We are back!

We had a great vacation! Igor did great in the car both ways. We are so proud of him. Yesterday we were in the car for 14 1/2 hours! We are so thankful to be home and out of the car.

Here's a picture of all the activities I packed for the car ride. All items were a hit except for I Spy phonics.

On the way to Michigan we spent the night in Ohio with Sharyn and Gene. They have the gift of hospitality. They know my husband LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Michigan and hates Ohio State Football. Sharyn has a wonderful sense of humor, she decorated our room with Ohio State "propaganda". The balloons, streamers, and Ohio State night light made us laugh! She also provided Rob with Ohio State parting gifts! We had a lovely time with Sharyn and Gene.

Check out Rob's shirt!

We had a great time in Michigan. All Rob's family and extended family were there for the wedding. The hotel had an indoor pool. Igor could not get enough of the pool, Papa, Rob, Uncle Dave, cousin Sarah, cousin Scott and more played with Igor in the pool. While we were at the rehearsal dinner, Uncle Dave & Aunt Jeanne took Igor on the Michigan State's campus. They both attended MSU so they enjoyed a walk down memory lane. Igor enjoyed walking the MSU campus while eating his ice cream. The boy was spoiled by his uncle and aunt.

The wedding was lovely. We had a wonderful time at the reception. Igor and his cousin Bobby (3 yrs old) enjoyed "dancing". together. Okay, they were not dancing, it was more like skipping and then falling down. Bobby would do everything Igor would do. The boys were so cute together.

Papa took Igor to the zoo where he rode a camel! Papa forgot his camera so we don't have any pictures. Igor loved riding the camel so much he rode it a second time. Igor refused to take a pony ride. I wonder, in his mind what makes riding a pony different than riding a camel?

While we were gone our favorite high school neighbor watered our plants. I was so excited to see my orange lilies in full bloom along with some other plants. There are several cherry tomatoes on two of my plants. I cannot wait until they are ripe.

Tomorrow, Igor starts swim lessons! Igor loves the water but he's not so sure about swim lessons. Tomorrow should be interesting.

Two more books

Ops, I forgot to include "The Autobiography of George Muller" and "Your God is Too Safe" to our current reading list. If you need to be reminded of God's provision and faithfulness or if you want to read about a man who served orphans, go to the library and check out "The Autobiography of George Muller"!

New painting, Mother's Day necklace, books we are reading and the squirrel

EDITED

While we were visiting Aunt Shawn and Nana, Igor painted this picture for Nana.

This is the lovely Mother's Day necklace Igor made for me at Nursery School.

We are currently reading:

Rob is the officiant at his cousin's wedding this weekend. We are driving 12 hours up north- YIKES! I have purchased all sorts of items for Igor to do in the car. We have coloring books, puzzles, connect the dots, the tangle, wonder color fingerpaints, card games, books and more. I hope this will be enough to entertain Igor while we are in the car.

Rob and Igor went to play in the sand box (frog) this afternoon. They were shocked to find that a squirrel had eaten away part of the frog's eye! The other day, Igor made one of his famous "cakes". This time he included some bird seed as a special ingredient. Evidently, Igor dumped his bird seed cake into the sand box instead of on the ground. UGH.... Rob and Igor tried to sift out the bird seed. After a while they determined that it will take forever to get all the bird seed out of the sand box. We will have to dump the sand out and replace it with new sand. I haven't figured out how to repair the frog's eye... Maybe something will come to me while we are on vacation.

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Travel, Mother's Day and To Kill a Mockingbird

Edited
I haven't been able to keep up with the blog. We've been traveling a lot... We will be in and out town until the first week in June.

At Nursery School, the children surprised their mom's with a Mother's Day present and a home made card. My boy made me a beautiful necklace. What sweet gift. Our nursery school teacher is so thoughtful. (I'll post pictures soon)

My mother has been visiting my sister so last weekend Igor and I drove down for a visit. We celebrated Aunt Shawn's birthday and Mother's Day while we were there. Nana spoiled Igor by taking him toy shopping. She bought him an ambulance, a few cars and some new clothes. Igor and I loved our time at Aunt Shawn's house.

When Igor and I returned on Sunday, I checked my plants and veggies. Someone has been eating my cone flowers (perhaps it's Sally, the bunny??) The book title "To Kill a Mockingbird" popped into my head when I saw my tiny tomatoes had been picked and eaten. UGH! I 'm not a violent person and I am not going to hurt the Mockingbirds. But I was so sad to see that my "first fruits" had been eaten by the mockingbird family which lives in the Holly tree..... When we get home next week I will put bird netting around my tomatoes! I would really like some fresh tomato and basil salad- yummy!

No adoption news... we continue to wait for our referral.

Mother's Day gifts

I'm wondering if there are gifts you do not want for Mother's Day. I ask because this yahoo article states husbands should never buy an appliance as a gift for Mother's Day. Would you be disappointed if you received an appliance for Mother's Day?

My dear husband asked what I wanted for Mother's Day. I knew exactly what I wanted, a severe weather radio. We have been under several tornado watches and warnings in the last month. We did not experience tornadoes in our previous location so we never had the need to own a weather radio. I know it's not a very romantic gift but I really want something that could be used by the entire family.

Everyone is different. In your opinion, what would be the best and worst Mother's Day gift? I won't be offended if you write a weather radio would be the worst gift ever!

May 2005

Three years ago this week, Rob and I walked into the Pechory Orphan House in Russia and met our son Igor for the very first time. Igor was just shy of his third birthday. During our visits we played with Igor. He whispered one word to me- pazhalusta (you're welcome) during our visit and said- dosveedanyados (goodbye) as we left. Our son was cute with strawberry blond hair and eyes the color of Rob's. It was hard to leave Russia without Igor. It was a joy to return 6 months later for our court hearing and bring him home.

Some adoptive moms/dads fall instantly in love with their child when they see his/her picture. It wasn't like that for us. We thought Igor was adorable and cute.... we knew he was our son but did we really love him the instant we saw him?? Honestly, no. (no judgments, please) We chose to love Igor. Once he was home we did everything we could to get him healthy, catch him up physically, emotionally, etc. But as much as Igor needed to attach to us, we needed to attach to him. Over time we attached to one another and began to love Igor in a way I never thought I could love someone.

Tonight at dinner, Igor got up from his chair and whispered, "I love you dad" in Rob's ear and then whispered, "I love you mom" in my ear. What sweet, sweet words. We love you Igor! More than you can imagine.

May Day & Dump Trucks

Igor's nursery school celebrated May Day today. We danced around the May pole and enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch with fresh picked strawberries and cream for dessert. YUMMY.

Igor has added one additional stop to our drive home from nursery school. After stopping by the Fire Station, to count the chief cars, we stop by the new construction site. Last week we found an opening in the fence where we can peek in. We sit on the concrete barricade watching the excavator, bulldozer and dump trucks work. Today was our forth visit to the site. When the construction foreman pulled up next to us this afternoon I thought he was going to ask us to leave or move to a different location. The foreman surprised me by giving us permission to park in the worker's parking spots across the street! He said we didn't need to waste money in the parking meter anymore. YIPPEE! What a sweet gift to receive! I really hope BOC (son #2) will enjoy construction sites as much as Igor does. It looks like we will be spending a lot of time at this site.

Our contractor is finished. It's a huge relief to have them done and gone. My stress level has returned back to normal. We have put Igor's play room back together and the bedrooms. We need to get the dining room and office squared away. I really want the dining room table cleaned off so we can start the new jigsaw puzzle my parents sent. Rob and I love to put puzzles together.

Weekend Fun

We had picture perfect weather today. This morning, Igor and I went to the Farmers Market while Rob received a massage. Yep, you read that correctly, Rob had a massage. Last night Rob was in so much pain (stiff neck) he could not sleep. Rob iced his neck and took pain reliever but neither helped. This morning Rob called a college friend who is a massage therapist. His friend came over and tried to loosen Rob's muscles up. Rob is still very stiff but is feeling better.

This afternoon we took Igor to a park where we fed the ducks.

After the park, we came home and played in the backyard. That's where we spotted a baby bunny. Igor promptly named the bunny "Sally". Sally is so small and cute. Today, she dined on chickweed and wild onions. As long as Sally limits her diet to weeds, we'll have a great relationship. Why? because I hate to pull weeds!
I fear that Sally will soon grow tired of the weeds and look for more tasty treats. If and when Sally invades my garden, well, that is when Sally turns into a "pest". Fear not, I will not harm Sally but I will try to thwart her efforts. Last year we had four wild bunnies feasting in my garden, they enjoyed peppers, ALL of my cantaloupes, and many tomatoes. I am wondering where Sally's brothers and sisters are. There is never just "one" bunny.

Have you had success keeping bunnies out of your garden? If so, I would love to hear your success story. Our neighborhood prohibits chicken wire fences so I cannot use it to fence in my garden.

Good News

Dear YG, you are the best! I am so grateful that you are part of our adoption journey!

I am feeling a better. I was able to eat some bread this afternoon and scrambled eggs for dinner.

The contractor and I had a chat this morning. He lied to me which made me really mad. BUT he knows that I am on to his wily ways! The quality of workmanship has improved 100% since our chat.

The electrician arrived this morning. He was able to fix the electrical issue so we have power in the entire house! The electrical problem was a screw in the wiring, ops.

The contractor and I will be having a discussion tomorrow about the electrician's bill, since it was their screw that shorted power to our house. The contractor dreads meeting with me because I hold him accountable. Our working relationship would be so much better if he didn't lie AND he didn't cut corners. heavy sigh

Igor and I spent an hour at the new construction site in town. We watched excavators fill up dump truck after dump truck with dirt. There was a strong breeze today so Igor and I were a lovely clay color! When we returned home we played with sand and water. Playing with water has been prohibited because of the drought. This year we have two rain barrels so Igor may play with rain water! Igor thought this was such a wonderful treat. I cannot wait to play with him and the water tomorrow.

Thankfully Rob is back in town! He returned home in time to read Igor books and tuck him into bed.