No Internet

I'm at my parents' house checking email...our internet is down.
Hopefully it will be back up in the next few days. :(

Have a great week!
Julie

Just have to comment...

I get some interesting questions about Halle Grace. People really just are curious, and I totally get that. But since this is my blog, and I get to say whatever I want, I just have to comment on some of the questions we get... :)
- Halle Grace will be babbling on in Russian, and person A will ask "does she speak English?". There's about as much chance of a 5-year-old orphan from eastern Ukraine speaking English as there is a 5-year-old American speaking Russian. I find this humorous!

- Person B will hear that we recently adopted Halle Grace from Ukraine, and they will ask, "did you have to go there?".
"Uh. Yeah." I really don't understand that question. Is it that they truly think you can just order an orphan and they will ship her over? Or are they just trying to make conversation? This one just cracks me up!

- Person C: Are your other children yours? Again, "Uh. Yeah." I know, I know what they mean - are they biological. But it's not the greatest way of asking it. What I really want to say is that it was WAY easier getting the boys than it was getting Halle Grace. Labor and delivery is much shorter and easier than adoption...as is pregnancy for that matter. AND they don't give you drugs! If you used EFFORT as the measuring tool, you could say that Halle Grace is MORE mine than my bio kids. :)

- Person D: Are you going to learn Russian? "Uh. No." I picked up a LITTLE while in Ukraine, but that whole "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" holds true for me and learning a language. Have you tried to learn Russian as an adult? I think it would be a full-time job... Sorry Halle Grace! (Thank the Lord you're doing a GREAT job learning English!)

- Person E: Will they let her go to a regular school? Yep. Our tax dollars hard at work - education for all!

No, these questions don't offend me. I know they are not meant to be offensive. But just know that if you have ever been someone's Person A, B, C, or D, they just might have had a good laugh at your expense! :)

Wow - it's late. I'm off to bed. Anyone want to add to the list?

Overdue Post

Wow! I don't think I've gone this long without posting in weeks (or months!) By the way, this picture has nothing to do with this post...I'm just indulging my ability to show off our little girl! Thanks again, Amy, my fave photographer. Love you!
Life is a little less dramatic these days now that we're home and settled (except, of course, for the new little drama queen in the house!). The honeymoon is over, and we are seeing some "opinions" from Miss Halle Grace. She can turn the tears off and on like a faucet. It's pretty impressivs. At first, we were really sensitive with her about it...thinking she was just overwhelmed, etc. Now, the tears are over things like cleaning up her toys, putting her shoes on, how I fix her hair, or taking a Sunday rest (i.e. today). I think this is good, because she is really just being a normal 5-year-old little girl. We have seen no signs of trauma or real stress, and we are all attaching beautifully. We feel so blessed! She is such a joy and a very happy little girl (minus the pre-mentioned exceptions)

We had a great "girly" weekend. Friday night, we ate at Pei Wei with Kalee. I love that place! Halle Grace loved the edanamme and the fortune cookies. We rented Enchanted, which she LOVED, and painted her fingernails. That movie is so cute! Saturday, Halle and I made strawberry pancakes at home and went swimming at my parents house. It was a little chilly, but she didn't seem to mind! Last night, we went to dinner and church with Valerie and Kallie (their other-halves were on the camping trip, too). Have I mentioned how much I love our church? It is incredible. Scott and the the boys ended up coming home late last night because storms were headed their way. They had a great time camping, hiking, and fishing. It's just a little boys' dream weekend!

I spent a big chunk of my morning working on my blog. I'm still working out some kinks (like how to get the white background off of my photoshop creations). :)
Like it?

Halle's Grace's English progress...
I want to remember how much she has learned at the 2 week mark, so this list is really more for posterity. She seems to understand at least half or more of what we say. The following are words/phrases she currently uses:
phrases
bye-bye
may I please
you're welcome
good girl
thank you
no thank you
counting (to 10)
all done
how are you
I love you
bless you
no, Daisy (our dog's name) :)

words
various body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, hair, hands, feet, fingers
various foods: apple, banana, pear, grapes, strawberry, salad, tomato, chicken, potato, chips, cake, pancakes, cookies, snack, popcorn, yogurt, hot dog, cherry, pineapple, juice, water, Sprite, jelly, chocolate, milk
brothers
airplane
bed
toys
home
car
animals: dog, cat, giraffe, elephant, zebra, monkey, bird
computer
kitchen
blanket
clothing: pajamas, dress, shoes, socks
smile
baby
boy
girl
chair
school
church
trash
ouch
drink
eat
flowers
good
God
amen
pink
pretty
family names(extended family, too)

Monkeys at the Zoo

I took lots of monkeys to the zoo today! I was driving carpool to Museum School, which happens to be down the street from the zoo. We thought it was time Halle Grace got to visit the animals! I let Grant skip school to join in the fun (after all, the zoo IS educational, right?). We dropped off Garrett and his friend Camden at Museum School, then Grant, Halle Grace and I headed over to the zoo. My sister met up with us a little later with Tyler and Zoey. :)
Halle Grace loved it - her favorites were the monkeys and the giraffes. But like most kids I know, she had more fun just running and playing than actually looking at the animals. :)
I went to pick up Garrett and Camden after Museum School so they could join in the fun. A great time was had by all!

A few zoo thoughts on the Forth Worth Zoo...
It's one of the best zoos in the country - it actually reminds me a little of the San Diego Zoo (on a much smaller scale, of course)

As usual, I regretted not starting at the back of the zoo and working our way to the front. It's a LONG walk from the Texas Wild section to the car!

Bring insect repellent for the bees that flock to the picnic tables when you eat lunch! I forgot. Again.

Favorites: feeding the birds with those little birdseed sticks, watching the chimpanzees doing acrobatics (they were so wound up today! Must have been something in the air...:), the new penguin exhibit, listening to Halle Grace rattle off all the animal names in Russian!

Making Vareniki

We travelled back to Ukraine today by making vareniki! Halle Grace LOVES the stuff and was so excited to help. She babbled on and on about her grandmother and how she used to make it. She lived with her grandmother briefly, and speaks of her often. I need to record her stories and have them translated so we can hear them in English!

Katie taught me how to make vareniki when I stayed with her. It's a lot like ravioli. You make a dough out of flour, water, and a dash of salt. Just until you get a nice dough that's not too sticky. Then you knead it for several minutes. The kids loved that part! After that, you let the dough rest while you prepare the filling. Ukrainians often use whatever leftovers they have on hand. We used some mashed-up potato, leftover roast from last night, and cheese. After the dough rests for awhile, break off about a fourth of it at a time. Keep the remaining dough covered while you take one part and roll it in your hands until it looks like a snake. Then chop the "snake" up into little pillows. One at a time, roll each little pillow into a circle - thin, but not too thin. Spoon in a little filling, then fold it over and press the edges together to seal. Then you go around and make little angled folds to double-seal it, as well as make a pretty edging. You boil them just like ravioli - about 5 minutes or so. In Ukraine, they served them a lot with sauteed onions. I just tossed them with a little browned butter. Yum!
Garrett wasn't the biggest fan, but Halle Grace and Grant loved them - kept asking for more. Grant said, "this should be a famous recipe!". Well...it is - in Ukraine!

Here are the little chefs working hard (Grant had already gone outside to play). Yes, that is a sparkly flapper-girl dress Halle is wearing, and yes, she wears it almost every day. :)

Russian Encounter

Revised for the Vosses
Yesterday, we went to the water park to buy our season passes. (Try explaining that it's not open until summer and that we're just here to buy our tickets - charade style!). While in line, the ladies in front of me kept smiling at Halle Grace. Finally they asked if she spoke Russian. So did they!!! They talked to her some and she loved it. She said her name was Halle and she was 5 years old. (good girl!). Then she proceeded to tell her ALL about the yucky history of her life before the orphanage. Yikes! No boundaries there! We'll have to work on that when she's speaking English. She also told the ladies how much she loves her new family. AND that she would like to learn gymnastics! My sister is a gymnastics coach, so she was thrilled. Anyone know of a Russian-speaking gymnastics coach in Northeast Tarrant County? How great would that be! The Russian ladies told me that we really should find someone that Halle can speak Russian with occasionally so she won't lose her native language. Anyone have experience/success with keeping Russian? It would be a challenge since we don't speak it.
Yes, I know about Nastia's gym, but it's in Plano. That's about an hour drive from my house. Have you seen the cost of gas? :)

A few minutes later, another lady walked in and told us that she had a daughter from Russia. They adopted her 5 years ago and she's doing great!

Small world.

Scott and the boys are going on their annual Father-Son camping trip this weekend. So it's just Halle Grace and I! Any ideas for fun things to do? :)

Swimming and Putt Putt

We're definitely not in Ukraine anymore! We went swimming yesterday at my parents' house with my sister's family. It wasn't terribly warm, but they turned on the hot tub and the kids loved it! Of course, I forgot my camera. Ughhh!! Halle Grace LOVES the water and just jumped right in. The boys eventually went over to the big pool, but that water was pretty chilly. Halle tried to join in, and I had to fish her out (poor little thing - scared her to death). She kept telling us she knows how to swim (I guess she figured out that she doesn't). She starts lessons in June! :)

She mostly loved strutting around in her new swimsuit. It's green with sparkes and flowers and a little skirt - and she looks adorable in it. (again, forgot the camers, you'll have to wait on swimming pics :( She woke up this morning asking again to go swimming. We'll have to hold off for a little while I think. Summer's coming soon though!

Halle Grace had her first putt putt experience with our friends the Silvia's Saturday night. She loved it (for about 9 holes - just like her mommy!). We went for ice cream afterwards, where she chose strawberry with M&Ms. The boys got vanilla with gummy bears. They just picked at theirs, as usual. But Miss Halle Grace ate every bite (again, like her mommy!).

This week we plan to finally settle into a routine. We also plan to really start working with her on her English. We have enjoyed attempting to use our Russian words, but it's not helping her, so we're working on breaking the habit.

Happy Monday!