Stir Crazy....

First... to the babysitter from Va... please let your roommate know that I wondered if he might be here too, even had a feeling he was... and wished there were a way to get in touch with him as I make a mean borcht by now and would have enjoyed the company :) a hug and some coffee :) Understand however that he had other rather pressing engagements and his company might not have been inclined to give him leave... oh well... guess we will just have to arrange a meeting once we get this tribe home... Delta aint AF1 but at this point it looks like a private jet to me!

ok so here it is... I am officially going nuts wanting to get home. I know you guys are like, but it is only a few more days... which I think I will vow never to say again LOL...

G. called. Passports are here, but nice lady who has to give them to us is sick. Pray for nice lady to feel better and be in office on Monday as she plans to be meeting us then. G. has a photo copy of the boys docs and I called the U.S. E. and they said that will work for getting me and them in the door on Monday afternoon. Going to the Dr. on Mon. am 8:30... get through that and then go get John's finger prints made and then back to osh kosh to get the Visa's.

Tues or Weds. is final embassy day and "theoretically" by Weds. we are done with the hoops here. Do not think I have not considered trying to get this team on the plane earlier than Sat. It has more than crossed my mind. All tickets are purchased at this point... If I were going to make a move to try to do this sooner I would have had to get a firm "uh huh all is good you can go by Thurs. for sure" which I did not, hence, I am feeling the effects of "knowing" that the clock has truely tipped over and my time here is coming to a blessed close.

Our kids are pinging off the walls... they do not want to be here anymore. Esp. the local bunch two... the two from the south I think are certain that America is a myth and they are stuck here in neverland forever and the nice man with the gotee must have been a figment of their immagination who has been replaced by the wicked witch of the west. Awful woman that one... makes them come in and bath at night, the nerve of her...  only feeds them three times a day and snacks and those she can't even get right.... won't let them cuss in either English or Russian... our sons have an affinity for calling each other less than "precious" and smiling at each other under their breath. If anyone is thinking I am bringing home children who are polished and have been to charm school they are sorely mistaken LOL...

Was reading an article on RAD and came across this quote:

"The task of the adoptive family so to speak starts with the break, and out of the mending, a social identity is intended to develop. As expressed so wonderfully in a Marx Brothers movie:

- "Find a shovel! There's a treasure under the house next door!"
- "But there is no house next door?"
- "Well, then we will just have to build one, won't we?"

And that's what you do in the adoptive family; you build a house together in order to find the treasure: mutual bonding."

The deal is really simple as this... and just as hard as it sounds. Some days I think we are going to make it and others I will be honest, I am dead sure some one will end up bald...

There are glimmers of hope that we are bonding... They certainly bond to each other at times and present a united front... they are also so much siblings, and try to scratch each other's eyes out. That is not a figure of speach by the way. They went on a "roller coaster" (I pretended it looked like something I would get on myself)  in the park here together last Sunday. They were so funny. Kevin got off the roller coaster, came over and gave me a huge hug. Another score. John can't decide what to think. I can understand this, neither can I. Anna and I had at it again the other night after she wacked the fire out of Max and I "firmly" let her know that was not ok. Later, once the boys were in bed and we were alone, she let me know WHY she had hit him and I had to tell her I was sorry I didn't understand. She said, "I know Mama, you don't understand Russian. A little... a little. Not big." We both cried and told each other we miss Pop and we want to go play with Rolly Pohlee. Max and I had a follow up chat about calling his sister a street walker... charming child... and I have checked with Delta and I am not paying to bring his Bird home Tolbert so he had best leave it here...

For those coming behind, when your kid says something that sounds like a sneeze, "ya ne hachoo" they are not saying "Sure be glad to take care of that right away" you are being told, "I don't want to" passing on that gold nugget to make your day :) always makes mine to hear it in chorus! LOL speaking of which... John and Max got some bonding time in their room the other day as they tried to knock each other senseless so they started singing,

"Ya ouletsa hachoo. Ya ouletsa hachoo. ouletsa cracevah ouletsa"

loosely translated was " I want to go to the street. I want to go to the street. The beautiful street." later John added in something about flowers blooming but like I said my Russian isn't that good... Lori and I laughed till we cried for real... OMGosh will someone PLAHLEESE LET ME GO HOME!

America hachoo... America hachoo... craceviah America hachoo....

OK... before I really do go nuts I am out for the day but that is the state of this union... we are all ready for the funny farm ;)

love and peace... & get ready cause this party and all it's real life drama is coming to a town near you soon...

Jenn...