Josie and Jaden's holiday programs at school...

Josie and Jaden had their holiday programs at school today. Unfortunately, I had to stay home with the baby and Jer-bear, who wasn't feeling well. Micah did capture lots of pictures and video of the events, so I could see just how adorable they looked! One thing we are learning about Ukrainian culture is they love to dance. Here are some cute pics and a special video!

Getting ready for Christmas...

The Women's Ministry at church got together Friday night to make Christmas cards. They had a great time fellowshipping and getting creative. Christy had a bunch of "scrapping stuff" she brought from Arizona that she added to the mix.





On the home front, our kids decorated our Christmas tree...or should I say, "Christmas Branches". I pruned an apple tree in the backyard and we got creative. Add some lights and some Christmas ornaments and...whola! We had fun as a family doing this. We also made those puppet reindeer that so many of us Americans remember creating in school. The kids traced their hands for the antlers and their footprint for the face. Then they put on a puppet show...enjoy!

Josie's First Ukrainian Recital

Josie had a recital at school in honor of the holiday of St. Nick. Parents were invited to attend and hear reciting of the story and singing. Josie did very well reciting her lines in Ukrainian (with a western Ukrainian accent, so we are told). We are so proud of our little harboosik (pumpkin)!

Sledding Fun 101

Since it was a nice day today, I thought I would buy a sled and take the kids to the park. This would be their first sledding experience so they were all excited to get a sled. I know they had seen kids being pulled by their parents, and seen the sleds at school, so they were curious. After purchasing a sled at a nearby hardware store, we set off to find a good hill at the park. After a couple runs...my sled was hurting. The metal was bending and the pull rope broke. I should have expected it. We made it work and we all had fun.

Christmas Windows in Ukraine

I had some tempra paints brought over from America. Its always a good thing to have paints around especially with kids. These paints I have used for crafts and posters...and now windows. I painted windows during the Christmas season in America which brought in some extra cash for the holidays. Recently I decided to spice up our church a little and bring in something unique to our town. I painted the youth room first, then started to paint the children's room at church. I gave some painting lessons to Anya's english class and they painted most of the upstairs kitchen. It was fun watching them get creative. These design are fast, easy and washable with water. The goal is to just have fun and be creative.

look who's walking...

Justin has started to walk! Of course, when we want to capture it on video, he doesn't cooperate very well. Here are some shots we caught of him practicing his new talent...

Jer-bear turns three...

Our sweet little Jeremy turned three on Friday! It is such a joy to watch him grow and see his personality develop. He has the funniest laugh, one that makes you laugh just hearing it. He has beautiful blue eyes and loves to have his hair spikey like Dad. He is very smart and loves to play on the computer and is a pro at puzzles. We are so blessed to have Jer-bear in our family!