FFFFOOOOUUUURRRR! :-)

Well, today it's been four months since we arrived in America and started living as a family of seven.  Things feel so normal now that we hardly remember to note these monthly anniversaries now.  One month soon, I'm sure I'll forget to blog, and I imagine that the world will go on turning. :o)  Our new kids certainly don't feel "new" any more.  It all just feels normal and we are very very happy and thankful.  Of course, Eugene and I are still exhausted and grumpy far more than we would like to be, but overall all five kids are thriving and life is very good. 

This months has included:
- Beginning to nurture Lera's artistic pursuits, encouraging her in developing her love of sketching and painting.
- Volleyball camp for L&V (Vitalik got his first-ever trophy for the "Best Hustle" whose inscription made me laugh at its appropriateness in both senses of the phrase)

- End of swim team season (Vitalik won a raging wave award!)

- An overnight trip to Charlotte, where V&L picked up their official certificates of US Citizenship!!!
- A trip to the WWII Battleship in Wilmington with our good friends the DelVecchios... we also stopped by Wrightsville beach to round out this awesome day!
- Family trip to the beach to celebrate my big 4-0, our first actual vacation in over a year!
- Spencer and Heath's summer track out and the start of their 3rd and 1st grade school years
- Lera's "girls trip" to KY with Aunt Tracy, and cousins Ashleigh and Zendi ... where she met her new great Aunt Judy and Great Grammie ... both of whom adored her, naturally!
- Vitalik's day-camp at a local tumbling gym.  He loved it of course, so he'll be taking a weekly tumbling class this year to work on perfecting some new flips.
- Lera and Vitalik's week of day-camp at their new middle school.  We were excited to find out about this opportunity for them to become familiar with the new school in a safe and non-stressful environment just a couple of weeks before the school year begins.  As I type, they are at the movies and the little brothers are jealous!
- This year's group of kids are visiting from Ukraine.  As such, L&V have been able to be reunited with the wonderful missionary/translator, Natalya, and the fantastic loving social work/chaparone from their school, Gulya.  Both women were naturally excited to see the kids from last year's program who are now thriving in their new families.   Spaseebuh Bolshoya, Bog!  (Big Thanks to God!)  :-)

Here are a few photos from the past month:

Lera's first canvas work!

Some sketches of one-eyed beauties. :o)

Last day of volleyball camp

Chillin' w/ cousins Ashleigh and Krystin. 
I particularly like how Vitalik looks like a chimpanzee in this photo!

Lera and Mason are really buddies!  When she went on her girls trip, he was the only
brother who would acknowledge missing her, and he missed her a LOT!

Vitalik and his favorite flippin' pal, Jack - as they prepare to jump and roll off the top of the playset.

A cool new "flip off the tree" trick.

Resting in the car during our "Citizenship Certificate" trip to Charlotte.  Vitalik insists that he was not sleeping!

New Citizenship Certificates in hand!!

At the WWII Battleship in Wilmington

Vitalik with enemy planes in his sights!

Posing on the deck of the U.S.S. North Carolina

Pretty girl on deck!

Chin-ups on board the battleship

Vitalik's "Hello Ba-buh" look... Such a goofball!  Photo doesn't show that the bunks were stacked five or six high!

Salute!

Lera at the wheel!

Lera manning the big guns!

Our two families had so many kids we got a group discount!

The Cline Family - Summer 2011   I really do love our crazy brood!  :o)

Kiddos posing on the enormous anchor

Old Mom and Dad on the beach in Wrightsville... we didn't swim.  Just sat on our towels and counted kids!

Lera Catching some waves... and some sand!

These boys just crack me up!

What's cooler than a guy doing a back flip at the beach... yes, of course... TWO guys doing back flips at the beach!

Our friend John is so great that he thinks being the only adult
playing in the ocean with this many kids is FUN!  What a guy!

We spent my 40th birthday at Sunset beach with the KY cousins, Gavin, Megan, and Austin

Brothers chillin' at the beach house

Happy Birthday to me!

What a joy to see Gulya from the kids' old boardnig school in Ukraine! 

Natalya and Gulya, reunited with some of the kids from last summer's hosting program,
who are all now American citizens living with their new families!

First day of camp at their new middle school!

Tree Messits!

It is hard to imagine that we have reached the 3-month point already.  But then, of course, it is even harder to imagine our family without Vitalik and Lera!

This month has included:
- Vitalik's first ever birthday party
- Eugene's first Father's Day as a Dad-of-Five
- Lots of Swim Team Activities for Vitalik
- L&V Doing a Presentation on Ukraine and Russian Language for Spencer and Heath's Classes at School
- Getting registered for middle school (which was a lot harder than it sounded, but did finally get them into 7th and 8th grades as we had hoped to!)
- Lots of social time with friends
- The 4th of July (Happy Birthday America!)

Things continue to get easier, and little-by-little, we are all regenerating from all of the stresses of the past year.  The kids's English and general confidence and comfort levels continue to improve.  I remember when we first met Lera and Vitalik, the language barrier seemed like the scariest part of adopting them.  We were assured by everyone who knew about these things that within three months they would be able to function pretty well with broken English, and now that we have reached the three-month mark, I definiltey think this is a fair assessment.  Of course, they don't understand everything we could possibly say to them, but we are all able to communicate quite well with the language that they have picked up, and they continue to learn more each day. 

We are enjoying a lovely summer with a relaxed schedule.  The kids continue to do some schoolwork at home with me each day, and while they would rather be vegging, they are very good sports and barely complain at all.  All-in-all, we are all feeling very satisfied, thankful, and eager to see what month four has in store for our family!

Vitalik's Birthday!

Dad got Vitalik a volleyball net for his birthday, which, with a little music, made for an instant party atmosphere!  We have left it up all month and have enjoyed lots of fun in the back yard with family and friends.

The birthday boy greeting special friend Amanda, the missionary whose idea it was to bring these great kids to Raleigh last summer for the adventure that changed all of our lives forever!  Her team will be bringing another group of fabulous kids to Raleigh this month.

Vitalik was like a little boy on Christmas!  He could not have been more excited about his presents!  What a joy!

Amanda with sweet Nastya, another friend from L&V's school in Ukraine.  Nastya is now home with her new family too, and she and Lera enjoy chatting on the phone when their busy social schedules permit it!

Very special photo of Grandmother Laura with all five of our children.  What a priceless moment this was!

Vitalik taking it all in.  A really special moment in his life!

Breaking out the new toys, his heart's deepest desire was a remote control car.  He got three! 

Trying out his new weight set from cousin Chilton and his pals Jamal and Tierell. 

Playing nerf and water guns with cousin Chilton and sweet neighbor Drew. 

Lera with neighbors Jeni and Rachel.  More fun with Vitalik's new birthday toys!

Fun at Home

Good pal David, Mason, and Vitalik playing with remote control cars.  Note blue mustang in Vitalik's lap.  This gift from Adam and Eleni was his favorite, and the only thing he decided not to share with the little brothers unless they are very closely supervised!

Silly Lera pretending to be a little girl in the baby swing.  :-)

Lera with our very sweet neighbor Leah.

Goofy girl modeling Daddy's shorts.

Brothers playing angry birds on Dad's I-Pad.

Father's Day Morning - Gifts for Dad.

Vitalik master-minded this creative water slide.  All siblings thought he was pretty smart and they happily played for a LONG time!  Spencer did end up with a few bruises, but overall it was good fun!

Vitalik working on a poster for the Ukraine/Russian prezo he and Lera did for Spencer and Heath's classes.

Talking to Spencer's class about life in Ukraine.

Mom and Dad got to go out for our 19th wedding anniversary (thanks to Adam and Eleni for hanging with the kids!)  Lera and Vitalik insisted that we needed to look really good for our big date, and helped us select our outfits.



Boating!

Lera chilling on our neighbor's boat.  In the background is Tyler and Ali's dad Eric, who made this day of fun possible! 





Vitalik and neighbor Tyler trying out some tubing tricks.



4th of July!

The kids enjoying lunch by the pool as we waited for the fun neighborhood pool party to begin.  There were so many fun games, including a men's water rugby game with a greased watermelon -- after the game Eugene actually came out of the pool with a bloody lip!

Lera stacking cups as the clock races!

Vitalik jumping off the lifeguard stand for the "Big Splash" contest!

 Eat More Chicken!

Vitalik all dressed up for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A.  He and his pals from swim team enjoyed free breakfast AND lunch! :-)