The Card System

Today Annalyn brought home a yellow card. As you can read, she was caught writing notes back and forth. Since this is a step down from a good green card, her punishment was writing sentences and going to bed early.

The card system is one I would highly recommend for those whose children like to play Russian Roulette. It started last year with Anna. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to deal with her when she would act out in class, taking the chance that I may or may not find out about it. The temptation to chit-chat, play in the bathroom, and or write notes in class superceded our directions to be respectful, not steal the teacher's time, and pay attention in class. Since I spoke with the teacher often, just sometimes a day late, we came up with the idea to communicate everyday via this card system. As soon as Anna realized that I would know exactly how her day went, her overall behavior changed ---for the better.

Don't get me wrong, children are clever, and occasionally I would hear, "I forgot to bring my card home, but it was green I promise." Thankfully this was the truth 99% of the time, but I do remember this one time when Anna gave me this very convincing story that she said "I earned a green card but, was so respectful to the teacher when she was speaking to another teacher, I decided it would be better to not interrupt her than to get my card" ----because she knew that I would prefer her to not interrupt. She was so darn convincing that when I pretended to pick up the phone to call the teacher to make sure that she was telling me the truth, Anna encouraged me all the more. I told her that if her teacher told me that she was indeed green card today, this would be the last time I would check up on her because she would have earned back all of my trust. She told me she understood, and for me to go ahead and talk to her teacher. By that time, I really started to second guess my decision to call, but at the same time, I felt something was not quite right.

I called. Just to make sure. And you know what? Anna did not get a yellow card. Anna did not get a green card either. Little Miss Anna had earned herself a nice bright orange card and a trip to the principal's office!

Sometimes us Moms just need to trust our intuition.

But that was Anna, that was last year, and that was definitely old news for Anna who is a totally changed girl. Anna started her major transformation after that, and has blossomed into such an amazing girl. But, I will wait two weeks to share about that when she celebrates her 9th birthday and 2nd year of being home.

So back to Annalyn. I knew from the first day of school when she came home with a different bandaid than the one I had put on her scraped knee, that she was already having trouble paying attention. When I asked her about playing with it, she truthfully answered that she had peeled it away only four times in class and when it wouldn't stick anymore she went back to the nurse's office to get a new one. Repeat. But hey, I do give her credit for telling me the truth. That is progress.

Anyways, I gave Annalyn five more days to improve after that, before this card system was implemented for her. She really struggled. But once she started the card system, she brought home 10 green cards. Did you hear that? 10 green cards! And for that, she got a heck of alot of positive reinforcement and grace when her behavior at home didn't quite match her behavior at school. In fact, she even told me that she planned on having green cards the rest of the year because it was so easy to do.

Then she goes and sneaks these ducky sticky notes, (why Annalyn why?) even after I asked her if she had any "extras" in her backpack. I was hoping that if she had sneaked something, my asking her would serve as a reminder that maybe she should make a better choice and leave "it" at home without me even knowing what she had intended to do. I like to give my kids a way out without them always having the feeling of being caught. IMHO, it allows them to redeem themselves.

But I guess sticky notes are an improvement since they could technically be considered a school supply. Last year she was sneaking My Little Ponies to school.

When I look at the overall picture, Annalyn is making steady progress, and that is what really counts. In all of my parenting, I have to remind myself of that and stop to praise her even in the midst of disciplining her. That is quite a challenge for me, and sometimes comes across as simple as reducing her sentence writing from 200 times down to 100 because she was able to turn her behavior around and make the most of the rest of her day.

Jonny gets tested

Today I took Jonny to be evaluated at the school to see if he is behind in speech like John and I suspect. Sure enough, after testing him, the speech teacher said that he would qualify for services. Now normally this would not be said until the actual IEP meeting, but having been through this process more times than I care to remember, she knows that I am not going to accept him not qualifying. She would have a very hard time convincing me that his speech is age appropriate. Also, intelligibilty is an important factor in determining if he qualifies and though we can understand him pretty well, he is not at the 75% like he should be. But after a couple of months of speech, he will be!

Happy 11th Birthday Caleb!

Today we celebrated Caleb's birthday. He was so excited to open up Guitar Hero II. All the kids enjoyed taking turns playing each other. He also got a red lazer light ot play with Rosie our cat. Happy birthday son!

A day of water fun

We visited our friend's church after our own church service ended. They were having a community back to school water fun day. All of our kids had a blast! The day ended with all the kids digging up earth worms and throwing them at each other. Yuck! But at least I didn't have to touch them.

This is your brain on red dye.

Without us knowing Sveta had grabbed a red punch soda for her drink. She was having such a good time, some of her sibs had red punch, and after some sweet begging, John and I decided to let her have it. Maybe this time it would not affect her. Boy, was that wishful and stupid thinking on our part. Within 15 minutes we noticed a difference in her attitude and behavior. She no longer felt like sharing and everyone was being mean to her, and she felt that looking this grumpy for no reason was perfectly ok.

Well, you don't have to beat a dead horse over the head ever again, because we have definitely and 100% without a doubt learned our lesson.

Read this to find out more about the effects of red dye.

The Big Hairbow Lady is True

I got one response in regards to the previous post and I found it quite interesting, so with her permission I am sharing more about it. Yes, it is true that caretakers would tell the children to stay away from women with big hairbows as a way to scare them from going around strangers. Gypsy women are known to go around taking children especially blond children, so that they can have them stand on street corners to beg for money. These gypsy women usually have long hair and use big hairbows to tie it up.

Another person Russian children were often told to stay away from was Baba Yaga. I found this article to be quite entertaining and I plan to discuss it with my daughters.

Growing up in Kiev, Ukraine, I loved reading and listening to fairy tales. These stories, filled with Slavic flavor, were opening up a new world for me, a world where one is to learn lessons and always to succeed, a world in which no matter how many hardships and terror a good character goes through, he or she always succeeds, a world in which a goodness always defeats an evil. Being my hide-away from the harshness of reality, that world was very much sought by me at all the times. Yet, this world absolutely needed to have a few definite characteristics to serve its purpose: the fairy tales I loved to read and re-read had to have Baba Yaga as one of its evil characters. The more evil this character was, the scarier her description, the more vicious her behavior, the better I liked the fairy tale. So who was this Baba Yaga character and what was it in this evil creature that drew me to read and re-read multiple fairy tales, in which I was seeking a camouflage from reality?
In search for truth, I first addressed The Encyclopedia Britannica. Here is what I found: “Baba Yaga, also called BABA-JAGA, in Russian folklore, is an ogress who steals, cooks, and eats her victims, usually children”. My immediate reaction was a long guttural scream! An ogress?!!! I can agree to the fact that Baba Yaga is usually depicted as a hideous cruel, brutish old woman, but certainly she is not a giant monster!!! I was also utterly upset to see the misconception that Baba Yaga comes only from Russian folklore. Certainly any Ukrainian or Polish child will be very upset if there were no more fairy tales with Baba Yaga. Being obviously upset with my first choice of the Reference Literature, I then addressed the Soviet equivalent of Encyclopedia Britannica. Here I found a bit more information that was closer to the truth that I have learned over the years and that was instilled in my veins. “Baba Yaga is an old wicked evil woman practicing witchcraft; a popular character in Slavic folk tales.” Though closer to my heart, this definition was still dreadfully uncomfortable. I knew that to find the truth I needed to search deeper inside of me, within but now without, in a patriarchically mended society, be it capitalistic or socialistic. What follows is my own search for truth, for reality, and certainty.
The word “baba” in Russian means a woman older than a girl; usually any married woman was considered to be “baba” notwithstanding her age. In old Russia, girls were given out for marriage by their parents pretty early on. Once a girl’s virginity was lost, she was consigned to be a “baba” for the rest of her life. “Baba” is truly a derogatory word implying the whining, constantly yelling and upset nature of some women. It is a root word for the well-known “babushka”, which simply means “grandmother”. Though “babushka” sounds very warm and comfy, “baba” sounds harsh and abrasive.
Usually, Baba Yaga is a frightening Witch who lives in the middle of a very deep forest, in a place which is often difficult to find unless a magic clew (a ball of yarn or thread) or a magic feather shows the way. The old hag lives in a wooden hut on two chicken legs (sometimes three or four legs are described). Usually the hut is turned with its back towards a traveler, and only magical words can make it turn around on its chicken legs to face the newcomer. Very often, the hut revolves with loud noises and painful screams that make a visitor cringe. This serves to frighten the reader, showing the hut’s old age, and to show that Baba Yaga does not care about her hut’s well being. It is also fascinating that some fairy tales describe the hut as being a unique evil entity: firstly, it has the ability to move on its chicken legs. Secondly, it understands human language and is able to decide whether and when to let a visitor enter its premises. Finally, the hut is often depicted as being able “to see” with its eyes (its windows) and “to speak” with its mouth (its doorway). I also cannot help feeling that the hut is able “to think”, and one can observe these thoughts as wild powerful clouds of steam emerging from the hut’s chimney. What powerful imagery!
Baba Yaga’s hut is often surrounded by fence made of human bones and topped with human skulls with eyes. Instead of wooden poles onto which the gates are hung, human legs are used; instead of bolts, human hands are put in; instead of the keyhole, a mouth with sharp teeth is mounted. Very often Baba Yaga has her hut is protected by hungry dogs or is being watched over by evil geese-swans or is being guarded by a black cat. The gates of Baba Yaga’s villa are also often found to be guardians of Yaga’s hut as they either lock out or lock in the Witch’s prey.
As for Baba Yaga herself, she flies through the air in a mortar using the pestle as either a device to drive her mortar or as a wheel to control her motion; she sweeps away her tracks with a broom. In Russian, “Baba Yaga” is often accompanied by “Kostyanaya Noga”, which means “the bone leg”. Here is a very strong indication of how skinny and even physically weak she is. Yet Baba Yaga is very powerful: a sense of purpose drives her forward to perform “evil” deeds. This witch is often depicted to be an ugly old hag, her back bent down from age so that she often reaches the floor with her head. Her nose is long and bent; don’t be surprised to find out that it often curls up on itself reaching Baba Yaga’s chin. Alternatively, Baba Yaga’s nose is often found to grow so long that it reaches the ceiling of the witch’s hut when she is lying asleep. Multiple ugly warts covering her revolting face certainly do not make Yaga any prettier. The witch’s hair, long and gray from age, has not been washed or trimmed in hundreds of years. Her clothing, dirty and smelly, has turned into rags. She is the epitome of disgust and evil. Baba Yaga either hunts for her prey or awaits it at home, knowing that it will come to her. She often senses her prey by smelling the air around her and pronouncing loudly “Foo, foo! It smells with Russian scent! Who’s here?” Then, the evil Yaga cleans her guests in a hot Russian bath, feeds them with hearty Russian meals, and only then invites them to be eaten by her. Here is another interesting fact: Baba Yaga cooks her meals in her ancient brick oven. She invites her prey to sit down on a giant spatula, which she then artfully places in the fire of her oven, literally letting her guest make his or her own destiny to die (depending on how they sit, they may or may not fit into the oven). There exist a multitude of fairy tales about Baba Yaga, each with somewhat different description of the old hag or how she hunts or eats her prey. The majority of stories keep the old witch and her surroundings as ugly, disgusting and evil, as possible. Note the similarities with the western fable of Hansel and Grettel.
Growing up with the old Baba Yaga in large number of my favorite fairy tales, I looked at this hag as a wicked witch, a carrier of black magic and evil. It took me a very long time to realize that there is much more to Baba Yaga, that she is a Great Goddess, a holder of the Great Power of Death. [1,2,3] I had to grow and mature; I had to read literature about feminism and Goddess religions; I had to connect with my ancient roots and listen to the words of wise ones before I understood the necessity and importance of Baba Yaga in Slavic folklore. Here is how I changed and here is what I now see now in a Great Goddess of the Dead, Baba Yaga, the Bony Leg.
Baba Yaga is a Slavic version of Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Death, the Dancer on Gravestones. [4] Although, more often than not, we consider Baba Yaga as a symbol of death, she is a representation of the Crone in the Triple Goddess symbolism. She is the Death that leads to Rebirth. It is curious that some Slavic fairy tales show Baba Yaga living in her hut with her two other sisters, also Baba Yagas. In this sense, Baba Yaga becomes full Triple Goddess, representing Virgin, Mother, and the Crone. Baba Yaga is also sometimes described as a guardian of the Water of Life and Death. When one is killed by sword or by fire, when sprinkled with the Water of Death, all wounds heal, and after that, when the corpse is sprinkled with the Water of Life, it is reborn. The symbolism of oven in the Baba Yaga fairy tales is very powerful since from primordial times the oven has been a representation of womb and of baked bread. The womb, of course, is a symbol of life and birth, and the baked bread is a very powerful the image of earth, a place where one’s body is buried to be reborn again. It is interesting that Baba Yaga invites her guests to clean up and eat before eating them, as though preparing them for their final journey, for entering the death, which will result in a new clean rebirth. Baba Yaga also gives her prey a choice when she asks them to sit on her spatula to be placed inside the oven: if one is strong or witty, he or she escapes the fires of the oven, for weak or dim-witted ones, the road to death becomes clear.
Here is another thought. When one is walking by a frightening hut on chicken legs, a modern person would think: “DANGER! DO NOT WALK IN!” However, a fairy tale character always goes into the Yaga’s house. Why do they do it? Do we, with our modern worldview, know something that the fairy tale folk from primordial times does not know? Or maybe we would walk into that hut ourselves? The truth is that the primordial folk enters the Goddess’s habitat searching for wisdom, thirsting for knowledge, being hungry for truth. It is us, modern folk who needs to look now for this truth and knowledge and to seek it from the Crone, the Goddess of Wisdom and Death because with Death always comes Rebirth. With this learned wisdom, one may receive the Water of Life and Death from her by a show of strength or a pure heart. “For like all forces of nature, though often wild and untamed, she can also be kind.”

If you are interested in reading more about Baba Yaga, you can visit
http://www.mythinglinks.org/BabaYaga.html

Blessed Be the Name

It's a good morning, everybody! Especially when you get to sleep in until 9am. I've always wondered what that felt like. Today we are going to my Mom's house to swim, and celebrate Caleb's birthday a couple days early with those who won't be here for his actual party. What fun!

As I sit here printing pictures to give to my mother I got to listen to Anna and Sveta perform a concert. So, I quickly wanted to journal so this moment will never be forgotten. Anna sang Blessed be the Name of the Lord with our karaoke machine and it was amzing how she new almost all of the words. All through the song at various times she would say, "Come on guys, clap. Yeah put your hands together," just like she hears in church on Sunday mornings. It sounded so cute to hear Sveta chiming in too, "Come on guys!"

Don't go near the big hairbow lady

Annalyn shared something really strange with me tonight. I'm not sure what to think. After she, Anna, and our neighbor friend who was also adopted had fixed their hair in the bathroom, Annalyn came downstairs to ask me what I think. I honestly told her she looked adorable.

"Thanks Mom. You know what? In Russia, wearing a bow like this in your hair was a sign that you stole kids from the orphanage."

"What?"

"Yea, ladies who wore big bows in their hair and came to the orphanage always stole some of the kids. It's true. That's why we didn't go near the ladies with the big hairbows."

"Huh?"

Potty Talk

1. One night, I ended up having to hand feed William, Andrew and Jonny all at the same dinner because they don't want to eat what I served them. "Please feed me, Mama, cause I don't want to touch it." Geez, all I made was Ramen soup not fish eyes on frog guts, but I fed them anyways. Before I know it they will be too old to ever get the chance to do it again so I figure why not?

2. Just when I think that I have wiped Andrew for the last time, he screams for me to come in the bathroom only to find that he has smeared it up his back. "I should've called you Mom. This poop was to messy for me to wipe all by myself."

3. Jonny is so darn smart for being three. Since he has had to wait at least 10 minutes before I heard him scream,"WIPE ME!!!" one to many times, he always comes up to me now before he goes potty to say, "I'm going poo-poo now, so come wipe me in one minute, kay Mom?"

Here is one more story I would like to share. Two days ago I was up at the courthouse picking up some documents when I took Jonny to the bathroom. It was one of those toilets that flush all by themselves when you get up because of some sensor thing. Well anyways, Jonny was going potty and as he shifted on the seat the toilet all of a sudden flushed and well, scared the crap out of Jonny, who jumped off the toilet so fast you would have thought he had just seen a ghost. Poor guy, I thought as I tried to hide my urge to laugh. You should have seen him. Kind of reminds me of the time we brought Sveta home from Russia. You know how those airplane toilets are ---they are so strong they could suck you down the toilet with everything else when you go to flush. It made poor Sveta jump out of her skin and cover her ears because it was so loud and powerful.

Okay, enough with the potty talk.

William lost a tooth

William is not like any of my other children. First, it is I not he, who first realizes that his tooth is even loose. Also, once he knows it is loose, he will wait days if not weeks to come to terms with his loose tooth before he is brave enough to let me pull it out.

So when he finally comes up to me yesterday and asks me to pull his tooth out, I was a bit surprised but still very excited for him. In fact, I think I was more excited than he was for the tooth fairy to visit him.

And guess what, that little tooth fairy brought William --- a baseball mitt! I guess sometimes that toothfairy brings whatever she has laying around the house.

Rachel helps Mama

Rachel really enjoys cooking. I know this. I asked her to cut up the salad for dinner one night and she asked if she could make it pretty. I said, "Yes, you may make it pretty. Thank you for asking." She was very proud of herself.

Speaking of proud, I made this delicious dinner all by myself. It was filet mignon topped with crab, asparagus, and a bernaise sauce. It was absolutely wonderful. Don't think we eat like this everyday, in fact this was the first time in our 14 years of mariage that I have ever cooked my husband filet mignon. The special meal was to commemorate the last day of the kids' summer vacation. Admittingly, it was probably also to celebrate the kids going back to school.

Anyways, the time that Rachel and I spent together making this meal is something that I try to do with all of my kids. With 10 children, I do not get tons of one on one time so I have to find it whenever I can. I find alot of my one on one time with Rachel in the kitchen when I teach her to cook.

When I first spoke to Rachel's previous mom, I remember her telling me that Rachel had a way of coming into the kitchen and taking over everything. What started out as helping soon turned into Rachel trying to take charge and say how, her mother could help her instead of the other way around. This was a big issue that even I had to address when she became my daughter. Knowing that this could and would eventually happen in our home allowed me the time to figure out how I was going to address it.

The first day Rachel was with us, she came into the kitchen and offered to fry the hamburger meat that I was making for spaghetti. In fact, I think she may have come up to me and motioned to take the wooden spoon out of my hand. I quickly told her no thank-you and asked her to set the table.

"Can I cut up the salad instead?" Rachel asked.

"No, you may set the table." I insisted.

When she was finished, I praised her for her artistic napkin folding and told her she was free to go.

"Now I will help you cut up the salad," Rachel told me matter of factly.

"No, I will do it because I need you to help clear off the table later."

Rachel probably wasn't to happy in how I handled things, but hey, I'm the Mom, I'm the chef, and no one least my daughter, is going to tell me how to run my kitchen.

It didn't take Rachel long to realize this, and after just a week or two, she learned to ask, not tell me what she was going to do to help me in the kitchen.

I really enjoy her company when we are together in the kitchen.

At the waterpark

We go to the local waterpark once a year, when John's work has its company picnic. The kid's had a blast!


"I'm not tall enough"
The only thing that was a real bummer was that Anna who is almost nine years old, could not ride most of the rides because she is not tall enough. Here Anna, Andrew, and Jonny had to pass a swim test ----which they did, only to be told they are too short to ride the rides anyways. You have to be 48 inches and Anna is only around 42 inches. It didn't really matter to the boys who are much younger and new to the idea of riding the big slides but to Anna it was a real disappointment. As we walked back to the wave pool Anna asked me, "Mom, am I ever going to grow up to be like you?" It broke my heart to hear the sadness in her voice because I didn't really know the answer.

Later when I talked with John, the words "growth hormone treatment" came up for the first time. Wow! Is that alot to swallow.

First off, John and I are both very old fashioned. Him more so than I. When I was young, seventeen-eighteenish, I dyed my hair blond and was known to have fake tips on my fingers every now and then. I also wore alot of perfume (to try and hide the cigarette smoke) and enjoyed trying to look like the majority of the population. I even had three holes in each ear. But shhhhhh, I don't want to publicize that to my girls just yet. After I met John, he convinced me that I was beautiful without all of that superficial crap and voila` here I am almost fourteen years later with only my "natural" beauty. And what makes the real difference is that I feel beautiful and I am more confident in myself now then I have ever been.

That is what we want to teach our children. And so this is where the growth hormone treatment becomes controversial to us. Are we talking about it for our little Anna because we superficially want her to be taller or are we looking deeper into the issue hoping to find something that will improve her quality of life? Boy is there a fine line there. Who cares if she is small? I think petite women are very cute and delicate looking but what her ability to enjoy life? When will she be able to ride all of the rides at a waterpark? Will she ever reach 52 inches? With her height being at the 3% for her age according to this height predictor , it won't even tell me how tall we could expect her to be when she grows up. And our doctor says she is below the 0% in height and weight for her age. When will she be able to ride all of the rides at Disneyland? Will she be able to ride all of the rides? Sounds really silly doesn't it, but to a child, to our daughter, it is a very big deal.

We have decided to have her repeat the 2nd grade this year and she is still the smallest child in her grade. She can wear her 3 year old brother's shoes. We have to get the smaller sized backpack because the normal sized ones are too big. As she is getting older, it is becoming more of an issue, regardless of how much we try to downplay her height. I guess we can't really understand how she is feeling because we are not small ourselves, and now that we are realizing this, we are starting to explore the different possibilities to help our daughter live an enjoyable life.

So I guess in answer to my own question, "Are we talking about growth hormone treatment for our little Anna because we superficially want her to be taller or are we looking deeper into the issue hoping to find something that will improve her quality of life?", I think the reason is clear. We want Anna to be able to do everything our other children are able to do without feeling like she is missing out on normal everyday activites that most of us take for granted.

With that said, we are in the very beginning stages of exploring this possible avenue for our daughter. I still need to research growth hormone therapy more and talk to our doctor. If the side effects are too risky, then we will have to decide against it. If the research done doesn't provide enough information about the results in children who do this therapy, I think we will pass as well. It is just to soon to say what we are going to do.

Watching a movie

It is not often when I find all of the kids watching the same movie together. Since this is pretty rare, I snapped this picture to prove that my kids can sometimes all agree on the same thing, like what movie they will all watch.

God is so good

I am singing His praises right this minute. God is so awesome and faithful and good.

Jonny's glasses are found. Anna found them when William rolled a marble across the floor and it went under the filing cabinet. Anna went to retrieve the marble and found Jonny's glasses. They had fallen behind the cabinet ---probably right where Jonny had set them on top of. I am so happy that I don't have to buy him new ones. These are only 7 months old.

As promised, I gave Anna two packs of Skittles as her reward. Since it has been a couple of days since first mentioning the Skittles, she had to be reminded of them.

But a promise is a promise.

Thanks Anna!

First Day of School

The kids woke up with excitement written all over their face. Today is the first day of school. I was excited for them as I got the girl's hair fixed and finished writing little notes on their napkins. John took this great snapshot of our "7 big" kids before he drove them to school (which is a special treat.)


Once they all left, I got to sit down at the computer and enjoy a nice cup of coffee in total silence. It was strange to not hear the constant background noise of all the kids. Yet I knew it was something I could get used to again at least until Andrew and Jabbadonks (Jonny's nick name) woke up.

Later when the kids were due home I met them out front to greet them. Everyone was anxious to tell me how great their day went except for Annalyn. Sadly, she shared with me that she didn't really enjoy it that much. Not going into detail, I took this chance to sit down and comfort her and find out why she felt that her day hadn't gone well. After talking to her, I was relieved to find out that her only issues were that the class was bigger than she had expected and she wished she could have been home with me.


I shared about when I was a girl, and I gave her some pointers as to what she can do to help herself enjoy school more. I also reassured her that things would get better each day. That night at Back to School Night, I got the chance to meet all seven of my kids' teachers. I knew many of them since my older kids had had them, so I focused on getting to know the new ones. As I heard what each of their teachers had planned for their classes, I got very expected for each of them, especially William and Caleb. William has an awesome first grade teacher who let me know that he will be Husky of the Week which is like student of the week. Caleb was hand-picked to be part of a 5th-6th grade combo class because of how well he can work both independently and as a team. His year will be full of awesome challenges!

More confessions

Last night after I returned from Back to School night, John filled me in on some of the after dinner discussion. One topic was about Rachel and Caleb. John had read my blog earlier and wanted to make sure that I knew the real scoop. Turns out that Caleb and one of his friends hung around with Rachel at recess and lunch. I guess the friend kind of likes Rachel (thinks she is pretty ---well duh) and wanted to talk to her and wanted Caleb to be the middleman.

Awwww! This isn't supposed to be happening. Not for like another 6 or 7 years --right? Just kidding, I knew it would happen eventually, just not this darn soon.

Also found out that William got a dollar for touching someone's back. Huh???

It was a dare made by his two friends. This I found out from William directly, but just not the part about whose back it was that he had touched. I should've asked. I should've known. It was a girl.

Not a big deal. So what if William has a little, innocent crush on a girl in his class. It is the dare part I am concerned about.

Two years ago, William was dared by these same friends to dip his foot in a big puddle of water. His shoe and sock got all wet and the teacher made him sit in class with only one shoe on. Well that was apparently hilarious to these two boys and he was laughed at all morning. When I found out about this, I was quite angry that I hadn't been called sooner. My Mama Bear instincts to protect her cub shifted into gear. I don't want my children being laughed at or made fun of. William was completely clueless about the whole thing.

Looking on the bright side, that incident started the whole evaluation process, and now he is getting help in social pragmatics.

I already let William's teacher know about the dollar dare so she could be on the look out. With William, things can happen very quickly and elevate into something that lands him in the office. Without even trying he can get himself into a mess ---kind of like McQueen did in the movie Cars. Without even meaning to, McQueen destroyed a good part of Radiator Springs.

First day of school

Today was the kids' first day of school. I drove them since I had a kindergarten orientation for Andrew. He couldn't have a nicer teacher. I feel that way about all of my kids' teachers for that matter. They are going to have a fantastic year.

Here is the breakdown. Andrew is in kindergarten. William and Anna are in 2nd grade. Sveta is in 3rd. Julia and Annalyn are in 4th grade, Rachel is in 5th, Caleb is in 6th, and Adam is in 7th. And what is really cool is that they all attend the same school because it is K-8.

Adam's teacher is originally from Ukraine, so she has been interested in our family since we adopted Anna and Sveta. Now that Rachel has joined our family, Adam's teacher is ecstatic because Rachel is also from Ukraine. That's cool because now she is going to make a point to go over to Rachel's class and personally welcome and show her around.

The kids' first day of school was great for everyone, overall. However, Annalyn did fall and scrape her knee during P.E. She did it before I even left the campus, and so I was able to go and see her in the nurse's office. I bandaged her up before I left, and was encouraged to see that she had already made a new friend since her best friend from last year had moved.

Later after they all got home, Rachel told me how Caleb had "hung" around her at lunch and recess. She seemed really appreciative to have him around so that she wasn't the "new girl" all by herself. Hearing this, made me cry. Isn't this what parenting is all about? She actually wants to go back tomorrow, and she doesn't even really care that I picked out her outfit. I happened to pick out her outfit today, and since no one laughed at her or said she looked funny, she now trusts that I don't want her to look like a clown. By golly, I think she is actually learning to trust me a little more each day.

They're gone...I just know it

After 2 days of searching high and low for Jonny's glasses, I have come to the conclusion that they are lost. $470 gone -just like that. I wouldn't mind having you guys pray for us though because through prayer God has helped me to find things that I thought were also lost forever.

What is most saddening about him losing his glasses is that at first, the thought that came to mind was that one of my girls had hid them on purpose. A couple of them went through a phase where things would suddenly disappear and when no onle else could find them ---voila` she would find them and thus be considered the hero. This hasn't happened in months as I told each of them that I was onto them, but when something does finally disappear, I can't help but think of them. I need to work on that because when my children finally build back that trust, I not only need to show them outwardly by not accussing them anymore but I also have to trust them in the inside of me.

I remember when one of them asked me how I knew it was them. I said, "Do you think I have the word dumb written across my forehead? Nobody lost this many things before you joined our family and how come you are the one always finding everything? God didn't make you my daughter for nothing. He had a plan all along, and he knew that I could handle one more child. He gave me the know how to being your Mom."

Anyways, the glasses are gone and I don't know what to do. Do I go and buy new glasses now and pay the whole amount, or do I just have him wear his old pair and wait a couple of months until insurance will pay for them again? Decisions, decisions -----sometimes I wish I could still be a little girl!

Kid's do say the funniest things

More things I hear from my kids that make me laugh.

1. Jonny often says, "Ewwwwe, that's bigusting!" What he is really trying to say is that is disgusting, like when someone passes gas or picks their nose.

2. Andrew told John while he was on a business trip, "I very love you really much Dad."

3. One of my girls said and I won't say which one, "You mean we have to change our underwear when it is dirty? I thought it was just every other day." What brought the conversation up was I noticed that I wasn't washing very many pairs of one particular daughter's underwear.

4. Caleb said, "No Mom, I really don't want you to give me a back massage because I don't like them." He said this after he had back talked me earlier in the day and yet I still let him play computer. He felt guilty I know it, and wanted to show his gratitude because otherwise he would have been all over a back massage. We usually take turns rubbing each other's backs while we watch AFV. I'm pretty sure his love language is physical touch.

5. And my favorite thing to hear right now is, "Pwease Mama, pwease can I have a muffin?" as Jonny cups my face in his hands to make sure that I am looking into his eyes.

Summer Vacation is over

Here are some pictures taken at lunchtime over the summer. John and I always try to have us all eat together even at lunch. We both grew up where our families didn't always sit down to eat dinner together and I think we both missed not having that. So John makes it a point to come home for lunch as often as he can so that he can spend time with us. With summer vacation ending, I think I am going to miss this part of the day most. But at least we'll still have dinner.

If you haven't had the opportunity to sit down as a family or you just haven't thought about it before, I encourage you to try it sometime this week.

My five girls

Here is my five daughters. Well they're John's too of course, but since this is my blog, I will refer to them as my girls. Anyways, as I look at this picture, I see such beautiful uniqueness in each of them, yet they are much the same in how much they love each other. Sure they argue and get mad at each other but I have had each one tell me at different times how thankful they are for having their sisters.

Anna and Sveta speak English

I was looking through old pictures and came across this short video. It was taken on the very first day that Anna and Sveta joined us in the hotel in Ivanovo, Russia as our forever daughters. We are coming up to the 2 year mark of them being our children and it is absolutely amazing to see the growth that has taken place in each of their lives.

A Year Ago Today..........

A beautiful, little girl entered into our lives,
A year ago today,
A sweet, innocent child joined our family,
A year ago today,
A child was frightened of the future,
A year ago today,
I asked our daughter to give us a chance,
A year ago today,
I promised to love this child and call her my own,
A year ago today,
Little did I know how much I would need to help this little girl heal,
A year ago today,
A little girl began to open up and tell us her story,
A year ago today,
This little girl named Annalyn told me,
"I can't wait till I have been here a whole year!"

Well today marks a whole year of Annalyn being in our family. She often tells me that she never wants to grow up. She often tells me when I talk about the future that she wants to live with John and I forever. I tell her that I am sure she will change her mind as she gets older. She always replies, "I don't think so Mom. I want to cook and clean to help you when you are too old to do it yourself."

As anyone knows what it is like being a parent, things are not always like a bed of roses, but when you get a moment now and then that brings tears to your eyes from the sheer overwhelming joy you get from being a part of a child's life, it makes it all worth it. That is how I feel about Annalyn.

Over the past year we have seen her grow and change so much even when some of that growth and change was her regressing to a younger age. This I believe has happened because our Annalyn missed out on her childhood. She was placed in the orphanage at a very young and tender age and had to find ways to cope with not being held, loved or rocked like a little baby should be. No one to play peek-a-boo with, no one to comfort her when she was sick, no one to cuddle up with and be read to. Later when she was finally adopted, she was six years old and had such lovely dreams of having a family. Those dreams were quickly shattered when her parents were unable to provide her the love, protection and nurturing that Annalyn needed. Sadly, this is not an exaggeration, and this cut Annalyn's early childhood even shorter. So when she became our daughter, she eventually grew to trust and love us enough to feel safe enough to slip back into the childhood she never had. This has translated into making cutesy faces as a way to initiate play, forgoing the responsiblity and advantages of being a nine year old, cuddling up into a little ball with her teddy each and every night we tuck her into bed, and engaging in play with children half her age.

This is something, I admit that I still struggle with getting used too. I am okay with what she is doing and I even understand it, but I know I have a nine year old daughter and when you have a child that goes back and forth between being a four year old and a nine year old it gets kind of confusing. Annalyn is truly teaching me to cherish each child for their individual triumphs instead of comparing their milestones to gauge if they are developmentally on target.

Over the year, we have had the chance to see her blossom into a helpful, loving, and honest person. Her heart for others less fortunate than her is very evident by her words and actions and she is quick to offer her friendship to anyone just needing someone to talk to.

All in all, I know that my daughter was especially placed in our hands to raise her into the young woman God has planned for her to be. Thank you God for allowing us to be a part of her life.

Annalyn, I can't wait till you have been here two years, three years, 10 years, etc.!

Yikes! Spiders everywhere!

One of my kids find this very funny. I keep finding these fake spiders around the house and when I am not expecting it and I look down and see one right where I am about to step, it makes me jump! No one will fess up but I have my suspicions of who the culprit is.

All the kids saying hi

Here is a video of all of our kid's saying, "Hi." It gives you a feel for their personality so you can put a name to a person.

Rachel and I

Wow, it has already been 2 months since Rachel became my daughter. I feel so blessed. I'll admit that deciding to adopt her was a bit scary with her being closest to my oldest child ----I just didn't know what to expect. It is my understanding that the older the child, the more baggage they have and the harder it is to bond.

Well, I can honestly say that nothing can be farther from the truth. I can even put the cart before the horse and say that we are both very very close to being firmly attached. Wow! Did I just say that?

For example, this picture was taken after I went around and took pictures of all of the kids and then I sat down to let Caleb take a few of me. Out of the blue, Rachel asked if she could be in the pictures too. This is my favorite. She is so beautiful to me.

And then tonight at bedtime, I was going through clothes for school and she kept picking out what she was going to wear on the first day of school. Purposefully I picked out something else as I told her that school should not be a fashion show and how great things would be if only she could spend just as much time studying.

I know that the first day of school outfit is very important to the kids, but I am still working on getting her to accept what my wishes are as her mother. She made it known to me that she had other ideas of what was cool and she asked how I would like if she picked out my clothes. I told her to go ahead and pick me out anything and so she did. Of course it was extra clownish -----an old cowboy vest and purple lycra pants but I started to put them on anyways. For an added touch I lowered my pants so that I was sportin' the plumber's crack and pretended to walk around. The girls all had a good laugh and Rachel got to see that she can listen to me but not have it ruin her good mood.

As I tucked the girls into bed, I reminded Rachel again that she would have to wear what I picked out for her, but that it shouldn't matter to her. She needs to trust that I have her best interests at heart and I am doing all that I can to help her attach to me. Just like I picked out my biological children's clothes when they were younger, I am going to pick out her clothes for a while. Like it or not.

She needs to realize that I would not have her look like a clown. I am here to love her, help her,defend her, lift her up, encourage her, and teach her to be all that she was meant to be.

I honestly think she is getting it. Before I left the room, she begged me to rub noses with her and kiss her all over her face ----just like she sees me do with Jonny.

Germaphobe

This is a picture of Caleb. Caleb is making his own peanut butter and jam sandwich. Nothing is wrong with making your own sandwich unless it is because you don't want anyone else to touch it.

I'm serious.

We joke about Caleb being a germaphobe all the time. He won't eat or drink after anyone. He will only eat something in our home if he knows that I made it or I can vouch that the person who helped cook it washed their hands first. Even still, he prefers to be as involved in the food making process as he can be.

What about eating out you might be wondering? He doesn't really have a problem with it. I can't explain it --- I guess out of sight out of mind.

In the morning, he even goes as far as getting his own bowl, cup, and spoon for breakfast. I usually get the dishes out and set them on the table for everyone to grab, but he still needs to get his own out bypassing any contamination I might have caused.

We all wonder how he is ever going to keep a girlfriend, or get married --I guess I should be thankful that it looks like he will be too grossed out to ever kiss a girl.

I'm dead serious -- he is that meticulous about saliva and germs. I wonder if he'll outgrow it.

Flying Pens

William ended up being the target of Julia and Adam's rough housing today. Adam threw Julia's ball upstairs and she kept demanding that he get it. When he wouldn't get it, Julia walked away to another room. Adam came up behind her and tickled her in the ribs and then ran from her when she tried to chase him off. This continued for awhile until Julia got a pen and threw it at him ......instead it jabbed William in the face. You better believe this ended their bugfest as William came crying to me hysterically. Julia was so very sorry and kept apologizing over and over and over. She felt so bad that I have a feeling this won't be happening again. We are all thankful to God that it didn't poke William's eye.

William looks like he will okay, don't you think?

Andrew gets a haircut!

Here is a picture of Andrew getting a haircut. I recently bought a new hair-cutting system ---- a Robo Cut that has a vacuum attached to it. I cut all the boys' hair ---even a couple of the girls' hair too, and it saves a ton of money. Plus, it is so easy that anyone can do it ---and there is no hair to clean up. I would highly recommend this or the Flowbee which is what I used to have.

Doesn't he look handsome?

Just how much food does it take to feed a family of 12?

One day I opened up the refrigerator to try and put something away and couldn't really find a spot. Ever have that happen to you? Well that's the story of our lives. Same with our pantry. I'm forever trying to organize it and find room for one more thing, especially after a Costco trip, so I decided to take a picture. Yes, that is 4 1/2 gallons of milk you see in the fridge. And in case you are wondering, the Pepsi is John's. Just like I enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, my husband enjoys a couple of Pepsis or Cokes.

Sveta talks to Dolly and Rosie

Here is Sveta playing with Dolly and Rosie. She was so excited when I posted this. As I type this, she keeps asking me to ask you, meaning those who will read this, "Where's Dolly?"

You can see why she brings us so much joy. The house is always filled with her fun and happy self.