Labor Day weekend

We traveled to Ohio for the Ohio Cup vintage base ball festival this weekend. The kids were looking forward to it as they love staying in hotels (there's a pool!) and the hotel has a happy hour and they get popcorn.

I should say something about the joy of being young, but truth be told I was looking forward to the pool and popcorn too. ;)

And no laundry and no cooking and no cleaning and...sorry, I digress. :)

We drove up Friday night and first thing Saturday morning--we hadn't been at the base ball field even 5 minutes--Tim fell down concrete steps and split his chin open. After some discussion, we decided not to take him for stitches and so far it's healing nicely.

The kids and I spent Saturday afternoon at the pool (yes, I spent the afternoon with 4 kids who can't swim) and then met up with Mark and his brother Paul for the Saturday evening base ball potluck. It was great to see so many friends that we usually only see once a year, and others we haven't seen as much as usual because we added another St Louis base ball team this year.

Sunday was more base ball (and more swimming! and more popcorn!) and we drove back yesterday after dropping Paul off at the airport. The drive home was spent on homework since I was a very bad mom and forgot to have the boys do their assignments over the weekend.

There was all that swimming, you know. Hard to fit schoolwork in around that. :) :)

Other than Tim's little adventure, the weekend was pretty calm and much easier this year than last (when the girls had only been home 4 months!).

Fun weekend

This weekend Mark's parents were in town and it was great to have them here. We packed as much as we could into one weekend. :)

Friday Mark had the day off so he kept the kids home so they could spend more time with their Grandma and Grandpa. They did lots of yardwork and spent lots of time snuggled on the couch reading stories. :) Friday night all of the adults went to the Muny for Cats. I had never seen it before, and while it was good it's not one of my favorites. I'm glad to have finally seen it, though.

Saturday was...wait for it ;)...base ball! Mark's dad played and then...in the last inning of the last game...I played.

Yes, you read that right.

They were short players and I told them as long as I didn't have to catch, hit, or throw I would be happy to play. I played second base. And...

I actually made an out.

We celebrated by going to Cici's Pizza. I ate an extra cinnamon roll. I figured I deserve it. It will be at least another decade before I play base ball again so I better celebrate while I can!

Sunday was church and then we went peach-picking at Eckert's. We brought home about 20 lbs of peaches, which will be canned shortly (whatever we don't eat first). Then Hometown Buffet to show Grandma and Grandpa how much the kids can eat (trust me, looking at them you would be amazed!).

Mom and Dad O are heading out tomorrow for Denver. We will all miss them and look forward to seeing them again soon!

And even more base ball...

We had another busy day of base ball. We drove a couple of hours into Illinois for the game. Early on, Mark was in left field and the kids and I were at the playground behind him. I yelled at him to check out Emily and me.

Emily was swinging, by herself, pumping and giving Danielle a run for her money as to who could swing higher.

I was sitting on a bench, in the shade. :) :)

The helicopters from Alex's birthday were a huge hit and the kids spent a lot of time flying them. Emily is not quite able to make them go (she pulls the string too slow) but the bigger kids were all able to get them into the air.

The kids also took turns playing left field with Mark. That was highly entertaining for me, especially since none of them run after the ball. They all just stand there and watch Mark run and then tell him he did a good job when he gets back to where they are!

Base ball, base ball, and more base ball

This weekend was one of Mark's vintage base ball festivals. They played pretty much all day on Saturday and then Sunday afternoon. The kids and I went and we tried out the new canopy that we bought at Walmart a couple of weeks ago. We have a few base ball fields without a lot of shade so now we have guaranteed shade with us wherever we go. The canopy worked great and the kids enjoyed helping set it up and take it down.

Saturday night after showers everyone went to bed and NO ONE MOVED from the spot they first laid down in. They crashed and crashed hard after all of the playing! :) Since they'd played so hard on Saturday and had a busy week coming up we only went to a couple of games on Sunday then went home to relax and calm down.

My mom came up briefly this weekend which worked great! The kids were so excited to see here and she was able to babysit while Mark and I went out to dinner for our anniversary. It's been eleven years, and while it hasn't always been easy, there is no one else I would rather be married to than Mark. :)

Loving the weather!

Saturday was a base ball game for Mark and it was a gorgeous day for it! The kids played all day and were so wiped out by the end.

Sunday was church and then Mark's work picnic. I completely forgot to take the camera (the kids actually reminded us after we were already there because they wanted pictures of their balloon animals) but it's probably just as well. There was a bounce house, balloon animals, sno-cones, and way too much barbecue to eat. :) The kids had a great time as did Mark and I. The bigger kids loved the bounce house but Emily was less-than-enthralled. She decided it was way more fun to watch from the outside than to be bumped into by her siblings (who, by the way, thought it was great that they could knock each other down and not get in trouble for it!).

I've been selling some of the kids' old clothes on Craigslist and finally got rid of the second tuxedo on Sunday. It feels so nice to get things out of the house, especially when it can bring some extra money in.

Thinking of money always makes me think of the dirty house. Mark is being way too modest in the pictures.

Every single piece of new wood you see in those pictures he has put in. By himself. In addition, several of the contractors have come through and praised him on his framing. I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked on this. Rough-in of all of the systems is now almost done (waiting on a couple of small things) and we expect to be able to start insulating this week. That tuxedo I just sold should provide enough to pay for all of the insulation supports for the ceilings! :)

Mother's Day weekend

I had a post to write last week (about Alex specifically) but after some thought on my part I've decided I'm not ready to put it out there yet, which is why you haven't seen anything from me. :)

This weekend we split the kids and had a girls' weekend and a boys' weekend! I had a family baby shower to go to for a cousin and Mark had base ball so couldn't watch all of the kids, so we thought this would be a fun way to do the weekend. The girls and I drove down to my mom's house for the baby shower--which never happened. As it turned out, the mom-to-be had a car accident the morning of the shower. She and the baby are both fine, but they were in the hospital for the day for monitoring. So instead of a baby shower we had something more like a family reunion--with lots of girls. LOL

I did some special things with the girls this weekend that they hadn't yet experienced--their first blow-dry, their first happy meals, and their second nail-paintings. They loved getting to spend lots of time with me without having to compete with their brothers. In addition, they LOVED spending time with my youngest sister Brianna who is 13.

Mark and the boys...well, let's see if I can list it. Over to a base ball park to repair some holes--involved dirt, digging, and jumping on the newly placed dirt. To a second base ball park for the actual game--lots of playing with trucks, reading to friends, and all-around hanging out. To Cici's Pizza for dinner--chosen (by the boys) over White Castle because "it has more food and dessert." To Lowes and Home Depot for all kinds of building supplies for both houses. Sams--grocery shopping for the family. Church--where I didn't hear any reports of bad behavior, but they might have all been sleeping in the balcony. ;) I think they also added in some trips to the dirty house as well as doing some things around our house. Saturday night the boys were so excited because they got to stay up until 8pm. "Mama, it was past 8 o'clock!"

And Sunday we put everyone to bed at 6:30 and Mark had to wake them up at 7 the next morning. :) :)

Some highlights from my weekend: Sharing a morning snack with my girls at McDs--yogurt parfait for them and a Mocha Frappe for me. Emily headbanging to AM country-western music on the drive. Danielle falling in love with a little mirror she got in her Happy Meal, and trying to show it to every person in the restaurant before we left because she was so proud (we really did only stop at McDs twice). Talking to my mom for hours without interruption while Brianna and the girls played. Coming home to all of my boys (big and little) and the beautiful roses they got me for Mother's Day...

...realizing I've only been a mom for not even two and a half years. How incredibly blessed I am to celebrate this third Mother's Day when for many years I doubted I would celebrate one. I don't always feel like I'm meeting everyone's needs, but I'm trying and trusting God that He will keep molding me into the wife and mother He wants me to be! :)

Tired

I have not been sleeping well due to a lot of things going on right now. I slept 9 hours Friday night which was wonderful! I felt so rested on Saturday, although at Mark's base ball game in the afternoon I'm pretty sure I still could have laid down and taken a nap in the sun.

Saturday was Mark's first official base ball game. The kids were thrilled to be out at the park playing again. Unfortunately, Emily has a love affair with her water bottle which means she becomes rather attached to the bathrooms. :) I usually try to make her wait at least a few minutes when she tells me she needs to go, but it made me giggle so much watching her do the "potty dance" that I took her pretty quickly. I really don't need any accidents at the park. :)

School should be back to normal this week, at least for Alex. The other three all have field trips to the zoo tomorrow. They will have a blast and all I have to remember is to send them in their field trip t-shirts!

Labor Day weekend

We headed to Ohio this weekend for a vintage base ball festival. The kids did great on our 7 hour car ride and managed to amuse themselves as usual. They're pretty funny to listen to in the car. They sing, play pretend, find things out the window to look at...and annoy each other. ;) We left right after school was out on Friday and got into Ohio way too late (or early) Friday night.

We had a blast once we arrived and the kids particularly enjoyed getting to swim at the hotel every day. We forgot to bring their trucks (or any other toys, for that matter, but the trucks are our usual base ball toys) so they had a great time playing with sticks, rocks, and empty water bottles. Seriously, these kids can amuse themselves with anything. All of the kids did a great job with the large numbers of people they encountered, although as expected Emily was up crying every 4 hours at night after interacting with lots of people. It seems that close interaction with a lot of people (which is something like any number of people beyond our immediate family) sets her brain on overdrive and she doesn't sleep well. It actually doesn't have to do with a stimulating environment, just the number of people she directly interacts with. Interestingly, preschool hasn't seemed to affect her, so maybe it's just large numbers of people over 3 feet high.

We stopped at Chick-Fil-A on Monday on the way back and took advantage of their free chicken sandwich promotion (wear anything with a team logo, get a free chicken sandwich). We saved almost $20 by eating lunch there. :)

It was a great weekend and I'd share pics, except I don't think I took any. :) Mark had the camera most of the weekend (he would go early to the festival and the kids and I slept in and went swimming) and I'm really not sure I took a single picture.

Girls' day out

Yesterday Mark had another base ball game a couple of hours away. Since his brother was in town, I requested to stay at home with the girls so we could go shopping for school supplies and all of the boys could go play base ball. Mark was hesitant, but he finally agreed (he wasn't sure how well he could watch the boys while playing base ball, which is a valid concern).

The girls and I hit OfficeMax, Office Depot, Target, and Walgreens, with a McDonalds run for lunch. We had a great time and got a bunch of stuff on the kids' school supply lists. With three of them in school I need to hit all of the deals I can!

Danielle is super excited about school and when she got up today and put her dress on for church she asked if she was going to school. Then tonight when she was going to bed she asked me how many days until school. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't know the number "16" so she still doesn't know how long until school starts. LOL

It was especially good for me to get to spend some time with Danielle shopping on Saturday. I feel like I am not bonding as well to her as she kind of gets lost in the chaos. Emily has needed so much more attention simply because she is younger, so I'm really trying hard to develop my relationship with Danielle. It took several months for me to really feel bonded to the boys, and I've seen that bonding (on my end and theirs) continue to grow and deepen the longer they've been home. I see the same thing happening with Danielle, but it's hard to be patient and give our relationship time. This is nothing Danielle is doing or not doing; it is simply a matter of trying to develop a relationship with a person you've only known for a couple of months and that you have a hard time communicating with. :) It takes time and effort and a willingness to make connections and build the relationship.

Even more base ball

Yesterday was more base ball but this time at their home field. We're ramping up into busy base ball season so we've got games most weekends from here until September (which is not that far away!). The kids and I don't usually go to the away games. It's just a lot to manage when I don't know the area and they don't know their boundaries. Since yesterday was a home game, they had a great time playing and they know exactly where all of the dirt piles are to play in. ;) And play they did! Danielle at one point was scooping up dirt and --no joke--pouring it over her head. While I don't object to them playing in the dirt, I draw the line at showering in it!

The boys and Danielle made a dirt "highway" on the concrete path and they used their trucks to cart the dirt back and forth. They also cleaned up the park by moving big tree branches off of the path so they weren't in the way (their idea, not mine, and very sweet!). Then after base ball they got to take turns batting with their small bat and ball. So far no one has whacked anybody else in the head with the bat and they even make contact with the ball every once in a while. ;)

Danielle is really getting into base ball and she loves to bat. She also loves to run, which is fantastic because I don't think she had done much running in the orphanage. Her running gait is still pretty awkward but much improved over when she first got home. Her first couple of weeks home it took her a little while to figure out that she could run--now she'll run pretty much any chance she gets! She's also walking down 3 or fewer steps without holding on to the railing. When we first came home she would hang on to the railing and use her arms to pull herself up and down. Now she actually has enough leg strength to be able to walk up and down the stairs! Her legs and core muscles are not yet strong enough to allow her to walk up the stairs without holding on but she's getting close.

Base ball

Today Mark had a base ball exhibition in Monroe City, MO. Never heard of it? Neither had we. ;)

It's close to Hannibal (for any Mark Twain fans) and is about 2.5 hours from St Louis. Some friends of ours have a house up there so after the game we went to visit them for dinner. The kids got very dirty (at the base ball game) and very well fed (at our friends' house) and they slept part of the way home. I was surprised they didn't sleep the whole way--I certainly could have.

Of course I realized when we got to Monroe City and were unloading the van that the camera was still sitting at home. :) But at least we didn't forget any kids!! LOL

And just because I like remembering the funny things the kids say...

Dima has been telling me every night about his two stuffed animals, that they are "penny pigs"--or at least that was as close as I could get to guessing what he was talking about. And every time I would ask him what he was saying, he would drop the first word and just call them "pigs" (one was a baby pig and one was a daddy pig). Last night at dinner the boys were talking about going to the zoo, and Dima made a comment about Emily and the "penny pig"--to which I excitedly replied "OH, the GUINEA pigs! That's what you've been saying all week!"

Visitors

On Thursday Mark's parents arrived and we've been quite busy!

Friday the goal was to wear the kids out, so after therapy in the morning we came home and had lunch then went to a wading pool. All of the kids absolutely love the water and we had a great time. It's quite the preparation to get everyone suited up and in sunscreen but it is a wonderful way to wear them out.

Friday night we saw "Godspell" at the Muny. I'd never seen it before and it was not what I was expecting (I really liked it). I particularly liked the story behind it--of how and why it was conceived. I wonder how many people that see it actually pay any attention to the message in it or if it's just another fun musical.

Yesterday Mark had a base ball game in Illinois. The kids and I haven't been going to the away games as it's just too much for me to manage right now with the girls not knowing all of their boundaries. With the extra adults (1:1 ratio!!) it was a much more pleasant experience for me. :) We ate a late dinner at Qdoba (kids eat free on the weekends this summer) and then we all crashed. There are no pictures because the camera got left at home--just picture four very dirty, tired, and happy children. ;)

This morning was church and a full day of playing. Mark and his dad hung the new bathroom door and patched the walls in both bathrooms. Only a few more things and the bathrooms will be completely done (for the time being)!

Dima's loose tooth is really loose and I expect him to lose it in the next few days. I've been making a bigger deal out of it than I normally would for a loose tooth because it's such a great example for him of growing up. Plus I really think he can use the extra positive attention. :) Now we've got to decide what to do about the tooth fairy!

More Pictures

Emily playing with bubbles

Danielle playing with bubbles

Bubbles in the front yard

Relaxing at the base ball game

Playing at the base ball game

Update

I know some of you have been waiting for an update from the weekend, so here goes...

It was the best of times...

Saturday was awesome. The boys did so well--they really had a great day. We started out with swimming and then headed over to base ball. We had brought their trucks and I sat under a tree while they roamed around and played. The rule is they have to be able to see me (and in this case they couldn't go out on the fields while the base ball games were going on) but they were able to wander quite a bit and had lots of fun exploring. We went back to the hotel in the afternoon so they could rest--and they slept for 2 hours. :) I knew they'd be up late that night so I wanted to make sure they had the opportunity to rest, and they definitely took advantage of it. They almost fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel! That evening was the potluck and then they had a caller for some square/contra dancing. Zhenya decided to participate and danced with Mark and I while Dima climbed all over a wagon. The boys got to see stilts and play tug-of-war (which of course they loved). Then we all went out for chocolate nachos--my favorite part of the weekend. Everyone crashed that night (even with the extra sugar).

Sunday Mark and Paul headed out to base ball and the boys and I went swimming. Sunday morning was the first time I think they were really comfortable in the water. They were swimming around on their own (with water wings) and had a lot of fun. But when we got out, they were really cold. We went back up to the room and Dima had a meltdown. Thirty minutes later he was fine and we headed to base ball. We met up with the guys, had lunch, played on a vintage playground (in the historical village), then Zhenya had a meltdown. So during the guys' last game both boys had to lay down on the blanket next to me, and they both slept for about 45 minutes.

It was the worst of times...

The boys woke up right before the end of the game which was perfect timing, so we packed up and headed to the car. I used the key to roll down the windows (a nice VW feature to help vent your car before you get in) then we loaded everything up and got in. I went to start the car...and nothing. It didn't turn over, it didn't crank--it didn't do anything. In fact, it actually turned the clock off and reset the trip odometer. Ummm..help? Thankfully there were still lots of people around. We had several people try to jump it--with different cars AND different cables, and still nothing, although we did get enough juice to be able to roll the windows up. We caught a ride back to the hotel with a couple of the other guys on Mark's base ball team, who were kind and generous enough to offer to stay an extra day to help us out. Our options were as follows:

1-Have the car towed to a mechanic, who would not be able to look at it until Tuesday. One or all of us would stay in Columbus.
2-Rent a car dolly on Monday and tow the car back to St. Louis. One of the guys who stayed has a big truck and was willing to tow our car back, but it would have been a long ride with 6 of us in the truck.

The boys were being thoroughly entertained during this time by one of the other guys on the team and their uncle Paul. We were past dinner time and they were already tired so it was wonderful to have people distracting them--thanks, guys!

So...we went back to the hotel and I said duh! I need to get to TDIClub (I'll explain all of that in a separate post). I went online, posted our dilemma, and within an hour our mechanic from St. Louis called to see what was going on. I explained, and he told me who to get in touch with. Brian (our mechanic) was outside Cincinnati for TDIFest and was willing to drive the hour+ up to us to come look at the car, but he didn't have any tools with him. Instead, I got in touch with Glen, who lives just east of Columbus. He had also been at TDIFest and had driven back home Sunday night. He met Mark at 7:30am on Monday to try to diagnose the car--and diagnose it he did. They went and got a new battery, Glen ran a few more tests, and we were on our way.

The funny thing is that it didn't mess up our schedule at all. We had planned on dropping Paul off at the airport about 1pm and heading home after that, and that's exactly what happened. We made it home late Monday night, but the boys slept the last couple of hours in the car. And so far, we haven't seen any behavior repercussions from being gone over the weekend. If we make it to this weekend without any, this will be the first overnight trip we've taken where we didn't have a rough week afterwards. Progress!

Base ball pictures

Waiting for the ball

Look at that throwing form (and he's a lefty, too!)

Mark demonstrating the best way to contain Zhenya while Dima returns the bandana he just swiped

What Zhenya lacks in skills (he closes his eyes while trying to catch the ball) he makes up for in enthusiasm

So he can throw, he just can't catch

Keeping them active

It's been an up-and-down few days.

This weekend was fantastic! Mark had a base ball game at an historic village outside of Springfield, IL, and then a demonstration at the Old Capital in Springfield. The boys had so much fun. We take their big trucks to the base ball games and they play and play and play. At the demostration, they got to play with Mark which they loved. I have some wonderful pictures that I will try to get up soon. Dima has quite the arm--and he's a lefty so Mark's hoping to have an MLB pitcher on our hands...that is if he can keep from falling down. The coordination's still a bit lacking there. LOL

Sunday Dima had a meltdown at home before church (most likely due to still being tired from Saturday). Usually the boys come to worship with us and then go back to their classroom for the sermon, but since Dima did not obey at home Mark had him sit with him through the sermon while Zhenya went to class. Dima did really well in the sermon and then got to go to his class for the second service while Mark and I were in class. It's hard, because we don't want to use church as a punishment, but at the same time there have to be consequences for not obeying or exhibiting inappropriate behavior.

On Tuesday, Dima had a meltdown at school. This is the first time he's done this outside of the house, ever. And it also explains some of the problems we've been having at home lately. The teacher that the boys have in the afternoon is very sweet, but she is compounding our discipline problems because she does not discipline. Dima has figured out that as soon as he starts crying (if she hears him--she's older and her hearing isn't great) she will come over and apologize and then say that she still loves him but he really needs to listen. As long as he's crying, she fawns over him. Well, he's all for that!! So on Tuesday if I had to guess he started crying and when she didn't hear him he started wailing at the top of his lungs to get her attention. I'm going to try to get him switched to another teacher if at all possible for the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday night was swim lessons. Since Dima had behavior issues at school, he had to sit out the first 15 minutes. Both boys loved the lessons, again, and they are making progress. We've been working on blowing bubbles in the bathtub (gross, I know) for a few weeks to help prepare them for swim lessons and they're just getting to that in the pool. We did take the camera this week and I got some fun pictures that I'll post when I have time to wait for them to load. ;)