Sping is in the AIR!

And Ty and Zach are READY for school to be OUT! Last night, Tyler fell apart with papa. He started crying when it was bedtime about how in Ukraine, they had a time when school was out and they got to run free and stay up and do whatever they wanted. He was not pleased to find out that he would not be running free with no one watching him here in the states. His thinking is that after school gets out, he and Zach should just be able to stay upstairs and do whatever they wanted while we are at work...no need for anyone to watch them. Little does he know that he is coming to work with me and attending the daycare all day. The school-aged program is going to be great for them. They do all kinds of field trips and they are kept busy. I KNOW he would rather watch TV all day and play video games all night. But I DO think he would get bored after a few days of that! At least I HOPE so!

I had my first official Mother's Day. We went to eat at the same restaurant that we go to every Sunday. It is a Chinese buffet that the boys refer to as the "manoga myasa" place. We have since started referring to it in English as the "Much Meat" restaurant...because that is what Zach named it. So, we ate at Much Meat and went home (OH and we went to the manager's office at Wal-Mart...but more on that later).The week before Mother's Day, the boys made cards and a tissue-paper flower in school. I got home on Thursday and Tyler ran up with something behind his back and said, "Momma! Momma!!!" whilst holding his gifts behind his back. He pulled them out and yelled, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMA!!!!" Ahhh. Zach waited until the day after Mother's Day to give me his card and flower. It is interesting to me to note that Mother's Day has always been hard for me BEFORE I was a mother. Now, on my first Mother's Day...I feel like I have been a mother FOREVER!

In a few days, we will have been home with the boys for 5 months. I am amazed at how well they have adjusted and at how GOOD they are. I mean, sure, we have our little bumps (I will tell you of a few funny ones in a minute) but for the most part, these boys who SHOULD be basket cases are actually very normal, very sweet, wonderful kids. The majority of our bumps are typical 9 and 10 year old things - not post-institutionalized, screwy, warped things! I am convinced that these boys were covered on prayer (by MANY people) before we knew them and that God and prayer is the reason they are doing well.

Hmmm...let's see. Zach has had a few rough weeks - but not at school! I get Zach up to "go potty" every night. I got him up last Friday and walked him in to the bathroom, positioned him in front of the toilet with the seat up and then I went outside the bathroom to clean the cat litter. The next thing I hear is the sound of soft rain on paper....no, wait...the next sound I hear is ZACH piddling in the TRASH CAN!!!!! The next thing Zach hears is "ZACHARY FANELLI!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?" He has by then, of course, stopped everything - and is standing and staring at me wide-eyed. His words..."Momma...I forgot." Hmmm. Because in Ukraine we used to piddle in the garbage can all the time? No - they did have bathrooms and the bathrooms didn't HAVE trash cans. It wouldn't have ticked me off so much if I hadn't LINED HIM UP in front of the toilet. He had to MOVE to hit the trash can. So, in miffed-mother-mode, I said "FINE. YOU are CLEANING IT UP!" I made him dump the soaked trash into another bag and then put the trash can in the tub and wash it with soap and water. Then I had regained a shred of composure, dried the can, apologized for screeching at him and told him that I really hoped he didn't "forget" that in school - that would be embarrassing!

On Saturday, we went about our day waiting for the return of papa. He had been gone for a whole week this time and true to their form, they started asking when he was coming home the day before he was due. We went to Wal-Mart on Saturday and the boys got a giant frisbee and some other little stuff. Tyler is sly. He asks for the big stuff but asks by saying, "Me, I want this but you say no..." Then I SEE the $5 or $10 item and then I DO say no. But typically, they get something every time we go to the store. Usually at $2 or $3 item. A ball, a yo-yo - something. Well, we checked out and papa called as he was on his way home form the Indy airport. We went home and unpacked groceries and waited for papa. About an hour after we got home, Tyler comes up to me and tells me that Zach has taken a pack of gum from Wal-Mart. WHAT?!?!? I ask him to tell me what went on and he tells me that he "found" it on the floor at Wal-Mart. We went through the whole "is-it-yours" and the "did-you-pay-for-it" things and finally I got him to admit that yes, he had stolen it and no, it wasn't his to take. I am absolutely angry with him but trying to not lose it on him (you ungrateful little TURD!!!) and then I decide to let papa in on this. He is less than 10 minutes from home when I call and tell him (and he is furious, too).

Okay, so now he has to come home after being gone for a week and pretend like he doesn't know and greet them with hugs and kisses. I must say, he pulled it off very well. I read Tyler a book and Zach and dad went to the other room to talk. Ty told me that he saw the gum on the floor and asked Zach about it and he said he found it on the floor but "shhh - don't tell momma..." which, of course, he immediately did. At this point, I am glad that Ty tells on his brother. Someday it may be annoying. Anyway, Tom got Zach to crack and Zach was bawling his eyes out. Tom told him that after church, we were going to go to Wal-Mart and he was buying the gum with his own money (20 cents - wooo hooo)and then we were talking to the manager.

I called the manager ahead of time to make sure they wouldn't hall my kid to jail for a pack of gum and they assured me to bring him in. They had two managers talk to him and he said things like since Zach took something that belonged to Wal-Mart, they were taking all of his videos and games. Did that sound okay to him? Of course, Zach said "Yes." He talked for about 5 minutes about all the opportunities that Zach had now that he is in America and Zach just sat there and responded with appropriate responses. He got it the night before with his father. He seemed to understand this was a big, huge, monstrous NO NO. I think he won't ever try it again. I hope.Sunday came, I let his Sunday School teacher know what was going on. We hit Much Meat and then Wal-Mart.

But the best part of this story is what happened on Monday night. Tom said that they wanted to pray at dinner time (a first) and so they did. They each prayed and Ty said "Thanks for food and house and momma and papa" and Zach said "Thanks for grandma and grandpa and please help grandma's leg heal" and then they ate (I was working late). Then, Tom said they wanted to pray before bed (COOL!! Another first!). Tyler prayed that I would get home soon and Zach prayed about being thankful for momma and papa and grandma and grandpa and then...he said, "I sorry God for stealing gum." He really DID get it! Tom said it was all he could do to not just drop to his knees and start sobbing right there.

It is so hard to explain God and the whole concept of relationship with Christ to a 9 and 10 year old. It is different when you have them in church from the time they are born. These boys have had a lot of stuff happen to them. A lot of things that I would ask WHY to if I were them (Sometimes I ask why anyway!) To know that they are understanding forgiveness and grace and God and the love of Christ (okay, I know they don't understand all of that) but to know they are starting to grasp that they even need to SAY "I'm sorry" to God. It is just too cool.

Well, tomorrow is our combined birthday party for the boys at the church. They took invitations to their class at school and apparently Zach had a few left over and went in to the 1st and 2nd grade classes. The school has a deal where if you invite at school, you have to invite the whole school. Sooo - I got a call from school wondering if the 1st grade teacher should make copies of the invite for the entire class or if I really MEANT for the 1st and 2nd grade class to come.... Uh, NO! So far, we have had one RSVP from a 2nd grader - and the boys don't really know her. Go figure. We shall see if a million of if 10 show up - it doesn't matter to me. I know that we are having a giant jumping balloon and I know WE will have fun!

Saturday we are going to a wedding in Chicago and staying in a hotel so the boys get to swim. Sunday night is the Children's Spring Musical at church...both boys are in it so - we will have their first church performance. Two weeks ago we had their first school performance as they played their recorders. Zach is a complete HAM!

Next week, papa is gone for half the week and then we are going to St. Louis next weekend for Zach's birthday weekend. I take cupcakes on Tuesday for his birthday and school is OUT on Wednesday. And then, it is almost SUMMER TIME!!!

I think one post a month is...enough!?

Well, Easter is over (Yay!) and now life can return to normal (I don't even have a clue what that is anymore...)
My intuition was correct - the other foot DID fall - about 2 days after I wrote that. The boys both told us about some things in their past that is very hard to hear and know they have gone through. Just to give you the tip of the iceberg, I was telling Zach that he better love his brother (he had said he didn't) and I said "You better love him, he is the ONLY brother you will ever have." Both of them said "No, momma...we have other brothers and a sister..." To make a long story short, we spent the next hour or so discussing this (their official paperwork says there are NO other siblings). What we can gather, they had two older half-brothers and a half sister (somewhere around 15 to 17 years old). I don't think they lived with them and they may or may not have been related - their birth mother's life is pretty sketchy...and apparently somewhat promiscuous). Okay -so they had other siblings...but that wasn't the bad thing. Then they told us about a younger brother. He was a little baby. But - their pappa got drunk and fell asleep on him and he is dead. Yeah. DEAD. We tried to clarify that. He IS dead. So, by reading through the paperwork we have - we are GUESSING that is what got them permanently removed from home and their mother's rights terminated. He was about 2 years old and he would have been their half-brother because the man that they referred to as "pappa" was not their birth father. The really sad thing is that Tyler said to me (in Russian) "Oh, momma...we have MUCH bad history. I will tell you more when I learn more English." So, we tucked them in to bed, walked out of the room, let our jaws drop and drag on the ground and wondered HOW on earth you deal with this kind of stuff. We told them they were safe now and that no one can hurt them now. They seem to understand that - but I am AMAZED at how well theses kids are doing. They have WAY too much history. Ty has filled us in on various things when he sees something that reminds him of his past. NONE of the things he remembers are good. Oh wait - he remembers that they had a pear tree - and in the summer they had lots of pears and they were good but Zach ate them when they were green...that was the way he liked them!

Other than the stuff that comes out pretty regularly (we aren't too easy to shock anymore), we have had a LOT more firsts. We went to the Indianapolis Zoo and spent the night in a hotel with a two-person jacuzzi in the room. The boys LOVED the dolphins and the Walrus. They also loved the jacuzzi - they played in it for about 2 hours. Of course after the zoo, we finished the day up with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese (always a favorite).
Grandma had her knee replacement surgery. She has been over at Marg's since so the boys have seen a lot less of her. I know with Tom traveling...I am ready for her return! She is a huge help to us. Dad is picking up where she left off, but sometimes I JUST WANT MY MOMMY! Dad has been doing us a huge favor watching them too. He had Zach out planting and said he seems to know what to do.
Tom (er, I mean Zach and Ty) had their first ROCK Collection turned in at school...Tom was actually in the backyard CHISELING a rock so it would be square (one of the 12 or so requirements for the collection). Tom got A's on both collections! The boys also got their first report cards and we had our first parent/teacher conferences. At this point, it looks like Tyler will be in 4th grade next year and Zach will be in the 2nd. Better than we expected for Ty and about what we expected for Zach. Tyler AND Zach are both doing great. Tyler excels in Math. Zach is getting better to not get sent to the "director" nearly as often. It seems as if anyone ASKS me how the boys are and if they have been to the principal lately, I can honestly respond "No, not in the last couple of weeks..." And then inevitably, the phone rings within 20 minutes or so of that comment and guess who it is...Yup - the principal. He has figured out that Zach fears ME more than he fears him...so he calls and has ME talk to Zach. It seems to work!

We had our first BIRTHDAY!
Tyler turned 10! I have a kid in the double digits! For his birthday weekend, we went to Chicago and visited the Museum of Science and Industry that had a vide game exhibit (hands-on of course!) We were in that exhibit for over 2 HOURS!!!! I was SO ready to leave! They also got to make their own space toys and got the little plastic injection-molded toy and we went to the OmniMax theater. We also went to Check E. Cheese on THAT trip. They were exhausted and slept most the way home. Tyler also made his first purchase with his own money. His Aunt in PA sent him a $20 check and pappa cashed it. Tyler decided to buy a Razor scooter with it. He also got his first BIKE from Uncle Steve and Aunt Janet. He LOVES the bike - he loves being outside!
We had out first Easter!
And...our first Easter egg coloring and hunt. We did it on Saturday with lots of family involved in the hunt. The boys love the hunt because mom and dad always fill plastic eggs with MONEY. Tyler came away with a bucket full of candy and $11.00 - he cares more for the money than the candy!
We left the Easter service and went to Indy to an indoor water park. It was a BLAST for the boys. They took off and I didn't see Zach for over an hour (he went on the waterslide about 50 times!) Their were lifeguards every 10 feet so it was safe for them to go. We floated along the lazy river and watched the boys climb the stairs over and over to go down the slide again and again!


FIRST WATER PARK!!!
Well, May is right around the corner. We will have a combo birthday party for the boys and their friends and then we will have Zach's birthday weekend. We think we are going to go to St. Louis. MORE FIRSTS!

A bunch of firsts....

Okay, I know - its been a long time. But it is the busiest time of the year for me at work...and the busiest time of my life since this year has began. I don't feel "busier" than I used to - I always felt busy. It's just that now I have even less time to do the things I like doing. But...I have to say...I LIKE being "momma" a LOT. I am no longer feeling like their parents are going to show up and take them home at any moment. Now I am just waiting for the other foot to fall. Like...when am I going to find out something terrible happened to them. Part of that is because they have been speaking about their past more lately. Part of that is because I know some terrible things DID happen to them. And...part of it is reading posts from an older adoption group about the problems people are having with their kids and they have been home for 2 and 3 years. That kind of freaks me out. And...I suppose part of it is because of behavior I have seen. I have to wonder where it came from and why it is in an 8 year old mind. So I think about it a lot. Welcome to motherhood.

We have had a lot of firsts lately. First Valentine's Day (what is not to like...candy, cupcakes and girls, girls, girls). First Dentist appointments, first fillings, first blood drawn (in America at least!), first hair-cuts from pappa, first visit to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis which led to the first rock-climbing experience (they both did GREAT!). They also had their second dental appointment and had half their cavities filled. They both have one more appointment to get the rest filled and then Zach goes back for the front tooth repair job. They also went back to the doctor and got their second shots and the bloodwork came back great - we have basically healthy kids (Yay! Praise God!).

It WAS pretty quiet on the school principal path...until today! Zach had a little episode today and got in trouble ad the superintendent called me. Nothing too serious - just a battle of the wills. I hope someday he learns that grown-ups win. The funny thing was that the super was talking to me and telling me he had Zach go through why he was upset, what started it, how he could have handled it better, etc. and they had talked it out and the super asked him "Can I have your word that you will be on good behavior for the rest of the week? I don't want to see you back in here? Can you tell me that you won't be?" And Zach said to him, "Yes...if you don't tell my mother!" The superintendent said "So, I guess you pack more of a punch than I do!" I told him that I didn't know if Zach remembered but...the last time we said if he went to the director...no screens for 3 days! Soooo...he knew what was coming. I explained to him tonight that adults don't play that game. WE tell. I also explained to him that his teacher ands the superintendent aren't his momma and poppa - they NEED to tell us because it is our job to teach the boys what is right and wrong.

I also had to talk to Ty because he hasn't been an angel either. He melted down and cried and sobbed. When I got him calmed down I asked him why he was crying. Was he mad? Sad? Angry? Frustrated? "No!" he answered to frustrated...go figure. So why? "I don't know." Yeah, I understand, Tyler - I really do. I had to explain to both of them that I loved them whether they were good or bad and that it is normal for little boys to do things wrong and get in trouble. It's okay. But...expect to get in trouble when you do it. They are both so different. Zach gets a remorseful face and a sullen look and take the punishment and is over it. Ty gets defensive and frustrated and cries and pouts. Then he takes his punishment and is over it. I feel like SUCH a MOTHER! So - Zach has no TV until Sunday and Tyler has no TV today. Tomorrow night Zach gets a reprieve as we are going to go see the new VeggieTales movie at church - so he gets one BIG screen!

Poppa has been out of town all this week and all last week. He was home for the weekend and then off again last Monday. Momma doesn't like single-parenting. The boys handle it fine but they miss him like crazy.

Next week is...Spring Break. Wow. My mom will be watching them for most of the week. We have nothing planned as we have our vacation planned for August and we are taking a day off...around EASTER. In the SPRING! Ya know?! How nuts is it to have Spring Break a month before Easter. And...fun for the boys...the school has state testing the week AFTER Spring Break. So...all those kids after having a week to couch potato - jump right back in to school and ISAT testing. Great timing. Poor kids! Welcome BACK!!!!!! SIT. WRITE. READ. CALCULATE. NOW!!! My boys ought to lower their scores a bit. I can't believe they even have to test - but they are.

I have more pictures...but not with me. Soon. Sooner than it has been...the boys are already too tall for size 8's (both of them) and all in all - I think they are doing GREAT! And Tom and I are doing just fine, too!

Brrrrrr...Baby, it's cold...INSIDE

Well, last night I was reading e-mail in the den and I was absolutely FROZEN. I figured it was just because it was colder outside than it had been in January (we had a couple of 40 plus days and LOVED it!) and so I thought the cold was me...in the words of my mother, I just needed to DRESS warmer. By the time I went to bed, I felt like a popsicle. We have a ceramic heater in our bedroom that runs 24/7 (that is another story) and it is always freezing in there so I figured I was just a weather woose. Morning came and I went in the bathroom for a shower and turned on the heater in there. No big deal, I am always cold in the morning.

Tom got up about 1/2 an hour later and said HE was cold! Hmmmm...He is NEVER cold!!! Then he said, "I think I have this figured out. I bet the heater is not on." What do you mean? It is broken? "Nooo - I bet someone turned it OFF!!!" So, he went to the thermostat (which happens to be located in the boy's bedroom) and sure enough - it was turned down to 50! And...the actual temperature was 53! NO WONDER WE WERE COLD!!!!

Of course, I assumed it was our button-pushing maniac Zach and I asked him about it. He said it was Tyler. Tyler was half asleep...but eventually fessed up. Yup. He turned it down. He had NO idea what it was...but you can bet his frozen toes he knows NOW! I don't think either will be spinning that little dial again soon - they were both frozen, too!

Yesterday was visit number one to the dentist. The boys have mouths full of cavities. About 7 each in their baby teeth and 2 or 3 each in their molars. They will go back 3 or 4 times for the repair work. I asked about Zach's front tooth and the dentist told me they would put a filling in. I said "It can't be capped?" thinking that Zach would have a huge silver tooth and the dentist said it couldn't be capped until he was 18 or 19. I am kind of freaking out thinking he will have this ugly metal tooth until he is 19 and then he explains...they can get TOOTH colored filling material and it will almost look like a tooth. You would have to look hard to see that is wasn't. Ok...my pretty boy will still be a pretty boy.

So far this week NO PRINCIPAL calls. Oh. But we DID have one last Friday. Zach strikes again. He was pretty much doing his own thing. Pouting, curling up in a ball in the cafeteria and crying, not eating his lunch, missing recess, pouting because of that, and then...just walked out of his class and down to the computer to play his games. He explained the whole situation to us when he came home...imagine this...he was the apple, Alyssa was the banana and someone else (unknown to us) was the orange. The apple and the banana were in line together and happy. Life was good. Then the ORANGE came up and split the apple and the banana apart. That made the banana sad...but it made the apple curl up in a ball and pout. Hmmm. Well, I explained to our apple that the pouting apple ended up missing recess and the banana and the orange went off together and played...so...what did the apple gain from this? We also explained that the apple is to NEVER leave the classroom. And, we told the little apple that the next time he went to the principal's office, it wasn't a day of no screens, it will be THREE days with No Screens!!! So...this week he has told us every day that he was good and he didn't go to the principal's office.

I KNOW that the call will come. I know he will be in the principal's office again...and I will have to live with one bored son who wants nothing but to frolic in screens...and will have 3 days of frolic-free screenlessness. That will be fun for all of us... that being said, I still think Zach is a pretty good apple...

Brr. I am getting cold again....do you suppose....Nah - just a weather woose...right?

Hmmm...full circle? Total SCHOOL Experience? FUN with the Principal?

Well, it has been a somewhat mellow couple of weeks. Oh, except for Zach going back to the principal’s office twice (for getting is a shoving match...twice) and today...TYLER went to the principal's office. Why? Because he decked his brother in the bathroom. I don't know exactly why - something to do with a book. And I am guessing that Zach could have won an Oscar for his performance as wounded boy writhing on the floor in pain. But...nonetheless, we have to UNlearn pummeling as a method of problem solving. Sooo - tonight Tyler is having his first time of No TV, No video games (as Kenna calls it "No Screens"). He had a time-out at school and the principal called me and discussed how to punish him. It is actually the substitute principal who has called me all three times. He is great and lets me know what is going on. AND - he goes to our church. Interesting way to get to know other members of the church!

It has been rather uneventful other than that. It seems we have a good day, then a not so good day, then a good day, then a visit to the principal. Keeps us…um – entertained? Involved? Interested?

We had a couple of funny things happen that are quite endearing to us. Last Wednesday night in children’s church, Kenna (the Children’s Minister) was having the kids do an acrostic for the word WORSHIP. Kids called out things that had to do with worship that started with a W and then and O but when it got to R, no one was saying anything. Kenna kept asking and suddenly Tyler yelled out “R – RABBIT!!!” YAY! An English word that he knew started with R! Okay, we don’t worship rabbits, but HEY – one concept at a time. Plus, we ARE coming up on Easter and there are SOME people who worship rabbits around Easter, right? Anyway, we were pretty excited that he got an R word!

Then this past Sunday on our way to church, Zach and Ty had on MP3 players (they discovered those last week and are quite fond of them – and we happen to have several…so lucky them!) We have all Christian music loaded on them and Zach found a song that he liked so he played it over and over (like he does). Then he started singing along and we heard a rather loud off-key rendition of “You Are My Joy” by David Crowder Band – it was so funny and cute to hear this little guy belting out “You Are My Joy, You Are My Joy, You Are My Joy, You Are My JOY!!!” Of course it also happens to be one of Tom and my favorite songs. So, we are hearing more English in the strangest places! A few nights ago at dinner, Tyler just started pointing and saying colors of things – “BLUE! ORANGE! BROWN! YELLOW! RED!” They seem to be “getting” it. Now if we can just keep them from “getting” sent to the principal’s office!

All in all, it gets better every day. They are starting to feel “normal” to me – it is beginning to get hard to remember NOT having them…and NOT going to the principal’s office!!! (Just kidding!) I’m starting to love being a mom. And I am definitely loving these two little guys! I like the big guy in the middle, too!

Set a new family record...

Well, today Zach got sent to the principal. None of my siblings have been to the principals office (at least not in GRADE school) nor have any of their children. So we win first prize for THAT! What did he do? Well, his interpreter wanted him to write words and he wanted to play on the computer. She said "no" and...he cussed at her in Russian. Makes Tom and I wonder if either of the boys have done that to us without us knowing...because they have been PLENTY ticked off at us!

Then, to follow up on his bad day, he decided not to listen to grandpa on the walk home from school. He crossed the street WITHOUT him (Highway 1 - not a major highway, but a highway nonetheless!). He didn't stop when he was asked, he didn't wait. He did not LISTEN at all.

And why did he do any of this...well, guess what his answer was. The age-old and timeless typical response of "I don't know." I am sure he didn't know. But what amazes me is did he think no one would tell us? So, he had a 20 minute time-out and no TV or video tonight. And I got to say the words, "Wait until your father gets home..." Which of course he didn't understand, but I said them anyway.

Well, we KNEW he was a little IMP when we got him, didn't we?! Hope we can get his attitude under control! Yeesh.

papa talked to him at the dinner table (with grandpa present) and told him he HAS to listen to grandpa. And I asked him about school tomorrow and he said "Yah znyoo - zaftra nee director..." which would be, "I know - tomorrow no principal..." He was very well behaved all night. Go figure. He must have know that he better not burn anymore bridges!

This is SO much fun!

Some PICS!

Okay - so the first picture I just love because it is the first time that Ty told me he loved me. Prior to this, we would tell him we loved him and he would just not say anything. This was taken at Zach's orphanage and when I asked Ty what he said, he told me it said he loved me...Ahhhhh. So, of course, I love this picture!

Then we have a few pictures of Ty and Zach and their frist American Christmas. I think Ty's face says it all - it expresses exactly what all FOUR of us were feeling that day! The kids were surrounded by family and extended family and tons of packages and kids and food and excitement and confusion. They melted down by 2 o'clock on Christmas day and we retreated to the hotel. We ate pizza for dinner and they were asleep by 7 p.m.



And finally...the New Year has brought us FANTASTIC weather and last weekend it was about 60 degrees in Illinois...so we went to the park. Typically what Tyler is doing on the monkey bars would have FREAKED ME OUT...but remember what he was used to doing in the orphanage - this was not even a challenge for him (but it still freaked me out a bit

Vissyo! That's all for now! More later!

Okay...I PROMISE...

I WILL update and fill you in on the wonderful world of parenthood post Ukraine...and soon... But I JUST got my computer out of the backpack this Saturday - honest! Yeah, we are a bit busier than we thought humanly possible!

But QUICK update - Tom started back to work December 30th. The boys started school on January 2nd and I returned to work January 4th. We unpacked the last of our suitcases this past Saturday.

How are the boys? Better than I would be if I were them. They like school, they have an interpreter for all but 2 classes, our youngest already has a GIRLFRIEND (He is 8!!!! Gimme a break!!!). We are getting to know their personalities more each day (and our instincts were correct from the beginning SO FAR).

How are WE? I still feel like I am babysitting - it still doesn't seem real to me. Can't imagine life without them but it still doesn't feel like they are mine forever, either. They don't sleep long enough. Okay, they sleep like 10 and a half hours...but I wish they would sleep like 12 hours on Saturday - and they DON'T...EVER! As much Russian as we CAN speak...I wish we could speak more. We love them and best of all - THEY LOVE US! They are excited to see us when we get home (OK - they want me to fix or get them something when I get home...but when DAD gets home, they are excited!!!).

In a nutshell, I think we boarded the longest, wildest, craziest roller-coaster ride EVER about 2 months ago and I don't know if this ride will ever end (but I have a sneaky feeling it won't!)

I have a ton of pictures and NO time...I know all of you long-time parents are out there LAUGHING at me!

I WILL update again...with fascinating things I have learned from my boys...NEXT WEEK!

Believe it or not...

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!! We arrived TODAY at 12:30. It was a looooong day and we are exhausted and we had several interesting things happen thanks to our children...I will tell you just a few...you know you are a MOTHER when you get handed every piece of chewed gum, dirty tissue and scrap of trash your children possess. AND you know you are a FATHER when you take your son to the bathroom in the airplane and the stewardess comes and asks frantically "Do you need HELP???" because your youngest son pressed the "HELP" button in the toilet...THREE DIFFERENT TIMES.

We made it, we are all here and relatively healthy (we all have colds) and the boys only had minor melt-downs.

Thanks you for all your prayers for getting us home by Christmas - they worked worked!!! We will put a few more pics up of their first US Christmas and we will see MOST of you next week! MERRY CHRISTMAS and GOD IS GOOD!

Soon and very soon...

Just a few more pics and a few more bits of info... We HOPE to be out of here on Wednesday. Vasya is trying his darndest to get us to the US Embassy on Thursday. We can BEG for a Friday appointment (they don't work on Friday's...) if we don't get it done on Thursday. We HOPE and PRAY to get on a plane on Saturday or Sunday (Merry Christmas!!!) and be home on Christmas. That is our hope....PLEASE PRAY we get here (I know youa re already but I am READY to scome HOME!)

Zach asked the DAY we picked him up "So, are we going to America tomorrow?" We WISH! Few more days, Zach...then some sanity will return (HA!) Our kids have watched so many videos it is funny (funny...in a scary sort of way...) There is literally nothing else for them to do besides that and draw (I have pictures for all of you to post on your refridgerators...) We had a great time yesterday in Yalta. We ate in a fancy restaurant...Zach kept moving his silverware (and the waiter kept moving it back tot he right place...) Enough talk - MORE PICTURES!!!

We GOT 'Em!

Hello all from the Fanelli's- Couple of things going on these past few days...
First, we are OFFICIAL. They are OURS! We are still going through the rest of the paperwork but the court side is done (and the JUDGE came in late and then left with he stamp - it didn't get done until after 1:30 and...it may delay us another day - we HOPE not.

Second, we had our first night all together...it was amusing. Nothing really happened, except Tom and I didn't sleep too well. We kept hearing the boys...SNORING. Yes, both of them.

Third, we had our first family vacation at the Black Sea (Yalta). Pictures to follow...

Fourth, I had my first haircut with a pair of blunt-tipped kiddy scissors (it was all we could find...) And for those of you with little faith, Tom did a DANDY job...but can you imagine!? He also cut his own hair. And he looks fine too.

I am thinking that my boys almost look like twins - I mean their jawline, their noses, their ears...they look SO similar...what do you think?

Just postin' more pics!

Tom did the update this time - I am just posting pics and some prayers - please pray that the Judge sees fit to come in early tomorrow and sign our paperwork. We can't do anything without it and we have a lot of running around to do before we can leave this region (maybe next Monday or may be Tuesday or Wednesday if we don't get the paperwork early) The biggest problem we have now is we will be running in to holiday schedules with teh US embassy soon - and we want to get OUT of here with our BOYS!!!! The Embassy takes both US Holidays and Ukrainian holidays off so...we are coming up on a bunch!
Love you guys!

Hinges and elevators...

Hello!

Tom here...

I know you've been waiting for the hinge story and the waiting is over! I will tell you the tail of the hinges.

HINGE STORY

First you must know that the toys we brought were rather generic. Remember, we had no idea if we were getting young kids or older kids, boys or girls... so, we couldn't bring everything. We have already exhausted the kids on most of what we brought, but boys like to play catch. We have been allowed to visit with Tyler in one room in the school and that room has a large storage system on one entire one. This is at least 20 years old, maybe more? It looks fine from a distance, but up close the thing is falling apart. Well, we have some balls with lights on the inside and we have occasionally even turned the light out when we were playing catch. Most of the time it's just Tyler and myself playing catch, but on occasion both Lois and Vasya (our interpreter) also join in. Well, on one such day the ball was thrown to Lois and it was not a good throw and she had to move to catch the ball. She moved right into the storage system and broke a door right off it's hinges! Yep! She broke three hinges in a second! We all laughed and then realized we had to fix the thing! Vasya told the Director of the orphanage what Lois did and she forgave her, and we told her we would fix it.

Seems simple - go to The Home Depot and by a few hinges and fix the thing - right? Well, there is no Home Depot and hardware for something that old may not be easy to find. Vasya found some hinges and we headed back the following day to fix the door. We arrive and start removing the old hinges and the new hinges do not look similar at all! Yep! We had the wrong style of hinges. Vasya claims they were the old Soviet style and we needed the old Ukrainian style!

A few days pass...

So, we went to the central market and found a different set of hinges and headed back to the orphanage - this time to fix the thing once and for all! Yep! These hinges would not work either! We were perplexed - now what? Well, Lois said, all you need to do is buy some wood and that would allow the hinges enough room and they would work. Vasya told Lois to go get Tyler - kinda brushing her idea off. If you know Lois - she doesn't care for that! She persisted and you know what - it may very well work.

So, we measured and recorded we need a pieve of wood 1 cm x 3 cm and at least as tall as Vasya's shoulder! Sure, no problem!!!

A few days pass...

So, back to the central market and we had to find someone sellinf wood! Not an easy task at all... but God is good and we found exactly what we needed and headed back to the orphanage - this time to fix the thing! Sure enough we were able to fix the door and in the process fix the door next to the one Lois broke!

ELEVATOR STORY

On Saturday the kids were sitting in front of the computer watching animated films dubbed in Russian and I thought they had seen enough and wanted to take the kids outside. So, I asked them to help me take the trash out. It is about a four block walk to the dumpsters - a nice little walk. So, Lois gathered all the trash - two bags and each boy grabbed a bag and off we went. We stepped outside our apartment and pushed the button for the elevator. We are staying on the 7th floor and we all piled in...me, my two sons and two bags of garbage. Zach likes pushing buttons and asked to push the button for the first floor. So, I approved and he pushed the button and the doors shut. In about 3 seconds the elevator stopped... I knew we were not completely down to the first floor, but the doors did not open! We were stuck between the 4th and 5th floors! Now, let me tell you the details about the elevators here... they are small - like 4 x 4! They stink! I thing every person and there pet has at one time used the elevator as a urinal!!! It is really bad! Then the garbage we brought with us... not a pleasant smell! So, I called Vasya on the cell phone and he was outside the elevator in a matter of minutes. He told me to press the alarm and hold it and when someone came on tell them I needed help. Sure, no problem - I speak such good Russian!!! No problem, nobody would answer. So, Vasya called a few people - who do you call when you need to get someone out of an elevator??? Well, Vasya got in touch with the right person and it would be 25-30 minutes. No problem! Except the two boys could not stop hitting each other - I had to separate them, but that didn't work and then Zach got tired and wanted to sit on the garbage bags! NO, NO, NO!!! Vasya then told them to settle down and before you knew it - the elevator was moving again. Just 25 minutes - not bad!

Well, that's my stories and now it's time to go.

Vissyo!

PICTURES!!!

Typical BOYS!!!!








Family dinner




Tyler's Play - (He's the BEAR)

8, 7, 6, 5...

WOW! What a weekend!!! We went to Djoncoy as planned on Friday but FIRST we went and got Tyler and he went with us. We surprised Zach with his big brother! He was elated...of course. Then it got better. We asked the director if we could take Zach with us to Simferopal. In a nutshell, she said, "No, we can't do that, it is against the rules...but no one will check...so, maybe, if we can have him back within an hour of us calling if someone DOES check and we will have you request him for each day of the weekend...so, okay!" Yep - we got Zach for the entire weekend! We had him from about 11 on Friday until Monday morning at 9 a.m. We had Ty for each day from about 10 until about 6. Can I tell you...we FEEL like parents!!!
So, we had a weekend full of firsts. To name a few, our first family dinner, Zach's first pizza, and Tom's first time getting stuck in an elevator (with Ty, Zach and 2 bags of garbage...). We had a great time and we did a lot. We got another set of clothes for each boy, we gave them both bathes (they played for about an hour and had a blast!) We had to take Ty home each night and as he went with Tom and Vasya, I had time alone with Zach. Friday night he got his first bath and he played alone for 45 minutes (with me checking every couple of minutes). I gave him a bottle of bubbles (what harm can he do in the tub with bubbles???) and he used the WHOLE bottle. He was sliding around the tub like a nut! After he got out of the tub, it was about bed time so he, of course, had to go to the bathroom several times. After the last time, he actually went in and went to sleep. Tom called to me and told me to look in the toilet...well, first, let me explain the toilet. In most Ukrainian flats, the toilet room is just that - a toilet in a tiny room. OUR toilet has a broken lid so you can see how it works and you can see the water flowing in to the toilet everytime it flushes. It isn't like an American toilet - it is a little bit different - ANYWAY...you can see inside the tank because the back lid is broken in half...so what child can resist that? Well, not OURS. Apparently after the first visit, he had a thought and got the near empty bubble bottle and decided to see HOW empty it was. And there was enough in it to make quite a few bubble in the toilet tank which in turn made even MORE bubbles when you flushed. So, Zach cleaned his first toilet - unintentionally. We thought it was hysterical. I took a picture. I showed it to him the next morning...and he didn't know a thing about it. Let me tell you, it is easy to deny when you don't speak the same language...THAT will not last! But it was funny, anyway. On Sunday night he had to go to the bathroom about times before he gave up and went to sleep...and on that night he decided to dip a new roll of toilet paper into the back of the tank...I guess just to see what it would do. I tell you what Shelly - I am not allowing ANYONE to get him a squirt gun anytime soon. His mind is always working and he want to test everything.
He also likes the Bejeweled game on the computer - but not so much for the strategy - just for pushing every button on the computer. At one time, he had about 17 windows open. I told Vasya to tell him not to push all the buttons because he could break the computer...he responded, "I am not pushing a bunch of buttons" Uh huh. After this weekend, we have decided we have salt (Tyler) and pepper (Zach). Zach is our tester of limits, our pusher of buttons, our not defiant but not compliant one...Tyler is almost the opposite. I am sure they will both have their days - but this was how the weekend played out. All in all, though, it wasn't too much to handle...but we are tired! He got up sharply at 7:30 (no alarm) and told us "Dobre Ootra!" (Good morning) and made his bed quite neatly. He gave us hugs and kisses and then signaled that he was hungry and wanted to eat. He did this every morning he was here. They are both such great kids...we love them SO much. Soap bubbles in the toilet and all.
On Monday we had to take Zach back and then return to see Ty in a play. He was a bear and although we didn't understand what was going on, it was funny and he did great. We videotaped the play and we were like two proud, beaming parents. It was great - our first school play. Today (Tuesday) we have decided we are outgrowing the orphanage and tomorrow we are asking to take Ty for the whole day. Only 4 more days and they are ours FOREVER. We still have a hard time imagining that - it feels like we have been here forever. This whole thing will be much easier when we get home. And much more difficult, too, I am sure.
One thing we bought on Saturday was black-market videos on DVD with Russian dubbed in - and of course, they were glued to the computer screen. We have the equivalent of 26 full length cartoon (like Toy Story, Shrek and The Incredibles) on 3 DVD's. I am not one to want my kids glued to a TV...but it is about the ONLY thing we can have them do without being with them constantly. SOOO - for now, they are TV faces - and we are okay with it! They will have SO many changes hit them at once - the marathon movies will be a distant memory soon enough.
Tom says HE will blog tomorrow and HE will fill you in on the hinge story and the elevator story.
I will post a few pics and HOPE they come out!
Vissy0!

NINE...

Sorry - no pics today - we forgot to bring the disk. We promise, we will try to get more on but believe me, it is SLOOOW going here!

Today we are taking it easy - Vasya took his car in for repairs and we are without it so we are walking around and looking in shops. They have a ton of "Second Hand" stores here with clothing. We found a jean jacket for one of the boys (probably Zach, the younger TALLER one!) and we have another one to go to across the street (THRIFT STORES IN UKRAINE!!!!). Don't worry, though, just clothes so I won't be coming home with a suitcase full of stuff for eBay!

We started our laundry in the tub this morning and got it all washed and ready to rinse when PFfffffffffffffftt blurp, blurp. That was the sound the faucet made when I turned it on. Yeah, the water is GONE. So, we have washed and unrinsed clothes sitting in the tub waiting. On the good side, we both took bathes before the laundry and we DID get to rinse so at least WE are clean.

Tom and I were talking as we walked down here and were recalling what the judge said to us. The LAST thing he said was "The boys will live with you FOREVER." Uhhhh. Forever? We were thinking college in about 9 or 10 years...FOREVER? Then again, that is kind of what has happened to my mom and dad - we couldn't live MUCH closer! And when we move, we are tasking them WITH us sooo - maybe forever isn't all that long!

Later this afternoon, (after Vasya gets his car) we will head to the orphanage to see Tyler. AND to repair a door that I RIPPED THE HINGES OFF OF (three of them...LONG STORY...not really but I choose not to embarass myself...). Today we will write another petition to take him for the weekend hours but we are also going to try to take him with us to see Zach on Friday. That should be fun. They have only seen each other for that short time at the court house (and they were already poking, pinching and pulling on each other!) and it might be nice for them to have some more time together. PLUS - I want to take a long ride with Ty and get to hug on him (yeah, I have ulterior motives). This week has gone quickly.

Please pray for the boys - they have a lot of changes coming up. Of course, pray for their hearts to hear THE message of Christ and His love. Pray that the next few days fly by. PRAY WE GET WATER!!! Zach will need another bath and clothing change by the time we see him on Friday! Pray for Vasya and his wife and son - Vasya has opened up a lot to us and...that is a family in need of the love of Christ. I have already told him that our family and church at home is praying for his family - pour it on. He and his family have had a lot of stressful things happen to them in the last year and a half (and they have only been married about that long). Vasya is a great guy and has been a huge help to us.

Tomorrow we will be up in Djoncoy so we probably won't post - but we will get another picture on here by Saturday! Love to you all!

Vissyo!

TEN....

I have to tell you - it is like Christmas morning for us to get online at the internet cafe and see all the comments. What fun! And, it is so cool to see how God is working through all of you. We are SO thankful! It's funny, I read the comments and I can hear your specific voices when I read them - like you are talking to us!

Okay - so we are in the countdown and we are making plans. As you know, our boys don't speak English. They will learn, but we don't really want to wait for a couple of months to tell them about Jesus! Soooo - we have worked out an idea. We have a friend here who was our interpreter 11 years ago - and she works in children's ministry at Calvary Chapel Kiev...and she has talked with us and she will resent the whole gospel story to the boys when we get back to Kiev. Not only that, she will give them each their own Children's Bible in Russian as a gift from her.

So...now we have a HUGE thing for everyone to pray for. Pray that our boys are receptive to the love of Christ and that they GET it! We don't know how much they know (our guess is not much if ANYTHING) and we are pretty sure they don't understand unconditional love. Pray that this is the beginning of something beautiful for both of them (and for US!) We want these boys to be dedicated to Christ very early in their new lives - we want them to be able to see how God has had His hands all over this! That is our biggest prayer request yet - pray that our boys have soft hearts and accept Christ as their Savior.

And...you can imagine that we have had a little time on our hands...so I have had a little time to play in PhotoShop...these were taken at different times and in different locations - but aren't these beautiful (err...handsome...) boys!


Love and hugs to you all!
Vissyo!

The Fanelli Family

As most of you know, today was our court date. Our documents came in at 11:20 on the train and our court time was 11:30. We got to the court house at...11:30 on the dot. When Tyler saw Zach, it was one happy reunion. The court was already in session for another American family, so we waited about 30 minutes. When it was our turn, we all filed in to the judges office (there were 16 of us I think!) and we went through the proceedings. Tom petitioned, they asked us a few questions, each of the education directors spoke, each of the orphanage directors spoke and then Tom petitioned again and we asked to change their names and then we stepped out while a decision was made (they had to have some time to type the official document). About 5 minutes later we were called back in and the judge read the decision (it was GOOD) and we are now in the 10 day waiting period. We pick up the boys and they are forever ours starting on December 16th. We still have a few days of paperwork after that but we will soon be on the downward side of the hill. And we will soon have two boys! And may we present...The Fanelli Family!!!
P.S. We found out today that our younger son...Zach - is about 2 inches taller than Tyler!!! Zach is on the left(in front of me), Ty is on the right (in front of Tom). Of course they are only 10 months apart - but Zach - who looked so small to us, is actually quite a bit bigger than his big brother (but, Tom says, Tyler is stronger!)

WOW!

First let me tell you about yesterday and how God works. We went to see Ty about 3:30 in the afternoon - we were expecting our call from Kostya at 4 or so to let us know the paperwork was on its way to us via train from the AC. Tom and Ty started playing and I decided to sign on to AOL Instant Messenger on my cell phone to see if anyone was on - but it was early so I figured no one would be. I was wrong - Jenny Taylor was on at work. So I IMed her and we chatted for a bit. Then Vasya came in and told us that Kostya had our paperwork (YAY) but there was one missing stamp (BOOOO). I IMed Jenny and she got a group together at work and they started praying. Vasya started making phone calls and Kostya headed back to the AC to get the stamp we needed. Apparently, the prayer group had a direct line to God because within 10 minutes, Vasya came back in and told us that he had our appointment time with the judge switched from 10:00 to 11:30...and Kostya was going to have our corrected paper on the train that arrives in Simferopal at 11:08. Wow. Everything was rearranged that quickly and smoothly (and that was Zach and his entourage and Ty and his entourage all being switched, too). So - court was on, the paperwork was on its way and we FINALLY got to tell Ty that tomorrow - he gets to see his little brother. He was totally excited - it was great to see! Prayer works - and God is good!!!

Just want this waiting to be OVER...

Okay, we took Tyler back about half an hour ago and you know what we feel like? We feel like a kid on Christmas night. All the packages that have been under the tree for a month and all the stuff there is to look forward to...is over. Yeah, we got to do cool stuff with Ty and we had a blast...but now it is back to reality. And we just want to KEEP him and not take him back. We are both a bit bummed. Well, actually, all three of us are. Tyler was very quiet and kept sighing heavily. We miss him already. We are pathetic.

Today we went downtown and ate at a cool restaurant that is decorated like an illustration from a story by a Ukrainian writer (not one I have heard of) - it looks like you are out in the country. Ty ordered what he wanted to eat which included green borscht (which is sans beets and cabbage), a beet salad, chicken Kiev and juice. We went to a couple stores downtown and bought some flash cards, an English/Russian dictionary (they speak Russian down in Crimea - NOT Ukrainian) and then a couple of fun books (Lion King mosaic sticker book and a a book full of graph paper and a pad of drawing paper). Then we went across the street to a store where we had spotted Hot Wheels and let him pick out 2 for him and 2 for his brother. THEN he started getting wide-eyed and started wanting balloons, markers, binoculars....He was fine when we told him no, but it was kind of funny - he only wanted ONE binocular... We told him we had balloons at home. So, we went home and he headed to the little store with papa to get ice cream (Hmmm, Grampa Smith, do you see a pattern you can continue with the new grandkids here???). When he got upstairs, he went right to the computer and wanted to play Bejeweled. I got it started for him and papa and he played for a while. Then we went through some flash cards and then he did a page in the mosaic Lion King book which I would have lost interest in about 2 minutes. Basically you are following numbered squares and putting stickers in each square according tot eh number and you end up making a mosaic-like picture. Like over 50 stickers about 1/2" by 1/2" and uh...slow. He did each one carefully. Impressive. More patience than his mother...imagine that! We got out the animal balloons and we all played with them (we made 2 dogs and the rest we inflated and deflated at each other). Papa and Ty played with the Hot Wheels (the one he got at McD's looks like he has played with it to DEATH! The tires are almost gone and it is one day old! He is also aware that it is one of a set...and is interested in the whole set (Don't know how we will work that! And what about his brother?!) We had him play on the computer in the kitchen while we cooked dinner and then we ate and...it was time to go. I am completely serious - we are depressed. My arms feel empty. I want my kids and I WANT THEM NOW!

Sooo - pray for us and pray for them. We are getting to the point of missing each other now. Pray those papers get here by Tuesday morning so we can start the final 10 day countdown. Keep praying for Vasya - he misses his family more the longer he is away. THANK YOU for all your prayers. We love you guys all so much.

Vissyo!

Beautiful Day!!!

We had a GREAT day today. We picked Tyler up around noon and went to McDonald's first. I do believe that McDonald's changed the Happy Meals JUST for us because they were HOT WHEELS. There could NOT have been a better toy in the Happy Meal. Ty liked the car (which lights up) and ate his cheeseburger and fries and finished in a pretty good time. He then ate some of my fries and polished off Tom's Diet Coke. THEN we went SHOPPING. We have to buy both boys clothes but we actually get to have Tyler outside of the orphanage so we went to the worlds largest...uh...outdoor market? Flea market? It was a huge area set up with about 700 little kiosks about the size of our bathroom all of them selling something. We bought him a coat, socks, underwear, shoes, a couple of shirts and a pair of pants and pajamas. When Vasya went to put on his new socks to try on his new shoes he realized what we already knew...this boy needs a BATH! So after we got all of our name-brand black-market clothes (We got him a Columbia jacket for about $15) we headed for our flat. And we started boiling water for a warm bath (still no hot water here). We started to realize that this boy is not BIG and BEEFY at all - he had on SEVEN layers of clothes! He peeled them off and Tom did the bathing honors. He said Ty was a quick but efficient bather - he knows how to clean up quickly and completely. I got to bandage his knees and elbow (he is a pretty banged up kid!)Then we put on all his new clothes and went in to watch papa and Vasya making pizza. He had never HAD pizza before and he liked it - ate 3 pieces and salad and chip and a couple of glasses of Coke...then he was full...except for the ice cream that he knew was in the freezer for him. He had room for that!
We went to our room after dinner and he watched a couple of Pixar shorts on iPod and then he decided to get in to his MOTHER'S game...Bejeweled. He almost has it down (so watch out grandma and Fran - he will be a pro by the time we get home and will tell you what moves to make). I was thinking he had it down when he would make a wrong move but then he would figure it out eventually - he was catching on pretty quickly. His eyes got tired, so we quit the game, he watched another Pixar short and then he just laid back and rested on me...ahhhh. I liked that - no - I LOVED that. Tom and I are completely in love with him. The only thing we are missing is his brother. This is a new thing for both of us - and we are enjoying every minute of it. Maybe SOMEDAY we won't want to have him just sit with us and do nothing - but I doubt it. It was a GREAT day. We didn't want to take him back, but had to return him by 6:30. So...we did. He carried his 3 bags of dirty clothes back with him and gave us hugs...it would have been very sad except for the best part. We get to do it again TOMORROW! What a fantastic Sunday it will be - we plan on just hanging out at the flat. We are LOVING this parent/child thing.

Vissyo!

Happy December!

Okay, first things first - I must have mentioned Michael somewhere along the lines and I intentionally did NOT use their names right now so as NOT to confuse anyone...But, hey - I GOT CONFUSED! Okay - so here is the deal...Tyler is Tyler Michael - his birthname is Mikhail - and he is called Misha. We call him Misha, too - because, well...that is his NAME...for NOW. But when we got to court (hopefully next Tuesday) his name will be legally changed to Tyler Michael Fanelli. So - you don't need to remember his middle name! Zach is actually named Eduard. He is called "Edik" which sounds like Eric and since we have one Ed in the family, We are switching his middle name to "Eric" - so HIS name will be Zachary Eric Fanelli. Did I clear up the confusion? Hope so!

We are officially "set" with a court date on next Tuesday. That means that as long as the Adoption Center gets all of our paperwork back by next Tuesday morning, we are good to go. We get done with court and then we count down 10 days in Simferopal. Then we count down another 5 between getting their new passports and getting their VISAs from the US Embassy and their medical clearances...and THEN we hope we can get a flight outta here!!! It will be, of course, the busiest possible time for us to fly. We don't care if we come in on Christmas Day - WE WANT TO COME HOME!!!

We meet with the judge tomorrow for our first appointment - no idea why - we just do. Then next Tuesday, we have our court day with the judge, the 2 jurors (which aren't anything like our jurors) and the boys and their caretakers and us and Vasya...should be quite a crowd.

Tonight we went to see Tyler. I think he may be the snuggler of the two. It is hard to tell at this point but he seems a little more huggy than Zach. Of course...that may change the next time we talk to Zach. We had a good time with Tyler - only about an hour and a half but we made paper airplanes and tossed around balls and daddy drew with him again (Tom is getting to be quite the artist!). He still seems to be very IN to figuring out how things work. He also seems to struggle more with the language (English) than Zach. He just isn't as interested which will be quite a rude awakening to him when he hits the ground in Chicago and doesn't have Vasya there to interpret for him! I am still falling in love with these guys more each time I am with them. I am so ready to get them home (not to mention give them a nice warm bath with a lot of SOAP!!!) Of course that won't happen here in Simferopal because today, not only do we not have HOT water - we have NO water. It has been off all day. We HOPE it is on when we get back...but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it wasn't.

We have found the other internet cafe that is about a mile from home. We will be walking here and hopefully we can post more often (today it is raining and Vasya drove us). We tried out one other and had no success doing anything so...this is the closet one that works!

Prayers...we can use them! And we appreciate them. Pray for the paperwork still - we need it by Tuesday a.m. at the very latest. Pray that things go well with the judge (they OUGHT to - his "expediting fees" are pretty high). Pray that the money holds out - so far, it is. We know we have at least $1000 worth of costs for the US Embassy and another $500 each for the orphanages. It will be close, but hopefully, it will be fine. Pray for Vasya - he talked to us a bit more last night and his baby turned 4 months old on the 30th. His wife and son had a hard time the last 2 months of her pregnancy and his son has some problems and has to see the doctor every month. Of course since he is here with us, he isn't there with them and you can imagine, that would be tough. He is a great guy - and he misses his wife and son.

Vissyo!

QUICK update!

Hi all!

Tonight, Vasya, Tom and I went out for Turkish food here in Simferopal. We were celebrating! Our completed paperwork left tonight on a train bound for Kiev back to the AC for finalization. Vasya will get our appointment for court tomorrow and hopefully we get the paperwork back in time for our court appointment. If we don't...we get another appointment, but, well...time is a wastin'! Vasya has done a great job and has been very busy the last few days. We have been passive participants...sign here, here, here and here...he has done the rest.

What it all means is that we MAY have our court appointment next Tuesday. Hopefully our paperwork comes back Monday. Then court Tuesday, the 10 days of waiting...we will NOT be with the boys for those 10 days. They will be at their orphanages waiting...we will be at our flat doing the same. We can see them for an hour or two each day but it costs us $60 to make the trip to Djoncoy to see Zach...and about $35 to see Michael...so as much as we would like to see them every day, it isn't going to happen.

We spent about 6 hours with Zach yesterday while paperwork was being shuffled around. Six hours, small room, few toys, small boy, big parents...it was "interesting" to say the least. I thought Zach did WONDERFUL - if I were him, I wouldn't have lasted that long with us! He did great. But it was a LONG day!

Still no hot water in the flat - I just don't think it is going to happen! AND - since someday it is going to get cold here, they have decide to ration power (don't ask me to explain it - it just IS). So - our elevator turns off at 5 until 10 p.m. So, we get to climb 7 stories. Good exercise!

Vasya tells us there is an internet cafe closer to our flat that we can walk to - if it proves to be true, we will be able to post more often. We should know tomorrow!

Pray for the kids - they have some huge adjustments coming up. And they still have a long time to wait. Pray for us - we are ready to come home...we are and so is Vasya. Pray for him, he misses his family. Pray the paperwork goes exactly as it should and that it comes back by next Monday and we have court on Tuesday (any other day and we have a weekend and we can't get the boys on a weekend).

Vissyo!

Try these

Hi Folks - I'm posting a brief for L and T. We have had the opportunity to speak with both of them a couple times over the past few days. These are additional links to try to see another picture of Zach AND a couple of pics of Tyler. I don't remember which of these links wouldn't work for me... so there are several and may be duplicates! The boys are beautiful! They indeed have eyes that deep and beautiful blue blue blue. They both also have sweet smiles. They did get to spend time with Tyler today, and hope to have the paperwork going in on Monday to begin the official process. They will then probably be spending more time with Tyler than with Zach due to the distance between the two places, until the time they will be able to bring them with them for the final 10 days or so before they leave, and can begin to grow together as a family. And I will repeat what has been said before, please continue to pray for their family, & for the means to be able to achieve what needs to be done there (fondly referred to by me as the 2L5F prayer!!). We had a houseful yesterday and today (26 peoples including my folks at the elder end of things, and my newest grandsons who are 6 weeks and 5 months.) I put Tom on speakerfone yesterday and we all shouted greetings.

Thank you all for the prayers, thoughts, and comments. They have both told me that they could really feel people praying for them.

Fran (Lois' oldest, Wisest and Cutest sister!!! hehehe couldn't resist!! Of course, she'd emphasize the OLDEST part!)

each of these are at www.viewmymessage.com

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Little bits of broken hearts

Today we got to see Tyler. He was outside when we got there and when they found out we were there, they made him come inside and change his clothes. Since it is the weekend, he wasn't allowed to leave (no one had been told anything apparently). We had the perimeter we could walk. We also has Vasya to interpret and that was a first - we have been going it alone with Zach. Ty and Vasya talked - well, Ty talked and Vasya listened. Ty talked about his mother, his father, the boyfriends, grandma and generally about the not so great life he had. He also told us that Zach was moved to another orphanage because he was getting beaten up by older kids and was acting out because of it (can't blame him there!) anyway, you get the idea - these boys have had a rough life to this point.

Please pray that they can learn to trust again and that they can be little boys. Ty strikes me as knowing too much responsibility for his 9 years. He told us he was responsible for his little brother before they were in the orphanage and in the orphanage, too. Pray that we get this all in one court - it could cost a lot more, but in the long run, would be worth it. Pray for Tom and I - this is a lot of heart-wrenching stuff to have to hear and not be able to do anything with. It just IS.

Thank you for your prayers - keep em coming!

Vissyo!

Internet Cafe

Hi ALL! Vasya found us an internet cafe and I have about 5 minutes to update. Things are going great - Vasya thinks that we will be able to get the court in ONE court instead of two - that is good news. Money is tight but we are looking for 5 loaves and 2 fishes...and we aren't talking about the book store in Danville!

Both boys are beautiful (Tom says "handsome" would be a better description but...I say they are beautiful!) They have gorgeous blue eyes and wonderful smiles and...I am in love. We have had more time with Zach than with Ty but we will eventually have more time with Ty because he is closer (Zach is about an hour away).

Everything is going great - lots of official stuff that we just sign after Vasya explains it - he has a lot more work to do than we do. We are kind of just along for the ride and for the passports!

For now - Vissyo!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Greetings from Kiev. I (Janis) am updating the blog for Tom and Lois, as they are currently in Simferopol and have no phone in their flat (apartment) or access to internet.

This has been a VERY Happy Thanksgiving day for Tom and Lois, even without the turkey. They have found their kids!! Yesterday they met Zachary (the youngest). Today they met Tyler. Tyler was very scared when he first met Tom and Lois because he wasn't really told who they were and why they were visiting. Tom and Lois are hoping that he will feel more at ease when they spend time with him tomorrow.

After visiting Tyler, Tom and Lois went back to the orphanage in Zhon Koy where Zachary is. (Please forgive the spelling.) They were able to start the adoption paperwork process for him today. Zachary had to write his own letter requesting that he be adopted. He was given the wording of what to write. (Apparently children from the first grade and above are required to do this.) One big blessing for today--while the interpreter and the orphanage personnel were working on the paperwork, Tom and Lois got to play with Zachary--almost 1 1/2 hours. They had forgotten to bring toys, so all they had was a pencil and paper, but it was great nonetheless.

Pictures have been taken, but unfortunately Tom and Lois have no way to get them posted on their blog yet. Lois said that both boys have pretty blue eyes. Pray!!! I want to see what the boys look like, as I am sure you all do too.

Other specific prayer requests--
Pray that the money holds out. It is during this phase that the money starts flowing--especially if you want the paperwork expedited.

Also, pray that they will be able to get one court hearing instead of two. Since the boys are in different orphanages, they are under the jurisdiction of different courts. They are praying that the judges will allow them to be processed together. Otherwise, they will have to pay twice as much for the paperwork processing. And, lastly, that everyone will work together to get the adoption completed quickly.

And--if some of you are wondering what they ate for their Thanksgiving dinner--jerky (instead of turkey), cheese, and bread. Now doesn't that sound yummy!!

May I add the following--thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. It has meant an awful lot to them.