Busy Week and Weekend

This has been a rough but fun week/weekend. Mom's really been sick - and is still that way. Camp was fun for Daniel and Maria, but Friday was what they were really looking forward to - their first day of "big school". It was Step Up day before the current children got out of their school. They got to meet their teachers and classmates. Its nice that they'll have a couple of events before school to get to sort of hit the ground running with school. Daniel and Maria are both disappointed that its back to camp for the summer now though!

Since Mom missed so much work, Justin came to babysit to let Mom go to work on Saturday. They kiss me and push me out the door when Justin comes - they both love him!

Saturday evening, Mrs. Jamie and Mrs. Nicole came over to swim and grill with us. What fun that was! Daniel's been saying he missed Mrs. Jamie for a while (0nly a week after finishing preschool). The big surprise of the evening was that both Daniel and Maria learned how to swim - sans tubes and the whole thing. We had two little fish swimming between the three of us - and we had to take some mandatory rest breaks because of little hearts beating really fast! I'd been looking for a place for them to take swimming lessons without success - thinking we might pass on that opportunity for this summer now. It was so good to be with our friends again! We'll definitely need to do that again.

Mom woke up with fever again on Sunday so we stayed home together all day. It was not the best plan - single moms just don't have time to feel bad. On this day when mom really wanted to stay horizontal we had 5 spilled drinks, 1 large shelf pulled off of the wall on top of Daniel on the floor with every flash card we own having been on that shelf (no injuries fortunately - but definitely major scared!), and door hardware magically coming off of the door. This was not our best day for sure - although I'm thinking Daniel and Maria had a lot more fun than mom on this day! Tucked in a very disappointed Daniel that he doesn't get to go to big school tomorrow - may be a long time until August!

Daniel's still got a bottom tooth hanging on. We should have our first visit from the tooth fairy to report at some time this week.

Start to Camp

Daniel and Maria started camp on Tuesday. So far they seem to be enjoying it, but I don't get a lot of feedback about what they like. Daniel was disappointed when I told him he didn't need to take his backpack home every day - he definitely likes bringing his lunch every day - and his pillow and blanket to put in his cubbie. Maria enjoys lunch and coloring. I've noticed already that bandaids are much bigger at camp than they are at school - definitely industrial sized bandaids for playing outside injuries at camp....and the little cute smile when asked about the severity of that awful injury.....nothing!

Daniel told me today "I took a good nap". I sort of shook my head because the first two days I heard that he layed down and watched a movie during nap time. Today he said "they gave us a sucker for sleeping". What you think - sounds like the counselors may have needed a rest from a large group of five year olds - Daniel says there are 10 boys! He's enjoying the boys.

We came home and picked blackberries. They love those each day! And, they're protected by the pool fence/gate so I get to enjoy them with them. They both love them but seem to watch out for each other that they both get enough - and even offer mom one every now and then. I don't love eating them nearly as much as love watching them enjoy them!

Memorial Day Weekend and Off to Camp!

Lots of family was in for the weekend to celebrate Memorial Day. We dodged a few raindrops, but the children were all way more patient than I remember being at that age. They played great together as they always do.

My favorite new things for Daniel and Maria were Daniel's use of the word "delicious". He says it perfectly and every cookie he sees is a delicious cookie. Maria got new Dora sandals and there are no other shoes! She can put them on herself and she loves them - they're pink! They've enjoyed pretending to be Callan and Kenna every time we get in the pool, but they're working on being able to swim like them quickly. They can go all over in their tubes and Daniel's starting to venture out a bit without his. Their favorite entertainment in the pool though is saying "I see something pink" and having mom retrieve the rings and diving sticks from the bottom of the deep end! I definitely get a good workout with them in the pool!

Momma had to go to work on Memorial Day so everybody else swam for a while and headed for home. Grandma and PawPaw stayed with Daniel and Maria and worked in our yard a bit. It was nice to come home to trimmed shrubs and bushes!

We packed backpacks and lunches for the first day of camp. They were excited about their first day this morning! Can't wait to hear about it tonight!

Preschool is Over

Yesterday was Daniel and Maria's last day of preschool. It was a sad day for everyone except Daniel and Maria who are quite excited to heading for camp and "big school" now. It may be interesting next week to see what they think because I believe that Daniel and Maria expect that Mrs. Jamie and Mrs. Nicole will be at camp and school, too, by a few things they say. I'm not sure what I expected out of preschool as a rookie new mom of a 4 and 5 year old, but my expectations were far exceeded! The nostalgia that came from the week that included Daniel's end of year music program and end of year party left Mom teary eyed most of the week - joyful tears recounting just how far Daniel and Maria have come. I'm always cracking up when I hear words that we don't use at home coming out of their mouth - its fun trying to figure out just who they picked it up from at school (most of them have been good things, too!). And, for a while it was tough getting to keep my glasses on. It wasn't that Daniel wanted to wear them to see - he wanted to wear them hanging on his shirt like Mrs. Jamie. And, we've heard about Mrs. Nicole from Maria all year long. They didn't just have teachers this year - they are special friends!

Daniel's program

My mother is here for a few days. We had the joy of going to see Daniel's end of he year program at school. If you were following the blog back in December, you may remember that Daniel was terrified at their Christmas program. It was a different time last night. Daniel enjoyed himself - and was completely himself. He reacted to how the other parents enjoyed the children's singing and expression. Aunt Ellen and Uncle Paul also got to come check out the show. I've got pictures of course.

Daniel has been excited to have friends and family over to our house lately. Grandma spent the night in his bed last night and his cousins are coming for a weekend of swimming on Saturday. Daniel invited his teachers over for "tomorrow night" as we were leaving. As I was tucking Daniel in I obviously had to quiz him about where everyone was going to sleep. He had that all worked out - Grandma and PawPaw and Mrs. Jamie are going to sleep in Momma's bed. Momma, Daniel and Aunt Gay Lynn are going to sleep in his twin bed. Guessing that we can't get any of the proposed guests for this arrangement, but we're looking forward to having many friends over for swimming and grilling this summer!

Daniel has been so blessed by his school for this year. God definitely put us in just the right spot - for both Daniel and Maria - and we'll hate to leave when school is over on Friday and camp starts on Tuesday. Mrs. Jamie and Mrs. Nicole (Maria's teacher) will definitely be a continuing part of their lives - they're special!

Maria's Music Show Off Day

Today was Maria's Day at school to show off with her class all of the music they've learned. Aunt Ellen and Uncle Paul got to come and we were all set to watch Maria enjoy herself. That stinker decided to be shy on us. Every day in the rear view mirror I get the sweetest little music show you can imagine from the back seat. Guess we'll have to invite y'all to become flies on the wall! Maria decided people "may laugh at her" and sat in her chair. Mom learned today that when you send her to school in a dress you put shorts on underneath - especially if she's going to be embarassed or shy and needs to hide behind her legs! Guess I'll have to continue enjoying the show in the rear view mirror for a while longer....and Maria got her sucker anyway!

Daniel's Interesting Day

I've not put a lot about Daniel's recent medical struggles in the blog because I want to include things Daniel and Maria will want to remember. Today was definitely one that I want Daniel to remember. We started out at Occupational Therapy which he loves. Because of his ongoing issues with nausea and not eating, we had planned to work on eating issues today. He only goes to OT every two weeks and it has always been a productive time. Today was no exception. Daniel doesn't eat meat and they figured out why today - he does not have developed muscles in that area. He moves his mouth straight up and down without any grinding motion and needs to learn how to eat chewier things. Daniel will definitely laugh at their recommendation for learning to eat the good stuff (meat), he has to eat candy - Twizzlers and Tootsie Rolls. Those will help develop the muscles and he's supposed to try to add a few bites per meal of things that are more difficult for him to eat. Mom laughed because of Daniel's Sunday revelation that he needed to eat more candy.....guess he was right. Mom's a tad bit jealous because when I did speech as a youngster, I had to learn how to swallow. Rubber bands on my tongue for long stretches of time in silence and putting my tongue on "the spot" every time I saw a red sticker was WAY less fun than eating candy!

After OT it was back to school. And, as has been the case way too often these last couple of months, I got a call from Mrs. Jamie saying that Daniel was not feeling well. After a discussion with the pediatrician's office we headed off to the hospital for an ultrasound and an upper GI X-ray that we were supposed to do tomorrow. Daniel loves buttons and gadgets so tests like these have never been a challenge for Daniel. He doesn't seem scared at all. He took it to another whole level today though on the upper GI test. They added chocolate syrup to the barium you have to drink and had him watching things on the screen with the x-ray over him and his "chocolate milk" ready to drink through a big straw. He sucked it down immediately and asked if there was more! He was finished with that test in no time - not sure what it showed, but we're praying that Daniel can start keeping his food with him soon!

Sick children are rough on blogging!

Yes, it has been almost a week since I've posted. We've had a lot of fun....Disney on Ice with Aunt Gay Lynn, a Mother's Day Breakfast at school....then it happened.....Daniel got sick again right after the breakfast. Daniel's been having a ton of problems with throwing up so he'll be having a bunch more tests to try to figure out what's going with this, but we've had two months of this and it is time for a solution.

On top of that, Maria got sick as she walked into the doctor's office for Daniel on Friday. No, they didn't have the same thing.....she had a fever for most of the weekend. So, we had a sick weekend. In the midst of this we did have a few cute things I wanted to share:

Daniel liked me to lay down beside him for a while when I tuck him in and he says "Listen to me, Momma". I'm supposed to be all ears and I usually want to because I always see those eyes sparkling coming up with something great to tell me. Sunday afternoon for his nap he had a really good one - he told me that at the Detskey Dome that all he ate was candy and that is how he got so tall and strong. No worries, other times he's told me that they mostly had green soup to eat and that matches what I saw them eating. But, he continued on, "momma, I need to eat more candy so I can grow taller and stronger". I, of course, saw that one coming about the time I heard that he's eaten so much candy at the orphanage. That boy keeps those wheels spinning for sure.

The children were interesting and fun to watch at the Disney on Ice show. Maria enjoyed the show. She watched with very little facial expression changes - and many trips to the little girl's room. Daniel on the other hand, ate a snow cone without ever taking his eyes off of the ice skaters. He knew all about ice skating from having watched it on the "little tv at the detskey dome". He clapped, hooped and hollered. Mickey Mouse - or as he says, "Miska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse" was his favorite. They love to make up words that have a Russian sound and the Mickey Mouse Club passwords are the real thing and sound very Russian too. Maria is the queen of the Russian sounding words though. I really need to get with Aunt Elena on the phone soon because I don't think they're speaking any Russian - just Russian sounding words.

A few quickies on swimming.....

.....things I learned just the last few days:

1) There is a reason little girls wear bikinis. Maria now has one or two - one pieces are very hard to get out of when they're wet and impossible to get back on without mom and some injuries.

2) Never fall for the eat and swim thing. Yes, it is an old wives tale that you shouldn't swim for 30 minutes after you eat, but I let them con me into saying "yes" to eat and swim, eat and swim. Mom was left eating and they never took another bite all night.

3) They swim better when mom is on the side. See #2. Prior to our attempt at eating, I was getting much exercise swimming around the pool with two little ones clinging to me tightly in their tubes and swimmies. Amazing how great they can "swim" when they can go eat with mom or swim by theirselves until she gets back in!

4) Even dead bees in the pool need shooting with the water gun.

5) Live dragonflies need to be shot with the water gun, but they needn't worry about actually being hit for now. PETA has no worries.

6) I'm not quite sure how to keep a skinny little guy warm in the pool. Daniel shakes a lot in the pool because he's cold, but has no interest in getting out at all!

7) During the night we learned that we need to start using Swimmer's Ear before/after we get in the pool. Daniel's got swimmer's ear, so we'll be out of the pool for a few days!

I've been so looking forward to being able to enjoy the pool with Daniel and Maria and it is at least as much fun as I envisioned!

Weekends are fun!

We're so glad that it is swimming pool time for real now - Daniel still shivers the whole time....even if he is smiling the whole time, too. We swam and grilled burgers Saturday afternoon and night. Daniel and Maria are both very comfortable in the water but neither knows how to swim yet. They're happy to play in their tubes and/or swimmies with the occasional lesson from mom. We'll be looking for lessons whenever we can work it out and things settle down a bit.

Daniel LOVES eating outside. When we said our prayers at bedtime Saturday night, Daniel wanted me to pray that we could eat outside every night.

Daniel was probably quite disappointed when Sunday turned out rainy and we did not get to get in the pool at all. I've had a can of shaving cream out on the back patio for about a month for Daniel and Maria to play with, but it has gone unnoticed. With the rain subsiding a little bit and Daniel and Maria very stir crazy, they discovered it. They started a little slow - in up to their elbows, but they ended up covered from head to toe with the stuff - had to strip and hose off before heading in directly to the bathtub!

Exhausting week....but special as they all are.

It has been a very full week, but we closed it out in the swimming pool, a quick supper, and off to bed. Bed time is such a special time. Its 9:30 now and they're still not asleep - so much for that thought that swimming would wear 'em out.

We tried telling a few stories tonight. Daniel always likes telling me about the Detskey Dome so I decided to tell him the story of the first time I met him. I told him how Elena went with me on the big plane to Russia and how I got to meet him by himself that first time because Maria had to go to the doctor. I told him he'd told Maria all about us by the time we got back in the afternoon to get to meet them both again. I told him what a good big brother he was to Maria. He interupted me to tell me that Maria is special and he protects her from people who push her in the back (at the Detskey Dome - and no doubt he did that plenty!!). I told him how I'd run back to the hotel to call Grandma, PawPaw, Aunt Gay Lynn, and Aunt Kayla and to email them pictures of them - that about ended the story though when he told me how "special" Maria is - Momma loses it really quick on stuff like that. Maria IS special, but Daniel is every bit as special.

I could hear much motion in the next room so I went to visit with Maria for a few minutes. I sang her the special song that she loves so much "You're a special child, a special child, no one else is quite like you. You're a special child, a special child - I love you." She interupted me about halfway through telling me to sing that Daniel is special. I do have two special children that love each other very much.....Mom sheds more tears.

What a blessing it is to have these two who love each other unbelievably and share some of that love with a mom that loves then right back! God has been good to us!