce and Daniel put up plastic over the outside wall which stopped the rain from coming in the kids room. Whew! We waited expectantly for the container, but still didn’t want to get too excited. Anything can happen here. But it did come AND Daniel did get the heater thing working. The container and hot water all in one day. it was a Christmas miracle, early. The water wasn’t quite as dirty either so we were able to take a relatively clean shower! Praise the Lord. Having hot water has been super!
Things are messy around here but it’s a good messy. The kids have enjoyed opening boxes and riding their bikes and finding warm clothes. I love sitting down at our big dining room table. Having our stuff has brought a sense of stableness. I have to remind myself that we are still getting settled when every week has no structure. Once again, the Lord’s grace is amazing. :) today we saw the sun for the first time in what seems like a really really long time. we have a beautiful view. i’m looking forward to all the leaves changing color.
Clarkie climbed into the kitchen cabinet one morning and fell asleep. I didn’t know where he was.
I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired. :O
It’s raining, raining, raining. My parents are wishing it would wait until they leave but I think everyone around here is thankful for their wells to fill up.
OK, new day, renewed energy. I always start posts and get interrupted. It’s still raining and raining. It’s cold. I was saying to Svetlana how surprised I was that it went from so hot straight to cold. There was no warm, then cool, then cold. She said, “Oh the cold’s coming. This is cool.” Yikes. I found these cute warm robes at the market for the boys. My feet were so cold walking around the market this morning, the water running into the holes in my crocs, that I also bought a whole bunch of warm socks. My boots are almost here!!! . . .
We thought our container was coming tonight. I tried not to get my hopes up but it’s hard when it’s so close. Of course it’s not coming. Maybe Monday. It’s loaded onto the truck to come here, but they couldn’t get clearance/permit, whatever the heck they need to leave. I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas.
Parents leave tomorrow. Dad is trying to get the most important things done, like our shower leaking into the basement, and our electricity grounded so we don’t get shocked when we load the dishwasher or do laundry. It’s nice having someone not only concerned about these things, but also able to fix them. I tried to get them to stay an extra week but it was too expensive to change the tickets. Oh well.
Bruce got up early this morning and drove to Odessa, which is a city located by the Black Sea, and is also where our container is still located. It takes about 6 hours or so to drive there (or so I’ve heard.) We’ve already signed over power-of-attorney to someone at the shipping company so they could sign documents and get our stuff through customs for us. However, I guess customs wanted to see the original owner and they have the law on their side, so off he went, with Daniel to translate. It was kind of disheartening news to receive yesterday, but now I’m hoping that maybe it won’t be so bad . . . sigh.
Other than that, yesterday was a wonderful father-daughter day. Bruce had a meeting in Kiev, and dad, Brent and I went in with him to go get wood to build some shelves in our closets. First we had breakfast at the airport which was so yummy. They actually had omelets there and crepes, unusual around here to find something so, um, normal. Anyway, we spent the rest of the day walking around Epicenter. Bruce joined us later in the afternoon, receiving 500 phone calls in the space of a few hours . . . I think he wanted to quit - just for a little while. :)
Bruce said that Brent was pushing the cart and backed up into some wood, which tipped over and had a ripple effect down the asile until it reached the huge rolls of insulation which were stacked up. BOOM - they all came tumbling down and there were like 20 of these rolls in the aisle. Bruce said everybody stopped and looked and then Brent’s head peaks out from behind the cart and he says, “Should I do it again?”
Broderic and Bronwyn and Cassie started Russian lessons up again yesterday. Clarkie fell down from the loft in the boys room this morning. He’s ok, just a little bump on his forehead. Noey talks and talks - sometimes it really sounds like he is really saying big words. His favorite little words are nightie-nigh, peekee-oo, and uh-oh.
Another picture of Noe, obviously when it was still hot.
Not much to write about at the moment. It is chilly outside and inside. The boys have all grown this last month. The two pairs of pants they each had don’t fit anymore. (Side note: Broderic is officially taller than his grandmother now.) Clark has to wear either his pj’s or a light snowsuit to stay warm. It will be great to get our container and get the winter clothes out. Not sure if I want everything else that is in the container though. It’s kind of nice with having just enough to get by. Things can stay cleaner a little bit easier and the house is bigger w/ out all the furniture. Though I will say the couch will be nice to have! A comfy place to sit . . . ahhhh. Oh and I will definitely like having some more pots to cook with too. Ok, maybe I will like having everything else. *big grin*
So today we are still working on carpets. Bruce and Cass are staining the wood on the stairs. Mom is cooking and staying in the kitchen - her favorite place! (big joke). I glad it’s her and not me. The kids helped sand windowsills for about 5 min. Now they are all outside. We are taking a little break for lunch and I think Dad has now disappeared to work on the tree house again. Where are his priorities????
It’s hard to believe this video was taken not that long ago and it was warm outside.
So great to have my parents here!! and all the treats they brought us from the states!!! yea for us! We’re ready to start a new day and see what gets done! Am I dreaming that we can get a lot of stuff done? . . . 6 hours later . . . the gas guys have been here for over 4 hours so maybe we’ll have hot water today. Bruce is painting a wall in our living room. My dad has put down the strips so we can lay our carpet in the living room. Maybe, just maybe . . .
Five days later . . . :) still great to have my parents here. My dad is working hard and some things are actually getting finished! Carpets have been laid - just the kids rooms to finish now. We’ve made several trips to Kiev. Mom is cleaning, trying desperately to keep this house in some kind of order - good luck with that one! We’ve kept ourselves very busy. The time is racing by and makes me sad if I think about it.
I don’t know what the gas guys ended up doing but Daniel told us we now need more documents and stamps and a wall built so it will be a few more weeks until we have hot water. I have a feeling this could go on for a long time! Bruce went to Mordor, I mean epicenter, to find some space heaters and hopefully an electric water heater for our shower. Priscilla was telling me that the government doesn’t turn on the heat until around Oct. 15, so if your apartment/house is not privatized then you have to wait for heat. And it’s cold!! The weather changes drastically from 100 degrees to, well, right now it’s 46.
The kids are all grand. Broderic got his hamster finally and they’ve all been enjoying that. Still playing outside a lot. School is sort of getting under way and with Cassie here all the time, things seem a lot more enjoyable and less stressful so we are looking forward to a good year. It will be interesting to watch their adjustment to winter and all the clothing required, although I’m sure it will quickly become just a normal part of life for them. Noah walks all the time now and seems so mischievous. Brent will be starting hockey soon so that will require some traveling back and forth. I think he will really enjoy it. Tomorrow is tree-fort building day!! Yea!!
Three days have gone by so it’s time for another bucket bath! These are random pictures from the apartment.
I am so glad to have friends and family! Thanks for reading and supporting us. The last couple of days have been full of activity and we are settling into life here, I think. Lots of birthdays have been happening around here and “church” get-togethers so it seems a little more crazy than normal, not that I know what normal is yet for us?! I am so excited that we will start Russian lessons again soon. I think I’ve forgotten a lot of what we learnt over the summer. I am looking forward to communicating with the neighbors and ladies at the market, so I pray I learn quickly. One lady I was buying raspberries from was laughing and telling someone that I “plo-hoe pani-my-yete” which translates “bad understand” when I didn’t know how much to pay. I think she was surprised that I understood that and laughed right along with her.
It was getting pretty chilly last week and we even wore coats, but this week has been very hot again. As much as I hate hot weather it does make it nicer to take a bucket bath when you’re not shivering, and the kids and I got to go to the beach one more time. We had the whole place to ourselves as everyone else is in school now. I took a quick dip but the water was already freezing . . . brrr it sure felt good though. That was the kids bath for the week - ha ha. They got dirty in Texas but they have never been as filthy as they are now and heating up buckets and buckets of water for them all to bath seems like too much work. The water from the well is frigid. They sell these coils here that you plug in and stick them in water to heat it up - pretty nifty. The boys just came in for their supper and I definitely can’t wait another day - they need a bath!
. . . off I go. “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see HIm now, but believe in Him, 
Dad is trying to get the most important things done, like our shower leaking into the basement, and our electricity grounded so we don’t get shocked when we load the dishwasher or do laundry. It’s nice having someone not only concerned about these things, but also able to fix them. I tried to get them to stay an extra week but it was too expensive to change the tickets. Oh well.
