September 29, 2012

grandkids minus Kaleb, Kelsey, and Kirsten

The Fab Five

Our Texas Family

Griffin's 2 Month Pictures

   




       Griffin was 2 months old on November 4th.

Winter Wear

Notice that it's still pitch black outside...at 8:00.

I received a note from the school saying that the children need to wear snow pants, coats, hats, gloves, and snow boots. The school here is so different from schools back in the States. The kids have swimming once a week and must bring goggles, swim cap, suit, and towel. They also have P.E. once a week and are required to wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt... So  that means I need to pack extra clothes for each kid twice a week AND get them into their snow gear everyday! Its a lot, but we're getting used to it.

                           Happy Halloween!

At Home with Griffin

Having a 'straggler' has its benefits. Little Griffin and I are home alone all day. I have forgotten how hard having a new baby is, but this time, I don't have to juggle other kids, too. It's like he's an only child... from 8:00am-3:40pm. We take naps together and snuggle all day long! He's such a sweetie and I'm truly enjoying him.

First Day of School

hats and coats are required for recess

The kids are enjoying their new school. The students are all divided into houses: foxes, eagles, and bears. Our kids are eagles. The students earn points for their houses all year long and the winning house earns a cup. Its just like Hogwarts, which tickles me to death! Jacob played in a netball tournament (kind of like basketball) in which he scored all but 1 of the eagles' points and the eagles went on to win the whole thing earning their house 30 points. The students also swim once a week. They are practicing for the swimming gala, which I assume is a swim meet. This school is wonderful. Larkin (who was in kindergarten at home) came home the first day and read me a book. She needed help, but she did it. They are also learning Russian. Jacob knows more Russian than I do, which isn't saying much, but I'm still proud of him. Rainey knows how to say 'cat' and 'dog', of course. All their teachers are from the UK. I really hope they pick up on their accents!

City Mall (Сити Малл)

No town is complete without a mall. The mall here has all the normal stores that we had at home, the exemption is that there is a grocery store and a housewares store. Kind of weird to find those things in a mall. On the top floor of the mall is a play area for kids. You have to pay, but there are video games and another play area for smaller kids with bouncy houses and trampolines and a small merry-go-round. Its kind of like a Chuck-E-Cheese. The food court had many options....all of them pretty different for us. I ordered a cheese pizza, but it was weird. As you can see from the picture, they do have a Cinnabon!