Dress Up

Let me begin with a bit of a disclaimer: Scott utterly and completely protests the pix I am about to post.

However, the following really must be logged for our kids to look back on one day...

...and, perhaps, for the amusement of Justin's future girlfriends.




To the Fee Family, thanks for passing on these fun costumes! :)

One Hour at a Time

Our wireless internet isn't working, so getting on the computer isn't happening too often. This partly explains why I haven't posted much, but also, there's just not much new to report.

I'm feeling completely stretched to my emotional limit these days. Trying to get through the hours. Justin and Natalie need a referee just about all of the time. Lexi is finding her voice and also her will power. But in reality, they're just being kids and doing what kids do. Considering all of the issues we could be facing, doing pretty much "normal" kid things should be a blessing. (I'll try to remember that next time I've got one pitching a fit on the timeout step... gee, this is such a blessing! :))

Here's some pix of Justin making letters with rolled up paper. He's a bright little boy and loves learning. He's constantly making letter sounds and telling me long lists of words that start with the same sound. He'll say, "Mama!(gotta be sure he has my full attention) B...B... Baba! B... B... Banana! B... B... Baby!"

Then there's Miss Lexi doing what she does 90% of the time, playing with her babies. She's now telling us how old she is. It's so cute to watch her position her fingers just right to make 3.

Finally, the Mocabee trio makes an attempt at singing the ABC's.

First Roadtrip

Scott was in Tennessee for a soccer tournament last weekend. Gone for 4 days.

So I got this crazy idea... scratch that... my friend Beth got this crazy idea... that I would load the kids in the van and make the 7 hour drive to my hometown of Vacaville and pay everyone a visit.

And that's just what we did!

Most people get wide eyed and gasp when I tell them I took a 7 hour roadtrip with 3 kids. But remember people... I spent 2 weeks in hotels and 20+ hours on airplanes with them! And unlike an airlplane ride, on a roadtrip everyone is strapped to their chair the entire time. I also revealed the van's DVD player for the first time.

The drive was long, but fine. Only once or twice I only found myself close to uttering, "I'll pull this car over right now!" The visit was jam packed, but good. We were able to see many people who hadn't met the kids yet, including my Papa, the kids' Great Grandpa. (By the way, Justin has asked 2 different times when Grandpa Al is coming to our house.) It was a fun 5 days. Exhausting for sure, but fun.

Vacaville will always be special to me. Most of my family is in town. My best friends are there. I still call it home. And now my kids have been there, and that makes it even more special.

Thanks so much to Auntie Beth for suggesting this crazy roadtrip and for letting us take over your house for a few days. Thanks to everyone for being so kind and gracious to us.

I have tons of pictures, but no time to go through and pick out the best ones to share with you. So, here's a slideshow of them all. A few things you'll see:
-Our outing to Kidfest (lots of booths with activities for the kids and nifty little giveaways, ie. goofy sunglasses)
- Get together at the park
- Family dinner at Aunt Paula's house

Testing Testing 1 2 3

I keep telling myself:

This is a test
This is a test of the Siberian Children's Broadcasting System
It will not last forever
The loud piercing shrieks
The utter defiance
The sneaky antics
This is a test
This is only a test

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. Things have been very testy around our house these days. I guess the kiddos are feeling comfy enough to really start pushing some boundaries. The end of the day rolls around and all I want to do is fold the laundry and go to bed. Okay, not exactly... what I really want to do is leave the laundry in the basket, eat a giant bowl of ice cream and then go to bed! We're still here though.

Justin and Natalie are loving preschool. Lexi is talking up a storm. Scott is back to work, teaching and coaching. I'm learning my new position, sometimes begrudgingly, but I'm getting there.

Thanks for checking in on us. :)

"Did you see Natalie's hair?"

"Did you see Natalie's hair?!"

That was the question Scott posed to me when I came home the other day. My response, "Wow, a braid... sort of."

I was out of the house early Saturday morning, so Scott got to try his hand at doing the girls' hair. I'm told it took a few tries, but he managed a braid in Natalie's hair. Apparently, a few attempts into this tricky hairstyle, Natalie told him, "It's okay, mama will fix it." :)

Lexi got no accessories, just a nice brushing.

Good try Papa. It makes me smile to imagine you holed up in the bathroom, with a box full of ribbon and twisty hair bands... and our two little girls trying to figure out what you're doing to their hair! I bet it was a sweet moment... or hour.

Playhouse

It's official, we are one step closer to living in Kidville.

It seems every spare shelf and empty bit of wall space is quickly being filled with a plastic tub of toys. I really should have bought stock in Target and Rubbermaid.

Now the backyard is joining in the transformation... basketball hoop, picnic table, jump ropes, bubbles, big blue pool... and now the addition of a playhouse. The playhouse is not huge, but in proportion to our dinky backyard, well, it's quite a piece of real estate!

The kids love it though. It has a small kitchen inside, little pots and pans, and lots of pretend food. All in all, it's providing hours of fun... fun, which I am currently watching through my own kitchen window... in the quiet, peacefulness of my air conditioned house. Nevermind the fact that's it's 100 degrees outside and the kids have closed the shutters and door of the new playhouse. Every now and then a sweaty little Siberian head peeks out at me just to make sure I'm still watching... and I make sure no one has passed out!

Yep. Good times.





Auntie Shannon and Uncle Peter! Come in our playhouse!

First Day of Preschool

Justin and Natalie started preschool today. Starting preschool this soon was not originally part of my plan. I figured we'd need several months of keeping our world very small and more time to work on attachment. However, things are going so much better than we expected. So, off to school we go!

How did it go? Well, good, I think!
We had been to their school last week for a Meet the Teacher Day. Since then, they've constantly talked about their teachers and new backbacks. Drop offs went well today... except for poor Lexi. She couldn't figure out why I wasn't letting her stay and play.

They were both tired and ready for lunch when I picked them up. They didn't have too much to say right away, but throughout the day little details came out. For example, Natalie apparently went to the bathroom 3 times (in 3 hours!). It's clear they had a good time and they both talked about going back to school tomorrow. They'll have to wait though. I only signed them up for 2 days a week right now.

It's so weird being on the other end of the parent/teacher thing. We have Back to School Night on Thursday... and I'm not presenting! Honestly, as the school year begins, and I'm not meeting a new group of students, I do find myself a little sad. I absolutely know that I cannot have it both ways right now. My kids need me and I need to be with them.

But, I'm a teacher. Yes, parents are teachers. Truly, the most important teachers. But, I'm that other kind of teacher too. I'm also a classroom teacher. So, while I'm extremely grateful to be staying home with my kids... I find myself missing the classroom.

Here's Justin with his new, flat, completely empty backpack! He was so proud of it!

Natalie's backpack actually traveled to Russia with us.


I did not force this pose! Natalie snuggled up to her brother all on her own.


Let's get Lexi in the picture too. Open mouth and all.