Last Weekend

Ivan and Anatoliy enjoyed a wonderful last weekend! They enjoyed one last day at the pool on Saturday and Matt taught them Marco/Polo! They loved the fact that I was actually in the pool with them (I have a had a cast on the entire time that they have been here).

Saturday night was super fun b/c the boys got to experience a typical weekend backyard BBQ. We were with friends that actually have a teenage boy who is Ivan's age. Ivan was in heaven! Running around playing soccer, basketball - honestly he was just enjoying being a teenager! It was wonderful to see. Anatoliy enjoyed water balloons, corn hole and playing in the water hose. By 10 o'clock he said "Lisa, I tired." They both got to enjoy for just one night what my boys have been enjoying their whole lives - and that makes me so happy and sad at the same time - very bittersweet!

Today we drove to Greensboro to  meet my parents for lunch and let the boys meet them. Everyone got along great and we got lots of photos for their scrapbook. After getting more items into their suitcase - honestly Anatoliy's suitcase is bigger than him - we went out to get Chinese for dinner! They of course loved it! They were very excited about trying Chinese and funny enough ate more than my boys have ever ate of Chinese food!

Tonight was hard, we all know what tomorrow brings - Ivan is being strong and very focused on getting things packed and what he will wear on the plane, etc. Anatoliy is having a harder time, lots more hugs, not wanting to let go when we kissed him goodnight, now saying "I no want airplane."

When we left my parents today in Greensboro, our son William went with them to spend the night and we were explaining that he would miss the airport and saying goodbye to the boys - he said, "It's OK Mom, b/c all I was going to do was cry." Then tonight, Matt was saying good night to Ryan (our oldest son) and Matt was explaining that tomorrow is going to be an early morning and that it is going to be sad for everyone, etc. Ryan says, "Dad, we should just adopt them." Matt says, "Really? b/c you know know that means that they would be here everyday, all the time." Ryan says, "Yeah, well they do well for our family!"

These boys have done great things for our family and my hope is that when they board that plane tomorrow - they know that their is a family out there in the US that truly loves them!

Winding Down - Part 2

So we all survived NASCAR Speedpark and even Chuck E Cheese! The boys loved driving the cars!

Thursday we enjoyed another day of bowling. The boys wanted to bowl one last time before they left, so we fit that in and all had another good time. We finally found MP3 players for them to go back to the Ukraine with - that was quite a shopping experience b/c you can't just buy any MP3 b/c plug in chargers won't work in the Ukraine. We are slowly getting music uploaded for them, but let's just say that this "Apple Family" does not like the non-user friendly MP3!! Not one button or direction makes sense to us! They have Alvin and the Chipmunks loaded on their MP3's so that was the most  important thing to them!

Yesterday was amazing day for the boys because our friend Michele rallied together some of her friends and family to gather donations for the boys to take back to the Ukraine. The boys were overwhelmed with such generosity and came home with 4 full bags of everything from toothbrushes to winter clothing. They promptly divided it up and put it right in their suitcases! They are a little unsure why they were given 30 toothbrushes a piece, but with their teeth problems they need to be brushing for years to come:)

Today I think was one of their favorite days - we went to Bounce U. They all laughed and played and had a great time. They had no idea what to do in the bounce house, but a little "kid speak" and they caught on very quickly. Then we were off to our eye appt. (part of hosting is to have their eyes checked) and they both checked out just fine!! They were both worried about needing glasses and happy to not have them.

The boys have slowly started to get their things packed and with each new item that gets packed, Anatoliy consistently says "Lisa, I no want Ukraine." Monday is going to be a hard day for all!

Winding Down..

We enjoyed another fun weekend with the boys! Saturday we enjoyed a great backyard BBQ with friends. There was wonderful woman at this BBQ who actually came over from Ukraine with her mother when she was 14. She still speaks perfect Ukrainian and the boys loved having someone to speak their language with!! I have never heard them both talk so much as they did Saturday night. It was wonderful to see and hear. This was the first night that Anatoly had translated for us that he loves America and does not want to go back to Ukraine! He says it is dirty and that they are always hungry! In one sentence he broke my heart! Yet at the end of the night, he is all smiles, gives great big hugs before bed and my heart is "lightened" just a little! How can one child hold so much "power."

Sunday was supposed to be a fun day at the Nascar Speedpark, letting the kids race the go karts, but the weather was not cooperating with us. So they waited in line just to get to the front and have it closed for lightning. Then we go to buy winter coats for the boys to take back to the  Ukraine and head back to the Speedpark. They wait to ride again and actually get into the go karts, go around ONE time and it starts to rain! So they close for another 45 minutes. At this point Matt has had enough of Concord Mills for one day and we head home with some disappointed boys! But no need to worry they will be back there tomorrow - hopefully racing go-karts! My boys really want to show them Chuck E Cheese (not sure why, b/c they know I loathe the place), so I may be "brave" enough and take 6 boys (Alex will have a friend) to the Speedpark and then Chuck E Cheese - we'll see!

Ivan had his dental appt. today and it was long for him. He came home in pain and I felt really bad for him, but he was trying so hard to be brave and stoic. 3 baby teeth pulled, 7 cavities filled, 4 sealants applied to the back molars! We happen to have a wonderful pediatric dentist that informed us today that she was not going to even charge us the Medicaid rate that we had discussed, but instead perform all of the work for FREE! LOVE our kids' dentist - Dr. Sharon Holly!!

So as the days wind day of hosting these two amazing boys, Ivan continues to open up and trust us. Anatoly has gotten much more vocal about his parents and the abuse the boys went through with their parents in their early years. He now says each morning, "Lisa, I not want Ukraine." " I want America." Tonight he came down with a drawing from himself, gave it to Matt and I and said that it was from Ivan and himself. We opened it and he had drawn a boy crying and under the boy were the words - his spelling - "Wi want a famili!" with hearts and flowers drawn all around the boy! So tonight my heart is heavy again!

Lisa 

Last couple of days....

The last two days have been so much fun with the boys! Ryan had camp all week, yes - outdoor camp in the horrible heat!! The other 4 and myself enjoyed a morning of Laser Tag on Wed. It was so tough to translate how to charge the shooters and actually get started. So we get through all of that explaining and the lady says she is ready to start, so I wait with them to make sure they understand, only to stand there for 5 min. with nothing happening. So I am thinking it has started, b/c music is playing, and that we missed the charging station time! Keep in mind that Alex is saying we missed it, so of course I believe the 7yr old who has played before. I am trying to charge all of these shooters for 4 kids who think that they are missing some "great event" only to have the lady come back and say, "Oh sorry, the computer had a glitch, so I' need to reboot!" Anyway, they all 4 loved it. You could hear them laughing and screaming the whole time! Super fun! The boys then enjoyed the arcade and realized real quick that it is all about the tickets, which then get you the prizes!! Ivan had the most tickets and chose 8 sugar sticks - remember those when we were kids - pixie sticks - and 5 tootsie rolls. All of which he ate in a 20 minute car ride - and he wonders why he has 19 cavities!! Ivan is truly a sugar addict! Even as I try to parent and say no, not now or maybe later, he still finds a way to add sugar to things! Sugar on strawberries, sneaking chocolate chips from the baking/spice cabinet. Today he had rice krispy treats (that we had made for dessert for after dinner) wrapped in his shirt at breakfast! That shirt would have made it's way up to his room and into a drawer for later. The last week I have definitely kept a much closer eye on Ivan when he is in the kitchen for any meal. I stay with him at all times during meals in hopes of stopping the food hoarding, or at least to limit it from happening so much.

Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful morning on the lake with our friend Michele and her two kids. I have to say that Michele and I truly enjoyed watching Ivan show off for a group of girls in the water. Then also enjoying the girls trying to get his attention, which they had his attention the minute they hit the water, and little did they know he can speak extremely limited English! It was truly enjoyable! The other 3 enjoyed a $2 blow up whale that you can ride on, and we all realized why it was $2 - b/c the minute a kid would try to sit on it, it would flip over! But the boys could care less! Lots of fun and laughs were had by all.

Today brought a temporary end to the fun b/c Anatoliy had his dentist appt. for three teeth to be pulled! I will not name the oral surgeon here, but would love to briefly explain how we were treated: Main Scenario is that our dentist, Dr. Holly had referred us to this doctor b/c he could extract the teeth with IV sedation, which Dr. Holly felt was necessary b/c of the one tooth being a molar and severely decayed. We show up today and are presented with 9 papers to fill out, with which I give my same, rehearsed answer,"I will fill out as much as I can b/c I might not know all of the answers that pertain to his medical history." The nurse looks at me strangely and I say, "you do know our situation, right"? She says, "Um, no, why don't you enlighten us about YOUR situation." Needless to say it was pretty much downhill from there, and for the next hour and ten minutes, I had to try and find people and paperwork to confirm that Anatoliy is truly an orphan and "not my neighbor's kid" - yes they truly said this to me! Finally they agree that he is an orphan, maybe the language barrier clued them in, or maybe his name Anatoly was a clue, and they brought him back to the room. They then explain that the IV won't be necessary for this procedure and another doctor will be doing the procedure since I am now late by 1 hr for the appt! Um yeah, I am late b/c it took me an hour to convince you that Anatoly is an orphan! The no IV thing ticked me off b/c he was told not to eat or drink for 5 hrs. before the procedure b/c of the IV, so now that was all a waste of time and poor Anatoly was hungry! So three teeth pulled, he did great! Right when he got home, he typed into the translator,"You told the truth, no pain with the teeth, thank you." Love that boy!

We have another fun filled weekend ahead and believe it or not, next week is our last week with them. They fly out on Monday the 1st. This next week we will be busy fitting in last minute things that we have yet to see, slowly filling up their suitcases (thank you greatly Manahan family for the suitcases) with clothes and fun things to take back with them

Anatoly and William were a team against Ivan and Alex for laser tag.

All 5 at church one Sunday

 Lisa

Camping

On Saturday morning Lisa headed out to Nashville for her cousin Jeff's wedding.  We gave our kids the option of going camping with me (it's Matt writing here), Ivan, and Toly; or with L to the wedding,  Ryan and Will choose the wedding, and so Alex joined the 3 of us in a one night camping trip to Stone Mountain State Park (the one in NC about 80 miles north of Charlotte, not the one in Atlanta). 
We got to the park at about 1:00pm.  After setting up camp, we were off hiking at 2:00.  We hiked up to the summit and back (about 3.5 miles).  Its a pretty easy hike, although it gets pretty steep up near the top.  The cool thing on the hike was that there were at least 3-4 large viewing areas (almost like mini summits) scattered throughout the hike up.  At each of these mini summits, its a large opening of Granite rock with no trees impeding your view at all of the surrounding valley (see picture below for context).

   
We then spent about an hour in the late afternoon at the main waterfall at the park.  We all got wet at the falls and had fun, but it was a little chilly (perfect for hiking, cloudy in the mid 70s, but not playing in a waterfall).  We were back at the camp site by 6.
We had meat for dinner.  Hot dogs, bacon, and sausage.  Very manly. 

We then got the camp fire going pretty good.  Ivan was addicted to finding fuel in the woods, and cutting with the saw I brought.  About every 10 minutes he'd come back from the woods with a load of new wood, and we'd dry it by the fire before throwing it in.  You can see some of the wood drying by the fire below, but the pile was much higher later in the night.   We of course introduced smores to the boys, and they were addicted. 

At bed time Alex and Toly wanted to sleep together on the double mattress we brought (we were lucky to borrow a super big tent from the Westbrooks, which was the biggest 4 person tent I've ever been in); you can see a picture of them having way too much fun before bed.

 
In the morning we again had meat for breakfast, although we did toast a few slices of bread to go with it.  We were on the road by 10.  It was such a fun time camping with Alex, I, and A.  It was a short trip, but one that I know we will always remember.    

WW2 Plane

Anatoly giving us the thumbs up!



Ivan with the pilot.



Matt was as excited as the kids about today!



Yes, even I got in the plane!

 Today we were "treated" by one of the owners of Matt's company, Ironworks Consulting, to view and get in a WW2 plane that he owns and had flown down to Charlotte for the day. We arrived at Concord Regional Airport, just as the plane was making a pass by. We were all allowed out on the tarmac while it landed. Each boy got the pleasure of getting in the pilot's seat with the helmet on. They got to play with the controls, etc. The airport put together a bag of goodies for all 5 boys, that had a wooden airplane in it, am/fm radio, lots of cool things - it was very nice of them to give something to each boy to take home.

Last night was the photo shoot for the boys and it turned out amazing! Melody Serrano, owner of SnookySmiles Photography, took the photos and put all of the info on her blog so that even more people can see these boys and hope to help them find a "forever family." The link with pictures is at: http://snookysmilesphotography.blogspot.com/2011/07/adoption-photography-seeking-family-for.html
Here is my favorite of the both of them. They are such handsome boys!

Lisa

5 Children is Hard Work!

I never went into hosting Ivan and Anatoly with "blinders on" - I knew it was going to be a lot for me during the day to have 5 kids in the house for a month. But let me just say that at night, I literally fall asleep the minute my head hits the pillow. I can't think of the last time I read my book at night - and for me - that is extremely rare! So what do I "get" for all of this exhaustion: I get to see a bright smile on an orphan's face when I tell him that "yes, we can buy cherries, grapes and bananas all in the same grocery trip." We get to see 5 children trying to learn colors in a different language while playing UNO. I get to clean up, not just three boys pee around a toilet, but 5 boys pee that seems to never quite make it into the toilet - obviously this is not a US thing, but a male trait regardless of nationality!! I also get to help an orphan try and understand that if he wants/needs food that he can ask us, he does not need to wrap a half eaten sandwich in his shorts and put it in the dresser, the half eaten banana wrapped in a shirt and put in a dresser will not be as good tomorrow. I get to see my three sons help these boys figure out a toy or game with such patience, patience that I truly did not realize existed with my boys. And the biggest thing that we have all gotten is that when you slow down, clear the family calendar a little, you truly get some valuable family time!

OK, so with that said, I have also learned that with 5 children you need a schedule for each day!! So this week we have a plan for each day - nothing too exciting, but it's a plan! Today we spent the morning with my friend Michele at her pool in Birkdale and the boys loved the change of scenery. Then sadly, I had to take Ivan and Anatoly to their dental appt. Anatoly was very nervous, and at one point was shaking in his chair. I went back with them both and sat and reassured Anatoly and he left with a good feeling about the dentist.  Now, when I have to explain that he has to go back and have 3 teeth pulled b/c they are so rotten and 2 cavities filled, I don't think he will still have that good feeling. Ivan handle the dentist very stoically as I would have expected. He would never let on to any fear. He will get the pleasure of going back and having 9 cavities filled! Thankfully we have a dentist that is greatly, greatly reducing the fees for this extra work that the boys will need.

One of the best parts of the day, was having Melody Serrano, owner of SnookySmiles Photography, come and take pictures of the boys. These pictures will be used to advocate for them to try and find a "forever family" that is interested in adopting them. These professional photos turned out so wonderful and truly caught their personalities! Can't wait to share them with you all. New Horizons for Children, the group that we are hosting the boys through, will post these pictures and the bios that we wrote for them on their website, in hopes that someone will want to meet them while they are here.

On the horizon this week - visiting and possibly flying in an old WW2 plane and camping and fishing!

Lisa

Finally - Pictures!

Today we enjoyed a wonderful day of hiking at Stone Mountain State Park, NC. The boys loved seeing the waterfalls and all 5 boys enjoyed swimming in the water. Pictures below are from July 4th, our day of bowling, Discovery Place and today's hike. Tomorrow we have nothing too exciting on the agenda except church and some pool time! Should be a nice relaxing day.



Anatoly riding the ponies at Birkdale Village.



Anatoly bowling





The crew at Discovery Place!



Anatoly and Ryan getting ready to slide into the water.

Ivan bowling



Anatoly petting the iguana. He loves animals!



Testing Boundaries

This has been a big week for testing boundaries, which is totally normal, but still frustrating. Ivan has been going around the house and "collecting" batteries that he has been keeping in a bag hidden in his room. Along with the batteries we found other game pieces, etc. So we confronted Ivan about the bag and he denied ever seeing it. Honestly, the bag wasn't the issue - for the orphans these batteries give them status and allow them to trade - it was the lie that frustrated Matt and I.
So today started a new day  and we enjoyed a fun day at Discovery Place. Anatoliy was nervous at first but is always willing to give new things a try. He pet an iguana today! Saw a 3D movie about Bugs. They had their first McDonalds drive-thru experience and LOVED every bite. I think Anatoly may have enjoyed the kids meal toy as much as the food! Anatoly shared some fun facts with us about himself - he writes poetry and plays a Ukrainian instrument called a Bandura. He is so adorable! Tonight we had family game night and played Uno. Who knew Uno could go on so long with 7 people playing!! The boys loved it and they are quite the little competitors!!
I promise to post pictures tomorrow of the last few days and also I really want to scan some of Anatoly's drawings into the computer, so that you can all see how creative he is.
Matt & Lisa

Difficult Start - Good Ending

Quick note before I start on my day today - yesterday I took the boys to Target to pick out 2 pairs of clothes each ( we have already bought things for them that they wear). I really wanted them to be able to pick out something that they liked. It was so much fun. They were so grateful and loved the experience and I loved sharing it with them. They couldn't believe how many socks and underwear come in one pack. Anatoliy kept asking to taking the packs apart and just pick one underwear and one pair of socks, but with a huge smile understood that the whole pack of 4 was all for him!!

Today started out tough b/c Ivan woke up with a 102 fever. He rolled out of bed and came down to the couch. He looked terrible and I felt even worse for him. So a phone call later for translation - thank you Marina - and a visit to the Dr. - we found out it is strep. I was relieved b/c I know that an antibiotic can kick strep pretty quickly. I have to also say that we have always loved Dr. Wendy Talley at Growing Up Pediatrics, but today she truly shined. She took  such care with Ivan, who was nervous to be at a doctor's office, truly checked him out and then gave us the antibiotic from her office so that we weren't charged at CVS. She charged us absolutely nothing for today!
Then later this afternoon I had to step in to true "mom mode" and take away computer time from Ivan who was viewing very inappropriate internet content! I don't think I have ever typed so fast as I did (into the translate program on our computer) to let Ivan know that the sites he had chosen were not appropriate and that there was no more computer for the day.
So after all of of the drama of the day we ended with Anatoliy and Ivan both helping to cook dinner and Anatoliy reciting all of the English that he has learned - I was so impressed! He is starting to speak in very simple sentences! He tries so hard and I am so proud of him. Anatoliy is also a fantastic artist and has drawn pictures for each of our boys that he wakes up early to hang on their doors before they wake up! So tonight Anatoliy was in his room drawing and secretly went down the hall and hung one of his pictures on our bedroom door - it is a picture of me!! Perfect ending to a LONG day. I will scan some of the drawings and post them tomorrow.

Lisa & Matt

July 4th

Celebrating the holiday with I & A was lots of fun! Our neighborhood does a firework display each year, so we spent the afternoon at the pool and then headed to the club for dinner and the fireworks. These two boys love to eat!! As long as it isn't spicy, they will try it and usually eat it and then ask for more! They both enjoyed the fireworks and once we got home we had another breakthrough - - they both changed out of their dirty clothes and brought them to the laundry room to be washed, instead of hiding them under their pillows - HUGE accomplishment!

The boys brought a recipe with them from Ukraine that they had been wanting to make us - homemade ice cream. Anatoliy got up early, got Ryan to help him find paper and pencil, then translated the whole recipe from Russian to English using his dictionary - he (and I) were very proud! So with the translation we headed to the grocery store. The grocery store was a super fun experience! It didn't take them long to realize that if they said "yes, I like" that it went into the cart. They picked up so many things, smelled them, wondered what they were - it was fun for all of us.
Once back home, they made us ice cream and a friend stopped by with her two girls, so we all sampled the ice cream and gave them lots of praise. It was actually very good, just not as thick and frozen as our ice cream.
The boys are slowly learning English, Anatoliy tries much harder than Ivan to learn the language. But yet Ivan has started to really participate with our family and help much more with meals and cleaning up. Honestly Ivan would be totally content to ride a bike or play soccer all day long:)

Lisa & Matt

Lazy 5 Ranch & The Kiss

Trying to get 5 kids to look at a camera is hard work:)

Anatoliy loved the animals!

Friday was our day to host the Ukrainian chaperon that traveled with the boys on their flights. Yana was such a joy to host, 23 years old and truly trying to learn the English language.  We took everyone to Lazy 5 Ranch and really enjoyed seeing the boys smiles as they fed the animals. Yana was not nearly as excited about feeding the animals and kept her window rolled up the whole time, but she snapped pictures of every animal she saw! We learned that Anatoliy truly loves animals and touched and pet every animal he came in contact with - absolutely no fear! Ivan spent most of the time videoing the whole day on the Nano that we gave him to use while they are here. Once home he played the videos over and over. I treated Yana to a pedicure/manicure, and she felt like such a queen! Matt took Ivan to hit golf balls for the time at the range, and I think Ivan is really taking to Matt and enjoys the time alone with him. Best news of the day came last night at bedtime - we always go in and kiss the boys goodnight - Anatoliy always gives me a hug and kiss on my cheek with a "Good Night Lisa." Ivan usually turns his head away and accepts my kiss and says "Good Night." BUT last night Ivan turned and accepted my kiss and kissed my cheek back!! Great ending to our day!