Homestretch??

We did the usual breakfast thing and trying to keep them occupied for as long as we can. Ryan is feeling much better. He got up to have breakfast, but then laid down again - I think he is getting a little spoiled by being able to sleep in the room with the extra T.V., and the room Korey keeps his I-Pod and PSP in. Jason's toe is much better also. Monte took him to the nurse for his dressing change. They changed it and also the thumb wound. They told Monte by hand gestures that he should wear gloves to bed. Ya, we will see how that goes!! Bogdan brought over some embassy papers that George had sent over so I could get a headstart filling them out. With four kids, it will take much longer. I filled them out while Monte took Katya and Jason outside to play. Ryan still didn't want to go out to play and Robin ran out there later. Just as I was finishing the papers, she ran back in and I was just going to get up to let Monte know that Robin was back in, when he came in with the little two. Just as I figured, she had run off without telling him and he was worried. Korey watched a movie on my lap top with the older two and we played referee with the youngest, trying to share blocks and Legos. Bogdan had the great idea of having the kids eat here at the orphanage since it is the same kind of food they are used to, so we went down at 1:30 to eat in the cafe. They served us Borsch, mashed potatoes, a chicken cutlet, pickles, bread, compote, and brought the kids a banana. Bogdan came in and grabbed a bowl of borsch and then sat across the room, so we invited him over. Maybe he wanted to get away from the kids, but he graciously accepted. He told us stories about orphanage graduates and how hard it is for them. There is one boy in a wheelchair that is lucky to be a trade school. Normally, once he was done at the orphanage, he would be sent to a rest home at age 16-18 (I think) to just lie in bed for the rest of his life. He is at a trade school and his legs and hands don't work, but is learning a trade. They don't have a washer or dryer there. He has to get someone that is able to hand wash his clothes for him. Then they lay them out on the beds and Bogdan says it stinks in there because it takes a month for the clothes to dry since their rooms are very cold. Bogdan was trying to get a washer and dryer for them, but the place refused because of the old wiring. Bogdan said that they would re-wire for it, then they said the electricity would cost too much, Bogdan said they would pay for it, but they still refused. That is how hard it is to help these kids here. There are people in America that want to help, but they can't get through all the red tape. And one day, the caretaker came to check on the boy and he didn't open his door fast enough, so they took the locks off his door. In Ukraine, there is a big problem with theft. Bogdan tries to help these kids with their problems. Once they leave the orphanage, they are sent all over the country and he tries to still help them with these kinds of problems. Have I ever said, we think Bogdan is awesome!?! During dinner, he said that Artyem was off tonight and his wife works at an arcade if the older kids wanted to go and then he checked and there is an indoor playground there too for the younger ones. When we were done eating, he came back to the room with us and explained to the kids that they needed to take a nice nap and they would get to go to this arcade. They all agreed to be good. Robin and Ryan ran off and jumped under the covers. Katya tried really hard, she only crumpled her face once and then laid down. Yay, the first day without tears!! Jason still couldn't behave, he had to "go" peesit 5 times, got up and down, argued with Monte and just generally still couldn't lie down and take a nap. Monte was at the end of his rope. I think this was his worst day for napping. Monte decided since we said they had to be good for their naps, he couldn't go. I guess this is our first "we have to say what we mean" parenting issue. Of course he sobbed when we left. The three were really excited to go. I asked Bogdan to go talk to Jason so he could understand why he couldn't go and he said he would as soon as we took off. We went by taxi to the city center. It took a long time since it was "rush hour." They have an arcade, several different play areas for the little ones and an ice skating rink - I really wanted to go there, but we didn't have enough time. I played with Jillian in the playroom, it has a maze, a little thing you can ride sleds down, enormous Legos, and a huge stuffed penguin. We played on everything and ended with me with "tossing" her onto the Penguin and she loved that. I hope we can have some bonding in our relationship. It is so hard to bond when you have to be after them all the time in the room to not color on the furniture, not jump on the furniture, etc. We had a good time. Ryan and Robin played lots of different video games and air hockey with Korey, Artyem and Alyosha who showed up to drive us home. At first, they couldn't decide what to play or how because they had never seen anything like it before. After playing there, we took the kids to McDonalds for supper. I ordered all the kids a happy meal. Ryan ate some french fries and didn't like them and ate half of his burger, the same with Robin. Katya ate up most of her fries and didn't know how to eat the burger. By the time she started her burger, we had all finished and Artyem tried to show her by "eating" his box. She still didn't eat it. She kept a few of her fries twisted up in the bag. Robin really like Korey's milk shake. A lady brought around balloons for all the kids. Alyosha was smart enough to put all the balloons in the trunk, we were really crowded with Robin and Jillian on our laps. Robin kept asking on the way out if one of the SUVs was what we were going to get to drive. Nyeta - the kids say nyetah and da huh for a huh an unhuh (sp? have you ever tid to spell that??). Anyway, we went back home and Bogdan met us at the door. He said he would explain that the fun was over and it was time to go to bed. (Can we take Bogdan home with us??) Monte came back then with Jason who got to play upstairs on the third floor with the big kids. Bogdan says he would probably regret not going to McDonalds as the food they served tonight wasn't good for him either. He did talk to the kids and explained to them that they had to put away their toys and go to bed. Katya wouldn't give up her french fries, she still had them in a tight fist. They went to bed really well (had to still keep Jason in another room), Katya didn't cry at all. She ate the rest of her french fries and kept singing and singing (in a whisper), then I laid my hand on her chest and tummy to try to soothe her, she laid her little hands on mine, picked my fingertails a little bit and was asleep in just seconds. It was amazing!!

George called Monte while we were out and he has the children's passports!!!!!! Thank you all for praying!!!! Tomorrow, we leave at 8 a.m. for the embassy. Please keep praying for our process! We are all ready to come home!!