brussel sprouts

Can someone please explain, what is the problem with one of these in a bowl ready for dinner?

I know they are not everyone's favorite persay, but it is just a little baby cabbage after all right?

Anyway our dinner went something like this:

Oksana (prior to the boys coming to the table as bad influences)

Mommy May I have one?

Sure honey!

Then.. the look. You know the one that says it all...gross!

Then she cried," I don't like it" and there it sat on the table, like a squished green ball.

Enter the boys for dinner..

Larry advoiding eye contact with them. As if by not seeing them, then perhaps they don't exsist and I won't ask why he didn't have any.

Vitaly proudly taking one (as he is not a picky eater and will try everything) and then.. that look (again)..and then "YUCK!"

Nikolai just laughing, because we all knew in advance he would rather eat dog food, then a dreaded brussel sprout or any cabbage.

Mom (big sigh) eats half the bowl with no problems.

I guess I know the only person that will be eating the leftovers!

August in Pictures

First we celebrated Vitaly's birthday at his choosing which was a chicken wings place known here locally (Frickers for all that know LOL). He chose it for the "game room"

and his dear "special aunt and uncle" joined us for his awesome birthday (love ya aunt rah and uncle Mark)

Here is the bday kid with his Kidz Bop cd and new CD player.

Here is Oksana practicing her favorite sport soccer or ballon kicking inside the house

she is a natural!
Mia Hamm watch out!
Success!

(a new in style bobbie socks notice they dont match- one must be nik's and one Oksana's)

The shirt though I designed myself for the 2007 UA angel reunion. It says adopt an angel!

Are you ready for some football....

Nikolai "The Paralyzer" waiting for his first game

The Paralyzer!

And now for the half time the cheerleader.

Introducing Vitaly "Slammin" S.

The third grade terror

Over the weekend we attended a friend's birthday

Luau partywhich was a lot of fun.

Where is the surf dude

Aloha Ohio style

(V and Dad scoring some food!)

Check out the feast and my cool shirt

The best of friends ready to have some birthday party fun!

Happy August!

Three bad kiddos

So what happens when:

A.. one yells and stomps his foot at mom
B.. one says that another one put the water in the hand soap (lied)
C.. one agrees with the other that someone else lied (another lie)

Answer:
D. All children go to bed before seven o'clock.

and

E. Mom and dad get some quite time alone to reconnect without even paying a babysitter!

Another Conference

I sure do miss my kids! Traveling is not as easy as it is cracked up to be!

The good part is I am devoting some time at the hotel gym, since I really do not have much else to do, after sitting in meetings all day.

What I cannot understand is why the fancy hotels are never near anything in walking distance.

I would be happy with just a Taco Bell and a place to buy a bottle of water less than $4.00!

Luckily, I am flying home tomorrow. Maybe, I will try and get bumped again.

When I went to the Orlando Conference, I put myself on the bump list. I was the only one to get the bump and a free ticket. I plan on using that ticket to take Oksana to visit my brother/SIL, in Denver. They have never met Oksana and their daughter is the same age, so that should be a great visit!

Weight Watchers Update

I have been a Weight Watchers slacker for the last two months.

It began when they gave us July 5th off to weigh-in, and then I headed to Michigan.

Two weeks later and I was up one pound. Well, after all of the blueberries and a few stops for fast food, it was probable.

The next time I had the chance to weigh-in was last week.

Two weeks after eating chocolate, vacation and a trip to Orlando. Tally gained= one pound. (Sigh)

I promised myself this past week I was getting back on track! I did get a few walks in with the dogs, and I watched what I ate (but not as good as I could have), so I said either I gained again or stayed the same.

Before I got on the scale, I said probably a bad week for me...

I couldn't see the numbers (it was a little blurry from my vantage point) and I heard her say great job~

I looked at what she wrote and was in SHOCK- I was down 3.4 pounds!

I said something must be wrong and got on it again. Same result. I told her let me stand better in the middle. Same result.

There just had to be an error with the scale and she said- it hasn't changed in three tries! Congratulations!

YEAH! Time for my Saturday post weigh-in treat! A homemade chocolate chip cookie!

08/08/08

Today is a special day. It is 08/08/08. That alone is pretty cool.
What makes it even more special is that it is someone's birthday.

Today is Vitaly's ninth birthday.

Nine.

What a big number.

What a milestone for a child that was labeled "failure to thrive" and would have been a possible long-term orphanage sentence, if he had not been adopted.

A child that weighed 11 pounds at fifteen months old.

(so tiny)

A baby that didn't know how to eat solid foods, had his little hands clenched in fists (taught so he would not touch the bottle!), a baby that had barely smiled or laughed or had the chance to crawl (if ever). A baby that had been turned "down" by another family.

(here he is having a cookie for the first time, one itty bitty piece at a time)

Luckily, we saw past the imperfections and labels and saw a child needing a family. We found our son.

(mommy meets her son-notice his little fist)

Today he is a happy, healthy, very tall, silly, friendly boy. A boy that still needs some TLC.

A boy just looking for lots of fun and adventure, the way all boys do.

Happy Birthday Vitaly!

May all of your wishes be blessed!

(and no you will not be getting a real "Hummer"-but it is okay to still wish)

We love you!

Our vacation

We had a great time on our vacation.

Our first stop was my brother's new home.

Here are three at the sleep over party:

(cousin S, Nik and cousin O)

The next day we headed out for a day at the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh

(side note it was free because we had a membership to another local museum something families might want to consider.)

The cousins

(oksana and T playing in sand)

(Oksana and T learning about water)

(V exploring Engineering)
Having fun
We sadly said good-bye and headed to our next stop Lancaster PA

Here we were lucky to have our hotel directly across from Dutch Wonderland

It was a perfect stop for kids under ten! The nice part we could just walk to the hotel for lunch,

a quick nap, change into swimsuits, and not carry lots of extras! (Can we go now! No more pictures we want to ride!)

Here are the kids riding lots of great kid rides:

(I am not scared are YOU?)
(Nik loved the big kid rollercoaster, while Vitaly was not a fan!)
(all three ready to ride alone - Oksana is FEARLESS, but mommy was not, now I know how my mom felt when we rode the big rides!)

(need room for one more!)

(Oksana and dad on the Carousel, notice she is the ONLY one riding!)
It began to rain and walked back to the hotel and swam inside and outside.

(V swimming great without any floaties- those swim lessons finally paid off!)
(Daddy tossing Nik like a cannonball)
(what a year makes daredevil Oksana swimming unassisted in "deep" water)
(A tired little girl)

We departed Lancaster and headed our travels to Hershey PA to attend the Ukrainian Angels Annual Reunion and taste some chocolate. I remember traveling to Hershey myself as a little girl and was curious to see what it was like again.

We stayed at the UA Angels reserved hotel and enjoyed swimming inside and outside for a few days.

Then we headed to the place where chocolate is a foundation...Hershey's Chocolate World

(My cuties waiting for some chocolate!)
(no words for world's largest chocolate and yes we bought the mega twizzlers on the left!)
(Now here is a job that might be tempting working with chocolate and candy every day. My three learning to work in a chocolate factory)
Our precious family with $15.00 of chocolate in the bag and a big candy bar per piece in our stomachs. I have to mention a cute thing that happened. As I let each child pick a candy bar (large) of their choosing we all sat down for our snack. Vitaly turned to Nikolai and said "well, did you get one?" Nik said hold on and slowly opened his wrapper. He then said to V "No I didnt get a golden ticket either!" (From Willy Wonka of course) Larry and I just looked at each other and smiled.

UA Angels
This is A. She and V hit it off immediately. They are so compatible and so alike. They were instant friends.

V and A played non-stop together.

A wears glasses and so does V but he did not have them at the pool.

When A saw V with his glasses she excitedly proclaimed, "Vitaly you wear glasses TOO!" Which he proudly smiled for being recognized for such a great feat!

Then V said to me. A is from Ukraine just like me!

That is what the reunion is all about. Finding friends that like you just the way you are and with a little something special that others can't quite understand!

Some more friends not identified but all UA cuties:

Two year old cutie

Four year twins!

Oksana and J groupa buddies from Odessa #3
Nik and assorte UA dudes

Unfortunately, we had to leave early and take mommy to the airport and daddy headed towards home. Mom caught her plane to Orlando to stay at an overpriced resort, but she at least had the luxury of this bed

Mommy missed her family and wondered how a resort could charge $5.00 for a bottle of water and $17.00 for a sandwich!

Mommy then struggled with her sudden summer cold and sinus infection and has since tried to recuperate with vertigo (thanks ear infection)

We are now back to routine although mommy is making up the lost time with extra hours at work, but the boys are playing football and having alot of fun with it!

Is it really August already????