"Be strong and courageous." - Joshua 1:9

What a busy week! The boys have gone for haircuts, rock climbing, horse painting, a trip to the beach, and today was filled with baseball, tennis, swimming, and more baseball. Holy cow! I'm not sure where to start or how to describe what we are going through. The first hurdle was the obvious one, language. The first few days, we spent a lot of time reviewing our cheat sheets and plugging simple phrases into Google translator. As the week has progressed, we are getting more comfortable with our Russian, and B is picking up English nicely too.

The effect on the family, let's just say this week has had its tests and we've taken a step back to take a look at how we are acting, or better yet, reacting to having a fourth child in our midst. As I said, the language was tough and of course the first word we learned was niet. Only problem is we forgot to explain what we wanted to be done. I equate this to a math teacher on the first day handing out the textbooks and asking the class to complete the book by the year's end. The students were told to work it out by themselves. When the student finished his assignment and turned it in, the teacher would grade it with a yes or no. No explanation as to what was wrong or how to do it right. The students were destined to fail many times over. So, before we say niet, we have to say what we want, or not want, in Russian. Since coming to this eureka, things have dramatically improved and our hearts are focused more on the moments and not us. We have become less worried about "being on" and are more concerned with getting on. Still, it is four boys. We have also decided that a division of labor is going to exist. Each boy will be responsible for one or more daily chores with Lisa and I taking on the cooking and carpooling. With two working parents and active boys, this WILL happen so we can keep our sanity and help define expectations. We are going to create a chart on a dry erase board with the tasks listed and the person responsible.

Now back to B. This guy has become extremely comfortable with us and I would have to say he feels secure in our home. He gets a little shy when we give him compliments, like how handsome he may look after a bath or his new haircut. However, his accomplishments, he seeks to impress. His mechanical ability to figure out toys or household objects knows no boundaries. He is constantly asking "shto eta?", or what is this in Russian. He loves pictures and does not mind posing. Yesterday in the bath I learned the Russian word for drain, utechka. Why? Because he asked what it was AND what the cleanout above it did. Being an engineer I was happy to explain, so I basically told him that was how the tub breathed air. Next week I'm gonna try thermodynamics! BTW-my keyboard is obviously in English, so when I write Russian phrases, they are the phonetic spelling. The Russian alphabet uses sixes, pies, a couple different W's, and a crosshairs lookin letter. Drink your Olvaltine to get your Little Orphan Annie decoder to decipher the Russia language.

Tonight we had a very simple dinner of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced French bread, cheese, and salami slices. It was a perfect meal to end this very active day. After dinner, Lisa showed B the costumes from past Halloweens. It was awesome! Like I said, he'll definitely pose for a picture.

Lisa's mom came to town to spend the weekend with us and she is Slovak and speaks Slovak, which is very close. She was able to understand some of the statements and questions coming from B. Tomorrow we plan to see a play and attend a soccer match. I look forward to watching B experience both.

B has a heart of gold. To watch him play with Adam, he is very gentle (even though they are close in size). With Alex, they have the common bound for loving crafts and they both swim the same...fearless. With Tyler, he still prods and pokes Tyler, but we're coaching Tyler on how best to respond, which in some cases is to walk away and give B no attention. All in all though, Tyler had a blast playing with B today. Tyler pitched while B hit. He was very patient while we coached him at tennis. And they both had a blast swimming together. As for me, I took B out into the woods to catch lightning bugs and he thought they were the coolest things ever.

While I know this is stressful and definitely draining (the mental fatigue of constantly translating is wearisome), the smiles and joys we are experiencing and witnessing are quite frankly, divine. May God bless this child and our family.

"Camp was great!"

Camp is going great!  The last two days Tyler and "B" have been going to vacation bible school together. Day one included a trip for a haircut and day two was a trip to go rock climbing.  Part of the day includes English lessons and of course bible class.  When "B" was picked up, he said camp was "great" in English.  In two short days he's picked up a ton of English words and communication has been surprisingly good.  We have lots of moments when we have to use a dictionary or use google translator, but it's working just fine. At dinner, we use flash cards and we all learn a little vocabulary.  "B" learns English and the rest of us learn Russian.

You may be wondering why we're not using his name.  Let me explain.  We were asked not to divulge his real name on anything that goes on the Internet.  Seeing as we are unaware of the true reason he's at the orphanage, there is fear that someone may be seeking him out.  The second reason is because of our intentions to adopt.  A week or so before he arrived, we received a letter from the Ukrainian government reminding us that under Ukrainan law, we are not allowed to preselect a child for adoption.  That being said, it is recommended that we not publicly announce that he's been here with us for three weeks.  The letter also went on to remind us that we are not allowed to keep the child with us in the US after the hosting program is over. Failure to comply will result in cancellation of other hosting programs.  Needless to say that we will do our part not to ruin a great thing.

He's had such a great time discovering all the toys that were so nicely piled around the house.  He is so fascinated by all the mechanical things and loves Pixos, remote control cars, bubble baths and the "magnetic pen" (Doodle Pro).  This morning on the way to camp (known as "lager" in Russian) he enjoyed opening and closing the window and having the air blow in his hair. In the afternoon on the way home, it wasn't as fun since in was 100F and he wanted the window closed.  Other things he loves are chocolate milk, apple sauce in a squishy Dora bag and tortellini.  Things that didn't cut it were bagels, broccoli and regular milk.  As one person explained to us at the camp, milk in the Ukraine tastes like "smoke water", so no wonder he didn't like it.

He's fitting in very nicely and has really taken to Tyler. Unfortunately, it's a little excessive at times and we have to intervene.  The A - team really likes "B" too and there are constant tears over who sits next to him at the table or in the car.  "B" copies what the boys are doing and vice versa.  When he was picked up after camp, he was told "we go get Alex", to which he replied "Alex brat". Funny enough, "brat" is Russian for brother.  We were warned that our child would probably use the word while he was here, we just didn't realize it would happen on day one.

We were also warned that our child may have sleeping issues, nightmares or wet the bed. The only ones waking up in the middle of the night are our own kids going to the bathroom.  "B" sleeps great and wakes in the morning and immediately gets dressed.  Our kids...well....15 mins after we ask for the 4th time, they're dressed too.

Christmas morning...in July!

He's here! I am going to attempt to capture the events and emotions during the pickup of our host child last night at the airport. Let's see. We arrived at the airport at 11:00pm to find the other host families in the waiting area. Some of the families from last year's hosting were in the airport lobby with their newly adopted children. This was great as we used one of their kids to translate for us. Everybody was nervous and excited and of course tired. Unfortunately we did not take ANY pictures...bummer.

When the kids arrived, all walking in a single file line following their chaperones, the group got animated. Waves, smiles, and hugs for friends not seen in a long while. We only had about five pictures of our child, but when we saw him our hearts just melted. It's hard to describe the feeling of waiting and then to finally see him. He was chewing gum and wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and black sneakers. After a few anxious moments, they brought him over to us for introductions. Since very few of the people there spoke Russian, the introduction went like this. Here he is! And then we were left to our own imagination and very poor Russian to communicate our names and show him pictures of our sons. After a few brief (and I'm sure caveman-ish) Russian sentences he handed Lisa a doily(sp?). We immediately found a translator to help express our gratitude and to ask where the doily came from. We were told the doily was in his shoes. Lisa didn't care...that doily will forever be in our family. One of the other little boys was given a package of Twix and he gave one of the sticks to our little boy. He promptly split it into three pieces and shared it with Lisa and I. The inability to communicate with words, especially for me, is humbling. You have body language and hand gestures. I wanted to tell him I was happy to see him. How was the flight? Did you sleep? We're gonna drive home in a truck, do you get carsick? Yeah, none of that was spoken. What words I do know I used. However, I'm sure I was asking him if he wanted to play soccer at 12:30 in the morning when I was trying to ask if he liked to play soccer. No wonder he looked at me like I was an idiot.

BTW - against our wills a bit, we did not hug him or hold his hand. We are trying to ease into a trusting relationship. A newborn you hold as much as possible. This guy, we just want him to feel safe to play and we'll set the boundaries.

On the drive home we tried to ask a few questions and when I asked how old he was, I caught the number 7 but then he rattled off a bunch more. I missed it. We almost need to record everything and run it back for the important stuff. When we got home we took a quick tour of the house and introduced him to our dogs. We showed him his backpack of starter stuff which included a Hot Wheel...that he loved. We picked up on the increased volume and the higher inflection of his Russian at this, so we showed him the collection of cars that our boys have. Then I heard Transformers. So we showed him Bumblebee. We spent the next half hour just playin. We were spent, my Russian was exhausted, but we managed to communicate pajamas, potty, and bedtime somewhere around 1am.

The next morning, he slept in, but our little Adam got up at his usual 6:30...yeah. So today's activities included crafts and legos, which I must say, he picked up both very quickly. Especially the Lego. He built the airplane kit one way and promptly took it apart and built a second style airplane. He's got a good head on his shoulders and picks up tasks quickly. We had a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, pineapple, and watermelon. He ate everything but the watermelon. For lunch, he had a slice of sourdough, cucumber, tomato, and apple slices. We scored again! He ate this too. We took a quick trip to Target to get underwear and socks. Apparently Cars the movie is a big hit in the Ukraine. After the Target adventure, we took all 4 boys to a local park to sweat out some of their energy. The coolest part of the park were the squirrels. Our little host boy spotted one and got all excited, again the speed and volume of the Russian was the clue. He tried to sneak up on it, but that was futile. At one point during the park trip, Adam came over and told me that our guest wanted to play a video game..."he said he wanted too". Who knew my youngest spoke Russian? This afternoon we decided to take it easy around the house. Tyler has been a huge help and I thank God we have him. So far, it appears as if our little guest feels secure. He talks a lot. If I ask a question about what he's doing, I get a full report and then some. It's awesome! Thank you God!

Tomorrow he arrives...

Only one day left until we meet our 8 year little boy from the Ukraine!  Yesterday night, there was a social event for the families who will be hosting the other 17 kids traveling here.  Originally, 20 children were expected for the hosting program, but two kids (13 and 15 years old) dropped out.  Apparently, despite the fact that these kids are abandoned and left to fend for themselves in an orphanage, the parents of these kids (if available), must provide written authorization for the kids to travel internationally.  The mother of the two boys is deceased, so they sought out permission from the dad and he refused.  This makes no sense and makes me so angry.  This story reminds me of Tyler's third grade teacher who's husband attempted to kill her and her children.  After being charged with murder and put in prison, he hired a fellow cellmate to kill them AGAIN.  His teacher attempted to change her identity, but the legal system required consent of the father to change the names of the kids.  Unbelievable!!

Anyhow, we learned about all the cool events that are planned for the three weeks that they are here.   Each family also received a backpack for each of the kids filled with necessities for their house guest.  When I say necessities, I mean just that.  There's a toothbrush, toothpaste, a T-shirt...  Unlike any of us, these kids are traveling about 5,000 miles and staying 3 weeks with no checked baggage.  We were told that they probably only have a small carry on bag, if anything at all.  When they return to the orphanage, the goodies from the backpack will become community property.  Clothes are shared with everyone in the house. 
 
Their journey here will take about 2 days, including a 10 hour overnight train ride to Kiev where they will board their first ever airplane.  From Kiev, they travel to Munich, Dulles and finally, Raleigh.  We are all meeting at the airport at 11:18PM on Saturday to bring the kids back home.  The little boy we are hosting has so much courage to be travelling across the globe to a strange country where they don't even speak his language.  He must be so nervous.  We are all so excited to have him with us, but we're nervous too.  Tyler is nervous because he's not sure that he'll be liked by our guest.  Alex is nervous because we've told him that we won't be playing video games while he is here.  Whatever will he do?  Adam on the other hand can't wait to show him "Transformers" - the movie.  In our multiple training sessions on hosting international orphans,  we've learned a ton of very shocking things about life in an orphanage.  Most of it disturbing and sad.  One such fact is that orphanages play X-rated/porno movies in the evening.  At first, we thought Transformers might be too intense for him, but what do/did we know.  I think we'll just stick to CARS and KUNG FU PANDA while he's here.