Austin is going to Junior Prom!

So exciting! For me that is! (Not so sure Austin is that thrilled?)

He's a junior and at our high school (Yes, I said OUR because my kids go to MY high school), prom is HUGE! It's at the State Capital building and involves practicing a promenade with your date after school a few times and formal prom dresses and tuxedo's! The works! 

I told him he HAD to go. He MUST take a junior girl. (This coming from a girl that did NOT get asked to Junior Prom her junior year and never had the opportunity to be in the promenade! Boo.)

He hemmed and he hawed and he never asked anyone. THEN a girl asked him! (You go girl! I should have been so bold!) And he's thrilled because he doesn't have to foot the bill. (He did hit me up for a tux rental because when trying to persuade him to ask a girl I offered to take care of the tux!) So, Saturday we went to the tux rental place. For being a boy that feels he's "not a champ in the looks department" (his words, not mine!) and wears gym shorts and plain, white t-shirts to school 85% of the time, he had a definite idea about what he wanted in a tux. 

Go figure?

I -only having a daughter go to big fancy dates up to this point - was prepared with camera in hand to document our "first tux rental" experience. When we got there I asked Austin to smile at me -  in the car - to document the beginning of our adventure. He wrinkled up his eyebrows, looked at me in disbelief, got out of the car, abruptly said "No!" and walked into the shop. 

Hum...this is not how it was with Kambree.

We waited for a bit in the tuxedo store (nothing like waiting until the week before to go rent your tux) and then it was our turn. He had it all set in his mind exactly what he wanted. Which turned out to be the most expensive tux in the store! Really? (But compared to a girls formal? It was chump change!) Then they had him try on some generic pants for a waist fitting and a generic shirt for a neck, generic jacket to check for shoulder fit, and we were done. No parading around in different tuxes, trying out different styles, no ties to try out, no cumber buns to try on. Nada. So my pictures are lame. (Except that the pants he tried on were terribly short and he looked like a cross between Alfalfa and Urkel! Teeheehee!)

I will defiantly be getting some good shots on they day of the dance. (If he likes it or not!)

Why am I am excited about this whole affair?  Because parents are invited up to the Capital to watch the promenade and then dance one dance with their son or daughter. As mentioned, I didn't attend my own Junior Prom and I was in Ukraine during Kambree's (I do remember shedding a tear or two 1/2 way around the world- knowing I was missing this once in a lifetime event!) So, I am excited to go! In fact if it wouldn't be tacky - which it would - I would wear a formal myself! I'm sure I can hold my breath long enough to get one of Kambree's prom dresses zipped up!?
Sigh

However, I am sure Austin would never talk to me again.....

Alex Playing Basket Ball....

Alex has improved immensely in his basketball skills. Last year he didn't know how to dribble, what a traveling was and he was very hesitant to touch the ball with his hands. (That would be because he had only played soccer up until last year!) But check out his ball handling skills this year!

He made a basket and I missed it entirely. I missed the basket, the grin, the wave to me.....everything! Here's what I got!

Rylee's 11th Birthday!

Family Party!

Friend Party!

"Fish" Pics For Kambree...

Devree is calling him "Popeye" because his eyes pop out. Austin is calling him a name I can't remember - some assassin from some video game? Rylee is ignoring him and Alex is over feeding him....we think. Someone is feeding him too much. (Clarification, Rylee is feeding the fish. Alex was very indignant when he read that HE was feeding the fish. So the truth came out...)  I am calling him "Fish" or when I stumble into the kitchen without turning lights on to fill my water bottle for the gym around 5 am - forgetting about our newest addition - and he swims rapidly around his bowl - I think he's a big spider or worse a mouse....then I call him "STUPID FISH!" 

Today is Ry's Birthday.
Wow. Eleven. My baby.
I plan on doing a birthday post complete with pictures later. Her party is tonight.
Today is also Alex's 1/2 birthday -as they are 18  months to the day apart. I was planning with Rylee just what kind of treats she would like to take for her class for her birthday and realized that Alex has NEVER taken treats to his class - due to his mid summer July birthday. Since there are a hundred and one things Alex can say  he never did as a kid, I decided taking birthday treats to class doesn't have to be one of them! So, he took treats to his class today too. He was so excited! He didn't care what I bought, in fact he told me to surprise him - I love that about Alex - he's not too particular, just happy to get whatever!

Kambree sent Ry a card in the mail for her birthday with a really sweet letter. Rylee loved it. She was reading it out loud to Alex and I and at the end she broke down crying. I had to point out that these are tears of joy! She nodded as she threw herself on my lap and sobbed into my arms. (It was a very sweet and thoughtful letter!) I have a feeling that these next few years with Ry are going to be full of tears both happy and sad. Sigh. Growing up is so hard on little girls and their moms!

 

A Terrible But True Fish Story.....

 In an effort to protect the names of the innocent (and the not so innocent) I will not be using names in this post. You may assume what you like.

Tonight Daughter 2 - after striking a deal with Son 1 (helping with his dish night) - went shopping for school supplies and chocolate chips (Son 1 made a deal with me that I would make chocolate chip cookie bars if he did his dishes and went to buy some chips.) 

Daughter 2 and Son 1 came home with more than just school supplies.....Daughter 2 bought  a bulgy eyed, black fish as a birthday gift for Daughter 3. Daughter 3 looked at it in fear & trepidation as I groaned and started in on "Why would you buy a fish? They always die. Who's going to clean the bowl? " as Son 1 proclaimed "I knew mom wouldn't like it!" laughing. Son 2 joined us in awe of this new pet as Son 1 proceeded to pour the fish into a fish bowl. (Why do we have a fish bowl? Because for some reason we seem to keep getting fish! Despite our ease in killing them off in less than a week or two.)  

Daughter 3 begins to cry. She doesn't like the fish but doesn't want to hurt Daughter 2's feelings. She's afraid the fish will die. (Son 1 pouring it into the bowl is only adding to the concern and torrent of tears! As Daughter 2 is yelling, "Don't just pour it in....you'll kill it!" ) Daughter 2 upon seeing Daughter 3 begin to cry begins to huff about Daughter 3 not liking her gift. I am hugging Daughter 3 - trying to supervise Sons 1 & 2 and make secret head signs to Daughter 2 to come hug & comfort Daughter 3. 

Daughter 2 is uncooperative as a result of a bad day - which is  a result of being a teenager and a tad bit self centered, ungrateful and demanding and me telling her as much earlier in the day. 

I notice that Daughter 2 has also purchased Peppermint Extract despite her telling me she needed Peppermint Oil for her upcoming science project. I point this out and Daughter 2 - who rarely cries and has a very tough exterior breaks into tears right along with Daughter 3! (She really did have a bad day!) So now I have two daughters crying, 2 son's in love with a black, bulgy eyed fish and Husband on Skype wondering what in the world is going on?

After a quick update on the situation, an introduction to our newest bowl dwelling pet,  he tries to comfort both girls who I am trying to hug and who continue to cry through his Skype call. There's no comforting happening -  although we do get Daughters to hug. 

As soon as Husband hangs up,  Son 1 googles about "black moor" fish and finds they can grow to six inches and live for 20-25 years! Seriously!? This information and the debate as to what to name the fish has caused both daughters to wipe their tears and join in the conversation. In an effort to continue to lighten the conversation I tell them about Grandpa Richhart that had big old fish for years in his aquarium and then fried them up for dinner when they died. (Gross...I know!) We joke about how this fish can be our food storage.

Now both girls are in control of their emotions and it's time for bed. I ask Son 1 to say the family prayer and he asks a blessing on the fish to live for now but that some day will "nourish and strengthen" our bodies!  Son 2 and Daughter 2 break out into laughter - during the prayer of course. Daughter 3 does not find is amusing but I can't help but smile. 

(Sigh)

It snowed today, I am coming down with a cold - I have one of those itchy sore throats coming on - this is only day one of 16 of being a single mom and now I have a black, bulgy eyed, nameless fish on my kitchen counter that could possible be there until husband and I are past retirement age!

Give me strength!

Letting Go....

Yesterday Alex was reading out loud to me from the New Era (I've started having him read 20 minutes in his AR book and then 10 from church magazines.) while I prepared dinner.  In this story the girl talks about making bad choices and hurting her mom, the one person she loves the most. Alex stopped reading and looked up at me smiling, "See mom? Everyone loves mom's the most!" 

He went back to his reading then stopped and out of no where announced,  "I don't hate my Ukraine mom anymore." Then shrugged and said, "Maybe she is still mean?" but he shrugged again like it was out of his control and he wasn't going to worry about it any longer.  

I was so very proud of him. He's letting go of his hate and hurt. What a  big, heavy bag for a little boy to be carrying around all this time. 

I told him how  great it was that he has decided not to hate her and how wonderful that must feel.  I told him that we should both be grateful to her that she gave him life so he could come here and be our son. He nodded in agreement. We talked about how maybe she did the best she could with what she had. I also quickly touched on how hating her doesn't hurt her, it just hurts him. He agreed then went back to his reading without a care in the world. Our entire conversation couldn't have lasted more than 5 minutes. We could have been discussing the weather or what I was making for dinner, or whatever....but we weren't. We were healing his soul or I should say HE was healing his soul and moving forward with his life.

What a resilient, brave, strong, beautiful boy.

I wonder if his Ukraine mom ever thinks of him?..... I wonder if she knows just what she's missing?..... I wonder if I could take her in a boxing match?..... Hum....maybe I need to work on letting my anger go....

Marathon English!

Here is an example of Alex's English:

"Is the word "let" had two T's?"

Now, I know perfectly well what he's asking, "Does the word "let" have two T's?". I corrected his structure of the question and had him repeat it and then answered his question. "No, the word "let" does not have two T's." 

The problem is that often times I do NOT correct him. If I did I would be correcting about 75%-80% of everything he says. Which might sound like I am kind, tolerant or benevolent but I'm not. Really. Really I am just lazy, tired and spread thin.
I am also fully aware that if we don't correct him, he will just continue to say things wrong but, because like a toddler learning to speak, I understand perfectly what he is saying and can answer or respond appropriately I just answer/respond and move on, sometimes not even noticing the jumbled past/present tense topsy-turvy sentence structure or have the time and/or energy to address it.
Unlike a toddler though, when you're 12 going on 13 it isn't cute or funny anymore. It was when it was wacky, wrong words, funny pronouncement or combined words when he was first learning. We would all laugh. Alex included. Now, its just incorrect, crazy sentence structure, past or present tense issues and he takes offense if you laugh, can't understand or worse, correct him.

It feels like we're at the start of a very long marathon, he and I.  The English Marathon - the correction of past and present tense - the use of punctuation in writing - capitalization - plurals. Its the tough English stuff that we need to push through and dig deep for. This is not an easy race.

As I explained this morning - more for my benefit than his - that if we don't correct him, no one else will and he will just sound uneducated and funny to everyone. So I am resolving today to be more diligent. To correct with kindness and compassion. To not let things slid or assume he'll figure it out eventually. But more than that, I realize that often I am just not listening or paying enough attention because life is so crazy busy! So, I resolve to slow down, really listen and finish this marathon we've started almost 21 months ago...if only I could see the finish line!

Alex's and his "Delicious" Dreams of the Future.....

Last week Alex had a dream which involved a cute girl named Katie, only I was her mother and she told him not to let her mother/me see him hold her hand or hug her or "other stuff". 

"What other stuff are you referring to Alex?" I asked. 

He made kissing motions with his fingers. 

"Oh, did you kiss Katie in your dream?" 

He giggles, "Yes." 

"How was it?" 

"Delicious!" 

Oh my. 

Did he really just say that?

This Katie he's talking/dreaming about is no longer at his school but apparently going to be back in his school next year for junior high. I asked what he's going to do if she ignores him? 

"Oh, I will bother her until she talks to me." 

Well, that's one way of going about it.....

At dinner tonight we somehow got talking about Alex's future wife. (He often brings this subject up. He's really focused on finding a wife.Good gravy!) Oh, I remember why this came up. James was asking the kids what they felt deprived of? He felt deprived of having clean white socks that weren't stretched out when he was little. His older brother with much larger calves would always stretch out his socks and now that he's grown he really enjoys having nice white socks that fit. He was wondering what we were depriving our children of that they will look forward to when they're  adults? (Not because we plan on changing our ways....just so they can have something to look forward to!)  I mentioned they will look forward to having a BIG dog. (Everyone wants a big dog except James and I! No way! And no birds, rodents or reptiles either!) Devree quipped in that they are deprived of having a dirty house! Then Alex informed us that his house will  "always be 100% clean". I couldn't help but snort a little at this statement. (This from a boy that is just figuring out how to make his bed correctly?) Austin asked what if his wife doesn't know how to do house work? Or cook or anything?

With all the confidence in the world Alex replies, "Oh...she will. I say my prayers!" 

I burst out laughing. 

Alex looks at me and explains,

"I will pray to have a good wife!"

What a funny little boy that apparently is not as little as I'd like to think?

Delicious?

Really??

Alex's Birth Dad

So, awhile back I blogged about Alex and the sorrow he feels about his birth dad dying. At the time he was inconsolable until, in my feebly attempt to comfort him, I mentioned that maybe we could do his dad's temple work? As soon as the words left my mouth - I instantly doubted my ability to make this happen. Alex's birth dad is NOT the dad listed on his birth certificate. His birth mother put her first husband (Ivan's dad) on the certificate. I don't believe she ever married his dad. I had no idea this mans name, his birth date or his death date. I was afraid I had suggested something that was an impossibility? 

I emailed Ivan. He responded with "Yes his father died." Not what I was hoping for. I got Jordan (the cute young man that helped me translate our phone calls to Alex in the orphanage) to write an email in Ukraine asking for dad's legal name, birth date and death date. And guess what? Ivan had all of it!!

Next hurdle?

I am not a family history buff or know ANYTHING about how to prepare his name for temple work. With that in mind, I immediately called our family history specialist, Barbra Jensen and she had me come over and with a couple clicks of her mouse she had his paper work temple ready! Seriously, it was so easy for her. The super, cool thing is that although Alex is sealed to our family, he can be linked to his Ukraine father and someday when someone is researching his families line, there will be a link showing that Anatoliy Ivanovich Litvinenko had a son and where he is. Cool huh? 

Well, today was the day. We took Alex to the temple where he was baptised and confirmed by his father James for his birth father. (For those unfamiliar with the LDS faith, feel free to read here: http://lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/the-redemption-of-the-dead-and-the-testimony-of-jesus?lang=eng)

It was a nice day. I really hope this will help Alex have some closure with his fathers death. And I really hope that Anatoliy accepts the ordinances performed on his behalf. It is my firm belief that those relatives that pass before us have a hand in our lives, that our relationships go beyond the grave. I like to think it was this man, this birth father that loved Alex the best he could while he was alive, that whispered to me to find Alex. Knowing how much he needed a family. How much he wanted a mom. Mountains moved for us to adopt Alex and perhaps he had a hand in that too?  Who knows? But one thing is for sure, Alex loved his birth father and the only happy memories he has prior to the orphanage involve this man and I believe it is his love and nurturing of Alex -despite the neglect and abuse he suffered from his birth mother - that has made Alex able to attach and bond and love us.

Funny Side Story:

After the ordinances we got special permission to take Alex to the cafeteria. As we were walking towards the cafeteria Alex announced that it smelled just like the orphanage! We burst out laughing (quietly of course because we were in the temple) at his remark. I guess cafeteria's smell the same all over the world? The good news is he decided the food was much better than the orphanage! 

Just call me Dory!

So, my grandmother at the age of 85 was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. 

Is it genetic? 'Cause I'm thinking that I might be pre-disposition-ed to have it?

I kid you not.

Here are a few examples:

#1 

I can't find my car in a parking lot.

I've mentioned this before on my blog. I walk out of the store, and just pretend I know where my car is and walk forward with a look of confidence all the while my brain is going "Where in the heck did you park?" I don't have a key less alarm on my new car. (I use to just start pushing my lock and listening for the little chirp on my old car) so I'm out of luck unless I"m shopping with a husband or child that instinctively knows where the car is parked and I just follow. I have also taken to always parking on the same side of the church or the gym. That seems to help. It's the grocery store and shopping that really does me in! You can never get the same place twice so it's always a roll of the dice.*

#2 

I lose things. 

I had a little schedule of the hours the Jordan River Temple was open and made a mental note to put said little schedule in a safe place so I could find it later. Well, apparently the place was so safe, even I couldn't find it!! I kept racking my brain. "Where did I put it?" I know I put it somewhere safe. Nope. Didn't find it. Went to the temple with Amy and she handed me a new little schedule and I went home and decided once again to store it in a safe place and flipped to the first safe place I thought of and there was the FIRST schedule....right where I had left it! Grrr...

#3 

Thoughts escape me.

The other night I was brushing my teeth. Something crossed my mind that was perplexing. Seriously perplexing. Something that made me think, I need to look into that or figure that out or something but by the time I was rinsing my teeth, the thought had vanished. I remember feeling perplexed but for the life of me have yet to remember what it was. Seriously?

#4 

I say the wrong name/word.

I never call my children by the right name. I think I should have named the girls KamDevRy or just call the boys "A" which will suffice for both Alex or Austin. Because although I know perfectly well who I am talking to, the wrong name always comes out! Often times I say the wrong word for things too. For example, I will THINK "Go put that in the fridge." and I will SAY "Go put that in the tub." I will get strange looks until I realize what I just said. Grrr....and I use to be so quick witted! 

Not good I tell you. 

Not good. 

I feel a lot like this little fish:

Dory, from Nemo. 

Which is funny because her song is one of my life long motto's "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

But I think if things don't start improving I might forget how to swim, or what order my clothes go on, or what my blogger password is!

Anyone else have memory issues? Is it my age? The number of children I'm responsible for? The inversion? My mom says stress. Blah. I don't feel stressed. I feel forgetful! James say's I'm just going to fast. I need to slow down. Whatever. I don't have time to slow down.(Secretly I think he just wants me to slow down to match his pace - which is a lot slower than mine - and often times drives me crazy!)

Maybe I just need to see if I can get an Rx for the patches my grandma is wearing to slow down the effects? But that would involve remembering to call a doctor, remembering the appointment, and then of course remembering to fill the Rx and wear the darn thing. That's FOUR things to remember! What are the chances?

*Note: Talking about cars in the parking lot reminds me of a story that I don't think I shared on my blog yet? (Maybe I have? Again, memory's not as good as it use to be.) So, late one night in December I went to Wal-mart (which I try hard to avoid) because I had been earlier and James had asked me to pick up a couple of things for him and I had totally forgot. (Very appropriate to document on this post as further evidence of my deteriorating state of mind?) I walked out to the parking lot and went to what I thought was my car (I was driving James car and we had only had it for a couple of months) and notice three people sitting in it. Oops. Not my car? I glanced at the license plate as I walked away and felt a bit confused. I think that's the letters on our plate? (The letters are OMK. I remember it only by thinking it stands for Oh My Kids) But quickly shrugged it off thinking I must have remembered wrong. Obviously, because there were three people sitting in the car and I saw the brake lights come on as they started it. I moved farther down the parking lot and found the very same make and model but slightly newer car and realized that I was NOT crazy! Those three people were in the WRONG car! MY CAR! Again, it  was late (like 11:30 pm?) and raining slightly. My mind is racing as to what to do? I don't feel like I'm in grave danger but then thoughts flash through my mind of all those crazy stories on the news about people jacking cars or taking people by gunpoint to ATM's to withdraw money so, I try to think rationally. I need a witness. I need someone to see me get pulled into the car and call 911!  I grabbed the first and only person I could find, a toothless Wal-mart worker that was out gathering carts, and asked him to accompany me to my occupied car. He grunted, nodded and grinned (I'm not sure he was verbal and as I'm returning to my car, I'm thinking that he many not be a very good witness?) I softly knocked on the drivers side window, not wanting to freak the driver out - as I am easily freaked out when people knock on my window. The car had yet to move or start. A very cute, young, Asian guy looked up at me with wide bewildered eyes. He rolled down the window and I, in my nicest voice, explained that I think he is in my car? The car's occupant's burst in to laughter and shot out of the car faster than a Chinese Fire Drill (and I don't mean that in a derogatory, ethnic comparison but truly a comparison of how fast they vacated my car!) They explained that the key fit but it wouldn't start (hence the brake lights I saw) and they were just about to call a mechanic. They laughed and apologized profusely as they gathered their bags out of the back of my car. The Wal-mart worker just stood their grinning. I excused him and told him I was sure I was safe and thanked him for accompanying me. The cute Asian youth were laughing so hard they could hardly catch their breath. I was laughing too, almost to the point of hysteria. Whew. I wasn't crazy and better yet I wasn't being car jacked or kidnapped!

Apologies....

I just caught up my picture posting. I've been out of memory on Picasso and not posting pictures. I apologize for clogging your reader with all my back posts!

~Wendy

January 9th!

So, it's that day that rolls around every year on this same day each year....my birthday!

But since I'm getting older (and wiser) I am learning to just live it up! So the celebrating began last night with my friends and it will continue on through the week with more friends and lunch dates. 

I am blessed to have such amazing friends. Some live in my ward, some go to the gym with me, some have lived through Ukraine adoptions, one is my sister, and the other my mom!

I started last night with my soul sisters that have adopted from Ukraine. (Well, one of them I actually met IN Ukraine and she has not adopted. She was there supporting her friend and ended up saving my sanity as the two of them hung out with me as I was delayed a week waiting on Alex's passport!)  Two of us have birthdays days apart so the night out was for both our birthdays.  There were rules! No kids, no hubbies and no gifts! We talked and ate and ate and talked late into the night. (One of the friends broke the rules and brought gifts and paid for everything and drove home in a blizzard! She is too much I tell you! Too much!)

I awoke this morning to my cell phone alerting me of birthday wishes on Facebook and it's been going off all day. I turned it on silent and went back to sleep. (The perk of having one o'clock church?)

I rolled out of bed around nine and found a sticky note on my door telling me to STAY IN YOUR ROOM. So I crawled back in bed and waited for this lovely breakfast.....

(Yep, I am getting brave and bold posting pictures of myself in my PJ's sans makeup!)

Breakfast was made by these two loves:

(Yes, those are homemade chocolate chip muffins made from scratch by Rylee and scrambled eggs made by Alex. You might be able to figure out my age based on the creative candle arrangement?)

Rylee found me the"perfect gift" on the Internet this morning but needed to use my credit card (she gave me the cash) to order it. The following picture cracked me up! This is her ordering but not wanting me to see what it was! I will find out what it is when it arrives later this week. 

Alex fixed my necklace AND bought me TWO of my favorite songs on I-tunes for my I-pod. He also has hugged me about twenty five times today and told me "I want to say Happy Birthday to you all day long because you are so special." How in the heck did I get such a sweet boy?

Devree made cookies to take to Young Women's to celebrate with our class. 

(This is Kambree waiting for the cookies to get out of the oven. Yes, she's acting like a little dog. What a crazy girl!)

  

 Kam drove home to celebrate Ukraine Christmas Friday night and then stayed to be with me on my birthday. That in itself was a great gift!

And wonders of wonders.....Austin SHAVED for the occasion. (Whootwhoo!) 

But the best part of my day? The following email:

A birthday song for you.  Its the best I got right now...hope it makes you feel loved today.

(And then the Youtube link posted below)

After watching it, I replied: 

That is so great!! I love it!!! I cried and laughed at the same time!

Can I share that on my blog and Facebook?

And he replied: 

If you don't tell them who it is.  Sure, if you want.

So without telling you who this is.....enjoy. 

(It really did make me cry and then laugh at the same time!)  

I got lots of well wishes during church and texts and email cards and I'm still getting Facebook wishes.

After church my mom had us over for a lovely dinner so I didn't have to cook on my birthday and then Shaundra (Arron's girlfriend and hopefully my future sister in law?) Made me this awesome cake:

(She had been quizzing me on my favorite colors and likes. Ella was one of the things I mentioned I liked so this little dog represents my little dog.This cake has three layers and the picture doesn't do it justice!)

And my sister made what she knows is my fav, fudge, mint, draping cake:

All my brothers showed up and we had cake and ice cream and the kids played hide-and-go-seek and we all talked and laughed. 

(This is the very unattractive picture of me, blowing out the "trick" candles!)

Thanks everyone for making my day so special! Getting old isn't so bad when you feel so loved!

A Pet Unicorn?

(I promise to write up a post on Ukraine Christmas complete with pictures and reviews of the dishes I made but I wanted to record this while it was fresh in my mind.)

After the celebration last night the kids watched Despicable Me. On the way home from Alex's game the kids were quoting lines from the movie. There's a line where the little girl prays for a mom & dad to adopt them and hopes that they have a unicorn she can pet. I teasingly asked Alex if that was what he had been wishing for? "No," he replies, "I wanted a Corvette!"

We all laughed then he says "No, wait. A Zonda Roadster!" 

I had to remind Alex he didn't know what a Zonda Roadster was until he was adopted because his brother, Austin taught him what it was. (It's his very favorite car and pretty rare!)

Austin asked, "No seriously, what did you wish for?"

Alex replies, "Just a family."

Sweet.

Ukraine Christmas Cooking Report!

#1 Poppy Seed Christmas Roll (far left): looked better than it tasted. I did not care for the poppy seed filling. Maybe I should have spent three hours washing the poppy seeds and making it from scratch instead of buying the $7 can of filling? Next time I'll just fill it with cinnamon, brown sugar, butter and little chunks of apples. The bread was good and I must admit, it looked pretty but everyone pretty much yucked the filling. (Well, my kids did. My adult guest were very gracious and polite!)

#2 Cherry Bars or the Ukraine name I can't say (9x13):  we're good. Actually pretty dang good. But heck with 1/2 cup of butter in the crust how could they not be?

#3 Lemon Baka (above): was okay. Better than the poppy seed roll but not sure it was worth the work. It has a filling of cream cheese and cottage cheese. And both the bread's called for 1/4 t of ginger and lemon zest. Interesting....

#4 Ukraine store bought cookies (picture below Baka): I didn't get a chance to try so I take it they were fine?

#5 Russian Cream Heart: tasted just like the creamy jello they have at Chuck A Rama. Again, not worth the work but it did come out of the mold as evidenced above. Whew!

(I was suppose to have an 8 cup mold but I had two 4 cup cake pans so I made two and piled them up on each other. The only plate big enough was TOO big so I added the orange slices. Martha Stewart? I think not!)

#6 Borscht: (Sorry I only took a picture of the beets on Friday. The other two pics are from the time I made borscht before!) was okay. I'm not a big borscht fan. (My niece Sydni liked "the pink soup" because she LOVES everything pink and girly....teeheehee!)  While grating the beets the grating cone flipped out of my Salad Master grater and landed on my kitchen rug! Grrr...beet juice on my rug?? I managed to get it out. I wore an apron and tried the Ziplock over the hand idea but still managed to get beet juice on my fingers and somehow it soaked through my apron and got on my shirt too. Luckily it was a white shirt and came out in the wash. Thank goodness for Clorox! Alex has LOVED the borscht and has had it for lunch all weekend and even for breakfast on Monday - but Rylee couldn't sit by him because she claimed she would barf from the smell of borscht that early in the morning.

#7 That wheat porridge thing/Kutya (pictured below-brownish in the glass bowl): YUCK. That is how I would describe it and if you would like to try it and see for yourself? Come on over! I have a bunch left. It took FIVE HOURS to cook and that was after soaking it over night. I think it was the poppy seed filling I put in it? Again I would forgo that and just sweeten it with brown sugar. In fact, it might be pretty good with just some butter and brown sugar and maybe some cinnamon. I think it's kind of cool to know what you can do with wheat though. I am putting that in my vault and will make it again when the world ends and I need to use my wheat food storage or I have an extra five hours to sit around and watch it boil?

#8 Lazy Day Varnakey (Pictured below. White plate in the middle): was pretty dang good. It reminded me of cheese crepes I had in Ukraine. It was rather easy too. You just break up the cheese and an egg, 2 tablespoons of flour, and salt and roll into a dough. Roll the dough into strips, slice and drop in boiling water and cook. A little like a very soft cheese danish. Yummy with a little raspberry jam.

#9 Perogies (in the round glass casserole): I found some at Winco. Cheese and Potato and they were not authentic but very yummy. I sautéed onions and peppers and then the pre-made-dump-out-of-the-box Perogies. Yum! I will have to make those again.

#10 Potato Pancakes/Delruny (on the paper towels): These are like hash-browns with onion. I love the sauce that goes on the top. Sour cream & cream. That and a pinch of dill give it the Ukraine taste.

#11 Bread: I served Brown & a braided European Roll. (Both purchased!) I didn't try the brown but Alex has managed to finish the loaf on his own this week. The braided sweet bread was yum!

#12 Alex's boiled eggs with Ukraine sauce: not too bad. There were about six half's left and I let Alex polish them off after everyone left. I asked him before he ate the last one if he was sure he could finish and asked him to think about his tummy. "You are right mom. I am finished." and he put it down and clutched his tummy. He still has a hard time gauging when he has had enough. 

I still have the "special sauce" left in the fridge and this  morning I ran out of mayo for the kids tuna sandwiches. I figured I'd see if they noticed anything different. Nope. No one did. I even asked about it. So I'm pretty sure this is just mayo. "UKRAINE mayo!" Alex reminded me. "Yes, and it taste so much like American mayo you didn't even notice it on your sandwich today!"

I didn't count the sunflower seeds and the salted pork fat as a dish. They were just extras.

It took Alex and hour or so to warm up to his fellow adopted friends, but once they did they were running all over the place! It was so fun, Rylee had three friends, and Alex had his two friends and cousin and they're all about the same age and ran around playing hide and go seek. When it was time to leave everyone groaned. They were having too much fun.  

Here he is Alex (hot and sweaty after running around so much) with his friend Josh. (Formally known as Bogdan.)

All in all the night was a success....I think. That I know of, no one got food poisoning from the salted pork fat....or my cooking. Next year I think I'll American-ize it a bit and make my adjustments and switch out some of the least favorites.
That and not stress so much!

What in the world??

"That's the octopus that makes the blood on my rabbit"

That is an actually sentence I overheard Austin say while playing X-box 360 with his friend. Nope, no friend in the house - he's talking to him through his headset and playing online. Now when I was little, this is something I would have seen on the "The Jetson's".  Playing a video game (What was a video game? Never heard of it.) with a cordless controller (Cordless? Heck! Remote controls were a novelty and only rich families had them back then. In fact I was the remote control! "Wendy change the channel, turn in down, turn it up, turn it off....") with a headset on (A headset? Like an airplane pilot?) which is also cordless all the while your friend is sitting in his house 30 miles away talking to you through the headset and playing the same game with you! Unbelievable!
As far as the meaning of the sentence?
Your guess is as good as mine!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am sitting here hoping against hope that my yeast bread/desserts for Ukraine Christmas tomorrow will raise. I have one dish done,  the wheat soaking for another, one chilling and hoping it will actually come out of the mold tomorrow, two raising, and tomorrow I'll tackle the rest!
I can't believe how excited Alex is! He told me he feels "sad" for me. I think he means he feels sorry for me? I've been cooking since six and have a couple more hours to go? As I've been making these dishes (full of butter and sour cream) he's been taking a snitch here and there and licking a spoon and declaring "I didn't know Ukraine food was so good!" "I have never had this!" and "This is going to be the best Ukraine Christmas ever!" Do I detect a bit of pride?  That was exactly what I was going for! Some of you have thought me crazy to make all these dishes but this is what I was hoping for.  I wanted him to take some pride and see some goodness and tradition from his country. To make some sort of connection with Ukraine that he can be proud of or at the least enjoy and share with others?
Here is his todays journal entry, exactly as written:
Tomorrow is Ukraine Christmas and I am very excited because my Ukrainean friends are comeing over to eat dinner with us at my house. I am grateful that my mom has me here and I dont have to go back to Ukraine ever. I am grateful that my mom is still a mom because I dont know what I am going to do without a mom.
Did you notice he only had TWO spelling errors, and two missed apostrophe's? Whootwhoo! We've come a long way! 
I think I know what he was trying to say on that last sentence but I couldn't help but think,  "What else would I be if I wasn't still a mom?"  Not a Ukraine pastry maker....that's for sure!
We invited a family to join us tomorrow that has recently adopted two boys from Alex's orphanage. This is going to be interesting as Alex has virtually lost all his native language and these boys are probably barely grasping English. Oh, well. We have video games and that's a universal language....right? Unless you consider the opening sentence of this post.... which doesn't make sense in English or at least the English I know!

11:15 pm update!
Here is what I did tonight:

From left to right: Poppy Seed Roll, Chereshynank ( Cherry Cake Bars) Lemon Cheese Babka (two round pans) & Russian Cream Heart. (I colored it blue and if I can get it out of the mold tomorrow, plan to serve it from a yellow plate....Ukraine colors!)

While I'm posting pictures, here is Alex's special sauce for eggs... 

(Brings back memories doesn't it my sister friends?)

And the special cheese I need for making Lazy Varenyky tomorrow, the Poppy Seed Filling (which I have left over and think I'll add to the Kutya instead of a CUP of poppy seeds) and Salted Pork Fat! 

Tomorrow is Borscht,  Lazy Varenyky, Deruny (potato pancakes), finish the Kutya (which has to cook for 3-4 HOURS) & a trip to Winco for Brown Bread!
(Yawn)
Night All!

And The Survey Says....

Hey friends! 

My awesome hubby needs your help. Please take this 5 minute survey about his newest invention,  The Glummy Bag. 

(Yes, this is my husband in the video and yes, I know he is looking to the side of the camera weird and it makes him look a little creepy but the best part is the very last shot! Yes sir! That's my baby!)

https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5aIULcXIgYLNgYA

Ukraine Christmas Cooking Update!

Wow.

Walking into European Tastee's (4700 South 900 East #51 Murray Utah) is like opening the door and stepping into Ukraine.

I brought Alex and Austin and we found the "special sauce" for the boiled eggs right off. (For all I know, it's mayo but whatever it is, we're serving it over boiled eggs.)

Austin LOVED the store and claims he wants to go to Europe. The loved looking at all the fish -with their heads still on! Austin couldn't believe the variety of sausages! The boys split some sort of peperoni sausage stick and then we tried all three of the stuffed scones (meat, cabbage and potato) I didn't find perogies but I did find poppy seed filling. I found the white cheese I needed and Alex got some Salted Pork Fat. (Uh....gross?) 

The lady there was very helpful and when I showed her a few of my recipes, (Yes, I showed up with 12 recipes printed off the Internet in hand) she asked if I wanted to buy some Ukraine flour? No, I have flour. But apparently not UKRAINE flour. She says it's just different, works better for Ukraine cooking. Thanks but I think I'll stick to my American flour.
The 2nd lady at the cash register tried to talk with Alex in Ukrainian. She couldn't believe that he could lose his language so fast. I don't find it hard to believe. I can forget where I parked my car in thirty minutes time, Alex has been here twenty months, submerged in English and very uninterested in retaining his native language. She suggested that we should get Alex and her son - who is also 12 - together. I asked Alex what he thought and he politely said "No thanks, I have enough friends." (See what I mean? He's very aloof about TOO much Ukraine stuff. Food is fine, but don't make him try to talk or remember too much. But I can't say I blame him.)

$25 later we left. No perogies, no brown bread but two boys with full tummies that didn't have much room for dinner and a plan B for my TWELVE menu items.

Later, when I was going over the list of menu items with Alex he mater of factually informed me that I don't have to make 12 things.
What?

"But, everything I've read says you need to have 12 dishes!?"

"Yea, but mom......you're in America!"

(He also told me that he will like everything I make and gave me a big hug and looked right in my eye and said "Thanks mom."  Yep. That's why I'm doing this. For my boy.)

So here's what is tentatively on the menu:

• Lazy Varenyky (Which is why I needed the white cheese, I tried to make these once before but they took so long and the result was.....blah. In this recipe you mix the cheese in with the dough and boil in water! I hope it works. If not at least I didn't spend HOURS making it.)

• Borscht (I have made this successfully once before! But it really does turn your hands purple to grate beets!)

• Salted Pork Fat (Whootwhoo...we have 12 tiny slices as I really don't think it will be a hit!)

• Alex's boiled eggs with his "special sauce" (Which might very well be mayo?)

• Kutya (Wheat porridge-everywhere I read it says this is a staple at Christmas. This is a terrific food storage recipe as I already have everything for it in my food storage!)

• Ukraine Chereshyank (Cherry Cake Bars-these look so yummy and I can cheat and use a can of cherry pie filling!)

• Brown Bread (that I'm buying at the grocery store!)

• Deruny (Potato Pancakes...this I have made before and they weren't half bad!)

• Lemon Cheese Babka (Another yummy looking recipe. It's suppose to not be very sweet so I'm not counting it as a dessert!)

• Ukraine Cookies (I bought at the store. Chocolate filled ones. I've had these before and in the event my other three desserts fail....I'll have store bought cookies!)

• Russian Cream Heart (I found on Taste of Home sight. No idea if it's Ukrainian but Russia is pretty close isn't? Plus it gives me an excuse to use my heart shaped cake pan. I bought it at a yard sale three years ago and have yet to use it!)

• Ukraine Christmas Poppy Seed Roll (Wasn't going to make this after reading that I had to soak the poppy seeds in boiling water for one hour, drain and repeat THREE TIMES! Then I found the can of poppy seed filling! Ahha!)

I did decide to forgo the sardine/egg/mayo salad, any sort of meat dish in gelatin, blood sausage and meat or sauerkraut filled rolls. (Oh, and for the record, during a traditional Ukraine Christmas they don't eat meat or eggs. Good thing I'm in America...right? ) 

For most my recipes I am using my friend Olga.  No, I don't know her but I love that she has pictures and everything in regular measurements/. Besides, I feel like she's my friend now after pouring over her recipes all day!

And now, I feel a little less stressed after Alex pointed out that I am in America and I don't have to have TWELVE dishes!

Good. 

'Cause if nothing turns out we'll have store bought cookies, brown bread and Salted Pork Fat!

Ukraine Christmas....

is January 7th!

This year I thought I'd try and make some Ukraine food and invite my family and a few of our neighbor friends over. 

What was I thinking?

First off....do you know that it is tradition to serve TWELVE dishes for Ukraine Christmas? (Which represent the 12 apostles or if you're more into the pagan side of celebration, represents the 12 moon cycles?) I sort of forgot this. (We did a Ukraine Christmas last year with a bunch of our families. I think I brought a cake? That would be ONE cake!)

I wasn't even sure if Alex would want to do this. Maybe he'd scoff and I'd be off the hook?

He's so anti-Ukraine these days.

But, when I mentioned it, his eyes lit up! I asked him what we should make? Borscht of course and he thinks we can find some sort of sauce at the Russian store that you serve over boiled eggs? ("Did you have this in the orphanage?"  "No I bought it at the store myself." Apparently the orphanage supplied the boiled eggs? So, for all I know this is an Alex original recipe?)

So, as I'm goggling recipes and asking him about them, we realize that he never had a Ukraine Christmas IN Ukraine. He didn't know about the TWELVE dishes. He can only think of two! I asked what they did in the orphanage for Ukraine Christmas? They had Borscht, orange slices and candy. (I can't fault them there, who in their right mind is going to prepare TWELVE dishes for an orphanage of 500 children?)

But, in an effort to help Alex celebrate his heritage and find something good from his past. (Even if he never experienced it before coming to America.) I am accepting the challenge of preparing TWELVE Ukraine dishes.

(Insert gulp and small squeak of fear sound right here!)

I am heading to the Russian store this afternoon to start my quest! I actually have about 15 recipes that I think I might make edible. I will rule it down to 12 when I see what I can actually find for ingredients.(I am hoping that a few I will just be able to purchase? A babushka....I am not!)

Alex also wants to play "Russian games" for our celebration. When I asked what we should play the only thing he could come up with is "hide and seek". Apparently this is very fun because the orphanage is so big? I imagine it would be (I remember playing the same game in our church as a child) but, I don't think we'll be playing "hide and seek" in our house on Friday. 

But maybe, maybe the cook will be hiding under her bed, crying into her purple, beet stained hands because everything was terrible? Or she's just overly exhausted?

It's a possibility.....

Please share any recipes, games, secrets or advice you might have.....

Sunday Stuff

Both Alex and Rylee bore their testimony in church today. 

Alex said he was grateful for his mom. (I sort of held my breath at this point thinking he'd share about not having a mom and how sad and lonely he was or something heartfelt like that?) He shared that mom's do a lot for you, (or something to that effect) and "Do you know what you would do if you didn't have a mom?.... Your house would be upside down! In the name of..... Amen"

That was it. 

Just a little shout out to me across the pulpit. 

(I think this stems from the morning conversation we had about his room and the stuff shoved in the bottom of his closet and his clothes all topsy-turvy in his drawers. Yes, if he didn't have a mom his room would most defiantly be upside down!)

Rylee lost it and cried within in seconds of standing up, she said how much she loves her family and is thankful for everyone in our ward and all the nice things they've done for us. 

And that was all.

When she sat down and buried her crying face in my shoulder, she tried to tell me that it's not the Spirit that makes her cry, it's because she's so scared! I hate to break it to her but she can get up and sing and dance and perform without a tear or a quiver. It IS the Spirit that makes her cry!

Right after Ry got up our sweet neighbor Ronda got up. (I pointed out to my sobbing Rylee that I bet Ronda will cry too. She cries easily!) Ronda commented that she was glad Rylee got up first so she wouldn't be the first to cry. (Or something like that.) I wish I had a tape recorder so I could have recorded these testimony's verbatim. 

We have one o'clock church this year. 

Boo. 

I do like sleeping in but my teens can sleep until noon! I wrote up a decree that everyone signed agreeing to get up by ten, and use the morning for church related activities like journal writing, scripture and church magazine reading, listening to church music and working on Personal Progress or Duty To God. Yep, they weren't too excited and it was met with groans and eye rolls (Devree doesn't want to get up "that EARLY" and Austin is NOT doing Duty To God and he might NOT do his homework if he can't do it before church-which almost made me laugh because he NEVER does homework, so I told him if he had homework he could do it!) but they all agreed. 

After church I told them they could play video games ONLY if they played together! No solo shut yourself away playing and still no crazy, hip, rowdy music! The girls are playing Wii and the boys are playing Xbox. 

(Sigh)

Well, I can't really expect them to be spiritual ALL day....can I?

Kambree heads back to school tomorrow and everyone is back to school and back to the grind. That means making lunches every morning, getting Devree to basketball practice every afternoon, homework with Alex every night and let the running begin!   Junior Jazz is starting so add two more basketball practices and two games every Saturday, in addition to Devree's 2-3 games a week on top of two dance classes, three piano classes, scouts, young women's and achievement days! 

Well, one things for sure, I have a lot of job security in this job called Mom. No one is trying to under bid my job, downsizing my company, no pink slips, or layoffs. Nope. Plenty of security in this job. 

And you know why you need a mom?

So your house won't be upside down!

2011 New Years Resolutions!

Yikes!
It's that time of year.

The time to set my News Years resolutions.
I had to go back and read what I had posted for 2010 but I didn't publicly post my resolutions and so, I really don't remember what they were....
(I think it was to start running? I got nice running shoes for my birthday last year and I think that was my goal? Uh....no, it didn't happen)
So in an effort to hold myself accountable AND help me remember, here are my resolutions for the entire Internet to see!
(Be warned, I am going for realistic goals these days. Nothing to earth shattering.)
#1 
Only ONE normal sized treat/dessert a day.
(I've tried the "no sugar" goal, or specific eating plan or no snacking, or whatever and I never stick to it! I love treats! So much that I can eat them all day long so, ONE a day will defiantly be an improvement! The trick will be deciding just which ONE to have and notice I put "normal size" in there. Yep, I know me. "I'm only having ONE treat a day....ONE PAN OF BROWNIES!")
#2 
Take my vitamins, calcium  & joint supplement.
(This shouldn't be so hard, but it is! I just forget...sometimes for months at a time!)
#3
Drink TWO 32 ounces of water everyday!
(I have this awesome red cup with a very large girth straw -it's my fave! Again, shouldn't be too hard....but if I'm not consciousness of it, then it won't happen!)
#4
Read the Sunday School & Relief Society lesson each week.
(Nope, I've never done that and now that I'm in YW's I really should read that RS lesson!)
#5
Become a runner. Very slowly!
(Amy and I are doing the "Couch Potato to 5K" podcast from I-tunes. We started last week. So far we have a 5 minute brisk walking warm up, run for 2 minutes and walk for three X  four times and then a five minute walking cool down! I feel like I might die by the time I hit a minute and 45 seconds on that fourth run so, we're going to repeat the first week next week. You're suppose to be able to run for 30 minutes straight by the end of 8 weeks. But it might take me 8 months! Running....hence the reason for the joint supplement mentioned in goal #2!)
#6 
AND this most important..... 
T.T.F.F.!
(Take Time for Fun & Family!)
That sort of speaks for itself. I find the last thing I do is have fun or just take time to do things with the people I love. I'm always busy, in a hurry and have a list a mile long of things to do, places to be and people to oversee!
I actually started this last month. Nothing spectacular. Once I took the day to be with James & go to lunch  as opposed to him running his errands and I mine. (Actually I think I had laundry and house cleaning on the docket? Well guess what....it waited for me and I did it later and not a soul noticed...except me of course!)
I also dropped & rearranged everything at the last minute to take Rylee to a play her friend was in and then we went out for lunch .
I attempted to pre-arrange and drop everything and drive myself and Rylee to St George to be with my cousin & her cute family three days before Christmas but the weather didn't cooperate. I did stop with Ry  on my white knuckled drive home in the snow and we ate out again and got last minute tickets to "The Farley Family Christmas Party" play before heading home.
Today, I took Dev shopping and out for a very much over due lunch. (So over due that neither of us could remember why I owed it to her.)
And tonight, I sat with Ry and watched Netflix and ate potato chips and dip. (Technically not a dessert/treat but not a good choice either....sigh!)
Based on the fact that each of these TTFF involved eating out? I better be careful as next year, my goal may have to be MORE weight loss oriented. (FYI I always have the goal to lose ten pounds -I"m hoping my "one treat a day" limited will help. I do go the gym 5 times a week but that is only to counteract my issue with treats.  I think I've lost the same two pounds and gained it back about 50 times! Geez. That's like brain damage isn't it?!)
So just stuff like that. Slow down, enjoy my babies that will be gone and having their own babies before I know it.
Just so you know, of all the goals, TTFF will be the hardest as I'm just not a relax and take it easy person. I'm the structure, the list maker, the chop-chop, get your job done, pick up your stuff, running here and there, hurry up person.
So there you have it!
Posted for the world to see.
Yikes.

Happy New Year!

Since we are a Redbox/Netflix family and James is gone so I'm a widow this holiday, I took the kids to we see a movie to ring in the New Year! We went to see Disney's "Tangled" and loved it! 

We made it to the 9:30 pm show and home just in time to break out the goblets and Martinelle's and watch the ball drop.
Then we stayed up until 2 am playing Bananagrams and watching Netflix.
Did you know that the Wii will keep track of how many hours each game was played and on what day? It also keeps track of how many hours you watch Netflix. Yesterday we logged in 24 hours and 19 minutes with Wii playing and Netflix watching combined! How can this be? There is only 24 hours in the day?? Apparently the tally for Netflix includes what was watched on our computers (during our Bananagram marathon) and what James watched in Wyoming on his Ipod! Add to that 24 hours and 19 minutes, a full length movie not included in this total! This is certainly proof that we are really partying this Christmas break!

This afternoon my daughters and I were talking about "Tangled" and they (Kambree and Devree) both confessed that a I resembled a certain character in the movie. I thought as much myself. In fact while watching the movie I couldn't help but think "Man, I would like to play that part!"

Any ideas who? Well, you be the judge....

Yep, there certainly is a resemblance! Too bad it isn't her perky shape!