More Fun In The Snow

Thankfully the boys aren't bored of the snow yet!  Jojo does express his longing for Spring and Summer but he doesn't complain once we're outside!

 

The boys were digging for treasures!

 

If you notice on the right hand side a woman is walking by.  I didn't 

even see her coming since I was busy taking pictures.  Well, Jojo

showered her with snow and she wasn't too happy!

My Son, The Ostrich

We got a ton of snow this past week!  It was really beautiful,white, and fluffy!  The temps also "warmed" up a bit to be outside for a while.  The boys had a lot of fun playing in the snow.  Jojo especially enjoyed digging his head into the snow.

 

At one point a babushka walked by while Jojo was lying head first

in the snow and I thought she would yell at me but instead she 

started laughing really hard at him!

 

Covered in snow!

Birthday!

Yesterday we celebrated my husband's 40th birthday!  I planned a little surprise get together for him and had some of our friends over.  It was a fun night but unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pictures! 

Saturday evening we were able to get out on a date night.  We went to T.G.I.F's for............

 

a taste of America!

 

And here's the birthday boy!  

 

Aside from our meals we shared this plate of onion rings that were

totally delicious at the time but by the time we got home we felt

stuffed and we were reminded all night about those onion rings!!!

I'm so thankful for my husband!  God has given me above and 

beyond what I deserve in this amazing man!  Happy 40th baby!!

Heaven

Lately Jojo has been asking a lot of questions about heaven.  He's our little thinker and I think those years were he kept mainly silent he was storing up a treasure chest of thoughts and questions in his little head.  Some of the questions he asked were as follows:
Will we sleep in heaven?
Will we eat in heaven?
Will we eat fish in heaven?
Will we watch television in heaven?
And my favorite question...... will I be able to speak to my papa in heaven?

I remember when my nephew was about 6 years old and he asked me if there were roller coasters in heaven.  I replied no!  He broke down crying.  Needless to say my sister wasn't too happy with me! 

Hand Me Downs

 

This is Jojo at 3 1/2 years old.  So thankful I have two boys so that

I can pass the clothes down.  Not sure that they will like it when they

are older but for now it works for us.

 

Naynay at 3 1/2 years old.

Finger Imprints

 

Someone in this home loves frosting!  Actually whenever there is a 

cake or cupcakes the only thing he eats is the frosting.  Saturday I

baked a carrot cake and topped it with cream cheese frosting.  This 

was the last itty bitty piece left for daddy when he got home tonight,

but while I was hanging laundry the frosting lover decided to get his 

share of the frosting!  He didn't hide the evidence very well at all.

 

And here is further evidence of our frosting

stealer............he can't reach the counter so 

he had a little help from a stool!

Science

Last semester we studied plants.  One of our projects was to plant some seeds.  I think I was more excited about the whole project than Josiah.

  

                          We had to soak our corn and green pea seeds overnight.

We then planted the seeds and let them sit on a window sill to get some 

rays, but this is Russia so we had to sit them under a light on most days.

 

After several days we got some plants!  

 

And then we pulled the plants out and I was so surprised to see how the 

plants grow out of the seeds.  Don't ask me why I was surprised, but 

it was just real cool to see that.  I am not a green thumb but this

project made me excited about possibly one day having a garden.

Saxon Math

When I first started homeschooling I had no idea what kind of curriculum to buy.  I asked several friends for advice and one friend in particular told me about Saxon Math.  Since I totally trust her and since she has homeschooled 5 (2 of which are now in College), I went ahead and ordered it.  I am so glad I did.  Josiah loves it.  It can be pretty repetitive but I have found that the repetition helps Josiah to remember certain concepts.  We also have a lot of fun with it too.

Project 365

I thoroughly enjoyed doing project 365!  It was quite a challenge having to take a picture every single day.  I have to confess that I still find myself scrambling for my camera to take my picture of the day and then realize that I'm not doing the project any longer.  And in all honesty it is sort of a relief that it is over.  I think out of the 365 days I forgot to take a picture once or twice.  A handful of times the pictures were taken by my husband and I chose to use those simply because his picture was more interesting than mine!

So what will I do this year?  My sister and I have actually started a blog.  You can check it out over here.  The idea is pretty basic.  Each week we pick a theme and we take a picture according to our own interpretation.  We don't tell each other what we are going to photograph so it is kind of fun seeing what my sister has photographed.  We named our blog "From the Valley to the Volga".  She's living in the San Fernando valley and I'm in Samara,Russia which sits on the Volga River. 

Check it out!!!

Christmas ............again!

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas once more.  The day started off with a special Christmas service at our church.

 

Later in the day we met our friends at McDonalds for dinner and then headed to Kuibashev Square.  Every major city in Russia has a "square".  Kuibashev was all decked out.  We went about 4 years ago to the square but told ourselves we would never return.  It was total chaos.  Fireworks being set off right by our feet, people drinking everywhere, and in general it was just total disorganization.  Thankfully things were  different at the square this year and we were so glad we went.  The boys loved it too.

 

There was a section with a bunch of ice sculptures.  It was beautiful!

 

Christina, myself, and the boys went on horse drawn sleigh ride.  We had a lot of fun.  

 

There was a huge Christmas tree in the center of the square and all around it were these beautiful pictures.

 

And here is Kuibashev square in the night time.  Kuibashev was the name of Samara during Soviet Times. 

 

Christina and Zhenya!

They are expecting their 

first child at the end of

March!

New Year's Day

The biggest holiday here in Russia is not Christmas but New Years!  We stay indoors on New Year's Eve because it is really insane outside.  Lots of people out, drinking, and setting off fireworks.  The fireworks go on all night long...................literally!  No exaggeration.  This year Jon and I stayed up as late as we could so that we could drop off easily.  He used ear plugs and was able to sleep all night long.  I only woke up twice and was able to nod off fairly quickly.  On New Year's Day we got out and enjoyed some fresh fallen snow.  I think our neighborhood had the same idea!

The Final Days: Days 364 and 365

 

Day 365  The last day of my project and New Years Day!

 

Day 364 New Years Eve and fireworks galore.

Days 357-363

 

Day 363  Alisha's birthday cake.  The party theme was winter bunny.

When I told Jojo what the theme was, he said "Not another bunny

party!".  Alisha had a bunny party last year.

 

Day 362  Our tree is still up!  We will keep it up until the Russian Christmas.

 

Day 361  The Hawks won something.  I think it was some bowl game!

 

Day 360  My Christmas bears.

 

Day 359  Do you see me in the reflection?

 

Day 358  My Christmas present!  So pretty.  

 

Day 357  Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

Our Christmas morning traditions continue.  A big french toast breakfast, baby Jesus getting placed in His manger, the reading of the Christmas story from Luke, and opening presents!  Quite a practice of patience for the little ones but they actually do great.  Last year Jojo placed Jesus in the manger but this year he wanted his little brother to do it...............it may have had something to do with him wanting to be the first one to open a present!!

 

Some of the loot!

 

Our friends gave Jon a 4 pack of Coke!!!

Team Christmas Party

On Christmas Eve we had the whole team over to celebrate Christmas.  We really enjoy being together and are so grateful for the 3 families that we have the privilege of serving alongside with.  It can be a pretty crazy time having 12 kids under one small roof but it is always a ton of fun.

 

The rare few moments of silence during the reading of a Christmas 

book by Auntie Alex.

 

The children do a gift exchange and it is quite a funny thing to watch 

because we make them open one gift at a time and they just all 

smother the one opening the gift!

 

The little couple strolling around.

 

Oreo balls!  I didn't even know they existed.  My mother-in-law sent 

me a bag of Oreo cookies and since we are not huge Oreo fans, I 

found a recipe for these!  Can you say sugar high????

 

Yay............we got coffee in the white elephant gift exchange.  Thankfully

it was stolen.  We're are happy to say that we are not coffee drinkers.