Our last day here....

Today is our last day here, the kids all got up about the same time today. We did the two breakfasts. Korey wanted to walk to the store to get Coke and we had him get some milk too since we didn't have enough for everyone for second breakfast. They ate really good today. Some days they eat the cereal well and other days they don't. We have had some kind of cocoa puffs for them and corn flakes. Our facilitator came over in the morning and we settled up on everything we owed him, owed here at the clinic, and for the boys who drove us around. We got all the kids showered and then George told them they could go out and play. It was nice to get them out of this room, but is it warm here and everything is melting, and there is a layer of slippery ice under everything. Jillian slipped many times and came in soaking wet. More clothes for the radiator!! They also got to help the psychologist feed a turtle. It is a Japanese "soup" turtle that grows to the size of its surroundings. Then we made the kids a lunch of fried mashed potatoes - using up the leftovers and tried frying the sausage (they look like hot dogs with a casing), but they liked it boiled or "raw" better. Then, it was on to nap time and trying to pack. We had supper with the children from upstairs. We bought pizzas for them. They really like our kids and gave them all gifts again. I think we will be taking home one whole bag of gifts from them. The caregiver also gave us Ukrainian candles to burn with meals, so the kids will remember Ukraine. Bogdan let me go to his office to print our new itinerary. We pushed back our flight - sorry!! - to leave Chicago later so we would have more time to get through immigration with four children. It says in our packet that we just got from the embassy to allow at least 2 hours for port of entry for one child and we only had 1-1/2 hours in Chicago. We may regret this decision, but with Monte not feeling well, we didn't want the stress of rushing four tired children through this. Plus, we have to pick up all our bags to go through customs before we even get to immigration. Korey is still coming home as planned on the earlier flight since his car is still down in the cities. We will be arriving in Mpls. at 9:31 on a United flight from Chicago. Well that is about it for today, we are almost all packed and it is the middle of this night.

I forgot to tell you about the little girl I met at the play area at the arcade the other day. She said "Hi" to me and again later said something in English. She said she was born in New York and her and her brother are "Russian and English" and her parents are Russian. She was there with her nanny, who made her leave after we started talking. It was really fun to chat with her and she asked if I was the kid's nanny or their mama.

And I just wanted to answer a few questions people have asked me. Yes, they are potty trained. When we left, I thought maybe the caregivers were just trained to take them at regimented times and maybe getting off that schedule, they would have accidents, but they are very definite when they have to go "peesit" or "caca" and you can tell by the urgency in their voice that they wait until the last minute to go and our main problem is that usually they all have to go all at the same time and cry if they can't go when someone is already on the toilet. Good thing we have two at home!! (maybe we will need four!)

And I have been asked what the kids like to eat. It is so hard because they change their minds each day. They have liked chicken, pizza, and spaghetti that we have tried. They didn't want to eat borsch or a rice dish they were served the other day which would be typical of an orphanage meal, but they did like the Ukrainian potato pancake, that is kind of like a hashbrown patty, but has a different taste and of course they like mashed potatoes and the dreaded sausages that look kind of like hotdogs. They go crazy for juice boxes, fruit, and ice cream. Some days they like McDonalds and somedays they don't. I am not sure what kind of meals we will be preparing!! They even drink tea.

Well, I don't know if I should finish packing or try to sleep for a couple of hours..... Anyway, see you soon!! Please continue to pray us through Ukrainian customs, for getting through all the airports, hitting all our connections and getting through Immigration in Chicago. Also, Monte is not feeling well, has cold symptoms and a sore throat. All of the things that have come together has truly been a miracle!!, but please continue to pray.