Oh, first let me just shout... WE'VE BEEN HOME *2* WEEKS!!! YIPPEEEE!!!
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post... hehe
We put the tree up/together last weekend. I normally like to have it up for a few days to get the daycare kiddos used to it being there before we add the ornaments. Well, unfortunately, there aren’t any daycare toddlers this year, but we do have a little one that needed that extra time to get used to it being there. hehe
Timothy did think it was pretty fun to throw things behind it in the corner for a few days but that seemed to get old, thank goodness!
We started out the day by going to see Grandma and her friend Judy at the Craft Show downtown at the auditorium. They had some REALLY nice goodies for sale down there this year! We didn’t buy anything though.
Next, we went to McDonald’s for lunch. John had been at a meeting at the fire department, but was able to meet us for lunch before going to work for the afternoon. Timothy’s first trip to McD’s!! I didn’t have my camera! LOL He did very well, no yelling(he tends to yell when he gets excited/over stimulated), he LOVED his chicken Mcnuggets! He’s not crazy about fries though, and silly Momma wasn’t thinking, I should have gotten him apples! Oh well, next time. After two weeks home, he will drink cold milk too! I do still warm it a bit to take the chill off when we’re at home, but he drank it cold at McDs (and a few other times at home). He met my friend Kim too, and was his adorable self. LOL
After lunch, Kati had a Girl Scout outing, and John left for work. Joe, Timothy, Olivia, & I headed to Walmart to pick up a few things. We ran into another friend (I had never met her but we’re FB friends, and she lives local!) Laura. She got to meet the two little kids, and I met her little guy. We picked up the things we needed, and headed home. Naptime for the littles!
Once everyone was asleep(well, Joe was awake!), I headed to Target to pick up a couple of last minute things for Timothy, and some stocking stuffers. I ran into Liz, another friend there! hehe Gotta LOVE living in a “small” town!! I also got the littles their Christmas eve jammies! Now I just need to get John’s and Joe’s.
When I got home the little ones were waking up, and Kati was home… time to decorate! We cranked up Rosie O’Donnell’s Christmas CD, and got to work. Timothy was utterly clueless! Once we showed him what to do though, it was like he’d been doing it every year!
I’m not sure what Christmas was like in the orphanage. I know that they follow the Orthodox calendar though so Christmas is in January there. Decorations? Christmas trees? Lights? Presents? I don’t know but I’m guessing probably not. Maybe it was a special day, likely not though.
I can’t wait to teach Timothy the “Reason for the Season”. Of course, watching his wonder at the decorations, and the lights. I also can’t wait to see how much fun we have on Christmas morning. Having his very own presents. Celebrating with his very own family. If you had told me last Christmas that we would have this wonderful little boy in our family THIS Christmas, I would have thrown something at you! hehe Thank God He knew & led us to him though! Our family is complete (don’t laugh at me all you RR Mommies!!!).
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| Before the decorations... |
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| Timothy's first Christmas tree decorating!! |
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| Olivia...not sure what's up with the hair-do! |
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| Kati |
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| Joe |
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| After decorations... without flash... |
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| After...with more room light! LOL |
Wow your tree is beautiful! I laugh at all the mamas that put the breakable things at the top. We did that once when Cay was a toddler and she pulled the whole tree over, successfully breaking all the good stuff:) Since Marina will not eat fried anything we can skip micky D's unless she likes the yogurt parfaits. We hardly eat there now that we are home and it is out of our system so to speak. I bet you are glad to be home and in a place where Timothy can actually touch stuff! Poor kiddo in that apartment was almost sad! marina gets up at the hiney crack of dawn and flips lights on all over the house so I try to get up and redirect, usually with grapes or a banana...will turn off lights for food haha! We will try church this morning, it will be interesting because Marina will be in Evan's class with about 40 kids! You all have made it (both you and John!) into our regular meal prayer nightly so somewhere in the south your name is lifted daily, thought you would appreciate that. Evan may never forget you! I am glad we had that time and I too, miss hanging out with you in the kitchen! I went through photos the other day and the one of our mexican dinner almost made me cry. Well the drama queen is fake crying in the kitchen because I am typing you instead of sitting with her, so off I go to appease the queen. Love always your friend, cathy
ReplyDeleteHow many times a day do you want to pick Timothy up and just squeeze him and kiss him for like 10 minutes. Poor guy would be sick of me if I was there. Thank you for your stories, your love for Timothy and your family shines through with every word. When I wrote my blog post last night I didn't include your name in the alumni list because your happiness in Ukraine (minus the crazy bizness back home) seemed to be contagious. Your stories were inspiring and so full of love for your little one that I didn't think of what horrors you might have seen while you were there. You, my friend, are one of my favorite alums, I could never forget to include you. By the way, did you get to pinch Santa for me? Kisses, muah!
ReplyDeleteLove wins,
Renee Tam
5cajuns.blogspot.com
What a beautiful tree! And what a beautiful family, too...
ReplyDeleteMy cousins were in Timothy's country over Christmas and New Year's when they were adopting their girls. Both orphanages had trees, Christmas programs with costumes, music, song, and dance (my younger cousin, then six and a half, was a little dancing snowflake), and both girls were familiar with Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost" - his Russian name sounds dreadful in English!) and his granddaughter-helper, the Snow Maiden. These gift-givers arrive on January 5 or 6, as I recall.
There are also elaborate Christmas lights and trees and of course, fireworkds in the capital and other cities of any size, and special foods (12 traditional dishes for Christmas Eve), church services, and gift-giving everywhere. I think the children of my younger cousin's orphanage received Operation Christmas Child boxes and they celebrated LOTS of holidays with special programs and treats. This detsky dom was far better than the distant, impoverished internat where big sister was sent, but even that place decorated a little and had a Christmas program involving the kids as performers.
Even the place from which RR's Max is presently being adopted by the K. family has celebrated Christmas and New Year's with special activities in previous years. It's a big deal over there! So some similar American Christmas activities should seem familiar to your little guy. Our girls vastly preferred the rustic, woodland look for Santa the first year they were home, and said the other Santas just didn't look quite right!
Merry Christmas to you and yours...
Wow- you have been home for 2 weeks and just now went to McD's?! Ha-Ha!!
ReplyDeleteYour tree looks beautiful!