International Women's Day

     International Women's Day is a very big deal here.  It's a holiday from work, and women are highly honored!  Men bring home cakes and flowers and toys for all of the women/girls in their lives.  And women give each other cards and gifts, too.  Anneka made this picture of me at her preschool.  They were all on display the week before Women's Day, and I loved seeing all of the moms and especially this one of me!  

     Anneka's class had a special Women's Day program that they'd been practicing for for weeks.  We made each of her teachers a little cake in a mug and Anneka wrote them cards in Russian.

     Ike and Ella fell asleep on the way to the program.  Ike slept longer than Ella inside, so we opened up some of his layers and let him sleep on the sled.

Me with  my little sweetie, waiting for the program to start

The boys came out first and said a little poem to introduce the girls.

We loved seeing all of the little girls in their gowns!

     I had hoped to take Anneka to the neighbor's to get her hair done before the program, but she wasn't home.  I was talking outloud, trying to figure out what to do, and Anneka said, "my teacher said to come to her before the program and she'll do my hair for me".  Perfect.  I love how God works things like that out.  It looked really cute.

     Ella wanted to see better and ended up with the ladies on the row in front of us.  When she realized later that she was cuddled up with strangers, she got embarrassed and shy.  So cute and funny.

Playing a little cymbal

Dancing! I love that they learn to dance at school.

     Even Leif had a role!  He was working construction at the church that day, and the teacher asked me if he could come in an hour before the program.  I called him and we were all able to get there 30 minutes early.  She gave Leif some lines (a little poem) and he and this other dad had to draw faces of their love and dance around with the balloon.  The kids giggled and giggled.  Leif was perfectly dramatic!

It's so great to be a girl!

 Anneka with a couple of her sweet friends.

     On the ride home, Ike fell asleep and Anneka pretended to sleep.  I just bought a double sled today (not pictured), and it works great!  I'm excited to try it out with the crew.

     Leif brought us breakfast in bed on the actual date of Women's Day (March 8th).  Thankfully Ike was still sleeping, so he didn't crawl all over our food!!

      Then Leif went to go and get (and relocate) a bunch of gear for the mountain climbing trip he's preparing for with one of the guys, and the kids and I went to visit a 70 year old lady in our building.  She's diabetic, so we got her a bunch of different types of tea in a decorative mug.  Anneka figured out all on her own how to write her a card after looking at a card she'd made for me at school.  Also, she dismantled (and reassembled) a paper flower the boys had given her to figure out how to make flowers for Baba Masha.

     When we got there, Baba Masha was so happy to see us and so sweet and welcoming!  She gave me a pretty kitchen towel and then had us come in and wait while she sewed the girls little scarves.

     I just love Ella's attempt to smile for the camera here!  Each kid took turns bouncing on Baba Masha's knee while she did something to pump up her sewing machine.  Ike was really tired, but the girls wanted to stay, so Baba Masha told me to take him home and she'd bring the girls later.  She gave them tea and fried bread and I think cabbage and then brought them back to our apartment to get warmer outdoor clothes and then took them for a walk.  The entrance to her apartment is literally 10 seconds away from our entrance, and inside her apartment is hot like ours (80+F or 28C), and I had them in coats and boots and hats to go the 10 seconds outside.  But when she saw them, she said I had great faith to dress them like that!  And she really meant it.  Haha!  

  On Sunday Leif gave the talk at the service and all of the guys sang a song for the ladies and gave us flowers.  Leif made apple pies and pizza for everyone for lunch afterwards.  What an amazing guy!

Plugging Away

     The guys are still plugging away at chruch construction.  Leif still goes one day a week, as he is able, to help.  This past week, they tackled the floor in the main room.  This was no small job! 

They measured everything to make the floors as even as they could.

     This part of the floor was harder to do because they had to use a jackhammer underneath where the old stove sat.

     There is actually a huge pit underneath the entire floor.  But this is the old door to the "cellar" (a.k.a. the hole) where they used to store potatoes.  They closed this over, as we now have a basement in the new addition.  I feel like each year we are here, we learn all the more what a HUGE part potatoes are in Russian culture.  Almost everyone I know has either a locked box in their hallway outside of their apartment or a garage that they rent or space underground near the bus stop that they own or rent, or a cellar... all for their yearly supply of potatoes.  I asked Vera last week if it was actually less expensive to rent her hole in the ground and buy potatoes from her friend than to just buy them as needed at the store.  And she said that the quality is far better if they are local Russian potatoes.  And that makes it worth it to her.  I never thought of it before!  Our apartment is so warm that I just buy a small bag at a time for the refrigerator (which is far more than I ever bought in America!).  But it would take some great convincing for me to buy a special box for the hallway to store huge sacks for the winter!

 

Here they are, insulating the floor.

It took lots of screws to pin the plywood down.

Already it's looks SO much better than it did!

     The guys have a goal to have this whole room completed by Easter (which is a month later than Easter in America).  Our church has been full each week, and this new space will triple the seating.  It will be nice to have.

Jump, jump!

Little Miss Independence

     I needed to make some frosting for some cupcakes for our home group a couple of weeks ago, but Ella really wanted me to sit and hold her (it was the day after she got her "owies" from the treadmill).  Anneka said, "it's okay, Mama and Ella, you sit right there on the couch.  I'll do everything!"  And she totally did.  I told her what to mix in for the frosting... she got out the beaters by herself and scraped everything with the spatula and put it all on the cupcakes.  And then she got out the sprinkles and sprinkled them.  And I just sat and held Ella.  Of course, there was WAY more cleanup later, and Ike got a nice fistfull of cupcake along the way, but I love how she's so confident to do stuff like that... and Ella was happy, too.  =)

     For a few months now, she's been into making her own cakes.  They're always a little different, but she does the whole thing by herself (except for actually putting it into the oven and taking it out.)  In January the ladies from our team were all over for a clothing exchange party, and Anneka made a cake with her friend Kristina (who is the same age).  Kristina's mom was shocked to walk into the kitchen and see the little girls dumping flour and sugar and oil into a bowl with no adult around!  Leif helped them put it in and out of the oven, and when it was finished, the girls proudly brought us each a piece of cake to try.  And it was pretty good!  Sometimes she'll add things like pretzels and Cheerios... but most of the time they're pretty basic.  This also creates a huge mess, so I have to be feeling energetic to let her bake by herself!

     Anneka is also very into making everything.  If she wants something and doesn't have it, she makes it (masks, notebooks, wings, earrings, etc.)  The other day she was thinking about our friend, Masha, who is expecting a baby in June.  Anneka said, "Mama, you call Masha and tell her that she doesn't need to buy any clothes for the baby.  I'll make them all!"  And she proceeded to make this little outfit.  Gotta love it!

The Rabbit Family and Other Snippets

     Ella has a nice warm winter coat that our friends gave to Anneka to use when she was 3, and now Ella uses it.  Ella is going through a phase where she asks "who gave this to me?" about EVERYTHING.  It's actually really cute.  After I tell her who (and if you've ever given us anything, I'm sure she knows about it!), she tilts her head and smiles and says "oh!" or "oh! That's nice of them!"  The family who gave the coat has a last name that when translated into English is "rabbit".  So I always tell her the rabbit family gave her her coat.  She really likes that.
     Ella was happy to finally meet the rabbit family a couple of weeks ago when they had us over for dinner.  The kids played really well together, and it was nice to catch up after a long time of not seeing them.  Sveta is pregnant and is expecting their fourth child very soon!

   
     I've noticed that an important part of Russian culture is for little girls to have their hair fixed nicely.  I fix Anneka's hair every day for preschool (and sometimes Leif does, too), but her hair is so fine that it comes out easily (even with teeny-tiny rubberbands that grip really well).  I'm learning how to do french braids, but it always hurts Anneka when I do it, so this minimizes my practice times!  Sometimes if Anneka's hair falls out too much then her teacher will fix it.  She comes home with beautiful designs sometimes.  This picture was taken AFTER a hat and after it came out a bit, but it looked really cute.  Some days Anneka will ask for just a ponytail because then she knows her teacher will do her hair- a little sneaky, but I let her get away with it, because I like it, too!  =)

   And of course, I had to take a picture of the twins!  Ike is still very busy these days!  He knows both the words and signs for "all done" very well and uses them shortly after beginning a meal... not because he's really all done eating, but because he has too much to do to sit still for too long! 

Exercise

     We bought the Wicker's treadmill from them when they moved back to Canada a year and a half ago... and we're just getting around to actually using it!  These last few weeks, Leif and I have started running, and it feels SO great to get this exercise in the middle of the winter.  Today is officially "spring" on the Russian calendar, but it was -28C/-18F.  It took me 2 hours to bundle the kids, pick up Anneka from preschool, and come back home!  Needless to say, we're very thankful for this treadmill and a way to exercise without burning our lungs.  And even when the weather gets a bit nicer, it's still convenient to be able to run at home.

  
     The kids really like the treadmill, too.  The girls can actually go really fast!  We always make sure one of us is spotting them, of course.  The other day, Anneka was running as fast as the treadmill would go, and she wanted me to take a video of her accelerating.  I was holding Ike, but then he got squiggly and Anneka was nearing the #12 speed (the highest) and I knew my little video would be done in a few seconds.  So I let Ike down and warned Leif that he was coming.  Leif picked him up and in that second, Ella (who was watching) stumbled and got rug burns from the treadmill on both elbows and both knees.  Poor girl!  Thankfully Anneka was okay (as she was the one running)

     Ella got lots of attention that night- cuddles, ice cream, and a little show past bedtime.  She really wanted tights on her legs to cover up the burns.  We figured it would be okay, so we put them on her.  But the next day her "owies" had oozed and were totally stuck to the tights!  So then she incurred worse "owies" by me having to peel off her tights.  She has been very protective and doesn't want us to look at her "owies".  We sneak peeks of course and they're all healed now.  Next time I'll know not to let Ike down, even if it makes for a bouncy video later!

    

    Our internet has been out for ten days.  It's been very enlightening.  I realized how MUCH we use the internet (Bible study materials, Russian language classes and help, skype meetings, email, connections with family, friends & supporters, music, recipes, finding out the days' temperature, audio stories for the girls' rest times, ETC!)... and how helpful many of these tools are.  But I've also seen ways that the internet can suck time and make life seem busier than it needs to be.  So now we have internet again, and we're very thankful.  But I'd say these days away from it have been a gift, and I hope that we can take what we've learned in regards to our time and apply it!

     This man pictured above has been coming to our church.  Martina pointed out that he was wearing a GAP sweater, so I asked him if I could take a picture of him in his sweater.  It's always so interesting to see people wearing name brands that have come up through China.  It's so common that I honestly didn't even notice!  =)
    

     This picture is for my dad.  After church we have a light lunch together, and someone had brought a big jar of homemade pickles.  My dad makes pickles every year, and everyone loves them.  I, however, never shared the family's love for pickles.  But, boy, did Ella LOVE the pickles!  She had juice streaming everywhere (this is so gross to me!), and ate many of them.  She wouldn't let me take her picture, so I had to sneak this one in!

     I love how we have this time to talk with people and mingle after the service.  It's also nice for the kids to get a bite to eat so that we can put the little ones straight to bed when we get home. 

     On the way home from church a couple of weeks ago, Leif took Anneka and carried a sleeping Ella (who had fallen asleep on the bus) home while I stopped at the fruit stand to buy potatoes, milk, and a flat of eggs.  I was holding a sleeping Ike, and the lady who worked there kept asking me how I was going to carry everything (I got some bananas, too).  I told her that my arms are strong from carrying kids all of the time and it would be no problem.  But another lady there insisted on carrying everything for me (despite my insistence that it wasn't necessary).  She came all the way home and had tea and cookies with us.

     It turns out she's recently lost both parents and lives all alone.  She asked if she could come and visit again that week, and of course we said "yes!"  I was so touched by her kindness and took a liking to her immediately.   I love how God orchestrates our meetings with people and trust that He's brought this kind woman into our lives.

     The girls and I took some pictures that they'd drawn to the lady at work that week and a few days later she came over for lunch.  She stopped by another day, too, and has given the girls gifts from her little store.  She said that she's been thinking of us.  Pray for this relationship with this kind woman!

Sliding and Celebrating

     Leif had a birthday last week, and we-his lucky family- got to celebrate with him!!  It was a long day for Anneka, as she had both Russian and English lessons that day, but we decided to risk going downtown.  Thankfully she fell asleep in the van on the way and woke up refreshed and ready to have fun!  We stopped at a new game store first and Leif picked out a new game for our family to play.  This is pretty new here- to be able to buy good games.  So we were pretty excited.  Then we headed to the main square to slide on the ice slides.

     It was really cold- I think it was -35 that day.  But we were bundled and everyone enjoyed it.  Here are Leif and Ella (she wanted us to be with her when she went down).

I took pictures for awhile while I held Ike.  He went down the slide with us, too. 

 

Then Leif took a turn taking pictures (both of us took self-shots with Ike).  =)  He's pretty irresistible!

Such fun!

 

     

     These girls are hard-core.  Even after being outside for a long time, they wanted to keep going.  I love watching them hold their papa's hand!

 Here's the top of one of the bigger slides.  Ella got braver and let Leif push her down.

There she goes!

Ahhh... so happy!

     The girls sat on little hard plastic sleds that enabled them to go really fast!  Anneka keeps one of these sleds in her cubby at school for when the kids play outside (they play outside if it's -20C/-4F or warmer)... those days, we hope, will be coming soon!

     After a very yummy dinner at Subway (yes, you read that right! Subway is here!  There a few changes, like cabbage instead of lettuce... but mostly they are the same!) we headed back to the square to see the pretty lights in the sculptures.  Leif and the girls found another slide that was faster and slided some more.  I was frozen by then and cuddled with Ike.

     Then we came home for some German chocolate cake.  Ike konked out in the car, so we put him in his crib with all of his outdoor clothes on and opened up the balcony door.

The girls picked out face paints as a present for Leif. So after the cake, they had fun decorating him!

 

He was a VERY good sport!

a very, very good sport

     We love you so much, Leif!  Happy birthday!  We feel so blessed that out of all of the people in the world we get YOU in our family as such a wonderful husband and father.  You're the best!

Blessings At Our Door

     We met a young lady in the last few months who is a true gem.  She's serving God well here in Siberia, wanting to be a light for Him (and she truly shines!).  Her Dad sometimes drinks so much that he becomes violent and dangerous, so she and her mom have come to take refuge at our place a couple of times.... and what a blessing they've been to us!

     Our kids love them and they help cook (hence, the cabbage in the picture).  We pray together and have hopes that God will free this man (father/husband) from His addiction.  This is a dark place to live, but God is bigger and stronger than that darkness.  And he offers hope.

This young lady says that she believes our family is here to offer hope and to show an example of a healthy, loving family to many broken families.

     It's such a gift to meet people like these ladies and to see them loving God with all of their hearts.  They are blessings in our lives!