Random Update

I know, I know -- It's been a long time. Will continue to work on getting better about this ....

Since my last update we've had some snow .... one day a couple weeks ago it was coming down so fast the dog was covered in just a couple minutes ..... the girls think this is the silliest picture

Gabi has had some problems at school with a young man who is constantly bothering her when she's in line. He stands behind her and as they walk he steps on the back of her shoes so he can pass her when she stops to put her shoe on. She was complaining about it and we told her to try talking with the teacher and if that didn't work we would step in.

That night she came home from school and showed us this note:

She was afraid to talk with the teacher but decided that she could write it down. We were so proud of her, it took a lot of courage for her to do this. The teacher wrote that he talked with the boy and if there were more problems the boy was going to be in trouble. Very creative little lady!

We headed to Jonathan & Amanda's a few weeks ago to celebrate Amanda's birthday. Hayden learned the "Happy Birthday" song and sang it for all of us .... he was so proud.

Gabi and Hayden spent a good part of the morning pushing each other around in his little car.

The girls have discovered card games. Below they were playing war --
Overall things are going well. Now that life has settled down a little bit and we've established our normal family routine we're getting to know each other more. Hailee slid into the "big sister" role very well. She has always been a pretty easy child and this continues, although, she is starting to become a "teenager" (and for those that have them you know what I'm talking about!). She says she's a tomboy, but she's now a tomboy who likes eye makeup, creating new hairstyles and BOYS. Yes, she's found a "cute" boy in class and they have even talked on the phone ..... we're not ready for this ..............

Gabi is feeling more comfortable all the time. She loves to snuggle on weekend mornings and has taken to crawling into bed with us. It's fun to whisper, tickle and talk with her! We've learned a lot of her history during these times .... she loves to talk about how it was in Bulgaria. She had a lot of responsibility -- Ganka was older and when she didn't feel all that well, Gabi would do the meals, take care of her sister and Ganka. She shopped for food and cleaned the house. A very different life then she has now.

Along with this comfort we're starting to see some manipulative behavior but we're working on nipping it in the bud. As an example -- This week while I was working on homework with the girls Gabi was working on her math while I was helping Hailee study for a test. Gabi finished her math and I told her to get out her spelling words, number the sheet and I'd be with her in a minute. She finished and I was still working with Hailee .... she sat for a few seconds and then started humming quietly, then louder and louder and when ignored she started clearing her throat constantly. I told her to stop .... she told me she didn't like to wait ..... hmmmmm...... needless to say she was told to wait quietly.

We've also had a few "princess episodes" as we've come to call them. In the beginning Gabi would wear her crowns a lot -- it was cute. Then it seemed that she chose to wear them when she was the "star" of the show -- like parties or visitors coming over -- we overlooked it. Lately, though, we've noticed that the crowns come out when (we think) she's feeling superior -- if Hailee does something and we've corrected her it's not too long before Gabi comes out wearing one of her princess crowns. Hard to say if it's deliberate or not .... any ideas????

Finally, last week Gabi came home with an annoucement that she had to read over the intercom the next day .... here she is practicing. Isn't her English coming along wonderfully???



And Catherine, Hailee & Gabi would LOVE to write to Oksana .....