I'm sorry the updates have been so slow to come. We have been SO busy with activities since the kids got here. We haven't had a moment's rest because we're constantly on the go.
The first thing on the agenda after the kids got here was to go shopping for some clothes. We went to our local Super Target and it was a little overwhelming for them. Kristine is a "girly girl" so she loves skirts and sandals. I attempted to find her some tennis shoes but she wasn't having any of it. She kept going back to the strappy sandals so we let her get a cute pair of pink ones. She also found a cute denim skort and pink t-shirt with sequins. Olegs wasn't interested in shoes but he found a pair of denim shorts and a couple of t-shirts that he liked.
While at Target, we also went to the food section so the kids could pick out some cereal they liked (they call all cereal Kellogg's). Olegs picked a box of Cocoa Puffs and Kristine picked out a box of chocolate Lucky Charms. We also picked up some more bacon and eggs since they like it so much. Before the children arrived, we heard that they would probably prefer nectar to juice but ours actually like juice so we let them each pick out a juice they liked.
We also took the kids to the pool on their first day here and were totally taken aback when next thing we knew little Olegs jumped into the pool wearing nothing but his "tighty whities"!!! It took us a moment for it to register and when it finally did we didn't want to embarrass him by making a big deal out of it. We just let him keep on swimming but did our best to make sure his bottom half stayed under water as much as possible!! HA!! He was playing with the beach ball and a couple of times the ball landed outside the pool. I about tripped over myself trying to get the ball for him so that he wouldn't jump out of the pool to fetch it in his WET tighty whities!! We immediately went shopping the next day and bought an American swimsuit and now we check to make sure he has it on before we leave the house for the pool.
On Thursday night, our church was having their Street Reach family event and concert so we took the children to that. Some of the other host families were there along with the chaperones. Our neighbors came with us since they have a little girl close to Kristine's age. I think it was a little rough for Olegs being the only boy (other than Robert) in our group. He retreated into his shell at first. Luckily, there were some other Latvian boys there from church so he was able to make friends with them and play soccer. That precious smile soon returned to his sweet face.
Every morning before play time we go over our English/Latvian flash cards. Both of these children are so smart. They don't like having to have school ("skola" in Latvian) everyday but they're putting up with it for now. I don't know how much they're retaining but they're at least going through the motions and saying the words in English.
It's been a challenge getting the children to bathe everyday and change their clothes daily. They took a bath the second night they were here but the next night only wanted to wash their feet. Too funny!! We had to piece together the words in Latvian so we could tell them to bathe everyday and they finally did so I guess they got the message.
We haven't really had any discipline issues so far but I'm sure that's ahead. They had a little pouting session when I wouldn't let them go to the pool yesterday. They had gotten a lot of sun the day before so I told them we wouldn't be going. They didn't talk to me for awhile and gave me the dirtiest looks but I stood my ground and they soon got over it. Instead, I took them to get the pictures from their disposable cameras developed so they forgot all about the pool after that. We gave them each a disposable camera to take pictures and they were excited to show us the results their amateur photography. They were so proud of the pictures they took of our ceiling fans, cars, bedrooms, kitchen, etc. They even took a picture of me changing the garbage bag in the trash can. LOL!!!
Today, we had a group activity with the other host families at the Booth Museum in Cartersville, GA. It's a really neat museum with Smithsonian quality exhibits, but I think the kids were a little bored. We had promised them a visit to McDonald's afterwards so they were focused on that rather than the works of art.
Tonight, Rob and Olegs got to have their first guys' night out and went to a car race with a friend of ours and his son. [UPDATE: Robert and Olegs just got back home from the races. The look on Olegs' face (and Rob's) as he described the races to Kristine tells the whole story! It seems Olegs' favorite was the Demolition Derby, because that's all he talked about. He really seems to be letting down his defenses with every day that passes]. Kristine and I had a good time by ourselves and went over to our neighbors house to hang out. They have family here from out of town and they have children close to Kristine's and Olegs' age. We ended up going to the pool so all the kids could have an evening swim. Of course, Kristine had a blast. That was one thing that so impressed us. Both Olegs and Kristine swim like a couple of fish. Apparently, there are many lakes in Latvia where they go to swim.
It's been so great to be off of work so much while the kids are here. Rob has had to work a lot and I know it's hard for him not being home as much. Since this weekend is a holiday weekend we'll be able to do more activities together. We're having so much fun!!!
The first thing on the agenda after the kids got here was to go shopping for some clothes. We went to our local Super Target and it was a little overwhelming for them. Kristine is a "girly girl" so she loves skirts and sandals. I attempted to find her some tennis shoes but she wasn't having any of it. She kept going back to the strappy sandals so we let her get a cute pair of pink ones. She also found a cute denim skort and pink t-shirt with sequins. Olegs wasn't interested in shoes but he found a pair of denim shorts and a couple of t-shirts that he liked.
While at Target, we also went to the food section so the kids could pick out some cereal they liked (they call all cereal Kellogg's). Olegs picked a box of Cocoa Puffs and Kristine picked out a box of chocolate Lucky Charms. We also picked up some more bacon and eggs since they like it so much. Before the children arrived, we heard that they would probably prefer nectar to juice but ours actually like juice so we let them each pick out a juice they liked.
We also took the kids to the pool on their first day here and were totally taken aback when next thing we knew little Olegs jumped into the pool wearing nothing but his "tighty whities"!!! It took us a moment for it to register and when it finally did we didn't want to embarrass him by making a big deal out of it. We just let him keep on swimming but did our best to make sure his bottom half stayed under water as much as possible!! HA!! He was playing with the beach ball and a couple of times the ball landed outside the pool. I about tripped over myself trying to get the ball for him so that he wouldn't jump out of the pool to fetch it in his WET tighty whities!! We immediately went shopping the next day and bought an American swimsuit and now we check to make sure he has it on before we leave the house for the pool.On Thursday night, our church was having their Street Reach family event and concert so we took the children to that. Some of the other host families were there along with the chaperones. Our neighbors came with us since they have a little girl close to Kristine's age. I think it was a little rough for Olegs being the only boy (other than Robert) in our group. He retreated into his shell at first. Luckily, there were some other Latvian boys there from church so he was able to make friends with them and play soccer. That precious smile soon returned to his sweet face.
Every morning before play time we go over our English/Latvian flash cards. Both of these children are so smart. They don't like having to have school ("skola" in Latvian) everyday but they're putting up with it for now. I don't know how much they're retaining but they're at least going through the motions and saying the words in English.
It's been a challenge getting the children to bathe everyday and change their clothes daily. They took a bath the second night they were here but the next night only wanted to wash their feet. Too funny!! We had to piece together the words in Latvian so we could tell them to bathe everyday and they finally did so I guess they got the message.
We haven't really had any discipline issues so far but I'm sure that's ahead. They had a little pouting session when I wouldn't let them go to the pool yesterday. They had gotten a lot of sun the day before so I told them we wouldn't be going. They didn't talk to me for awhile and gave me the dirtiest looks but I stood my ground and they soon got over it. Instead, I took them to get the pictures from their disposable cameras developed so they forgot all about the pool after that. We gave them each a disposable camera to take pictures and they were excited to show us the results their amateur photography. They were so proud of the pictures they took of our ceiling fans, cars, bedrooms, kitchen, etc. They even took a picture of me changing the garbage bag in the trash can. LOL!!!
Today, we had a group activity with the other host families at the Booth Museum in Cartersville, GA. It's a really neat museum with Smithsonian quality exhibits, but I think the kids were a little bored. We had promised them a visit to McDonald's afterwards so they were focused on that rather than the works of art.
Tonight, Rob and Olegs got to have their first guys' night out and went to a car race with a friend of ours and his son. [UPDATE: Robert and Olegs just got back home from the races. The look on Olegs' face (and Rob's) as he described the races to Kristine tells the whole story! It seems Olegs' favorite was the Demolition Derby, because that's all he talked about. He really seems to be letting down his defenses with every day that passes]. Kristine and I had a good time by ourselves and went over to our neighbors house to hang out. They have family here from out of town and they have children close to Kristine's and Olegs' age. We ended up going to the pool so all the kids could have an evening swim. Of course, Kristine had a blast. That was one thing that so impressed us. Both Olegs and Kristine swim like a couple of fish. Apparently, there are many lakes in Latvia where they go to swim.
It's been so great to be off of work so much while the kids are here. Rob has had to work a lot and I know it's hard for him not being home as much. Since this weekend is a holiday weekend we'll be able to do more activities together. We're having so much fun!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment