A Smattering

A few older pictures I wanted to squeeze onto the blog at some point...

     Almost every apartment building has a little playground in front of it... and there are apartment buildings everywhere!  This creates lots of opportunities to stop and play on walks.  I like this picture that Leif took of our Ella. 

     Anneka and I snapped this picture a few weeks ago, after the first frost... knowing that there would soon be no more flowers.  We saw some ladies the other day, picking the seed pods from flowers just like these.  I also bought a couple bunches of flowers in the last weeks from babushki on the side of the road.  We love having flowers around.  The girls love to pick flowers and bring them home to put in a vase.  They are good about not picking planted flowers and always ask first if they aren't sure.

     A little tradition we've started in the mornings before school is to stand on the windowsill and pray for our day and for Ulan-Ude.  One day we forgot and later the girls remembered and were very upset.

      Something I LOVE about this apartment is that I can close off the little entryway (where we put shoes and coats) with a door.  Our last apartment was always filthy in the entryway and then the babies would crawl all over the shoes and put the dirt in their mouths... there was no keeping up.  Everyone in Russia takes their shoes off before entering an apartment because it's so dirty outside.  At school, Anneka has outdoor shoes and indoor shoes so as to keep things cleaner inside.

     Of course, Ike notices immediately if this door is open and goes and looks for little rocks on the floor to put in his mouth.  He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!!  Today I got some Mr. Yuk stickers in the mail from my friend, Erin (a perfect thing for her to send).... and the moment I put the sheet down he started eating them!  Thankfully all of the stickers are still in tact.  =)

     This is the shared entryway between us and the apartment next door.  We keep the strollers here, which is very nice.  When someone comes to visit us, they call on a little phone at the building entry door that rings up in our apartment.  Anneka and Ella both know how to answer this phone and let them in.  And then the kids all run to this door (pictured) to let the person in.  Both Anneka and Ella like to unlock the door (and sometimes fight over who gets to open it).  Ike just likes to be where the excitement is.  The girls know to ask "KTO TAM?", which means "Who's there?".  And they don't open the door if they don't know the person.  Ella is so cute in that she always says, "It's Ella!" after she asks who's there.  This is a sight we see often- our kids waiting at the door to greet someone.

     There's a new shopping center downtown with a really nice western-style cafe. Leif and I (with Ike!) went on a date there a few weeks ago.  My mom sent Ella Cheerios for her birthday, as she adores Cheerios.  She was so excited, and Leif and I were excited because it's the perfect baby snack and distraction for Ike in this season of babyhood.  Ella was very generous with her Cheerios and happily shared with her brother.  Then Leif bought three big boxes when he was in Mongolia.  We're on the last box now, and I think John is bringing us some from Canada this week.  It's amazing how some simple things can be so wonderful and helpful!

Multiplication

It's been six years ago now that we moved to Ulan-Ude.  When we first arrived, Chingis and Ksusha were expecting their first baby (but it was early in the pregnancy) and we didn't have any kids at all.  Now look at all of our kids!!  Ella needs to be switched with the baby next to her to be in perfect age order.  Together they make up a whole circus!

     Daniel is the knight and Anneka is the bride.

     Anneka's Russian is getting better and better, which makes it fun for her to have Russian-speaking guests.  Today her teacher said that she can tell a marked difference just in these past 3 weeks in Anneka's Russian.  She's answering the teachers' questions and is talking more and more with the other kids... and she's happy!

     Leif is out of town with some men from our church (in Irkutsk), and I've been solo with the kids for a few days.  Yesterday Anneka woke up with a sore throat, so I asked her if she wanted to stay home (it's also hard to get all three kids dressed and fed and out the door and to school without Leif here)... and she got a concerned look on her face and said, "But what if I miss something fun at school?"  To me, this is a good sign.  If she was really struggling at school, she would want to stay home.  Needless to say, we got ready and went.  (and Ike and Ella both had major crying spells along the way and everyone gawked).

     Ella's Russian skills are also growing.  I'm not sure if it's her age or Anneka's school influence, but yesterday Ella started talking with me in Russian!  She also seems to understand a lot.  She doesn't seem to have any preference of watching a kid's show in English or Russian (there are some great 6 minute shows that the girls like and they usually watch one while I make breakfast), and she's not shy around Russian speakers.

     And today I really think Ike said "пока" (bye-bye in Russian).  He waved when he said it, and it's when Lena was leaving.  I think he'll be an early talker.  Lately, he's been really LOUD (screeching!) and making sure we know he's here!

жатва

Celebrating our жатва meal.  I'm not sure where Ella or Ike were the moment I took this picture!

     On Sunday we celebrated жатва, or "harvest" with our church family.  I assumed that жатва was a widely known holiday, but when I told our neighbors that we were making pizza for it, they just gave me blank stares.  Then when I said it was a type of Thanksgiving, they instantly had glimmers of recognition in their eyes.  

I went to  help get the church ready the day before, but I realized after I was there that I should perhaps wait until I don't have a nursing baby to do such a thing.  I attempted mopping the floor with a stick and a rag (like everyone does it here), but it didn't work very well... it just smeared the mud around, so I decided to just do it on my hands and knees.  Of course, there's no water, so Dave had to haul it in.  And the rags were so dirty it took two buckets of water to get them semi-clean to start with.  I got in trouble by one of the ladies for getting so dirty (my legs were all muddy), and she took the stick and rag... and also my job.  By then Ike was crying, and I was very thankful to have him as my excuse to exit!  I'll try again next year.

     But those who did decorate did a nice job.  =)  In the background, жатва is spelled out with little potatoes, hanging on the wall.  We haven't had lunch together after church all summer, so it was extra special to eat together this week!

     It's always great to take special times to thank God for His goodness to us in all that He provides.  He knows just what we need and gives us above and beyond!
 

     Martina caught this picture of Anneka and Matty playing outside.  He was her dog.  =)  They are so cute!  Anneka picked out all of her clothes by herself, as usual... but this time she changed in her closet and then wrapped a blanket around herself until we left so that we couldn't see what she was wearing.  I didn't know what we would find under the blanket!  Thankfully it was nothing that needed changing. She loves these Cinderella "high heeled" shoes that we found at a second hand store here.  They are not safe at all for walking on the ground here, but she feels so beautiful!

Sweet Sisters

I just love these sweet sisters!

And on another note, If you're interested in seeing some of the progress on our church building, click here.

Good News

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     Last Sunday Leif was invited to speak at a church called "Dobre Vest", which is translated as "Good News".  This was the church he went to 12-13 years ago when he was a student here.  I took this picture before the service of him with the kids.  It was nice because they had a children's program.  All 3 kids were happy to learn and draw and play and squeal and run around.

     In Anneka's class, they got to jump off of the windowsill onto the couch.  I overheard her yelling "otoditye!" loudly before she jumped, which means, "get out of the way!"  After the service, she played ping pong with this little boy.

Leif, talking with some friends after the service.

     On the way home, we stopped at a little Russian cafe for lunch and then ran across the street to get some special things at a gourmet grocery store.  We found canned tuna fish, green beans, decaffeinated tea, granola, and french fries!  Talk about good finds!  In the parking lot, they had these fun animals.  

 Anneka was thrilled, and Ella was terrified... up close anyways.  From a distance, Ella liked this bee but started crying really hard when we got too close.

     Ella's been my little buddy in the mornings while Anneka is in school.  Yesterday she put this lipstick on her face when I wasn't looking.  It's hard to see in the picture, but she put it on her eyelids and under her eyes, too.  Unfortunately it's the kind of lipstick that's supposed to last 12 hours, so it was really hard to remove.  Even after several times of scrubbing, she still had red under her eyes.  It looked like she had a bad cold or something.

     Ella loves being my helper with Ike, and for the most part, he likes it, too.  I let her feed him when he's wearing clothes that need to be changed or when the food isn't something that would be gross if it got everywhere.   They laugh at each other and enjoy each others' company.  There are definitely times when Ella gets jealous and will say "Baby-Papa!"... as in, let Papa hold the baby.  But she loves her brother.

     Lena comes and helps us every week, and it's so sweet how much she and Ike love each other.  He's entering into the stage where he prefers me (mama) to others, but he still usually will let others hold him... and he's delighted with Lena.  This picture was taken at the Blakers the morning they flew in.  We had a team breakfast and are so happy that they've arrived!  Anneka was so excited that they were coming that she made a special card for them at her Russian school.  She knew exactly which day they were flying in and was thinking of them.  On the morning of the team breakfast, she excitedly said, "It's an exciting day today!  The Blakers are coming!!"  Mr. and Mrs. Blaker will be helping Anneka with preschool concepts in an English context.  

Signs You Would Never See In a Bathroom In The USA

"PLEASE DON'T STAND UP WITH
YOUR FEET ON THE SEAT!"

Dear Visitors,
Please kindly don't throw your
 toilet paper into the toilet.

Fridays

 

     On Fridays, the guys in the church who can help have agreed to work on the church building until it's at a good place for the cold winter months and for the kid's room.  Leif is one of those guys who works and blocks Fridays off on his calendar for this purpose.  This room is currently where we have our Sunday service but will one day be the kitchen... and real-live bathrooms!  They just put pipes under the floor for heating and are covering the new cement with tiles.

     When Leif is able to, he tries to plan meetings around the time of day when I pick up Anneka from school so that I can take just one kid at a time with me (or he'll have people come to our place so that he is home and Ella can stay with him).  But on days that he can't, I pull out our double stroller... I am SO THANKFUL for it!!  We actually bought it in Germany last summer when I was pregnant but didn't know it!  It was on sale and we were thinking it would be useful for Anneka and Ella.  Little did we know that we would really NEED it for Ella and Ike!  When I use it, everyone stares, and I get lots of comments... especially when Anneka is walking along beside us.  They ask if all of the kids are mine.  Or they call the stroller a Jeep.  And often people ask if they can help me.  =)

     You will see that Ella has no shoes on.  She is a pretty cheerful little girl except when it comes to her feet.  Her socks often feel "funny" and her shoes often feel "funny" and she cries often about her feet.  I think it's a real thing because there are certain socks that I've noticed that she's always okay with and some of the really fun princess ones that I know she likes always cause tears once they're on her feet because they feel "funny".  This is one mystery we have yet to figure out.  The trips to school go okay as long as Ella doesn't have any problems with her feet.

     I wish I'd caught this picture in time!  When we rolled into the parking lot, I saw Anneka and her friend Ksusha hanging on the fence, waving at us.  But just as I pulled out the camera, their teacher called them to go inside, so I just got the backs of them.

     Anneka has three friends now at school and she's really doing well.  We've already noticed a difference in the amount that she understands and speaks Russian.  She gets very tired every day, and one day she broke down into tears when she had to memorize a difficult Russian poem for homework (it had words even our Russian friends didn't know).  But for the most part, she's happy!  We're so proud of her, as we know it can't be easy.  She is very brave.  When I've asked the teachers how she's doing, they always have positive things to say.  And if they don't, it's something like, "We made a salad today and Anneka didn't dice the vegetables small enough" or "the kids drew pictures of vegetables, but Anneka didn't color in her tomatoes carefully".  We feel like if THESE are the worst things, then WONDERFUL!  =)  With the coloring, I reminded the teacher that Anneka is still only 4 (while many of the kids are 6). She seemed surprised and said, "Oh, then, she did very well!".

     When Ella is with us, we play at the playground after school for awhile.  I love all of the fall leaves! The weather has been sunny and beautiful and in the 60s and 70s in the daytime!  Anneka has her hat on because her teacher made all of the kids wear their hats.   Now that I think of it, that's been Anneka's biggest complaint about school is that she gets hot at recess.  

I love how these sisters love each other and play together!  They really are sweet to one another!

     Once when Ella rode on something like this, I sang her a little song.  Now she always asks me to sing a song.  It's our little tradition.

     Ike, watching his sisters play.

     Anneka took a picure of me and Ike by the fall leaves, too.  I took his hat off when no one was looking.  He loves to have a bare head. 

     This Friday, Leif came home for dinner after working and then went straight into a 2-hour skype meeting with a man in Thailand about a conference he's helping with this fall and then straight into another Area Counsel skype meeting that lasted until 12:30 in the morning.  Nothing like 8 hours of physical labor and then 5 1/2 hours in front of the computer!

     While he was in his first meeting, the kids and I hung out with Lubov, Sasha's mom.  The girls somehow convinced her to read to them and then clip their toenails and fingernails.  This was baffling to me, as neither girl particularly likes getting their nails cut.  Lubov was afraid she would hurt them, and both girls were very funny and persistent in asking her to keep cutting!  It was like wrangling cats to get them to leave her and get them in bed!

MK Friends

      There's a special relationship that our missionary kids have with one another, just by the commonality of being part of a "third culture" (not fully from their parents' home culture, and not fully from the culture here).  These friends are from Switzerland, and even though they don't yet have a common language (except for a few words), they still have love for each other!  I love that there are other girls on the team and that they are close to Anneka and Ella's ages!

   
     Leif really hit it off with their grandpa a few years ago.  When he comes to visit, they get together to talk and pray.

     Dressed like two sets of twins!  (I love how Ike is smiling in the background).  Ella is on the upper end of the growth charts and Anya (her polka-dotted friend) is on the lower end.  Anya is three months older than Ella but her hands and feet are the same size as Ike's (of course, his hands and feet are absolutely gigantic!)  As soon as you hear her talk or sing, though, it's obvious that she's older than Ella!  

And then there's Matty and Anneka.  Another boy on the team said that Anneka was a lot of fun to play with and that she's the type of person he'd want to marry someday.  She nonchalantly said, "yah, but I want to marry Matty".  They definitely are a cute pair... but probably they're more like brother and sister or cousins than like a future husband and wife.  =)

Sometimes We Sing.... And Lots of Mamas

     We're starting a Bible study this week and so today we were looking at songs we could possibly sing in Russian that Leif could play.  This reminded me of these pictures I had from a few weeks ago and I thought I'd post them.  Sometimes we sing as a family.  As you can see, Ike was trying to grab and play, too.   If this picture had been taken today, he'd have pulled himself up to a standing position to grab.  

     The girls really like music, too.  It's great to include them in praising God!  I like it when they are cuddly, too.  =)

     There are lots of mamas around here.  I found Anneka reading to her babies here.  Speaking of reading, Anneka has been learning to read!  We're not quite sure what to do, however, because apparently she is also being taught how to read in Russian at her school.  We've heard that kids can take in phenomenal amounts of information in many different languages and it doesn't phase them.  But with reading, it's best to do one language at a time so that it's not confusing.  You can pray for wisdom to know what to do with this!

     And here's another mama.  She looks like a babushka in this picture, with her head covering.  =)  Ella likes to change her clothes multiple times a day.  This isn't so great between having a washing machine that takes forever and sounds like an airplane and it being slow drying season for clothing.  I have to sneak her clothes back into her drawer when she isn't looking. 

      Ella loves to be a mama to Ike, too.  I love it when they make each other laugh!

Meeting Neighbors

      Taking Anneka to school has created more times to be outside, and therefore, more opportunities to meet neighbors.  This is nice high school girl that we met a year ago.  I got to meet her mom a couple of weeks ago and we each invited each other to each other's homes.  She always greets us so warmly when we come outside!

     

     These neighborhood men sit outside and chat for long hours.   A courtyard wouldn't be complete without a group of babushki or dyedushki.

        On the same day, the girls fed the pigeons pieces of bread.  They both LOVE to chase the birds and make them fly up in the air!  This week I met a couple of really nice Buryat ladies outside.  They both have kids, too.  They invited me to sit with them and talk, but I was on my way to pick up Anneka.  I hope another opportunity arises!

Lena's Baptism

      Last Sunday, we gathered on the banks of the Ude river and witnessed a miracle!  Lena, a lady in our church who came to Christ a few months ago, declared her faith publically through baptism.   It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the air was filled with a sense of celebration!

     Some of us ladies gave Lena flowers and gathered for a picture.

     We had our church service before the baptism.  It was significantly shorter than normal, as we were all standing. 

      And after the baptism, we took part in communion and singing praises to God together.

Ella, with her friend, Rostik

     Of course, the kids all loved being outside for the service!  Here are Anneka and Matty, playing in the dirt/mud.

     I love this picture of Baba Ira and her husband.  And their car.  It's my dream car.

     Inka helped get Ike to sleep in the stroller and he slept for a couple of hours.

     We all celebrated after the service by having lunch together.  Usually I make something homemade, but this time I got the idea to order a bunch of hotdogs wrapped in dough from the bread lady.  It was a bit of a risk because we both had to trust that the other person would follow through, but it worked out great!  Super easy, kid-friendly, and less expensive and a lot less time than making pizza (which is what I probably would have made.)

    

     One of the guys in the church at one point during the picnic shouted out, "Leif! Jami!".  I was afraid that Anneka had fallen into the water completely.  But she was just playing the mud.  Anneka had spent the whole week learning/practicing how to tie her shoes (Leif taught her and she was so proud!), but then she couldn't wear them for her first day of school because they were so caked in mud and we couldn't dry them in time.  A little disappointing, but she got over it.  =)