Life is Good

I'm sorry I haven't updated recently. I've been pretty busy lately and I realized I haven't even taken any recent photos. Sooo...I thought I'd take a video of one of our favorite Tuesday/Wednesday night pastime. Lucas absolutely LOVES American Idol and we have had to endure months of "When is the singer show coming on??". Now that a new season is upon us I wanted to share a bit of our weekly ritual. While watching AI we each take turns during the commercial break to perform. We typically make up a name, age and a song in which we perform for the "judges". Since this has been the first round of competition, each of us performs and gets a "yes" or "no" from the judges. "Yes" means "Your goin to Hollywood!!!!". Tonight I took a video of Lucas and Emma performing. I've spared you any piece of the hideous performances by Chris and I...because...well...I have too much pride and posting a video of us butchering "You light up my life" on the internet is just more than I am willing to share. But I have absolutely no problem exploiting my children's "talents". I hope you enjoy!

We have been keeping pretty busy lately and things are going really well. Emma continues to flourish and we are so proud of how well she is adapting. While picking her up from school one day last week, Emma's teacher said to Chris "Emma has made my year!! She's my little sponge. I love her enthusiasm". She loves going to school and her reading and writing is improving weekly.

Lucas also continues to bond with his sister. They are two peas in a pod and only occasionally want to throttle each other. The other night at dinner while having yet another conversation about how unfair it is that I am the boss and they don't EVER get to be the boss, I told Lucas that he could be the boss when he is grown with children of his own. I tried to impress upon him that he can boss his children around all he wants. He stated emphatically "I'm not having kids!". I said that that is fine but that he might change his mind someday. He took a few moments to think about this and then he said "Ok...but you'll have to go with me". I answered confused "what do you mean?". He said "When I go to Mycraine to get my kids, you'll have to go with me...cause I'm not gonna go alone!". After recovering from my laughter, I instructed him that not all people go to Ukraine to "get their kids" but if that's what he wanted, I'd be more than happy to go with him. The conversation moved in the direction of how people go about "getting children"...but I won't bore you with those details.

Emma is starting to talk more and more about her life at the orphanage, now that she has a better understanding of the English language. It is heartwrenching to hear some of her revelations. We try hard to reinforce that she is a forever member of our family and when I say "You know you're not going back right"...her face lights up with a beautiful smile and she sighs contentedly and says "Yes". (of course Lucas teases her with "tomorrow we're taking Emma back to the orphanage"...but she usually responds with "well then we're taking Lucas back toooooo...na na na na na na...."). I asked her what she likes most about her new life here and she answered "I get lots of hugs and kisses". She does indeed!!!!

Well, I promise to be better about updating more frequently. Please feel free to continue to make comments (just click the comments section). Lucas and Emma love to have me read them over and over again.

Lisa