Weekend at Eunice's

Jim: I just realized I haven't uploaded pictures for about a week - they are there now - sorry!!

Saturday, January 24 –

A lazy but good day today. We all slept in.

I thought we were going to help Leslie move, but I was mistaken – she didn’t need us since she hired 4 guys and a truck for the day for $75. She was gone before we woke up.

We had eggs and fried hot dogs again for breakfast. Ashley also had about 15 crab sticks. Apparently all of these are staples for breakfast around here.

After breakfast the kids wanted to watch TV, but Eunice offered to give them English lessons, so I said they had to do that first. Some minor protests, but Ashley actually enjoys these lessons, so she was just being playful. She announced that she would get the first lesson, so she sat with Eunice at the table for 20-30 minutes. Eunice has little white boards, and a nice curriculum book that she uses. She’s also taught English here before and she’s great at engaging the kids. As they were finishing up, I was having Josh write out his ABC’s with a lot of complaining. Eunice finished with Ashley and took over, and I left the room. He started out reluctant with her, but within a couple of minutes I heard Eunice call out praises for him as he started repeating the alphabet for her. From then on, the lesson went great. I was in my room when Josh came up with the white board to proudly show me that he can write his name. Eunice also gave them both some homework for later. I let them watch a movie while I cleaned and organized our room, and walked down the street to get a haircut. He reminded me of Floyd from the Andy Griffith Show. I showed him I wanted it off the ears, and then only had to tell him to cut the top shorter using hand signals. He chatted on in Russian like I could actually understand him. I told him in plain English that I couldn’t speak Russian, so I don’t know why he kept trying.

Eunice left around 1:00 to go shopping with Nadia, so we were here alone for a few hours. After the movie, I had them write something in Tatum’s birthday cards.

After awhile, the kids wanted to watch another DVD, so I told them they could as soon as their homework was done. Again, I got the playful “Please!!” from Ashley, but she was soon working on her homework. Josh gave more complaining, but it got done. Ashley finished her homework and showed it to me. She has good handwriting, and she did everything right. So off she went to her movie. Having her upstairs watching a movie helped motivate Josh to get his done.

When the next movie finished, I held up the game we got for Tatum. I told them I wanted to try it out to see if it was a good game. We went downstairs and Ashley read the directions. The layout is very similar to Clue. The board looks the same, there are rooms, and people, but no weapons. Instead, there are tools. Ashley finally gave up and said she didn’t know how to play, so I did my best to explain that we had to put 3 cards in an envelope, then try to figure out the cards. Ashley caught on, but Josh was not too interested. We played 2 rounds then decided to wait for the others.

Eunice, Nadia and Becky arrived and started making dinner. A little American food (stroganoff), some Ukrainian Sola(?) (pig fat) which Ashley loves and gave me a bite of. Tasted like pig fat.

Ashley listened to music with Nadia on my computer. Nadia took pictures of her, and I snapped a few myself. Then Nadia called Josh over and got some pictures of him, too. Then they got him saying his ABCs, and spelling his name. After a while, Josh wanted to fry up another hotdog, so I let him. When it was done, he only ate a couple bites – apparently his main objective was to save it for breakfast. Soon the kids wanted to finish their movie. Ashley told Eunice, Nadia and Becky that she was going to go watch TV, but they made her come ask me if it was ok. She came and leaned into me and put her head on my shoulder for her big “Pleeeeeease!!” How could I say no to that? I made them turn it off at 10 and go to bed. Josh said his tooth really hurt. I tucked him in and he asked for some oragel stuff I swabbed on his gums once before. So I did that, gave him a hug and he went to sleep. Then I tucked Ashley in and gave her a hug and a kiss as well. I myself got to bed at the early hour of 12:30, and got a full 8 hours of sleep – it was great.

Josh loves to eat. I saw him pinching his stomach fat last night - I think that's new from all the eating he's been doing!

I’m disappointed that we’re not home for Tatum’s birthday, but she said it’s ok because now she’ll get two parties and two cakes. Hopefully next weekend – I’m counting on it.


Sunday, Jan 25th

We left for church at 10 with Eunice and Leslie. We had a pleasant surprise as we walked into the building. Karen Springs met us with hugs for both Ashley and Josh – she knows them both from trips to their orphanages, and she came to the States with Ashley on a trip a couple of years ago. Both kids were very happy to see her (as was I). She sat next to Ashley during the service, and I saw Ashley braiding her hair.

After church we did some furniture shopping for Leslie’s new apartment, then met Nadia and Becky for a delicious Ukrainian lunch in Boyarka. This café has private dining rooms. We had salad, bread with a garlic spread, grilled pork, potatoes, and these Ukrainian tortillas. I’ve got some nice garlic breath now, but it was good. We went to Becky and Nadia’s house to borrow a laptop and some activities for the kids – some English lessons and learning games, and some Archie comic books for them to read. Nadia has a guitar, so Ashley strummed on it, and Nadia gave her a little lesson. Then they said she could bring it back to Eunice’s with her, so she was very happy. Josh was happy because there was more food.

Later I helped Leslie assemble her new bookcases and called Tatum to wish her a happy birthday. The kids stayed with Leslie and had a High School Musical movie party. Afterward, I peeked in and saw Ashley quietly practicing what Nadia had taught her on the guitar and told her it sounded great. Our new house guest arrived tonight. Luba is a friend of Eunice's and stays here once in awhile to dog-sit.

Tomorrow Valentin is picking me up at 9:15 to take our docs to the consulate. Eunice and Luba offered to keep the kids here and do English lessons while I'm gone. Then at 2:00 Josh has his followup dentist appointment.

Pray that our passports are completed in Kiev and put on the train to Kherson on Monday.