Things I love about today....

#1 I went back to bed after the kids went to school and caught up on my sleep.
#2 Dance was canceled so after running kids to the orthodontist and Costco we came home and can STAY home!
#3 I checked four things off my things to do list.
#4 Austin came in while I was working on the computer and talked with me awhile then sprawled out on the floor and fell asleep - I can hear him snoring.
#5 My girls are quietly doing their homework.
#6 It's almost 6:30 and still light outside
#7 Devree was voted "best 7th grade smile" for the yearbook (And this is BEFORE her braces!)
#8 We leave a week from tomorrow.

Hope you all had a great Monday too!

Do's and Don'ts....

I'm reading a recommended book titled "Culture Shock! Ukraine" and thought I'd share this list of "do's" and "don'ts"

DO...
Check your coat at the opera and at restaurants. Many places will not seat you if you insist on keeping your coat on.
(I always keep my coat because I'm always freezing!)
Avoid tap water
Remember the rule: boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it
Bring small gifts when invited to people's homes
Remove your shoes when inside people's homes
(Hurray! I hate shoes!)
Avoid cabs when you see the driver accompanied with a friend. This could be a set up.
(Good to know!)

DON'T....
Admit smoking bothers you , if someone is kind enough to ask
(Yikes, I hate smoke-better pack the Visine!)
Shake hands over a threshold
Shake hands with gloves on
Whistle Indoors
(Apparently you'll whistle away your money)
Keep your hands in your pockets
Sit on steps or on the ground
(This is how you can catch a cold)
Sit at the corner of a dinning table
(Or a woman will not marry for seven years)
Give flowers in even numbers
(You bring even amounts of flowers to funerals and odd for everything else!)

I spoke with Elliana this morning and mentioned some of these and she said most were superstitions but that the flowers are bunched in odd numbers so not to worry about that.
She also told us she found a place in Denpro for $30 a night with a new washing machine! Whootwhoo! No Internet, so we have to go to an Internet cafe to post and check emails but that no Internet is pretty standard. I was thrilled with the price. And this is for a TWO bedroom unit with a living room and kitchen. Our facilitator, Oxona will be in the 2nd bedroom and that will be especially nice when James has to get back to work and I'm all by myself!
I actually talked to Elliana on Skype this morning. We didn't video conference-I was in my gym clothes and Elliana was in her robe-but our voices were clear and just as fast as if we were talking face to face and she's in Canada! This Skype thing....pretty amazing!
I really have a million things I should be doing to prepare to go and to pull off the Relief Society Birthday Social tomorrow night, but what am I doing? Posting and checking blogs!
Here's to outside whistling, glove-less handshakes and odd bunches of flowers!
Please feel free to comment with any other social rules of etiquette I might need to know!

Cousin's Visit!

Playing DS at the basketball game!

Craig & Austin

Devree & Ainslee

Rylee & Kylee

The whole gang!

This blogging thing is incredible!

I'm following a blog of a couple in Kiev right now. The Turner's.
I don't know what part of the country they're from or much about them except they're in Kiev right now and there to adopt a child or children. I decided to be brave and ask this total stranger a question about the weather in Kiev and I got this wonderful response via email this morning.
I wanted to share it as I know a few of my readers are headed to Kiev right after us!

Wendy,

Thanks for following along. I pray that the beginning of your trip goes more smoothly than ours has.

The first week we were here, we saw nothing but sun. We were wondering where the dreary weather is that you hear all about. Since we have returned to Kiev, the dreary weather has made a comeback. It's been sort of rainy and drizzly. The temperature doesn't really vary that much or it hasn't since we've been here.

Most days we wear a pair of thermals under our pants, just one pair of socks because you will want some very cushy insoles. We brought a thick sweater each and haven't really worn them yet. Just bring some light long sleeve tops as you will were your jacket most of the time you are out and about. Don't get to excited about your outfits. We managed to bring 4 bags and we don't use half of it. People here wear the same clothes over and over, beside you have your jacket on most of the time.

Pack as little as possible and try to do carry-ons. I would suggest....

.. a pair of casual, stretchy pants (typically black or dark grey) for plane ride and lounging at the apartment. ones that dry pretty easily, no dryers over here.

.. bring several pairs of socks and underwear as those seem to be the easiest things to get dirty over here.

.. people do wear jeans over here, dark jeans.

.. pea coats are big here. you'll need a hood or good hat. nobody walks around here with an umbrella even though it's raining.

.. for the SDA and Court appointments, don't go overboard. I brought a stretchy dress that doesn't wrinkle and Bob wore a dress shirt and tie (again, we never took our coats off, you hardly have time)

.. bring two light weight long sleeve shirts, something like those colored thermals people wear or similar to that.

.. bring at least 1 t-shirt for apartment and orphanage, once you get to visit daily

..if you bring a laptop, remember to bring a converter for your battery charger. one that plugs into a three-prong plug and then into your 220v outlet. you may also need an extender as the plugs here are set into the wall.

.. bring some snacks, tuna pouches, something just in case you can't make it to the store.

.. you also want to bring some flip flops or those no slip socks for the apartment and sometimes the orphanage. everyone takes their shoes off once they come in the house.

I hope this gives you an idea. You can ask me about anything directly if you have a certain question. You can also buy all your gifts here. You may want to bring something special for your baby like a small stuffed toy although you can get those here.

Good luck with your trip and packing,

Conethia

Not even a two line response but an entire letter! How sweet.
Be sure to click on the link to the Tuners Blog to hear about "Happy Women's Day" which is a holiday being celebrated TODAY in the Ukraine.
Happy Women's Day!

Welcome to my "Private" Blog!

(Ohh....I feel so adultish!)
Thanks for going through the steps to get here. Please send me a comment so I know you made it!
As you know we leave on the 17th with our SDA appointment on the 19th. Depending on how fast the paperwork goes we hope to leave (via train?) to go to the region where our orphanage is on Saturday the 21st. However, I told Alex we should be there on Monday the 23rd just in case there's a hold up and because I think it would be great to surprise him! (Thanks Andreas-for this suggestion!)
Lex goes back to the orphanage on Monday. He's been with his half brother for the past week due to the quarantine. I'll be glad to know he's back because I don't have an address or anything for this half brother so basically I have no idea where he is. Due to all the warnings and advice from others that have gone (and my friend that continually tells me "You can't trust the Russians!") I can't help but be a little paranoid.
None of my great contacts have panned out as far as helping us secure housing. It boils down to the fact that Ukraine is a cash society and I can't simply call and hold an apartment with a credit card. Both my friend from Pilate's, Mariana and Snezhana (Alex's half sister in law) offered to help us find places when we get there but I don't want to show up with no where to go so we're having Adoption Way arrange our housing. I'm just hoping they find us a relatively low cost place to stay.
Also, I have not heard back from the Kiev mission president (a brother in law of my friends) or my neighbors friend that teaches English in the Ukraine. I was hoping they could at least tell us where we could go to church or if there was even a branch in our region.
We've been told to bring $8,000 in cash!! (I know, freaky scary to carry that much cash!) But I don't know why we need so much!? The adoption fee's (medicals, passports etc) with everything are about $700 and all the facilitator fees and "persuasive gifts" (bribe) fee's are included in the $16,000 we already paid Adoption Way.
We're bringing a 46 pound bag of brand new underwear, socks and undershirts to donate to the orphanage. (Thanks to my Stake Relief Society service project) and hoping that will suffice for our"donation to the orphanage" so hopefully no large sum of money needed there.
SO, why in the HECK would we need to bring so much money??!! We don't plan to stay at the Waldorf or anything. The money we bring is basically for housing, travel and food. (Can travel be that much?) Seriously, I don't think we'll bring that much!
Many thanks to Linda & Dan for the tips about traveling with money. They gave me socks with zipper compartments in them, told me to spread the money out, don't carry it all in one place. And the best advice, is to make a "dummy" wallet with old credit cards and a little money so if we get held up or anything we can give the robbers this wallet. Wow! I have so much to learn.
I'm stressing about how to hide the money in our apartment/hotel. Any suggestions?
Good grief, you can tell by the tone of the post that I feel so free having a private blog!
Anyway, again....thanks for coming!!

Funny Things My Kids Say....

I was complaining awhile back that my children don't say funny things anymore like they did when they were little. But now I have to take those words back.

Austin
We were reading scriptures the other night and about Lehi sending Nephi and his brothers to gather Ishmal and his family so the sons of Lehi could have wives to marry. In an attempt to stimulate conversation and get my children to actually think about the story I asked Austin (my 14 almost 15 year old) how he would feel if he had to find a family where he and Alex would marry the sisters and his sisters would marry the brothers, without a pause or a blink he says "Well, I hope that the men are good and the women are HOT!"



Rylee
Kambree, Austin and Rylee had an eye doctor appointment today. Rylee had never had her eyes dilated before. She brought her DS to entertain herself and then while waiting for the doctor to examine her dilated eyes she turned to me with a worried look and told me her DS must be broken, everything is all blurry!


Kambree
While sitting in with Kambree for her eye exam the doctor commented on her long lashes. Which reminded me of a funny story about Kambree. Two years ago Kambree had minor surgery to removed her impacted wisdom teeth. Right before going under the nurse jokingly told her she had such beautiful lashes that she was going to steal them while she was out. When Kambree came out of the anesthesia she came down weepy and started crying and with a mouth full of cotton asked me if she still had her lashes? I couldn't for the life of me understand-I thought she'd had some drug induced dream about having her lashes removed. I assured her that her lashes were still intact and then she just cried more. One of the nurses overheard and let me in on the situation. It's not as funny typed out as it is to picture this beautiful 15 year old pointing at her lashes and crying with a mouth full of soggy cotton concerned that her lashes had been stolen!


Devree
We had a major wind storm two days ago and my Devree came home and asked if we were going to have a hurricane? Austin burst out laughing! Hello? We live in Utah. Good thing Devree has tough skin, Austin would have had Rylee in tears with his good natured teasing about hurricanes in Utah.


Alex
I bet I'll have a lot of funny things to write about when we get Alex and he starts to learn English. Just imagine all the material I'll have! I'm hoping he's thick skinned too! Rylee unfortunately has enough tears for us all! Right now she's in her room trying to gather her emotions because she was playing Wii Fit and the Pilate's pose was just to hard! Good grief!!

And her are a few more photos' from our "Prom Dress" shopping trip....


Rylee could try on dresses all day long! She had a blast!





And the winner is.....

Boys Bedrooms!

This is a picture of James working on Austins new basement bedroom last week!

This is it today!!

No, no carpet but pretty cool mismatched area rugs! Besides carpet, it still needs the ceiling fan installed, some sort of window treatment, closet doors and of course the requested Zonda Roadster posters! (Any idea where I can find those? Hard to come by!) But its livable and lucky for us, Austin's not too particular!
Last night my BFF, Jan came and painted with some assistance from me - but not much as I am a terrible painter. James knows this and he asked me to please ask Jan ('cause she is the bomb when it comes to painting) and pay her - which actually means - don't do it yourself! I tried to pay her but she wouldn't let me. (Yeah, that's the kind of friend she is!) When I paint, I get so frustrated and I just slop it on, I just hate it! I get paint all over me, the floor and I just want to get it over with. Both my sister and Jan awe me with their home improvement skills!
So, today I asked my Dad to come hang blinds and help me put the bed together. (Again, me and power tools are like oil and water!)
Then I hauled all of Austin's clothes, and boy paraphernalia (like bow and arrows, bb guns and scout stuff) downstairs and put it away.
I also cleaned all the sheet rock dust and construction debris out of the family room and made it possible to walk through...
barefoot for that matter!! Yahoo for me! (Okay, so lacking in home improvement, skilled in home cleaning!)
Dad and I went out to lunch and then that sweet father of mine offered to hang the door to Austin's room. (I'm sure Austin will appreciate the privacy as I was fine with him having no door-even more important, James appreciates having one less door to hang.) Thanks Dad, you're the best!
Then since I was on a roll, I washed all the walls, wiped out the closet and shelves, vacuumed under everything and moved furniture in Alex's new room (also know as Austin's old room) and put on the new comforter set and this is the result:

Whew...I'm ready for my boy!
I did space going to Rylee's SEP but I did get Devree back and forth to dance and Austin to basketball practice. I also secured my contract and got things rolling on that.
My other BFF Jan (I have two BFF's named Jan) called and wants to throw me a "bon-voyage/send off" party. Fun huh? I have great friends!
Whew, I'm tired (keep in mind I started my day with a 5:30 am spin class) but I'm happy.
I realized today that I can clean house 'til the cows come home....just don't ask me to paint! Blah!
Thanks again Jan, Kam, Dad & Jan!
And big thanks to James, he worked his tail off to finish this room. He's probably relaxing more at work then he did at home!
I'm off to soak in the tub....again!

Whew...what a day!

I felt as though nothing was getting accomplished as I waited for the TV repair man (his window of time was between 1 and 5pm). I had so much to do, I had managed to go down and do the final sand on the drywall in Austin's room and then I waited.....
I wanted to start priming but didn't want to start and then stop.
I needed to pick up my computer but they hadn't called letting me know it was done and now I didn't dare leave and miss the TV guy.
I did clean up the house a bit and then waited.....
When Austin came home I called on the computer and it would be ready in a half and hour. I threw on paint clothes and did the first coat of prime, changed and went to the computer store, telling Austin to tell the TV repair guy I'd be back in five if he shows up.
I got back, somehow managed to re-connect my computer and then I couldn't get Skype to work. At this point I'm getting very frustrated and thinking not so nice words in my head and snapping at my children. I start dinner, my sister shows up to help prime and within one hour:
TV repair man shows up - fixes TV
My sweet sister talks Austin into helping her and they prime the 2nd coat. (I helped a little!)
Skype miraculously starts working
Got a counter in on a condo I'm selling and my seller accepted it!
Principle calls and tells me I CAN put Alex in 5th grade next year without any special permission and that we'll get together and see what they can do this year about getting him school for some ESL classes.
And I made dinner!
Now, I'm just waiting for my good friend Jan to come over and paint the bedroom. (Luckily the primer dries in two hours!) I just dropped Austin at Young Mens and I need to go with Devree to Oakcrest registration. Rylee has already cried through her spelling. (This is a normal everyday occurrence-if we miss any words-instant tears!) Kambree is quietly studying for a test, Devree is working on her homework and I am back in my office with a WORKING computer. Life is good!
Tomorrow I can move Austin in his new room (we're just throwing down an area rug and carpeting when the family room is finished) and get Alex's room ready for his arrival! HURRAY!! I have so wanted to do that for weeks!
I think I'll need to soak in my claw foot tub tonight and see if I can get the primer off my arms and feet. (Yes, I primed barefoot! James wasn't home to make me wear shoes!!)
Here's to working electronics, kids doing homework and sweet sisters! Cheers!

2 weeks and counting!

This is my first post on my husbands lap top. Not because I thought it would be good practice for our trip to Ukraine - as this is the computer we'll be taking - no because my computer is in the shop! This is because I bought web-cam's so we can Skype with our children while we're gone (This is new technology for me - it's a way to talk and see each other for FREE over the Internet! Cool huh?) and I couldn't get the web-cam to work on my desktop. Took it in and I need a bigger capacity processor and of course they tried to sell me a whole new computer. Ha!! When they plugged in my computer the wallpaper of my 5 children came up and a nice technician walking by commented on what a nice looking bunch of kids and asked "How much do they cost?" I jokingly pointed to Alex and said this one will cost close to 30K! So later when they tried hard to sell me on upgrading to a new computer, I gently reminded them of the cost of my newest addition and they helped me salvage the desktop I have to get it up to speed.
This adoption thing works for quite a few things. When the firefighters summer camp or policeman's ball call for donations I just tell them I'm working on an international adoption and funds are tight and they wish me luck and go away!
It also helps when you go all by yourself to Home Depot on a quest for 30 sheets of sheet rock, insulation, drywall mud, 2x4's and light bulbs. I just walked in asked for a helper, told him we have very limited time to build a bedroom for our son so we can adopt another and within 45 minutes I have everything loaded in the truck at out the door! James couldn't believe it!!

So far I purchased or taken care of:

Kambree's prom dress
Dev, Ry & Kam Easter dresses
Web-cams-still working out the kinks on the home computer
Austin Easter pants
James black pants-to blend in with the locals in Ukraine
Adaptors
Rylee's ride to school - thanks Aleyce!
Rylee's ride to dance - thank you Amy & Sara
Exchanged Wicked tickets - thank you Jan
Purchase airfare
Teleconference with Adoption Way
Purchase all Easter basket items
Figured out how to install Skype - all by myself!
& lots of other boring but important & essential little things

and James has framed, rocked, mudded and is now priming Austin's bedroom!
Still have a list a mile long and James leaves this week not to return until the day before we go. Yikes! But I can see a light! 2 weeks from today...we are out of here!
If anyone has Skype and wants to talk to us inUkraine (or now for that matter!) our Skype name is j.richhart!

Normally on Sunday afternoons I write to Alex but, with him being NOT at the orphanage and me getting there almost as fast as my letter will, (It takes about 2 weeks) I'm debating if writing a letter is fruitless? I'm curious if I write one to him at his brothers if he'll get it faster? It baffles me that a package can arrive in the Ukraine in 6-7 days yet not make it to him for another week? Is it the inner office postal system at the orphanage or the inner country postal system in Ukraine?
My mom made me announce in Relief Society our "good news"! I was going to keep it a little quite and just disappear for month or so - I mean the people who know me, know - of course - but I wasn't sure I wanted to make a formal announcement. But of course, I did when my mom sang out...."Wendy has some good news!" during Relief Society opening exercises!
My sweet visiting teacher actually heard about it and called yesterday and insisted I give her a job to do and let her bring in a couple meals. I told her to work the meals out with my mom - as she's the one feeding everyone while we're gone - and knowing that she works at the Church distribution center I'm having her pick me up a couple Russian Liahona's and a couple Ukraine B of M's.
I picked up Victoria Secret lotions to give as thank you gifts. I'm still trying to come up with something for the men who will be assisting us through this adventure. Any ideas? That will travel well?