Approved

We found that you can email to find out if you have been approved by homeland security before you get your letter.  So.... we have been approved by Homeland Security to adopt internationally!  Yeah!  Then we got our paper work to fill out for the Ukraine Government and it looks like the home study paperwork, except everything has to be notarized.  So, here we go again...

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We got snow today!  Not tons, but it did snow pretty much all day long.  When there is snow, who can refuse a good snowball fight?  Well, I did, but all the boys in the neighborhood spent about two hours out front throwing snow balls.  It was pretty much everyone against Grant.  Grant was a good sport about it and let the littler kids totally pelt him with snow every now and again.  


Morgan was actually out for about 3 1/2 hours playing in the snow.  I had to drag her in so she could go to piano lessons.  

We may just have a white Christmas after all.

Last Pottery Class

Today was my last pottery class for the fall semester.  Here are some of my finished projects.  The kids needed hot chocolate as soon as they saw the mugs and Ethan did a little water coloring, the bowls are the perfect water bowls for water colors I guess.  Then we used everything with dinner tonight.  I didn't know it would be so exciting for them to see what I've been doing for the past three months.  I now have a couple weeks to figure out what to do next semester.

Piano Recital

Morgan had her Christmas piano recital today and did a wonderful job.  This is her teacher, Julianne and it was in her home.

Morgans Christmas Concert

These clips are of Morgans Christmas Concert last night.  There are 4th, 5th and 6th graders in the choir.  Of course this is all that my camera batteries had in it and then it died, at least I got her two solo parts!  They did a great job and Morgan smiled more than anyone there, all night long.  She has such a fun energy about her... it does stress me out sometimes (like when her sun glasses were stuck in her hair before the show started), but that is why I have Troy to remind me to just enjoy it!  And we did, it was the best concert the school had put on so far.  Morgan did wonderful and looked beautiful, good job babe!

Gone One Month

I can't believe the kids left one month ago, today.  I found these pictures that we hadn't printed or posted so I thought I'd share them.  Marina reading, Anya taking pictures of herself (we have lots and lots of those) and Ivan playing basket ball with Troy, Grant and Nick.  

I finally got their Christmas boxed today so I can mail it tomorrow, hopefully it will make it by the end of the month.  The post office here said it only takes 6 days for packages to get to the Ukraine, but a friend told us it then take 2-3 weeks to get from Kiev to it's destination.  And that doesn't guarantee that it won't be opened and rummaged through.  Makes me grateful for standards and regulations.