Our last few weeks in pictures

Washington DC









Putting up the Christmas tree...







The Nutcracker at Bass Hall - a mommy/daughter night out with our neighbors.





Halle Grace earned her level 1 trophy at her gymnastics meet!




More to come...it's been a busy month!

Stayin Alive

I'm still here, blogworld! It's been ages since I've spent more than 5 minutes on the computer. Life has sped up around here. I have taken a sub job at the kids school - 2 weeks teaching first grade. I am half-way through, and it's been so much fun teaching again. But SO busy! My hat is off to full-time teachers/moms.
I am also co-chairing the holiday shop at school this week (yes, while I'm teaching. I'm still not sure how that's going to work. Ha!).

We had a great Thanksgiving break! Fall is a crazy time of year for us - between the kids sports schedules and Scott's referee schedule (he refs JV and Varsity football every week for at least 10 weeks in the Fall), our family time is sometimes hard to come by. We celebrated Thanksgiving a little early and decided to take a little getaway over the break. We packed up the kids and headed to Washington DC! We explored as much as we could with three kids in three days. The air and space museum was the favorite. That place is so much fun! Grant was SO into the whole thing - the Capitol, the monuments, everything. Garrett and Halle Grace were most entertained by the hotel and the Metro. :)
We had a great time reconnecting and spending time together. It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season!

We finally finished the Christmas decorating this weekend. Ha! Scratch that "we" and make it an "I". However, there are two presents under the tree. AND they are both for ME!!! That is a first around here. I love my husband... :)

I promise to post pictures this week...

How Not to Build a Bottle Tornado

I just had to preserve this evening's events for posterity.
Grant's homework assignment this week was to create a bottle tornado out of 2 bottles connected together with water inside.
In true Hinshaw fashion, we waited until the last night to attempt it. The directions said we could purchase a special connector at the teacher supply store, OR we could create our own connector with a washer and some electrical tape. It sounded easy enough, so we gave it a shot. Here are some lessons learned...
1 - washers are named for their inside perimeter, not the outside, meaning that I told Scott the wrong size washer to pick up on his way home from work
2 - you cannot successfully make a homemade washer with a credit card and a pocket knife.
3 - you CAN make a washer out of a water bottle seal thingy and a corkscrew
Oops. No electrical tape.
4 - caulk does not work to seal two plastic bottles together
5 - that packing tape with the strings in it does not provide a waterproof seal either
6 - using fire to melt the two bottle mouths together does not work either. If fact, it just warps the bottle and turns it black.
7 - lots of saran wrap and lots of clear packing tape creates a semi-water proof seal.
We plan to send it to school tomorrow in a giant zip lock bag. Poor kid!
The biggest lesson learned...make the trip to the teacher supply store to buy the special connector and be done with it.

Two Hours in Ukraine

Today I spent 2 hours in an Eastern European deli in Richardson. It was like stepping back to my life in Ukraine 7 months ago. It was EXACTLY like the little mom-and-pop grocery stores in Mariupol. EVERYONE in that store was speaking Russian, and everything was in Cyrillic. It was the craziest thing!
I was there because this is a Meest location, which is the shipping company I used to send our orphanage care package. After taking MUCH too long to sort and pack everything, we finally got it loaded in the car this morning. All I had was the Russian address for Solnitchka - I hadn't been able to find it in English. At the last minute, I absentmindedly checked my email before I left the house, and there was an email from our missionary friend in Ukraine (thank you, Lord!). He sent me the English address and said that he had just come from the orphanage! He said that the director sends her love and wanted to let Halle Grace know that many of her friends have found families!
Hooray!
Now I was really ready. So off I went on my 45-minute drive to Richardson. When I got to the store, the owner was so nice, but told me that I had too many boxes. There is a $20/per box fee (I had 7 or 8 boxes). He thought I could consolidate, though. Sure enough, there was plenty of room in those larger boxes (that's what happens when I let the kids help pack!). His scale only went to 30 pounds, so we had to open each box, take some stuff out to weigh, then weigh the box and add the totals together. Then we repacked the boxes into 4 LARGE boxes and taped them all up...all while he was helping customers in a pretty steady stream! (which explaines why I was there for 2 hours!) He was amazing!
I enjoyed practicing my Russian (I'm nearly fluent after today! Ha!), and shopping for all the goodies I remember so well. I brought home 3 boxes of strawberry tea, some cherry juice, and some Granny Smith apple juice. Yummmmm!
I guess Meest contracts with UPS, so next I was sent there to drop off the boxes. I was actually taken aback when I walked in and heard English again. Oh yeah, I'm in America!
For those of you who asked about shipping to Ukraine...it's not cheap! Using Meest, we sent about 190 lbs in 4 boxes for a total of $325 (MUCH cheaper than UPS or the Post Office). A few families donated money to help us with shipping...and guess how much we were given? $310. Amazing, huh?
It will arrive anywhere from 5 to 8 weeks.
Although this was great, we are thinking that next time, it might be better just to send cash. That way the orphanage could get what they really need on their own(this is an orphanage I know we could trust). But it was an incredible experience for our kids, and for our school, to be a part of something that brings out such compassion, generosity, and joy. I think it's something they will always remember. Thank you, Liberty Elementary!

Here is most of the stash. I took this picture before the last day of our collection time, and it grow by about 50 percent that day!





Here is the final result (at least until I had to repack it all at the European Deli!). Poor Garrett had been crying because the boxes were too heavy and he wanted to help. Some days, it's just hard to be 6.

Our Box Runneth Over!

We have been BLOWN AWAY by the response at the kids' school. The orphanage care package drive has been wildly successful - and there's still 2 days to go! Every day this week, I have gone up to school to take loads of loads of stuff home. Grant, Garrett and Halle Grace have been promoting the drive all week on their video morning announcements, which they think is super-cool. We so proud of their enthusiasm for this project, and I pray that it will instill in them a life-long love of service and showing compassion to others.
So far, it's all piled up in the garage - but tomorrow I plan to begin sorting through the loot. I'll try to post pics. It will be a sight to behold. We might need to take out a loan to ship it all! :)
(by the way, we are using Meest to ship. It's slower, but MUCH cheaper)

I wish my kids could be flies on the wall the day the boxes arrive at Solnitchka...especially Halle Grace. If it wasn't so incredibly hard to get there, I'd be tempted to deliver it ourselves!

On a different note...and because it's my blog, and I can...here is my favorite political quote of the day: "Remember that it took a President Carter to bring us to a President Reagan" (sorry, I can't remember who said it...Rush? Mark Davis? Don't know...:)

Here comes the bride...and the clone trooper...and the basketball player

We had a great Halloween! I've never been a huge Halloween person, but this was definitely a great one. Halle Grace was in HEAVEN, considering that her favorite thing on the planet is candy. It was so fun watching her trick-or-treating - she just ran as fast as she could from house to house. Then she was SO excited to show us what she got each time. So cute!

We've got lots to catch up on, so I'll back up a little...
Last week, the Kindergarteners had a field trip to Rocky Top Ranch. They had the best time visiting the farm animals, riding horses, and a hayride.



We also got to take a trip to the pumpkin patch with our good neighbor friends. It was so much fun!




Last Saturday, we went to the Colleyville Haunted Trail with our good friends, the Popes. It wasn't scary at all, and they had tons of games and crafts. The kids had a great time.



Wednesday night, we had a family night at home and carved pumpkins. Look how cute they are! They each picked their own face and they were so proud of their creations. (and wow - is carving 3 pumpkins a LOT of work!!! :)
Halle Grace loves to wear jammies that don't match. What's up with that?


Last night, we had our annual Neighborhhod Halloween Festival. It's right in our cul-de-sac, and is always so much fun. This was followed by trick-or-treating and then a party at our back-door-neighbor's house. It was a late night - but worth it. Those were some happy kids I put to bed last night! Poor Scott had to ref a game last night and missed all the fun. We knew that one year, Halloween would fall on a Friday and he's have to miss it. Bummer that it was this year. We sent him pictures on his phone so he wouldn't miss too much. :)





And last, but not least, Grant received his Bobcat badge in Cub Scouts this week! Way to go, Grant!


(Whew - that was one busy week and a half! Now you see why I haven't blogged in so long. :)

Solnitchka Care Package

There are so many things that Halle Grace wants to send to her friends at Solnitchka (Little Sun Orphanage) in our Christmas care package. She and the boys asked if we could include others in our "collecting" for the care package. So, with Halle Grace's permission and input, we are organazing care package donations through the kids' school. We have our letter all ready to go. I wanted to get some input from those of you in the adoption world...
Halle Grace came up with many of these items (things they didn't have there, like children's toothpaste, no-tears shampoo, and PJs with feet!). Here are some things I listed as suggested care package donations:
Children’s toothbrushes (not electric)
Children’s toothpaste
Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo or body wash
Soft Kleenex
Warm pajamas (sizes 3T to 5/6)
Slippers
Hats and scarves and gloves
Underwear – girls or boys
Thick, warm socks, tights for girls
Shoes of all kinds (for children ages 3 - 6)
Girls’ hair bows or clips
Educational toys (no stuffed animals)
Art supplies

For those of you who have spent time in orphanages, do you have anything to add?
I also want to send some kind of children's story Bibles, but I haven't been able to find one in Russian. I'm thinking about making my own...coloring book style so the kids will have more interaction with it. Anyone have any experience with this, or thoughts/ideas?
Thanks, Bloggies!
More later on our Halloween festivites this weekend...

Improving...

Halle Grace has been wearing a patch over one eye for two hours a day for the last 3 months. She had sergury in Ukraine for strabismus (crossed/lazy eye). But since then, her vision in that eye has deteriorated because the eye is working so hard just to stay in place. We patch her good eye in order to "wake up" the other eye and strengthen it. We went to the doctor yesterday and recieved a GREAT report! Her eyesight in her "bad" eye has improved from 20/60 to 20/40 in the last 3 months! We will continue with the patching and work toward 20/20 vision now, which the doctor fully anticipates. Once this happens, we will continue patching (though less often) to stabilize her vision. Her glasses will stick around for awhile - even when her vision is perfect. Their real purpose is to let more light into the back of the eye to keep the eye muscles stimulated and stabilized.

This was a great first-step-sucess and we are so proud of Halle Grace! She has been such a trooper with the patching - it was nice to see her efforts and cooperation rewarded.
So there's your lesson of the day in strabismus! :)

Our boys in action

I love my dad - and I love his photography skills! Thanks, Dad, for the great pics.

Garrett is a natural at soccer - he LOVES to play! AND he's super cute! :)




Grant pulled 4 flags today! Here's a shot of one of them...


Grant's team is undefeated - go Broncos!
Garrett's team....well...they're having lots of fun! :)

Garrett's other first day of school

(I know - 3 blog entries in one day. It's out of control. But there's just a lot to say, and each deserves its own post.)

Today was a big day for Garrett! Up until this point, he has been in half-day Kindergarten. Halle Grace gets to be in an all-day class (qualifying through ESL), and this has been really tough on Garrett. He didn't understand why he didn't get to stay all day (and go to lunch, and PE, and music...) like Halle Grace and Grant. Well, HG's little all-day class of 5 (yes - 5 students) was finally opened up to other students - and Garrett was given the opportunity to make the switch. At first it was a bit of a tough call because we'd rather the two of them not be in the same class. But in the end, we just couldn't turn down the chance for more time to learn all those important Kindergarten skills. It's really a great opportunity for him.
So...today was Garrett's first day with his new class! 10 new kids moved over from the half-day program. It was like the first day of school all over again - parents were taking pictures, the kids were all quiet and shy. :)
Garrett was thrilled with his new class and we know it's going to be a great place for him. I admit that I've had a bit of a hard time with this. I wasn't expecting to give up my afternoons with him so soon! I am now officially a school-age "empty nester" and it feels wierd. I am planning to begin subbing a little next month, so that will be fun to get back in my old game a little bit. Other than that, I guess I have to start keeping my floors sparkling, my closets organized, homemade cookies in the oven, and my Bible studies caught up. No more excuses.

Happy all-day Kindergarten to us!

Here are my little Wonder-Twins during Garrett's first official school cafeteria lunch.

6 Months with Halle Grace!

We can't believe it's been 6 months! It's hard to imagine life without this little girl who has captured our hearts. In these six short months, she has become fluent in English (and has lost most of her Russian, sadly), she has made lots of new friends, learned to swim, ride a bike and scooter, learned the English alphabet, learned about Jesus, learned to pray, riden planes and trains, fished, celebrated her 6th birthday, climbed trees, camped out, started Kindergarten, started gymnastics... she has become a US citizen, and she has become our daughter. Busy girl.

We love you, Halle Grace, and we are so proud of you! You are such a sweet and generous little girl. You are always thinking of others. Your sweet and kind spirit is such a blessing to everyone around you. We are so thankful that the Lord brought you into our lives!

Here are some pictures of our little girl then...and now.
The day we met...


In Kiev...


April 11 Homecoming


yesterday...practicing her gymnastics moves outside


Happy 6 months Halle Grace!

Farm Fest '08

Farm Fest is a fun-filled family campout hosted every year by my parent's good friends, the Grahams. They live on lots of acres out in East Texas and began Farm Fest several years ago for their extended family. It has since taken on a life of it's own and now includes friends, and friends of friends. They are amazing people that really know how to throw a party and we feel so blessed to be included!

It was non-stop action and fun from the moment we arrived on Saturday. The activities included hay rides, fishing, little train rides, scavenger hunt, painting pumpkins, cake walks, bird-house-building, and pumpkin ball. We also rode 4-wheelers and Wilbur, the horse. The boys got to make bottle rockets and shoot them off, which is always a big hit. Just being out in the country was entertainment for our city kids. Grant loved just exploring the trails and discovering new things. Garrett fell in love with the GIANT swing that hung from one of the super-tall trees. Halle Grace enjoyed her first s'more, first horse ride, tent sleep, etc. She loved every minute of it!

Weekend Pictures

Birthday Party Slideshow

Grant's Football Game






Halle Grace (can't leave her out!)