OK, here's a good one!

Mr. Bean, the whole bean! Netflix has these videos on demand, and the kids at Mariupol used to watch Mr. Bean! No language skills required to laugh at the funny humor! Karina and Papa are laughing their heads off!

So, here's to our weekend-holiday celebration for tonight:
* a bowl of cheese puffs 
* milk in a plastic wine glass
* Mr. Bean on the TV
* Robert and Big Kitty sitting next to the 3 of us

Lots of Fun!

Oh, and P.S. Karina slept with ALL the dogs last night. Needless to say, she didn't sleep. But, hat's off to her for being adventurous! (She was licked to the bone, and Twister cuddled way too close, she said.)

Favorite Tunes

For those with teenagers from Ukraine, here is some of the music our tween says is "terrrrrific!"

(We also added in a few of her favorite America tunes as of this week).

Anything by Dema Belan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO0kH8hf_wc

Anything by Ranetki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uY-goxZ-tc

Anything by Potap & Nastia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pC5Pb68Od0

Anything by Max Barskih: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPSU8aa2yNo

Anything by MaxSym: http://www.youtube.com/user/maksim?blend=1&ob=5

Katy Perry - ET

Train - Soul Sister

Black-eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow

Jennifer Lopez - Hit the Floor (kinda, so so )

And another popular America song that we do not know the name of it but plays on the radio a lot.


The thing that I worry about as a parent is, what these videos teach girls about relationships with men: too much drama, tragedy, and violence (throwing and breaking things). In Ukraine, girls are often sex-pistols and guys have lots of machismo. Reversing these beliefs and creating an understanding of loving, equal partnerships between men and women and how men and women communicate attraction to each other is challenging. There is too much "girl-chasing/boy-chasing" or trolling-type of behaviors that kids pick up on, and as a parent, that bothers me. Just a personal thought.

Anyway, tunes in one's native language helps to ease the over-Englished-world that sometimes gets our kids down until they can navigate English better.

Meeting in the Middle

Today is the anniversary of our 4th week in America, post-Ukraine. We have learned a lot about each other this past month. Values, feelings, communicating, expectations, and most of all respecting each other and as such, meeting in the middle. We are thankful for Liliya, our friend, who is available to us night and day for those deeper conversations, and conflict situations. She handles us with grace and love. Her translation abilities are very much welcomed. Today, we have had a really good day. Karina pointed out that we did not approve of her making faces at America foods, yet when we let her cook her own breakfast (scrambled eggs) we made faces (as they were raw with only a slight bit of white). So, tonight, we agreed that we were wrong to do that and she cooked dinner for the 3 of us and we ate all of our eggs, raw and runny (even the whites were runny) with nice faces and smiles of yummy-ness! We met in the middle. We needed a break from Hannah Montana's album and so we introduced Karina to youtube and how to search for Russian music. This was fabulous! She found her favorite tunes and sang along for hours! We bought her favorite album in itunes and it is our dinner music. If she has to listen to NPR, then we can listen to Ranetki. We met in the middle. It is about choice, respect, appreciation of variety, and bravery in trying new things with grace and openness. It is not always easy, but it is the essence of our relationship and that is good for where we are and how we have been doing at this point. Karina is growing closer to the pets, too. She likes to hold big kitty, and wishes she could sleep with all the dogs. We promised we'd let her try this - on a non-school night, in dogland on the futon  That should be a trip! 15 dogs who all like to lick and cuddle close! Hey, what is memorial weekend for, if not to celebrate and love being with pets and people?! (Oh no, Papa is helping crazy dog, Katie, to dance and sing in the microphone! Time for lots of laughs!)

Biker Chic

Ready to roll, just need a dry sunny day!

3 week anniversary

Today, is our 3rd week in America (post-Ukraine). Today was Karina's first day at school by herself! She had a long day at school (8:15 - 2:30). Today, is a drizzzly, yet wonderful day as each of us had time to ourselves to get things done. All is well. We are thrilled beyond belief and we are very blessed and lucky. Hooray!

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks is important. Every Sunday night, we have a family meeting. Last night, we each shared what we liked best about the past week, and what we didn't like about the past week, and then we reviewed our family expectations list and talked about which item was not working. That is, of all the expectations, which one was being met the least. It was the bedtime item. So, we talked about it, decided if we should change it or not, and Karina decided not to change it, and we learned why it wasn't working and now we can change what we do to make it easier to be met. Terrrrrific!!! We give thanks for having the time to sit as a family and communicate about being a family. Each person gets a vote on things and each gets to share their rationale and ideas for what our family is and isn't. The model of democracy is something we are thankful for, as is respect for each other.

We are thankful that today is Karina's first day of ESL at the Easterly Parkway public school. We chose this school because of Dr. Esber, her ESL teacher. Karina loves Dr. Esber and is motivated to please Dr. Esber. We visited her classroom last week as a family and the kids liked Karina and she liked them. When given the option to help in the garden or work on school, she chose to work on school, and spent about 3 hours with Papa doing her lesson for Dr. Esber! That is something we are all thankful for: Dr. Esber!!

Last night, Karina was so hyper because today is her first day of school. We have it posted on the family bulletin board and she reviewed the week and made sure she knew which days and which times she was to be at school this week (tomorrow there is no school, because the morning will be spent at the dentist). I remember the night before the first day of school, and how I spent a long time picking out my clothes and getting organized and feeling jittery! Karina the same! She chose her favorite Hannah Montana outfit that Aunt Brenda gave her, packed her school work in her Hannah backpack from Aunt Brenda, and looked just like Hannah this morning as she and Papa said Paka and jumped in the car to leave! Aunt Brenda knows kids!! She chose her favorite pens and pencils out of her desk in the office and packed those as well as her orange crush drink left over in the fridge. She even asked if Mama would put make-up on her and of course, remembering how I wanted the same as a kid, decided why not. So I made her eyes and cheeks and lips up lightly and she was thrilled! She wanted Papa to notice (and he needed a few code-winks to get it), then he said "Wow - you look gorgeous!" We are thankful for a daughter who is excited about school, who likes to look nice and cares about her appearance. Her values on which is more important - school or looks - will develop as we set a good example. One thing about Karina is that she is very in tuned to our behaviors and mimics them.

We are thankful for bubble baths, dogs & cats & rabbits (domestic and wild in our yard), the birds, good friends, local kids who speak Russian and English, Dema's birthday party (which got big thanks at the family meeting and was a real hit!), making cookies (but not Papa eating the last of the cookies - that got a thumbs down at the family meeting), looking for knee high socks, a good medical report on her heart, nice & caring doctors who have a great bedside manner with Karina, loving friends who are crazy enough to play Wii Dance with our family (that got 3 thumbs up last night, by the way!), and for google translator who helped us cope with and discuss a melt down (which we stayed up to communicate about and share feelings honestly until past 10pm, because many feelings were hurt). We are also thankful for Tsentr Opiky (her home in Mariupol) who helped us to confirm what her real birthday is this morning. She wanted it to be in July, but it is in June. That's OK, we'll let her have 2 birthdays! (On her birthday, she wants to ride crazy mouse at DelGrosso's amusement park 13 times, so now she can ride it a total of 26 times!)

Hopefully, many of her friends will be in America by then. She talks about them many times a day. Much love and giving thanks for a wonderful day ahead. I look forward to hearing her stories about school and watching Papa get his teeth cleaned this afternoon (he is setting an example for her tomorrow).

Family Values

We are going a bit crazy here at the moment. The language issues are very, very frustrating. Karina so wants to really talk with us, and we with her, and the basic communication is not cutting it. Our honeymoon is moving into stage 2 - deeper relationships building and I welcome that. I just wish it were easier. She is really frustrated. She has so much she wants to say, and she needs us to understand her and listen to her. The problem arises in that she is slow at typing (computers are new to her) so she cannot say a lot, and her spelling is not perfect, so many words do not translate.  Please send your positive thoughts if you are reading. We will feel your love and for Karina's sake, she needs the support and good karma, if you will.

Here are our family values and expectations at the moment. This is the basis of who we are right now in our family. We thought other families may be able to benefit if they are in process of deciding on the same. These are easier said than overtly taught. The best way to teach them, is simply by example, which means we have to be really, really sensitive to how we are acting. That is difficult when emotions are running higher than typical.

Family Values – Семейные ценности

Honesty              честность

Respect               уважение

Responsibility     ответственность
Accountability    подотчетности

Fairness              справедливость

Compassion        сострадание


Family Expectations:

1. Always treat each other with kindness and respect, which means to listen thoughtfully to each other and work through conflicts with a desire to do what is best for the whole family, not just one person.

1. Всегда относиться друг к другу с добротой и уважением, что означает прислушиваться задумчиво друг к другу и работать через конфликты с желанием сделать то, что является лучшим для всей семьи, а не только одного человека.




2. Keep your room tidy, make your bed every morning and return your things to your room after use; don’t leave your things lying around.

2. Храните ваши комнаты аккуратные, сделать вашу постель каждое утро и вернуть свои вещи в номер после использования; не оставляйте свои вещи лежащие вокруг.


3. If you make a mess, clean it up immediately. Our home belongs to all of us, and we all respect and care for our home and family.

3. Если вы делаете беспорядок, очистить его немедленно. Наш дом принадлежит всем нам, и мы все уважение и внимание к нашим домом и семьей.




4. Everyone should turn off lights, water, radio, television when not using them. We conserve electricity and water because it is good for the environment. 

4. Каждый должен выключить свет, вода, радио, телевидение, когда их не используете. Мы экономии электроэнергии и воды, потому что это хорошо для окружающей среды.



5. Eat and drink only in the kitchen or dining room.  No drink or food is allowed where there is carpet.
5. Ешьте и пейте только в кухне или столовой. Нет питья или еды допускается, где есть ковер.


6. Each family member should wash his or her hands before and after eating, after using the bathroom, and when we each come inside after playing outdoors.

6. Каждый член семьи должен мыть его или ее руки до и после еды, после посещения туалета, и когда каждый из нас войти внутрь после игры на свежем воздухе.


7. Each person is responsible for their daily chores.

7. Каждый человек несет ответственность за их повседневной работой.



8. Quiet time starts at 9pm Sunday through Thursday.
8. Тихо время начинается в 9 вечера воскресенья по четверг.




9 When in doubt, ALWAYS ask permission from Mama or Papa.
9. Если вы сомневаетесь, всегда спрашивайте разрешения от мамы или папы.