We have a date!

So, we got our court date a few days ago and forgot to tell everyone! It is this Tuesday!!

We had originally hoped that it would be yesterday, but these things are completely out of our control. James is leaving immediately after court. He will fly to Kyiv Tuesday night and head for the U.S.A. early the next morning. He is so ready to get home. He misses the children like crazy!


The four of us! I've given up on wearing makeup here, sorry. Almost given up on my hair as well. This feels a lot like camping, right down to brushing your teeth with bottled water.

Do you like this Ukrainian orphanage ball pit? I told this place was a dump.

Here we are at the market. Here you will find many sights that are appalling to the American senses.

Fresh meat anyone?

I don't hear about scores and scores of Ukrainians falling ill because of food borne illness. But, this still just feels wrong. I asked James to take photos to document this "cultural" experience.

*Gulp* Along with all kinds of meat and slabs of fat you could buy milk, cream, and fresh cheese. Nope, none of it was refrigerated.

Ahhh...back to the children! Zhenya is trying to figure out how to open a book. So cute! We tried to do quiet activities with him this day.

He loved bouncing this balloon back and forth!

Look who's reading now!! This little punkin' just loves to learn. I can tell!!

This blue elephant toy is a hit with Alec. I let him keep it one day when we handed him back to the caregivers after our visit. Big mistake. We did not see it the next day.

So, the next night I got on the internet and looked up the Ukrainian words for blue, elephant, and toy, and I wrote them down in our handy-dandy notebook. The morning after that I showed the caregivers the notebook. Thank goodness it was one of the nice ones! She looked everywhere, even in the cabinet where they keep the toys that the kids never get to play with. No sign of it.

Well, I just stood there. I was not leaving without the elephant toy! Pretty soon the lady got on her cell phone and chatted for a moment. Ah-ha! She must have called the right person, because she went into the room where all the cribs are kept and came back with the elephant! Yay!

Lesson: don't give anything or leave anything with your child that you want to get back. You may never see it again!