Showtime!

We gave a puppet theater to Big Girl on her 5th birthday.

We invested $50 or so and the return has been priceless!

We had a special showing recently.

This member of the audience was delighted!

The puppeteer.

This Morning

This is my view in the mornings when I get up to exercise.

This is one of the domes from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (monastery).

I had a hard time getting up this morning, so this was taken about 6 a.m.

When the sun is still coming up over the horizon, it'll hit the golden

dome just right and glint.  It's really pretty.

And then there's the amusing on the other side of the apartment looking down into the parking lot.... I wish I would have had the camera out when that huge SUV was actually trying to drive between the two really nice, expensive sedans with about 5 Ukrainian men directing traffic.

I think they finally figured out it wasn't going to happen (the lamp post didn't help him any either) and he decided to just back his way down the sidewalk and around the building.

All of the drivers waiting for various diplomats.  Can you just picture our red Honda minivan sandwiched between these sleek rides down in the parking garage? ha!  And it's totally dirty...these are buffed hourly, I'm sure!

Our building's cleaning lady.  For the life of me, I don't know why they use these little brooms and wear flip flops for outside maintenance, but that's the culture, and I do appreciate how nice she tries to keep the grounds.

Our Compassion child, Padmani, had written a letter to us not long ago and asked if we have a rice paddy next to our house.  Tickled the living daylights out of me!  I need to take a picture of the latest night club next door!

Here We Go Again

This is Mr. YH's dresser.

That is the casualty suffered in this last move. I actually filed the claim the first summer we were here, and we have been paid for the damages we had on all the furniture, but I just recently got the name of a furniture repairman and remembered to have Sveta call him (I have her make initial calls because talking on the phone in a foreign language is hard- especially if I don't know if they'll speak Ukrainian or Russian).  He just came by to check out the damages and will come back next week to make the repairs....just in time for us to pack it all up in June and move it back.  

The good thing is that the Ukrainian movers are the BEST we've ever had.  In fact, the only damage we had from our first move back was when the local-yocals took it off the truck in North Carolina and slid the wood across the street.  {Rhodes scholars they were not.}

So, I'm in pre-pack mode.  I've begun going through everything, am selling and giving things away, and am trying to get these initial things on my list out of the way.  We'll be shipping our van back in June, packing around June 20th, and flying out on July 1....I'm getting a little  lot excited!

Spring Day

Mr. Yellow Hat and I decided long ago that the best thing for our family would be to not celebrate the Easter Bunny (we have other Easter traditions).  But that doesn't mean our children can't enjoy egg hunts, candy and baskets!  We have a Spring Day to celebrate all the things God has made for us to enjoy in this season, including things like story books, puzzles, games, coloring sheets, and whatever the weather will permit outside.  Usually, we do this on the day the calendar says is the "first day of spring," so these were taken in March.

This year, I cut out various shapes

 and after the kids dressed, they followed the trail...

{that's a kite}

spotting the treasure...

Happy Spring!

{I think it has finally come to stay here!

It snowed briefly last Sunday!}

The Natural State (aka Where We're Headed Next)

So, July-ish we'll be heading from point A to point B.

                                                                      Thereabouts.

The Boy wanted to know if they speak English there.  Mr. YH told him no. Ha!

So.  Suspense is over and we can move on.  For the record, this was not listed as any of our preferences (we got five), and as you can see, they are not obligated to give us what we would like.  In this case, it would have been helpful had they even looked in Mr. YH's file.  In short, they mislabeled him and then wanted to give him a staff job (already checked that box) and this is what was leftover.

BUT, we know God is bigger than the Air Force, and that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, in Him we can {and will choose to} be content. (Phil. 4:11)  He has a plan for us and we really are excited!

Moooo-ving In

Years ago, I was a long-term substitute in a very difficult sixth grade classroom in one of the middle schools in the county.  We'll just say that I totally earned my pay, and in the end, the kids and I enjoyed one another.

When their regular classroom teacher was well enough to return, these kids {from less than ideal home situations} pooled their money together and bought me a gift.  They presented me with a sloppily gift-wrapped box on my last day.  Seriously, I would have considered not even opening it had it not been for their excitement for me to do so because it was precious enough just like that.  When the trappings were removed, I was the owner of a dollar store cow creamer.  To this day, I have no idea what made them choose it, but I remember it as one of the best gifts I've ever received.

Sadly, I no longer have that creamer.  And I have wished for it more times than I can count.  After a little searching, I realized that apparently cow creamers are trending right now.  I found quite a few, but this one was just right.

source

But good grief!  It was going to cost me  about $30 to replace this little guy, and did I really want to spend that much money?!  So, I waited and would come back to it again and again and compared prices and tried to win one on e.bay.  Finally, I decided enough was enough.  I've thought about this for years, I found a suitable replacement, and this little bit of whimsy would make me smile and remember a lot of lessons I learned in that classroom.

Cue the angels because I remembered that my parents had sent me a gift card for Christmas and Amazon actually sells these (here)!  He's on his way across the ocean now, and I can't wait to set him out!

Share with me!  

Best gift ever?  

Strangest gift you've received? 

A lost gift you'd love to replace?