The Girls' Room

    People have asked to see the rooms in our apartment, so over the next weeks, I'll take you on a little tour.  =)  This is the girls' room.  A few people here have made comments about our horrible color choice and how it's way too bright.  But I really like it.  It's so cheerful... and when it's dark and cold, it's so nice to have a "sunny room"!  When we originally had this bunk bed made, we had planned on the area at the bottom to be for toys/playing (and even had cabinet doors on it to open and close).  But Ella is too little to be on the middle level, so right now it's a triple-bunk bed.  As the girls grow, it'll be two beds again with room underneath for them to play.  It's also nice because in a pinch I can lay Ike to sleep on the bottom bed, and he doesn't have far to fall if he rolls.

     I didn't choose the most organized moment to take this picture.  But realistically, it is never really "organized"!  The tree is a bunch of stickers.  I found it online and was so excited, as I knew it would help to beautify the wall space without having to drill massive holes into the cement.

     ... And there are flower stickers in this little nook between the window and the wardrobe.   The kitchen set and the doll house both came in our suitcases from America (2 different trips),  with clothes tucked all around.   The girls play with them all the time, and we don't regret bringing them (although at the time we wondered if we were crazy!)

 

     Here's the view from the other end of the room.  We inherited the dressers from the Wickers, and Leif's mom (Irene) painted them pink for us.  The handles are ribbons.  On the wall is a big board that I made with pictures of family and friends and the kids.   On the left side is a big mirror on the wardrobe.  We wanted to arrange the room differently, but it's the only place it'll fit without blocking a window or covering pipes and sticking way out into the room.  In the aparments here, the pipes are all showing in the room.

     There's a little curtain that we can pull for the bottom bunk of the bed.  Here is a fuzzy picture of Ella, in her cut-up jammies.  Anneka did a craft project in their room yesterday and left the scissors on top of the dresser.  After bedtime (when we thought she was sleeping), Ella found the scissors and cut her pants and shirt to shreds.  She was very quiet about it, and thankfully she didn't cut herself!  Another night, hours after she should have been asleep, she let the hamster out of the cage.  In the daytime, I'm pretty aware of where Ella is and what she's doing.  Now I know that my radar needs to be up after bedtime, too!!

    
And this is often what the floor looks like in the room...  covered in toys.  I love how the sun shines in.  I'm so thankful to have this nice big room for the kids to play in and for when we have guests.  It really is a blessing!

English Club

 

    Probably the most frequently asked question from people we meet while we are out and about (in lines at the immigration office, at the medical clinic, at a store, etc.) is whether we'd be willing to give someone (or a relative of someone) English lessons.  While this is a great way to connect with people, we don't have enough minutes in our days to accept all of these offers.  However, we definitely do what to be connecting with people who have a hunger to learn... and English is certainly one of the easier ways!  Because of this, we've recently started (along with two other couples) an English club every other week.  It's open to youth and adults of all ages.  There's a time for English lessons (dividing people into groups according to abilities) and then an informal tea time afterwards for conversational practice.   For now, I help Leif with preparation but stay home with the kids during the actual club.  As the kids get older, I may go to the club, too.

     Our first night brought in several people, and of course, we hope the numbers grow.  We're meeting at our church building, so that there's room for a crowd.  We also bring Biblical truths into the lessons.  Dave and Pastor Sasha made up business cards with all of the information for the club written on them.  It's nice to have them to pass out when people ask us about English opportunities.  We're excited to see what will come of this club!

An Afternoon in Z-town

     We visited Inka and the Ratinkovs in the village two weeks ago.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch together.

 

The kids enjoyed playing together.

 

We soaked in the sunshine, as it was one of the last "warm" days!  Ike liked the dog, Emma.

     The Ratinkovs have a new puppy (Inka saved her out from under a pile of rubbish).  Of course, the girls fell in love.

 

Swinging together.

  
     Ike was thrilled that Inka put him on the ground.  He would wait until the two seconds she looked away (literally!) and then stuff dirt in his mouth.

     On a walk to the site where the church was going to be.  Now it'll be the site of the Ratinkov's home and the church will likely be where Inka is.  I love how the girls all held hands!

They built the foundation and want to get the frame and roof up before winter.

 Here's the view from their lot.

     The girls enjoyed playing with Vera.  Here, Ella was pretending to be a dog (with a real dog kiss!)

 

Me, talking with Inka

It's so fun to play in a house before it's built!

A Few Family Pictures

     It feels like winter!  Not only has there been snow for 1.5 weeks, but now it's cold enough to need gloves and boots.  This picture was taken by Keith from the SEND media team outside of our church over a week ago.

     On a walk, just outside of our building.  

     Leif is such a good Papa!  The kids love to play with him.  And he's always a good sport about playing games that the girls come up with (house, princess, puppy, etc.)

We love these three funny kiddos!

Home Group

     Something Leif and I are really excited about is a home group/ Bible study that we've started up this fall.  We're looking forward to growing in relationship with the people in our group and growing in our walks with God as we study together and pray for one another!

Diana's 1 Year Party

 

     This week we were invited to baby Diana's 1-year birthday party!  It was quite the party with singing, everyone drawing pictures of our memories of first meeting Diana, a kids' play room, a huge feast and a 90 minute slide show of her life.  It was really special to see Denis and Yulia so excited to celebrate their daughter's life.  This isn't the first big birthday bash we've been to for a one year old here in Russia. We haven't asked anyone to know if it's a tradition, but it seems that it's a milestone year.

 

      Diana looked like a little princess, all dressed in blue!  She's been walking since before she was 9 months old.  Ike will likely soon be keeping up with her, as he's walking around holding onto furniture and pivoting on his own.  Soon they'll be running around together!

 

     The party was at our church... this is what the new kids' room looks like!  I love how bright and cheerful it is.  The kids loved playing together during the party. 

A Birthday Fit For A Five Year Old Princess

     Our little girl is five!  We had a fun day celebrating her life with her classmates and teammates/friends.

Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, is Anneka's favorite princess.  For weeks she's been wishing for a Belle dress for her birthday present.  We have a friend (Lena) who is an amazing seamstress.  I showed her several pictures of Belle and went with her to a fabric store to pick out poofy and yellow fabric.  And she made an amazing dress for Anneka!  Here's the underskirt to make it really full.  (later that day at school, Anneka had the girls hold her skirt for her while she went to the bathroom.  They all crowded around her and loved helping).

  

      She felt like the most beautiful princess in the world!  Lena secretly measured Anneka at church a few weeks before her birthday, but we didn't know if it would fit until the day of her birthday.  It's great because she'll be able to wear it for a long time.

John got to be with us for breakfast and the great dress-unveiling.  He gave Anneka this dog (from all the Wickers) and she loves it so much.  The dog has been her constant companion since she got him!

     We know 2 ladies who put on "fairy tale" birthdays for kids.  Since this may be Anneka's only year in Russian school, we decided to throw her a special party with her class.  I was a little nervous with planning the details in Russian (making arrangements with the teachers, finding out what I needed to buy, reserving a room, etc)... and the morning of the party it snowed so much that transporation was SLOW for the ladies.  They called and told us that every bus was full!  Thankfully they were able to catch a taxi.  We all made it in time.  Anneka was very excited to invite Matty to her party.  Here, Matty and Ella waited for the rest of the kids to come into the music room.

     A few of Anneka's friends dressed up especially for Anneka's birthday and got her a present.  It was really fun to see Anneka interacting with classmates in this environment and seeing the little girls' affection toward her.

 

I love how this little girl has her arm around Anneka here!

     The party was an hour long and was full of dancing and games and acting out a story of Anneka being the princess and then a pirate coming and stealing her and the treasure!

 

Her dress was perfect for the day!

 

 In this game, the girls had to put pigtails in the boys' hair.  It was really funny to watch!

 

Here's another action shot with the hair relay.

 

 And there was dancing, and noise-maker blowing.

 

     Then we came home and had a birthday lunch (Ella was hiding at my legs).  Anneka's choice: macaroni and cheese, chocolate milk, kiwi and peaches, and (of course) cake.

  
 Everyone in Anneka's class made her a birthday card.  One girl made her a card with a picture of Anneka in her dress.

 

     We topped off the evening with a ball!  Leif dressed in his suit and the girls and I all wore dresses and we danced.  We had too much fun to stop and take pictures.  =)

Happy Birthday, sweet Anneka!  As your name means, you are a gracious gift of God to us!  We love you so much.  You fill our hearts with joy!

Guests

     The SEND media team is here this week.  It's been fun to have them, and it'll be exciting to see the pictures and video footage that they get of this beloved city, a lot of our ministries, and many of the people in our lives.  The day they arrived, we hosted a breakfast for the whole team.  This is a picture from that morning and of planning out their schedule.

     Many ladies on the team brought meals over to help me out over the next few days.  It's SO NICE!  Just have three kids and then people will bring you food!  =)

Nettie's 30th Birthday

      Nettie recently turned 30, and I got to celebrate with her twice!  The first time was at this great new Belgian bakery downtown.  They have espresso and milkshakes and yummy, yummy baked breads and pastries!

     You can kind of see the yummy food behind the counter.  I always love when I get to see Adriana (holding Ike)!

     Nettie got her hair done by a friend... so fun!  Ike loved all of the attention he got from all of the women!

     And then the next night we got to have a surprise party, Indian style!!  Martina and Renata planned it, and Lena hosted it... and I was so happy to be invited!!  We ate yummy Indian food and sat on the floor and tried to dress Indian-style.  It was very fun.

 

     Anneka was a little disappointed when she heard that the party was past her bedtime, but she ran into her room, dressed this doll up and sent her as her representative.  And then she was okay.

 

A group shot.

     Ike was so tuckered at the end of the party.  He didn't even wake up when I put his hat and coat on.  We've been training him to sleep in his bed the last few days.  I know, kind of crazy that he hasn't really slept there before.  He's such a good baby and is transitioning very smoothly and sweetly.  He looks up at me and smiles as I sing him to sleep and even sings a bit and says "mama, mama".  I love this little guy so much!