Coming and Going

Well, well... the week's thoughts focus on the ins and outs of our life these days.

First the Ins:
When the kids came to us, they had a very "institutional taste buds" at the dining table. They turned down almost all sauces and melted cheese concoctions. Of course Christina led the "turn it down before you taste it" charge. Bare noodles, rice or potatoes went down well, but au gratin, lasagna or (very yummy) spaghetti, PB and J all met resistance, more or less.

The added bonus to blessings of the delivered dinners so many wonderful folks from our church brought over, they reflected many approaches to cooking and styles of preparation. We have also developed our skills of presenting and incentive-ising new tastes and textures. It is now a bit of a game to get them to try a small piece.

With time, we have been able to split up the "Nyet block" a bit at a time. Sasha and Tanya have been crossing the picket line more and more often.

So on Thursday, we had a bit of an Americana break-through in the junk food department. Masha and I took the three of them to Jimmy T's, a Capitol Hill favorite diner.

So we ordered open-faced peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and french fries for them. We actually convinced them to try a sample sandwich or two. They worked over the fries, with Sasha even trying ketchup (what a wild boy he is). Then they surprised us by digging into the onion-rings the grown ups had ordered. Then, the moment of truth, the corn dog came.

They passed it around and discussed what it may be made of, how, and where to bite it to find out. Wow, another success! These darn American swine make some things that are a tad better than porridge. 

And now for the outs.
We have been doing a complete work-up on the kids these last few weeks. The labs have been keeping us in constant contact with doctors. Intestinal parasites and other issues with inoculations and other tests pop-up routinely with these kids. So, as brand new parents we have a little kid medicine to catch up on. The favorite, so far, is the stool-sample regime. We have to collect three samples from each brave kinder and place them in a separate set of tubes, each. For those weak in math, that is nine samples loaded into 18 separate vials.

We had to get a score card going to keep track of the hero's work. Tanya is the bashful one coming in last and Sasha was the trooper, delivering the goods right up front. After the consultation Thursday with the Doc, it looks like the gang is due for another blood draw for a titers work-up to fill in some of the holes in the first screening. Good thing they like stickers, cuz they are collecting a bunch of them (that is the prize when they complete the shots and blood draws).

Erik and Heidi

First Corndog

The first corn dog, at Jimmy T's

(ain't cellphone cameras fun?)

4th Weekend of the American Family

This week's wrap-up is a confusing hustle of activity to a novice parent. It includes haircuts, doctor visits, blood draws, cartoon band-aids, and lots of stickers.

Our second trip to the family pool in near by Maryland. My family had a tradition of "Swim Night" on Fridays, started as a special schedule to get the kids to the University of Michigan's pool for a family swim time. In my recollection, years later in southern California, it was a first-come first-serve meal time. Our own swim night ritual of going to this wonderful facility with the three kids.

Our church has been incredible! Since we have been home, we have been assisted by so many wonderful people who have brought wonderful dinners by for us. In the bleak hours of the first weekend, Pastor Heather asked us how she could help us, Heidi and I are not too good at asking for help you see. She suggested meals as a service that people could help us with.

What a wonderful blessing, as we struggled those first days to stabilize the chaos. And as things calmed down, not having the time or mental energy to plan and prepare our dinner meals. Time and again, friendly faces at the door would bring in not only the food to nourish us but their concern and compassion. Just being able to share our story and in many cases give weekly updates as they returned with new labors of love for us.

The most picturesque effort was a carefully-crafted rendition of the United States and the Ukraine in Pizza! There where so many wonderful and nutritious meals all crafted and delivered with love and kindness. This has been such a blessing, since these meals have given us more time to focus on getting the children through all the hoops of school entry. Most nights we have just been able to collapse at the end of a full day.

Some of the weeks highlights in pictures:

The Ukraine Pizza!

Getting Go-to-school haircuts.

Our new school uniforms. 1&2

The new look.

Dance Concert in the Kitchen - and the dog gets in it too!

With a new-found respect for love,

Erik & Heidi

Note: These photos, along with all others posted in this blog, are also available for viewing HERE, and for print orders at Costco. Please comment with your photo request and we'll send you the Costco link.