Movin' 2 Marz: March 2012

It has been eleven months since we arrived home with Vitalik and Lera and began living as a family of seven. All of the kids are doing really well, and to be honest, it is Eugene and I who are having the hardest time adjusting. It turns out that being parents to five children is a lot of work! Who knew!? We are making good progress though, and things are on the up-tick. We are trying to be intentional about remembering to have more fun along the way, and kind of enjoy the ride... and what a ride it is! :-)

School is good, soccer season is upon us again, and we are planning a trip to our nation's capital for spring break. Vitalik made the honor roll during his first semester in American schools, and if not for that pesky math grade, Lera would have as well! Here are a few photos from the past couple of months.

Coincidentally, our 11 month anniversary at home was also the one year anniversary of our court date in Ukraine. It was on this day that our adoption was approved, and we could all finally exhale and know that soon we REALLY were going to be allowed to be a family. Wow, we are so glad that is over!

Lera playing with cousin Krystin. She loves lifting other
people, and she actually is quite strong!

Dad set out breakfast for L&V before school one winter morning.

Mom, Vitalik and Mason went on a special trip to Kentucky during a long weekend in February. It was Mason's first trip on an airplane and we all had a good time!

While in Kentucky, we drove past Hatter Road. This road, named
for the kids' great-great-grandfather E.P. Hatter, was cool for
Mason to see, as "Hatter" is also his middle name.

On our trip to Kentucky, Vitalik got to meet his Great Aunt Judy
and his Great Grammie LaFleur.

We spent an afternoon at Grandpa and Harmony's farm, and Vitalik got
to try out the Four-Wheeler. He LOVED it of course!

Vitalik and cousin Chilton have been having fun working
out together whenever Chilton visits... boys!

This has been an unusually warm winter, and the Ukrainian kids have really
missed seeing snow. We did finally get a little bit of snow one night at bedtime,
and Lera had to drop everything to run out and dance in it!

Lera has a really awesome and very sweet speech
therapist that she is seeing twice each week.

Lera enjoys working on breaking her hula hoop record.
Her current record is over 2 hours!

Vitalik, Spencer, and Heath spend a lot of time playing basketball in the beach room. They have invented some game in which, if you make a shot and the next person misses it, you get to kick the ball at their butt as hard as you can. They call it, "butt cheeks"... sigh...

A team from Redline United will soon be visiting L&V's old school in Ukraine. We are excited to have the opportunity to send letters and gifts to their classmates. I wrote a letter to the social worker who was very special to the kids to let her know how they are doing. Vitalik was my own personal highly-qualified translator! I was so proud of him I could have burst!